Background on the cruise

The Panama Canal. I’ve always heard such grand things about it that I figured it was time to check it out. Ok, actually, Royal Caribbean helped me decide. The cruise I was going to go on after the Radiance did the Canal was cancelled and the boat was to be dry docked for a major renovation before moving it permanently to a Australia & New Zealand run. To make up for the cancellation, Royal gave me the ability to take what I would have paid on an 11-day cruise to this 15-day canal cruise. There’s no way I could have afforded this trip any other way. A little background about me: male, doing this trip solo, 35yo. With that background shared, let’s get this trip started.

Day 1 – Boarding and departure in Tampa

Normally I’m the crazy person who decided to catch a redeye flight the day before my cruise departure but this time I decided to fly out a whole day before. And am I glad I did! The flight I would have caught was cancelled due to mechanical problems and I would have missed my flight. If you’re going to do this long of a trip either come out the day before or book with the cruise line so they’ll hold the boat, should anything go wrong with your flight.

Tampa has to be the easiest port to get onto a ship. Miami, Ft Lauderdale, etc are all a circus. With Tampa you pull up to a small terminal, quickly go through security, and are on the boat within an hour max. My luggage even made it to my room within 3 hours. Try getting that from the other ports. I’m doing the canal on the Radiance of the Seas. Roughly 2500 people will be doing this trip with me. Given the boat is 13 stories I’m not expecting to feel like that many people are actually on here. Rooms are of average size. Enough to put your stuff away but not enough to really feel spacious. Closets are very nicely done and you should have no problem putting away all the items you brought with you. All-you-can-drink soda cards are $103 after gratitudly which isn’t bad seeing as a single soda will run $2.12. Here’s a little trick to save money on this cruise: bring your own water if you don’t like ship water. You can get it on as a carry-on bag IF the bottles are in a package and are shrink wrapped in the original bottler’s packaging. Water bottles are $3.79 each onboard.

We set sail at 5pm with first dining tonight at 6 and second dining at 9. Normally it’s either 5:30 or 8:45. Not a lot more to do tonight but relax and check out the boat.

Day 2 – Sea Day

The boat is 100% sold out though not at capacity (2160 onboard vs 2500 people possible). I can now safely say that of that 100% sold out, less than 40 people are under the age of 40. This is not a cruise you do if you’re young. Age of people here range from late 50s to mid 70s. Not many people over 70 and surprisingly most people here are in pretty good physical condition. Wheel chairs and walkers are the rarity compared to even the 7-day Alaska cruise I did. Yoga and other fitness classes are full with folks in their 60s. Maybe everyone’s here today because tonight is the first of three formal dinner nights.



Your activity level is something to consider when deciding what boat to do this canal with. Royal is more for the active, independent cruiser. Carnival is for anyone who just wants to get somewhere and is ok sacrificing various things for a cheaper price tag. Celebrity is for someone who wants a bit more luxury but not too much. Princess is for the people who is old and remembers the line from the 80’s tv show. A few friends have done Princess and have said the line has done down hill in quality since Carnival brought them a few years ago. All these lines will do a similar cruise so be honest in deciding what you want onboard the ship before picking a line – you’re going to be on the boat a LOT so pick the right boat for the excursion.

Day 3 – Sea Day

Thank goodness tomorrow is our first stop as I’m getting a little boat and cabin fever. Yes the boat is so big that it barely fits in the canal but still I need to get off and do something. The day is activity filled but nothing interests me. Thank goodness for the solid gym on board as I’ve already been there 2x a day each day thus far. Remember how I mentioned the average age of people? Here’s another reason why that’s a big deal for me, no one is up past 11pm. NO ONE. The last three nights, the dance club has had a max of 10 people (crew included). Piano bar is deserted. Casino; basically a ghost town. Even the ever popular Newlywed Game in the theater is barely at a third capacity. Not too surprisingly the first seating for dinner is 100% full and there are three dozen tables that are 100% empty for second dining. I’m starting to wonder if at my age I’m suppose to just enjoy the Canal by watching shows on tv until I’m older. Last night for the formal night there as a noticeable drop-off in the number of people at dinner. It appears that a whole lot of folks don’t want to dress up on this cruise. We’ll have to wait until Night 8 to see if this was a fluke or not.

Again today, more pool time, relaxing in the room, people watching, eating (and the food is really good thus far), and really getting ready for tomorrow. We’re doing 22 knots and the boat is barely rocking. Yes you can feel it but it’s the open ocean with 7’ swells. This is very impressive.

Day 4 – Cartagena, Columbia

What a beautiful city. When you arrive you the boat will pull into a shipping port that’s a solid 45 minute walk from the Old City. It’s a little further from there to get to the old fort (which is an impressive and massive structure). I previously decided not to book an excursion with the boat and am so glad I didn’t. All the excursions consist of getting on a bus, driving a bit, stopping to shop, driving, shopping, & repeat. Save your money unless you want to pay $70 for that.



We’re here today from 9am – 5pm. When you get off the boat you can easily get a taxi for $15-20 total (not per person) to take you to the Old City. The City is stunning and easily explored on your own.



