Observations from my Panama Canal cruise

[Sea girl 23]

1)One of the days-the day we transited the Panama Canal, an older man collapsed in the Lido.I didn't hear anything more about it but I'm guessing he died:(

 

2)I have realised I can live with minimal internet-a hundred odd dollars and all I can do is play Words With Friends and check Twitter?I'm strangely OK with that!

 

3)The bus driver we had going from Port Everglades to the airport was new(like, his first day on the job!)..unfortunately not everyone was willing to cut him so much slack.

 

4)I am moving to Costa Rica as soon as I can(not an observation per se but a statement!)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your brief observations.

Hope you enjoy living in Costa Rica.

[TrolleyGirl]

Unusual and interesting report.

[albingirl]

1. How do you think he died? I hope he's ok.

2. Good luck with Costa Rica.

[Sea girl 23]

Apparently he collapsed and they tried to treat him with a mobile AED defibrillator (though a fellow passenger was there giving him CPR immediately).

 

Costa Rica,if it happens, won't be for a few years yet.

[SilvertoGold]

I am interested in hearing more. What ship were you sailing?

[Sea girl 23]

Westerdam.

 

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but it seemed like the cruise was sold out-they also had multiple buses for the most popular shore excursions,too.

[SilvertoGold]

Thank you. I have no idea if yours was sold out cruise. Multiple buses are pretty common. I've seen 20 in the morning for maybe 5 different excursions.

 

How was the food? MDR, Pinnacle, Caneletto, Lido? Good service?

 

How was your cabin and the room stewards?

 

Music: BB Kings, the quintet in Lincoln Centre (?)

[Sea girl 23]

BB King's was always busy,save for one night when I went to the later show and it was like *crickets*..I felt bad for the band.

 

The food?Oh man,the food was good.Three words:Surf and turf. I haven't gone to Canaletto or the Pinnacle(so can't speak to that)

 

Had room service for the first time on this cruise.It showed up on time,and met my expectations(even tho it was just me in my stateroom,I loved the fact they gave me a big carafe of coffee. #gottahavecoffee)

[Keith1010]

We know some people who have moved to Costa Rica.

 

Overall did you enjoy the cruise?

 

Keith

[puppycanducruise]

Interesting comments.

We know people who moved to Costa Rica, love it.

Glad you (mostly) enjoyed your cruise.

[OzCanuck]

We were on this cruise as well (per my thread about the time-lapse). We had numerous cadence problems in the dining room. Things arriving early, things arriving late. It would have been comical if it wasn't so annoying. Not every night for sure, seemed to happen at breakfast. One morning my wife and child had finished their entire meal before mine showed up. Just weird.

 

But I try not to let things like that bother me on a cruise. Having said that we all tend to spend too much time eating on cruises, so it is fairly important.

 

Any idea what the $30.90 port credit was for? I forgot to ask but I'm guessing we had to pay a deposit on the transit fee and it was re-calculated based on occupancy. Not sure if the cruise was sold out or not; but it never really felt that crowded.

[JimAOk1945]

Did take any shore excursions?

[Sea girl 23]

No offense to the other cruises I've taken but I would put my Panama Canal cruise right at the top. A very relaxing cruise,I had a great time, got to go to 5 new countries(!)

 

To answer an earlier question about the stewards:Mine were absolute rock stars.Very friendly,hoping I run into them again at some point!

[albingirl]

No offense to the other cruises I've taken but I would put my Panama Canal cruise right at the top. A very relaxing cruise,I had a great time, got to go to 5 new countries(!)

 

To answer an earlier question about the stewards:Mine were absolute rock stars.Very friendly,hoping I run into them again at some point!

Glad you had a good time. We also found that cruise very informative. Although, it was a long tie ago!

[Sea girl 23]

I was surprised to find out there were quite a few people who had been on the Panama Canal cruise before-apparently they're retired(or get lots of time off perhaps? That was the case with the Australian cruisers on my Mediterranean cruise last year.)

[JimAOk1945]

The Westerdam is a wonderful ship and the crew is fantastic! We enjoyed our West to East cruise last December. There is a lot to see at all the port calls. We took a shore excursion at every port.

 

Did you enjoy your time ashore?

[Sea girl 23]

Not a bad excursion to be had-I also liked that at several of the ports the buses drove right out onto the pier.Being as it was hot(but not unbearable-I adjusted fast for someone from a cold climate)that was very welcome!

[JimAOk1945]

Yes we were happy to see the buses come up to the ship. We were on our cruise in December. The weather was nice.

[sail7seas]

Great you had a good cruise.

 

Sorry for the gent who fell ill. It must have b een upsetting to those who wi tnessed the incident.

 

Good luck with your move to Costa Rica.

[Sea girl 23]

Great you had a good cruise.

 

Sorry for the gent who fell ill. It must have b een upsetting to those who wi tnessed the incident.

 

Good luck with your move to Costa Rica.

 

They managed to give him some privacy,and pretty quickly,thank goodness.

[sail7seas]

Did you say which ship?

If you did, I did not see it

[Sea girl 23]

It was the Westerdam. Never did hear anything else about it but there were several "Bright Star" announcements.

[sail7seas]

Thanks of naming the ship

[Zoey]

Which part of Costa Rica did you like so much? Have thought of moving there myself before....around the Jaco area.