Live(ish) from the Norwegian Star - Panama Canal

Why did I stay up drinking until 3am? I finally dragged my butt out of bed around 11:30 and met up with my friend for lunch at O’Sheehans. I was actually feeling okay. Their wings really are as good as people say. I love chicken wings with buffalo sauce and it was just what I needed.

Because I was still a tad hungover I went back to the room. There wasn’t anything going on that I wanted to be at and with three long port days coming up there’s worse things to do than hang out in bed. I think we were on some rough waters because the boat was really rocky, and not just because I was hurting.

I eventually crawled out of bed again around 2 to go to trivia. The overarching theme of today is Hollywood so the trivia was movie trivia. Now that I am good at! I had to laugh when I got there as it was actually Scene It, the board game. But they just did twenty of the clip questions. I did really well and came in third. I think most people found it really hard, as there were only a few teams that had more than ten correct answers.

I had about 45 minutes to kill until my next activity so I went back to the room and worked on a colouring book (I am a child). At 3:15 I headed back to Spinnaker to buy my bingo cards. As per always, I lost again.

From there it was back to the room to get ready for dinner. Tonight we did Moderno Churriasca, the Brazilian steakhouse. Now, I don’t eat red meat, not because I’m a vegetarian or anything. I just don’t like the taste. But in an effort to get the best of my experience on the cruise I decided to try this restaurant anyways. It was good food. The salad bar had lots of yummy options and I did manage to try about 75% of the meats that came around. We ended up passing on dessert as we were pretty full at that point.

We had a bit of time to kill before the show so we went to the bar (where else) where we ran into our new British friends from the night before. We lost track of time and had to book it to the Stardust. The show tonight was Band on the Run, which is a medley of songs from the 60’s and 70’s. I was impressed with one of the female dancers and one of the female singers but underwhelmed overall. Some people near us actually got up and left, which I thought was kindof rude.

From there we headed to Spinnaker for Movie Sketch Trivia. It was less trivia more sketch but absolutely hilarious watching the cruise director staff reenact scenes from famous movies with...limited props. My friend wanted to call it an early night so he went to bed. I stayed at the bar and had another drink, but I still made it back to the room for bed by 10:30 which is a miracle for me. We had to meet our shore excursion group at 8am the next morning so some sacrifices had to be made.

Thanks for your post. I will be on the Star next month and am really enjoying reading your adventures.

Are all the electrical outlets in the cabin 110?

Loving the review and following

Thanks for your post. I will be on the Star next month and am really enjoying reading your adventures.

 

Are all the electrical outlets in the cabin 110?

No there’s only one. I brought my Bluetooth speaker with 7 USB ports so we wouldn’t fight over it

Good choices were made by not making it a late night. I slept pretty well until about 3:30am but then the Star docked early and it was LOUD. I tossed and turned all night after that. My alarm went off at 7 and we got ready. Because of the early start time we elected to do room service. We requested it to arrive between 7 and 7:30 and it came at 7:33. We were getting nervous.

From there it was down to the Stardust to meet our shore excursion. We had booked our excursion for Guatemala last because we wanted to go to Antigua, but on a guided tour. We nearly decided to go with something else but then realized we were being stupid so we booked the Antigua on your Own tour. When we arrived on the ship earlier in the week I noticed they were now offering Colonial Antigua, which was the guided tour we wanted. We asked to swap shore excursions and were put on a wait list. Last night when my friend got back to the room we found the tickets for our new excursion!

We were escorted to the bus and our guide, Rita. She was by far the best guide we’ve had so far. She was so knowledgeable and friendly. It is a 90 minute drive to Antigua and I may have dozed off a bit but Rita was talking to entire time, no easy feat. One thing to know about any tours to Antigua - the large busses can’t go into the town, as it is a UNESCO world heritage site. So we got to the outskirts and then piled onto two smaller busses that took us to one of the many churches.

The first of two churches we visited was actually ruins, as it had been destroyed in an earthquake a couple hundred years ago. They also explained weaving to us briefly. I bought a small bag for my sister for only $5. From there we walked through the main plaza to another church. This was a gorgeous church. My favourite fact was that the church was designed by the Spanish but built by the mayans, and they didn’t necessarily know what everything requested was. For example, they had never seen grapes before, so the grape stucco on the front of the church is rather...extreme.

