Panama Canal Cruise 2023

We are up at 4am and out of our room by 4:40. Haul our bags down and pick up a cup of coffee while we wait to board the bus to the airport. It's about a 30 minutes drive. We are there a little before 6am for our 9:30 flight! We check in and drop our bags which will not go all the way to Denver. Thru security and time to see if our priority pass gets us into the Copa lounge. It's a decent place to sit but not much in the way of breakfast. Find our gate and go thru security yet again! Plane is full but we luck into having an empty seat in our row. We brought some sandwiches that I made on board and they do the trick for lunch.  We arrive a little bit early so basically have 2 full hours to claim our bags and drop them off again, get through immigration and security all over again. Not a long wait before we are boarding. Land in Denver around 4pm. Get our bags and get an Uber. We are home by 6pm. Saimin bowls for dinner and off to bed. 

We are docked in Panama across from the amazing tall and spectacular city skyline. Our city tour today starts at 1pm so we are able to enjoy a leisurely morning and have time for lunch before heading to the bus. I will miss my morning croissant and coffee! Our tour mostly goes thru the old colonial quarter. We drive past the Bio museum which is designed by Frank Gehry. We walk thru the city for about 30 minutes, seeing a church with the Golden altar. We also see a very extensive nativity scene that is many years old. We have a half hour to shop and our guide directs us to a Panama hat store. Nice store with nice people to help out.  Back at the ship to relax and have our last meal onboard. I enjoy the last sunset and Steve goes to the spa. We eat again at the restaurant. Baked Brie, lamb shoulder, duck magret, brownie. To bed early as we have set our alarms for 4am!

Today we are transiting the canal, the whole reason we are here. Steve is up at 6:30 am to grab us some seats in the Explorers Lounge. We are the early birds. Soon the ship is starting to move in. After a short sail we are entering the Gatun Locks. Tony, the geologist, does some running commentary. So interesting to see the ships go up and and then down in the locks. Best view is from the top decks but it is hot so hard to last up there. Once we are in Gatun Lake we head back to the room to shower. Then we grab some lunch while we are going through the Culebra Gap.  Another lock and then we make our way to the last set of locks, the Miraflores. We end up watching the last lock passage from our room. You really get the picture of how the locks fill and empty. We go thru with two little ships. We finally head into Panama City and dock. The skyline is very impressive.  We do dinner at The Restaurant. It's busy so we join up with another couple for a table ...

We have docked in the small port of Limon. Today's excursion is a boat ride thru the Tortuguero Canals, about a half hour bus ride. We have another great guide. The boat ride took us a little ways into the rain forest where our guides point out herons, iguanas, monkeys, and sloths. It's overcast so the ride is delightful but too short! On way back to ship we are dropped at a little craft market. Steve got his t shirt and I bought some Costa Rican coffee. They were not too aggressive which was a relief. Lunch at the pool grill for hot dogs and burgers. Then we sit and do some reading. We are in the high tea area so I indulge. We didn't eat much of it except for the scone.  Two more port talks this afternoon. One that was more about the history of the canal. The other given by the crazy geologist. It's very helpful as he gives us a clue as to what we will see tomorrow and where we should be.  In-between the two talks we hook...

No where to go as the ship is at sea all day. Leisurely morning with my standard room service breakfast. We go on a tour of the Bayeux tapestry reproductions that are on all the stair landings. It's all about William the Conqueror. Our UK friends have seen the original! We start the tour at the Explorers Lounge. Hadn't seen it yet. It's beautiful. Lunch is a gyro. Then it's Bronco time. They almost pull it out over the Texans but an interception with 28 sec to go kills it. Pool time. And an ocean double rainbow. Steve heads to an Italian wine tasting class.  We don't have dinner reservations till 8 so play some Black Jack and get a glass of wine in the atrium. Dinner is at Manfredi's. As good as the first time. We try to be a little more conservative about how much we eat. We both start with gnocchi dishes. Mine is fried and Steve has a Gorgonzola sauce and prosciutto. It is the highlight. Our mains are short ribs and Florentine steak. We...

After an overnight sail we are docked at Roatan. Our tour today is of the botanical gardens as well as a drive around the island. We get squeezed into a very small bus as bigger buses are not allowed on Roatan's roads. Weather is nice but a bit hot. Would be a nice beach day. The gardens are interesting enough and our garden guide is very knowledgeable. We don't see much of the garden and get to taste some fresh fruit. then we climb back on the bus to finish our circle of the island. A little shopping at the pier -- we buy a little wooden bowl and a tshirt. Lunch back on the ship. Steve heads to pool bar. I go back to World Cafe.  Afternoon by the pool. Steve is really into his pina coladas! We leave Roatan around 4pm. I watch us sail away. Roatan is very pretty, much like Hawaii, and doesn't appear to be as poor as the other stops we have been on.  Dinner at the Chef's Table. We join up with 2 other couples, one from Spokane, the oth...

The ship has dropped anchor a ways out because the harbor is too shallow. We have to take a tender to get ashore. It takes about 25 minutes. Then we board our bus for our tour of the islands and the ancient Maya site. It's almost an hour drive but we have an excellent tour guide who is full of info about Belize. The Maya Temple site of Autun Ra is much bigger than the one on Cozemel. We got the opportunity to climb to the top of a smaller temple and then the largest one. I opted out but Steve did one of them. We are back at the dock at 1:30 but requires an extra half hour to get back to the ship so we decide to eat at the pier. Not much choice and food is not great. Steve has some street tacos. I have a grouper fish sandwich. But I do try a billiken beer. Time to tender back to the ship. Listen to port talk on Roatan. Quick swim. Dinner at the Restaurant. Steve starts with cold prawns and I have a delicious duck and goose liver pate. Then a pasta ragu and sa...

Another room service breakfast. One could get spoiled. Our ship is docked at a pier in Cozemel, so an easy walk to our bus for our tour of the San Gervasio ruins.  Our guide is named Paco and he is a resident of Cozemel and has some Maya heritage. We get a tour of the city as we make our way to the site. Ruins are interesting especially when compared to Egyptian ruins. Our tour started at 10:30 and takes a couple of hours so it bridges lunch time.  We head back to the ship and are onboard in enough time to get lunch at the World Cafe. Have to anticipate the meal problem. But eating late is good as our dinner reservation is for 8:30. We listen to the port talk and have time for a quick dip. Then we go to the lecture on Central America Paradise. Time to head to Manfredi's for our Italian dinner.  Our reservation is at 8:30 and we aren't the only ones. But the restaurant does empty out. It's an Italian menu. I have ...