Cruise through the Panama Canal

I enjoyed my 14 day cruise so much last year, I decided to take a 16 day cruise that took me through the Panama Canal.

We boarded the ship on Valentine's Day in Miami, Florida. I tried real hard not to consider that it took 3 hours to board the ship as a bad sign. The weather was great and I had people to take care of me for the next 16 days.

Our first stop was an island owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines in the Bahamas. Unless you're a beach bunny who loves lying in the sun, there really isn't much to do so I stayed on the ship. The next 2 days were sea days and then a stop in Columbia. The Norwegian Joy is one of the largest ships holding over 5,000 passengers and 1,800 crew members. Because of the ship's size, we weren't able to dock in ports where there is lots of shopping. Instead we had to dock in cargo ports and take cabs to shopping areas. I wasn't that interested in any of the excursions offered and there was a lot of notices saying to be very careful about taking this cab and that cab. Since Columbia is a huge drug country, I decided it might be best to just stay on the ship. I missed getting my Columbia t-shirt but "Safety First".

Luckily that night I had tickets for the ship's stage production of Footloose. Footloose is one of my favorite all time movies so I was anxious to see this show. While the music was good, the performers were a little less than professional. I stayed through the whole performance because the end of Footloose is the best with their final dance. I should have left earlier. Not that great.

Our next adventure was through the Panama Canal. I was lucky that my friends were in the expensive rooms and had a front of the ship view of entering the canal. My geography isn't that great. I had no idea that the Atlantic Ocean was so much lower than the Pacific Ocean. To cruise through the canal, you enter a cement type of bath tub that raises the ship to the next cube and so on until you reach the elevation of the Pacific Ocean. It was exciting to watch but after awhile because it takes so long to "fill the tub" it becomes a little like watching paint dry.

We entered the canal around 7:00 in the morning and by 4:00 that afternoon we were still threading our way through Panama to hit the Pacific Ocean.

Even though we couldn't get off the ship, I was still able to get my Panama Canal t-shirt from the shops on the ship.

After spending 7 consecutive days on the ship, I jumped at the chance of getting off in Costa Rica. Again we had to dock at a cargo port but I was ready for this one with a 3 hour air conditioned bus tour. Costa Rica is a very mountainous country. It took about 45 minutes to get to a "city". I always thought Costa Rica was a place where people from America wanted to retire. To me it's still as impoverished as any other Mexican country. Our first stop took us to a plaza type area. We first toured the old Catholic Church. Beautiful sculptures and stained glass windows.

Outside, we were given fresh bananas, a staple of Costa Rica's economy. You really don't know what a banana tastes like until you've sunk your teeth into a fresh banana. It actually tastes like sugar. While enjoying our tasty treats, we were entertained with dancing by the children.

This cruise had more sea days than port days. Our next stop was Guatemala. I didn't plan an excursion but was entertained by the modest port shopping.

Our next stop, Mazatlan, wasn't much different from all the other ports.

I was just about ready to give up on finding my t-shirt when one of the shop owners rushed up to me to try and sell his handmade jewelry - which I wasn't interested in. But he did tell me where I could buy a t-shirt. Made my day!

Now Puerto Vallarta was my kind of port, filled with modern day malls. I laughed at this store called "Melissa". I was going to buy her something from there but it was mostly young girl shoes - nothing Melissa would have worn.

I was excited to find a Haagen Dazs ice cream parlor. I could buy an ice cream cone with American money but had to take change in pesos. Luckily I had enough change to buy an ice cream cone without having to worry about pesos change.

As I was walking back to the ship, there was an area right next to the dock where this guy was finger-painting on clay tiles. It reminded me of Michele and all her art classes. Michele, if you consider moving to Puerto Vallarta, you could probably make a fortune sketching and painting for tourists!!!

The vendors are so pushy and all the tiles I saw were nice but not the right colors for me - at least that's the excuse I used. So the guy decided to make me a special tile. I had no choice but to buy it. Thing is...I really like it. I just need to find a way to hang it over my mantle.

Our last port stop was Cabo San Lucas. The kids and I went there 8 years ago. It took me 3 hours and 5 miles to find Cabo Wabo, the place where we had lunch. It looked totally different. I didn't go in because I was totally lost and needed to find my way back to the ship.

Frank (my friend I met on my cruise last year) celebrated his birthday while we were cruising. He and Gloria never got off the ship. Even though the ship was big, I still felt claustrophobic at times and needed to get off the ship. Our cruise ended in Los Angeles and after a couple of days with Frank and Gloria in Vegas, I headed home. While I love long cruises, I'm not impressed with the ports of Mexico. I need to stick with my Caribbean ports!