From there we started walking to the jade museum/factory. Let me say for anyone thinking of visiting Antigua - the roads are terrible. They are very uneven cobblestones and small sidewalks. I have bad knees and was very cautious and nervous walking the whole time. Lots of elderly people had a lot of difficulty. Antigua is also about 5000 feet above sea level. It didn’t bother us, being from western Canada, but between that and the street conditions several individuals had to take taxis to the next stop.

The Jade museum was five blocks away so we spent the next 20-30 minutes walking there. I was not looking forward to this stop, assuming it was just another shopping opportunity. It actually ended up being the highlight of my visit. We first were given a brief lecture on jade by one of the archaeologists who revitalized Guatemala’s jade industry back in the 70’s. I was so confused walking in because she was a white American, but she definitely knew what she was talking about. She showed us different ‘jade’ products that were fakes tourists usually buy. But we had pieces of real jade in our hands at the same time in order to tell the difference.

Yes, there is a store, but we were definitely not pressured into buying anything. Speaking of pressure, Antigua was definitely the worst for people trying to sell you their products. Everywhere you went there was a dozen artisans trying to sell scarves, keychains, etc. They just follow you around. If we went into a location they would stand outside the entrance waiting for us to come back out. They even do things like send round small children or teenagers with babies to try and make tourists feel guilted into buying things. It was intense.

Our last stop was at a restaurant for a traditional Guatemalan lunch. It was a lovely little restaurant called Arrin Cuan and there were three tour groups there. They had live music and a buffet. Unfortunately I have a chronic illness that flared up shortly before my trip and I promised my doctor to be careful while in ports. That meant not eating anything I wouldn’t at home and not drinking anything that doesn’t come from a bottle. So I turned down the beans, fried plantains and beef stew but I did eat some amazing rice, a tortilla and a piece of chicken with tomato salsa. I ordered a coke for my drink since it was bottled. Lunch was good (what I could have) and we had thirty minutes to kill afterwards.

We wanted to wander around like we did in San Jose Del Cabo but everything in Antigua looks the same and we were worried we’d get lost. So we basically went for a short trip around the block and waited to catch the small bus back to the big bus. We are so glad we changed our excursion. Without a guide we’d have been totally lost and probably spent half the day at a bar. Good decisions were definitely made.

We got back on our bus and started the 90 minute ride back to port. It was mostly a sleepy bus ride. I read my book. Closer to port Rita came round and spoke to everyone individually and also handed out friendship bracelets, which I thought was a nice touch. Around this time I looked at my phone and realized it was 3:08. Interesting, since we were supposed to be back at 3pm and all-aboard was 3:30. I didn’t panic or anything because I knew through my research that the ship won’t leave without all NCL shore excursions back. Because of this we were about 40 minutes late leaving port.

We had awhile before dinner so we went to the pool for some drinks. One of the bands, Pink Elephant were playing modern hits. I wouldn’t normally mention this but they played Cake by the Ocean by DNCE and the singer forgot about all the f-bombs in the song and really struggled with censoring it. We (and her backing band) thought it was hilarious.

Dinner tonight was at Versailles where I had scallops, mushroom ravioli and Nutella creme brûlée for dessert. It was just alright. One of our friends said they found the food on NCL mediocre but I don’t find that. I haven’t had a bad meal, just compared with the specialty restaurants the main dining room is a bit underwhelming.

We had a few drinks between dinner and the show then headed to Stardust for the White Magic show. They are a British magician and a Mongolian (I think?) contortionist. They were excellent. I only have preferred the Russian acrobats more. Contortionists freak me out, though. She literally spun herself in a circle using her mouth with her body flipped behind her. So crazy.

From there it was off to Spinnaker for tonight’s game show which is called Liars Club. In it the cruise director, comedian, one of the entertainment staff, and the shopping manager I think? were given words and had to make up a definition. One of them was telling the truth. It was pretty hard and the words were a bit odd like ‘crapulence’ and ‘erecterine’. Some of the older folks left.

From there back to the bar for some more drinks. I noticed our friends from America watching karaoke and popped in to say hi. The husband grabbed two chairs and made space for us. They are the nicest people. We watched karaoke for about an hour and my friend got up and sang Jack and Diane by John Cougar Mellancamp.

At 10:30 they were hosting an 80’s party in the Spinnaker Lounge so we invited our friends to come with us. They were a bit underwhelmed as there was hardly anybody there. For the entire ‘party’ it was only the assistant cruise director and one of the staff members dancing. I felt really bad for them. The music and videos were fun, though, and we had a good time. Our friends even ended up staying up for awhile into the club night, which got a lot busier compared to 80’s night. I was in bed around 1am which yes, was probably too late, but Nicaragua had a later start time.

