Panama Cruise Summary
Before I start talking about our first week here in Florida I will summarise the trip and throw in some new pictures for you all. As you know the cruise started in Los Angeles. We’d had 11 days there in a wonderful AirBnB before joining the Pacific Princess.
The PP is classed as a small ship with only around 650 passengers and 350 crew. Not only did the 2:1 ratio go down well, on a small ship you actually meet people over and over and you get to form some good friendships. Where as on big ships (2000 +) you might not run into the same people twice. We had a lovely balcony cabin. This is the only way to sail and as we passed the USS Iowa we left LA for our first port of call.
First day out we lounged on our balcony for a while before heading up to the wedding of a lovely couple we’d met the night before at our designated dinner table. This happy occasion set the tone for the entire cruise and before we knew it we were sailing into Cabot San Lucas with a beautiful sunrise to our east. CSL is on the “Mexican Riviera” and what a great place. I have to go there again. It was gorgeous and there is no end to the things to do. I could live there in a heart beat.
After our too short of a day we headed for our next PoC but not before one of our theme nights. Besides the 3 formal nights we had a Pirate night, Mexican night, Italian night and a few more. We were scheduled for Nicaragua but some civil unrest caused our diversion to Puerto Chiapas. Not a very exciting city but interesting none the less. Considering they had minimal time to prepare for our arrival they did OK. The Mayan history and the ruins made up for the diversion and we experienced some fantastic cultural items. The ruins, though not the biggest, were exciting.
Next on the agenda was Puntarenas in Costa Rica. Again the town was not attractive but interesting. The tour we did involved trains and crocodiles, an unexpected combination but a good tour for us. We were fascinated by the fact that as we passed over a road bridge we could clearly see 8 or 9 wild crocodiles sunning themselves on the river bank.
This whole cruise was about one thing for us and that was our next PoC, The Panama Canal. We will tell you now that this is a “bucket list” thing you should do and we were glad to fly the flag from our room. To see massive ships squeeze into a tiny man-made canal with literally inches to spare on either side is something special. Obviously the ship’s crew think the same as they celebrated with an Ice carving of the ship amongst other things. I threw in a picture of our table steward who is one of the nicest most personable guys I have met. I really do hope that one day we will meet again.
Leaving the Panama our next PoC was Santa Marta in Columbia. Like Cabot San Lucas this place has an abundance of natural beauties. Shane and I took a tour into the Columbian Jungle (yeah, I know. What were we thinking?). On our return we still had time to walk their beach strip and meet a heap of locals who were engrossed in the football (soccer of course) on TV in store windows. We also saw the home of Simon Bolivar a national hero and almost god-like figure to the Columbians. With another wonderful sunset (Shane has a knack for sunrise and sunset pix) we left Santa Marta for our final PoC before Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
If I start too much about Aruba I will be here writing all night. Aruba stole my heart. As one of the “A,B,C” islands this mighty little island goes by the slogan “one happy island” and just in our short stay we can understand why. What a fantastic place. We had a ball and were genuinely sad to leave. For a little place they make a huge impression. You must try Aruba.
Two days later we hit Florida and the end of our cruise. We’ve been here a week now and love it but I’ll put more on this in the next blog post. For now I will say Adios Amigos (got that from Me-He-Co).