Really enjoying your trip report x

following, as we are doing this same itineary and ship in April. we love the Star, this will be my 3rd time on her.

Sounds like you're having a great time, I really like your attitude.

I'm enjoying following along on your trip, thank you :)

We're on the Star next month, same trip but starting in Miami,

I can hardly wait :cool:

9am wake up call for Nicaragua, where we had booked the Granada Nature and Colonial Architecture Tour. We had breakfast at the buffet and then headed to the Stardust for our meeting time of 10:10. The place was packed because we hadn’t been cleared to go ashore yet, so they were very behind.

We were not called until an hour after we were supposed to be, then lined up for the tender boats. The issue was that the Coral Princess was at port that day too. San Juan Del Sur has never had two ships before and they didn’t have enough room at the pier to dock all the tenders. Not a good start to the day. My friend was furious, threatening to ask for a refund, basically allowing this to ruin his day.

As soon as the bus left port I immediately fell in love with Nicaragua. I’m not kidding. I was obsessed. It’s such a beautiful place. It was a two hour drive through the most beautiful scenery (the trees!!!). I’m from Canada - Nature is not supposed to impress me.

Our first stop was in a town called Catarina. There was an overlook that showed Lake Nicaragua and if you looked closely you could see Granada in the back. It was beautiful. My friend stopped being a grumpus. We also had time for shopping at this stop (shocker) and I purchased a gift for my fathera feather that was framed and painted with a Nicaraguan cultural scene. It was $12 which I thought was reasonable and then the store owner basically bartered with himself and offered it to me for $10. He clearly didn’t know who he was talking to because I never barter.

Back on the bus and into Granada. The buildings were all so colourful and eclectic I loved it. We walked to a restaurant called Mirabello for a late lunch. They were serving tacos and they were SO GOOD. I only had the chicken tacos but I went up for seconds, which I rarely do. They had a band that played an instrumental version of Despacito and I think I was the only person who recognized it/knew it and I clapped so loud the band laughed. My friend and I both commented we’d probably visit this restaurant on our own, as the food was quite tasty (especially the salsa).

We then went on a brief walking tour of the city into the main plaza. We only had ten minutes so we went into the main cathedral which was massive. Then it was back to the bus for the two hour ride back.

I started getting nervous towards the end because we were definitely going to be late back for the last tender. I know that shore excursions wait but I still got stressed. For nothing, as it turns out.

On the tender back I was surprised how many people were complaining about their excursions or that they hated Nicaragua. We LOVED it. Not only was it my favourite port stop, I would actually come back here on my own. Ironic considering I didn’t really care about this stop. Kind of like Cabo, which is so far my second favourite.

We made a call earlier in the day to eat dinner at the buffet because of timing. The karaoke superstar competition was at 8:30 and we didn’t get back to the boat until 7. The buffet was Greek-themed tonight. We don’t like buffers for dinner and I don’t like Greek food but it worked in a pinch. We won’t be going back there for dinner this cruise, though.

Karaoke Superstar started at 8:30. Our friends from karaoke found us and I was selected to be a judge. Because I’m a passive aggressive crazy person I intimidated the contestants by saying that my mother is a music teacher, I play three instruments and my sister has a musical theatre degree. There were four contestants who sang one song each. This was then narrowed down to two who sang a second song. There has been one guy at karaoke all week who is clearly musical theatre trained so obviously he won.

From there we went back to our usual bar for an hour before returning to Spinnaker for an adult comedy show. The comedian on board leads tomorrow but I’ve been impressed how utilized he’s been - this is the fourth time we’ve seen him (opening night, his show, liars club last night, and now tonight). He was pretty funny. Again, I think he was pandering to an older, cruising, overwhelmingly white crowd but the jokes were at least still adult, as advertised. And man, that place was PACKED. Even the staff were commenting they’d never seen it so busy. It was standing room only.

Following that my friend and I went back to the bar for our ‘final’ drink. It was my friend’s final drink. We met up with our friend I had stayed up until 3am with after Acapulco. My friend left after his drink but I didn’t because I always forget about my hangovers until I get them next. I didn’t go to bed until 1:30 but I stopped drinking about an hour earlier so I may actually be fine for Costa Rica tomorrow.

Loving your review....sounds like your having a blast!

Loving your review....sounds like your having a blast!

And....they haven't even gotten to the Canal yet!

Thank you - love reading your review.

Alarm went off at 7am and I was surprisingly fine. We had time for a quick bite to eat at the Market Cafe before going to the Stardust for 7:50. This was a disastrous time because the Red Bull stand wasn’t open yet. Today’s excursion was Discover Costa Rica, and at 9 hours the longest excursion of our trip.

We boarded the bus with our guide, Bernie. His English was almost impeccable. He’s clearly gotten a lot of practice as he was a terrific guide. We first drove for an hour until we got to - you guessed it - a shop. As opposed to other places we’ve been there were no stalls. It was literally a big gift shop. All the prices were in USD and expensive at that, so I knew I wasn’t going to buy anything there. This was true for everywhere we went. No small shops selling cute trinkets, all gift shops. Even more disappointing about this shopping stop was it was promoted as an overlook that happened to have shopping. And yes, the view looked lovely except we were on the side of a highway and not allowed to cross, and two large tourist busses were blocking the view from the gift shop.

From there we drove another thirty minutes or so to the town of Palmeres, where we did a very brief walking tour of the plaza. While in Nicaragua I loved both the natural scenery and the buildings, I did not in Costa Rica. The natural scenery was fantastic (I kept calling it Jurassic Park) the buildings and houses we saw were all kind of run down. Even the plaza we walked through was a bit underwhelming. I was hoping to see a sloth but they were hiding.

Back on the bus for another hour drive. I fell asleep for some of it. We arrived at Doka Estate, a massive coffee plantation. Two groups arrived at the same time. We ended up being the group to go do the tour first. It was pretty interesting. Our guide took us through each phase of coffee production. I don’t drink coffee so my knowledge is limited. I thought coffee beans just came out that way, roasted and all.

Following the tour we went to lunch. Unfortunately I couldn’t eat much of it, so I just had rice and chicken. I did add some salsa to it, for effect. I wish we’d had slightly longer so I could have visited the butterfly garden but overall I felt the amount of time spent here was an appropriate amount. Back on the bus for another 45 minute drive (have I mentioned the overwhelming amount of driving on this excursion?) to the Botanical Orchid Garden.

We were pressed for time by this point - probably because of all the bloody driving - so we only had fifteen minutes here. It was my favourite stop so the fact we had to rush through it was quite disappointing. On one half of the property they have all these birds like macaws, parrots and a cockatoo. They were beautiful. I don’t traditionally like caged animals but our guide explained that people in Costa Rica sometimes illegally keep them as house pets and once they are confiscated they aren’t all able to be released back into the wild, so this private business owner looks after them. On the other half of the property they have their orchid garden. I don’t really have an appreciation for flowers but they were pretty. Again, I wish there was more time to explore.

Then we were on the bus back to port which took yet another hour and a bit. We were thirty minutes later than anticipated but still an hour before all-aboard. I know it seems like I complained about this excursion but I want to stress that the guide was phenomenal and my main issue was with the amount of driving and its effect on how much time we spent in the different areas.

We went up to the pool for a quick drink before getting ready for dinner. Tonight we were back at Versailles. I had the clams, grilled salmon and volcano cake. One of the pool waiters we know was serving beverages at the restaurant and kept our wine glasses filled. And so it begins...

A drink at the bar before heading to the evening show, a quartet called These Guys. I was actually expecting (and dreading) a barbershop quartet. They were advertised as a modern spin on classic songs. Much to my surprise they had a backing band and all the songs were older. They were just okay. It’s not that they aren’t talented - they did do one song as a barbershop quartet and it was great. I will absolutely see their next show, which is that style. Besides that song I only really enjoyed their cover of Begging by The Four Seasons. This is because one guy rapped the verses, which was amazing. I love rap so I would have liked it they did that in every song. But they were probably pushing it doing it the one time.

We decided to skip the game show and went to the bar before heading to karaoke. Somehow I have become known by the cruise director staff and the guy hosting karaoke bullied me into getting up. I mean, he kept mentioning me by name, pointing his mic at me, etc. I wasn’t offended it was all in good fun. I did get up eventually and did Rolling in the Deep by Adele. I must have been drunk because who on earth tries to sing an Adele song at karaoke.

When I drink I get chatty and none of our normal people were around so I started talking with the youths. Which led to drinking games and dancing on the jogging track and going to bed at 3am. Oops.

Really enjoying your review!

I'll be on Star for the April 22 eastbound transatlantic. It will be my first NCL cruise (but #32 overall). I'm in a little older demographic (ok, a LOT older) but, mentally, I'm stuck at 27 years old, so I can relate to a lot of what you're saying. Except at my age, I'm hungover after only 3 drinks and getting to bed before midnight! And it takes 2 days to recover!! Not sure how I'm going to handle this UBP. ;p

I haven't made my decisions on where to use my dining package (I'm purchasing just the 3-dinners), but the Italian sounds like it should be one of my choices.

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Woke up at 11 and tried to find food to no avail. For anyone who doesn’t know, O’Sheehans (at least on the Star) seems to not be 24/7. I showed up about five minutes before ‘lunch’ was supposed to start at 11:30 and they said they wouldn’t be opening until at least 11:45. There was an activity I wanted to attend at 12 so no food for me.

I met up with my friend and went to Spinnaker where the magician from the other night was giving a workshop. It was interesting to learn some tricks but it would have been nice if each table had been given supplies. It’s a lot easier if you can actively practice what he’s telling you but it’s all in good fun. They did promote their DVD’s. I may get one after their next performance as my godson is interested in magic and I haven’t bought him a souvenir yet.

From there we went to O’Sheehan’s for some tasty wings. I went back to the room for a bit where I cleaned up. We’re on day 10 so it kind of looks like like a bomb went off in the room. Not anymore! My mother would be so proud of me.

At 2pm I went down to Le Bistro for a wine tasting. This was the first one I was able to make as art activities kept pulling my attention. Unfortunately there were only three of us so the event was cancelled. One of the hopeful attendees was saying they need four people to proceed. The sommelier came out to give us the bad news and brought a bottle of Bordeaux with him. This red blend would have been one of the wines today. He poured us a sizeable glass, for sure not a tasting glass, and apologized again. It was a bit of a bummer because I love wine and would like to learn more about it. The topic would have been Old World vs New, basically comparing California’s to European wines.

As it turned out, the gentleman who was waiting was quite knowledgeable about wine so I chatted with him about it for 45 minutes. It was almost like I got the wine tasting. As it turns out I seem to have a good taste in wine for someone my age. I’ll take it. Hopefully if there is another wine tasting it can actually occur.

I had a drink at the bar and chatted with some older folks from Ohio I met a few days ago. Then I went back to the room because bingo was starting later today at 4pm. Our dinner reservations were for 5 so I knew I wouldn’t have time after the game. It was budget bingo today so only $20. The downside is it isn’t really budget bingo because it’s only one game instead of three. For a change I got so close to winning; I was only off by two. It was actually a tie because somehow the cruise director team had duplicate cards in the same batch. We knew because they both had the same verification number.

For dinner we went to the 5pm show at Teppanyaki, the hibachi restaurant. There was only twelve of us which made for a small group. You get both appetizers which are miso soup and seaweed salad. You choose your entree, which is the part of the meal actually cooked in front of you. The chefs were cute and kept singing while they prepared different portions of the meal. Everyone received garlic rice and vegetables. I had the seafood teppanyaki which consisted of calamari, scallops and shrimp. It was good but I was much more impressed with the appetizers. Maybe if I’d gotten chicken it would have been better. This was just seafood with soya sauce. Still, I enjoyed it. For dessert I had the green tea cake and ice cream. I only ate the ice cream. I wasn’t a big fan of the cake.

Then it was - you guessed it - back to the bar. We enjoyed a drink there before heading to the show which was Vegas with the production cast. It was pretty bad. We were sitting with a lady we knew and she was pretty intoxicated so we had a great time. Don’t worry, we were in the very back so we weren’t ruining anyone’s viewing. So yeah, terrible show but one of my favourite times going to one.

Then it was to the Spinnaker for 55 to Stay Alive, which is Norwegian’s version of Minute to Win It. I didn’t play but it was hilarious to watch. After this we were back to the bar hoping to make it to karaoke when we ran into a couple who was in the previous game show. We’d seen them around the ship loads and apparently they had as well so we got to talking. This lasted for hours. We actually got a noise complaint but it wasn’t us making the noise it was the group of twenty youths slightly down the boardwalk. They did join us eventually which of course resulted in going to bed at 4am. Not this again.

I’m glad you mentioned not being able to get food at O’Sheehan’s. I forgot to put that tidbit in my review of my PC trip. O’Sheehan’s shut down for 30 to 45 minutes when they changed from breakfast to lunch and then again in the afternoon for the change from lunch to dinner. Definitely not 24/7. We had this happen when we were on the Epic also.

I'm really enjoying your trip report.

Panama Canal day! We went and grabbed food at O’Sheehan’s and then I headed to the front of deck 13. There were only about twenty people there so I was right up at the front with a perfect view as we approached the locks. I was really obsessed with the clouds, actually. They seemed so close to us. I took so many pictures though I’m sure they won’t really convey how the clouds actually looked.

I stayed out on deck 13 watching for about an hour but the heat and standing got to me so I had to leave. Fortunately our room was near-perfectly located. We were at the front of the ship on deck 8, so I turned on the television to watch the camera and anything I saw on there was heading by my window about thirty seconds later. After about an hour in the room I’d managed to cool down enough to venture outside again. I brought my book down to the 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar intending to read while watching the crossing but ran into the Canadians. It turned out to be good, though, as I spent the rest of the crossing in the shade, in a seat, enjoying good conversation.

This went on so long I actually didn’t make it back up to the room until 5:45. After a quick change for dinner we headed to Aqua where service was so slow. We had 90 minutes until the show which should have been plenty of time but it wasn’t. I had escargot cassoulette (?), rotisserie chicken and lava cake. From there we went back to the bar after a short stop at guest services to arrange transportation to the airport Friday. We figured if we saw the 9:30 show maybe we’d actually make it to bed at a reasonable time. Do you see where this is going?

Back to the bar to kill time before the show. One friend showed up followed by another and another and 9:30 came and went. What I enjoyed about this night, though, was that there were people who we always saw and said hi to but never chatted with for more than a minute who plopped themselves down in a seat and stayed for hours. And this did go on for hours. 2:30 specifically so kind of early for us but also not at all early when thinking about Colombia tomorrow

Still loving this trip report!!

My favorite part of cruising is meeting new people and sharing the fun. Your stories and descriptions of ports are fantastic! Thank you, Drdarkknight and keep 'em coming!

And so we reached Cartagena, Colombia. Sad because it is our final port but I was really excited because I’ve never been to South America. All I have to do is step foot on land and I’ll only have Africa, Oceana and Antarctica left continent-wise. But besides that I was really looking forward to this stop and it was a major factor when I booked this cruise.

We woke up at 9:30. My friend slept in awhile longer because he doesn’t have my stamina. Then breakfast at the Market Cafe and down to Stardust for 10:30. We were a bit late leaving. Our excursion today was Old City Walking Tour and Spanish Fortress. I had tried to find a drug cartel tour but there weren’t any. You may think I’m kidding but I’m not.

I was a bit nervous about this excursion because it was a level three, a walking tour and in the sun. It didn’t help when our very first stop was the Fortress, which is very Fortress-like and tall. And we were going to have to walk up it. And the pathways were very steep. I made it up pretty easily to my surprise but it was hot and humid and I think we’d gone through two litres of water before we even left the Fortress. I also got a sunburn on my back which looks at lot worse than it is. I get sunburnt constantly because I have such fair skin so a sunburn that looks bad to one person is not that bad for me.

My friend really enjoyed the Fortress. I liked it too but I was still adjusting to the heat. It was such a smart call on the part of the tour operator to do that stop first. I don’t think we would have made it up there if it was the last stop. From there we got back on the bus and went into old town. Well, first was a shopping stop at an emerald store. I was waiting in line for the washroom and looking casually at the rings (I love rings) and I saw an emerald pendant that really stood out for me. The saleslady started talking to me but there was no pressure. My friend reminded that I literally never buy myself anything and if they offered the price I had in my head I should take it. So I did. The saleslady explained that I had actually picked a non-standard setting. It was a bit eclectic which is probably what drew me to it in the first place.

From there we went further into old town and began the walking portion of our tour. The streets were very cute and colourful with lots of balconies and flowers. Our first official stop was the Inquisition Palace. I had picked this excursion because the other walking tour didn’t go in and I wanted to visit. Something is better than nothing but I’d rather have done it myself. Because we had a guide it was rushed and I couldn’t read everything. But talking with friends who did the other walking tour they were jealous we actually went in because they didn’t get to see it.

Next up was the gold museum followed by the emerald museum, both of which were rushed but had air conditioning. We learned that Canada actually does produce emeralds waaaaay up north so that was interesting. Then a little more walking before heading to our bus. Now, I said before I was very concerned about the heat and walking aspect of this excursion. In the end, I found the amount of walking we did to be an appropriate amount. By the very end my feet were hurting but not as soon as I figured. And as for the heat and sun besides the Fortress the Old Town part was actually very shaded, so I found it on par with our previous excursions. Nothing I couldn’t live with.

We boarded the ship for the final time (weird!!!!!) and after getting ready tried to head to our bar, we found our spot was closed due to bunkering. By this time we were about ten minutes from the restaurant opening up and decided just to head there for an early meal. Which brings me to one point people may want to be aware of if considering the Panama Canal. Excursions that range around the four hour mark do not feed you and most do not have time for you to stop and grab food. They usually start around 10/11 and you’re back about 2/3. Because it’s Central America you cannot bring food off the ship. So if you don’t deal well with not eating for a substantial amount of time bear that in mind.

Dinner was at Versailles. I had fried mozzarella, salmon tartare, country fried chicken and snickerdoodle pound cake. It was my least favourite meal of the trip. The appetizers and dessert were good but I barely ate the main course. This was our last time in one of the main dining rooms.

Our bar stop was still closed for bunkering. There were four ships at port today which meant refuelling took ages. I think we left about 2.5 hours late. We went up to the pool bar and met up with our older Canadian friends and chatted with them for awhile before heading to the show.

Tonight’s entertainment was the quartet from the other night, These Guys. This time they were doing their acapella show. We almost didn’t go because we heard the whole show from our room and I was worried we’d get bored after a couple songs. I was wrong. After maybe two or three songs we got really into it. I wish there was more variety in terms of genres and decades but they are very good. They covered one of the songs from The Wedding Singer and I thought I was going to die laughing during The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

From there we headed to Spinnaker which was packed for the Broadway Cabaret. All the production singers preformed one or two songs. It was better than their theatre shows. Some of them can really sing. My favourite was one of the girls singing ‘Maybe This Time’ from Cabaret. The funniest moment was when they performed a song from a musical called Dear Evan Hansen which won the Tony last year but people still aren’t familiar with it. Where I was sat there was myself, who has been around Theatre my entire life, a guy I’d met who works in theatre, and a lovely gay couple who knew a lot about the theatre. So as soon as the guy announced he was performing a song from that musical we immediately all freaked out. All four of us.

From there is was off to the bar. It was just the two of us for awhile and my friend went to bed at 11. I was going to be just behind him when some of the Canadian youths appeared and I started talking to them which turned into playing sociables with all the youth until 2am. The bright side was that the ship was insanely rocky and by the time I got to bed I didn’t care anymore. My friend got sick though, as did a lot of people on the ship.

Quote: "Which brings me to one point people may want to be aware of if considering the Panama Canal. Excursions that range around the four hour mark do not feed you and most do not have time for you to stop and grab food. They usually start around 10/11 and you’re back about 2/3. Because it’s Central America you cannot bring food off the ship. So if you don’t deal well with not eating for a substantial amount of time bear that in mind."

We'll be following in your footsteps on the February 2nd sailing out from Los Angeles and have enjoyed reading your comments on your excursions; lots of useful info and helped to build up the pre-cruise excitement. Thank you!

Is it OK to take pre-packed items off the ship that are bought in the US before bearding in LA, such as sealed packs of cookies, chips (biscuits & crisps in the UK!) or snack bars? I understand the reasons behind not taking fruit or food items from the buffet ashore, but does your comment relate to all food items including those that have been packed and sealed before purchase from a store? Are they extra strict in Central America?

Many thanks.

Quote: "Which brings me to one point people may want to be aware of if considering the Panama Canal. Excursions that range around the four hour mark do not feed you and most do not have time for you to stop and grab food. They usually start around 10/11 and you’re back about 2/3. Because it’s Central America you cannot bring food off the ship. So if you don’t deal well with not eating for a substantial amount of time bear that in mind."

We'll be following in your footsteps on the February 2nd sailing out from Los Angeles and have enjoyed reading your comments on your excursions; lots of useful info and helped to build up the pre-cruise excitement. Thank you!

Is it OK to take pre-packed items off the ship that are bought in the US before bearding in LA, such as sealed packs of cookies, chips (biscuits & crisps in the UK!) or snack bars? I understand the reasons behind not taking fruit or food items from the buffet ashore, but does your comment relate to all food items including those that have been packed and sealed before purchase from a store? Are they extra strict in Central America?

Many thanks.

They do say absolutely nothing can be brought off food-wise but that being said exit security tends to be fairly standard and they probably wouldn’t notice. There were one or two stops where they search your bag. Nicaragua for sure

Woke up at 11 and the ship was still rocking like crazy. I had an important mission today - I was going to go in the sun! We had won that bottle of champagne back on day two so we brought it to the pool with us and our co-favourite bartender brought us a bucket of ice, orange juice and glasses. I normally don’t drink during the day but I guess because I’ve been so on the go since day one I decided to throw away itineraries and schedules and go with the flow for one day.

We had a spot in the sun and I tried to read my book but a familiar face came and sat next to us. It was one of the Canadian youths and then his girlfriend showed up and we got lost in conversation. Around this time I noticed in the corner an old man (and I mean REAL old) who was dancing with his cane. I got so excited and turned to the group and yelled ‘it’s dancing grandpa!’ and they told me that he does this every day! He’s 93 and all he wants to do is dance at the pool.

They called the Mr. Sexy Legs competition and one of the contenders noticed dancing grandpa and told him to participate. Obviously he won. He spent the rest of the afternoon just living his full life - he danced on stage with the band, by the hot tups , got his picture taken with his winner sign with all the ladies - it was great.

I had planned on going back to the room to rest before bingo but I was sat in the shade and the young Canadians called me over and I ended up enjoying a couple daiquiris with them. From there it was off to bingo and it was the first and only time my friend played. We both lost. Then out to the bar where things got real interesting.

As you may know at this point I am really obsessed with scheduled and itineraries. I don’t know what happened today but I just threw that out the window. My friend left the bar while I was chatting with this lady from Ohio I knew to shower and get ready for dinner. We ALWAYS eat at 5:30. At 5:29, still at the bar chatting, I checked my phone and saw seven texts from him wondering where I was. I was just going with the flow. We did make dinner by about 6.

Dinner tonight was at Ginza. I wish we’d gone earlier because I for sure would have gone back. I had the hot and sour soup, spring rolls, waaaaaay too many California rolls and the spicy seafood udon. I wasn’t a big fan of the udon but everything else was excellent. From there it was back to the bar. We sat by ourselves for a bit when we ran into this American couple we’d stayed up late with a few nights earlier.

The first six hours or so were a typical night. People fluctuated in and out. The American couple stayed. It escalated to drinking games. The wife and I, who are around the same age, both get really chatty and loud when drinking. We were having a great time. And then everything changed. My friend asked me if I had heard to emergency alert that went out while we were going through the Panama Canal. I said I had. As it turns out, it was her grandfather that passed away. Obviously a revelation like this resulted in a very intense two hour conversation. Definitely not something I ever expected. Out of respect for her privacy this is all the information I will be giving.

She and her husband went to bed around 2am while me, my friend and my usual drinking buddy stayed up another half hour. Around this time I finished another drink and realized I was DONE. I needed to get to the room. Only problem was I couldn’t walk on my own so my friend had to take me. I proudly announced to every guest and cleaning person I ran into that I was incredibly intoxicated. They all got a good laugh out of it at least. My friend says it was one of the worst he’s ever seen. But hey, today was my day of not caring for a change so I think it was well deserved.

They do say absolutely nothing can be brought off food-wise but that being said exit security tends to be fairly standard and they probably wouldn’t notice. There were one or two stops where they search your bag. Nicaragua for sure

OK, thank you. That’s pretty conclusive then, won’t be risking taking any type of snack off the ship! Thanks again for pointing this out.

As far as I know from my many mostly-Caribbean cruises is that you are not supposed to take off ANY unsealed food items anywhere, not just Central America. Most definitely not any fruit. It's always posted in the dailies and I've also seen signs near the gangplank to disembark.

Yet I continue to see people pull a banana or apple out of a backpack to have as a snack while on shore (which I know they didn't stop and purchase because they've been on the tour bus since they disembarked). Even saw someone pull out a sandwich they'd ordered from room service and had wrapped in the napkin. :(

I always pack a few granola bars and have also picked up the little boxes of cereal at the buffet and taken with me.

Re: Columbia - Had a stop there on my HAL cruise last January (it was just a "partial" where we entered the canal from the Panama side but I did an excursion on a ferry that went all the way through to the Pacific side). Did a private tour that was wonderful. All day and we saw everything, but we didn't actually enter the fortress, which was a little disappointing, but we did go up to the monastery. Really enjoyed the day there and would love to return. Thought it was beautiful and the people seemed great although, sadly, I don't speak Spanish.

Are you going to post any photos?

Can you tell me how rough the seas were after leaving Colombia? Was it just one day or both days back to Miami that were rough?

Thanks,