It’s not a big town and you can see the Old City and the Fort easily via taxi’s and well within the typical boat duration. Columbia is hot and very humid so pack an extra water bottle with you and wear light, breathable clothing. And don’t forget your camera. Buildings are painted with vivid, bright colors.





People are very friendly and I felt extremely safe walking around. Of all the things that blew me away were the nachos at the Hard Rock Café in the Old City. The beans and chips were very different and absolutely delicious! Merchants take US dollars or stick with credit cards if you want. Visa is preferred though it appeared some took AmEx. There is traffic in the city so don’t push your luck planning your return to the boat. Allow 40 minutes for the 15 minute drive. For those of you who bring your own laptop, where you catch a taxi you can get wifi. 2 hours for $5. This is easily a town I would come back to on my own and explore.

Day 5 – Colon, Panama

I’m checking out some of the pictures from yesterday and realized I need to learn to use my camera better. Yesterday there was this haze that seemed to linger all day. I’m guessing that’s because of the humidity. Either way, in pictures, it caused some over exposure where the sky was a major component of the shot. I’ll try to photoshop them to salvage some of the pictures. If you’re on a ship that offers a photo class (and ours did) I’d ask them how to handle this kind of lighting condition before getting to Columbia.

This morning we’re checking out Colon. This is the second largest free-trade zone / market in the world, after Hong Kong. You will pull up to a tiny dock but there is food and some shopping (even a CVS-like store). The country uses US dollars as their currency so no conversion is required when paying for things. Surrounding the dock is poverty. Get a few blocks away and it gets better. The average person makes $300 US /month. In comparison, for those people who guide boats through the Canal, they make $20,000 / month.

You may hear that the city isn’t safe to do things on your own. Our boat even told us not to go out without a boat-sponsored tour for fear of crime. I didn’t get that scared, in-danger feeling from the town. Yes, after the US turned over the Canal to the people of Panama drug dealers from South America came in and filled the void. Things look to be changing now. Why do I mention this? Several people on the boat I talked to decided to hire a taxi on their own outside on the pier for the day to show them some sights for $100 and they had a fantastic experience (of course, disclaimer - your experience may vary). Should you think that’s too dangerous for you, there are plenty of options from our boat to let you pick from.



Most excursions you will book will stop for 30-60 minutes at the Canal so you can see ships come in and out of the Canal locks. I’m doing a 5 hour kayaking trip. For kayaking, after the Canal stop, we made a 50 minute drive to a boat that took us up the lake behind the first locks for an hour of kayaking. It’s a beautiful boat ride and fantastic kayak. There is a surge in the water where you will kayak around and some wind. If you’re not ready to work then you may find yourself in the boat that follows the kayakers. To get away from all of mankind and go from little island to island, looking at the plants, listening to the monkeys, and watching the birds fly around, is a thing of beauty.





The captain has informed us that we will likely be at the first (there are three total) canal sets at 6:30am. Another casual dining tonight though tonight there is going to be a pool desk buffet and dance party. 100+ people turned out. Perhaps the rest of the trip I should check out where the food is to find everyone.

Day 6 – Traveling the Canal

5:30am and I’m waking up in hopes of getting a good place on the bow of the ship. Unfortunately for me there are 50 people who have been here for an hour or so. I find a nice place on the side of the bow and I’m glad I woke when I did. By 6am the bow is packed on all levels.



You don’t get to get off the boat to see the canal locks today so I hope everyone saw them yesterday. The boat squeezes into the first lock step at 6:45 and we’re at the second door 10 minutes later. It’s amazing to see the boat lift up so easily. I looked at the space between the boat and the canal wall and there’s maybe a foot of clearance.



Today the ship paid the Canal $300,120 in fees to travel through from the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific. There’s a streaming webcam so friends at home can watch your ship go through the canal. After an hour or so I’m already beginning to feel a sunburn so I give up and watch from my cabin balcony. While on the man-made lake behind the Canal you see all the work that is being done to widen and deepen the canal for completion of 2013. It gave me an idea of the undertaking of 1912 to make this water body exist. By 5pm we’re now in the Pacific Ocean and are on our way to Costa Rica.

Day 7 – Sea Day

Eat, sleep, swim, tan. Need I say more?

Day 8 – Costa Rica

If you want to do anything here you must do an excursion. This port town is just a sandbar and it feels very 3rd world. There’s nothing to do here, everything is in the mountains. Mind you, the terrain jumps quickly from sea level to several thousand feel but it’s not something you should tackle by taxi. 210 people were on a non-ship sponsored excursion and they got back an hour past our scheduled departure. Had it not been for such a large number of people being late we would have left them. They were stuck in the mountains due to weather. Just plan on booking an excursion through your ship as the shortest distance you must go to see anything is 2 hours.



I did the Original Canopy Tour (and zip line). This was a 10-line course through the jungle of Costa Rica. Thankfully we’re at the end of the dry season so there’s not a lot of mosquitoes around. I can see how, when it’s really raining, you’d be eaten alive. If you’ve not done a lot of zip lining this would be a fun excursion. If you’ve done a few trails, I’d say skip this as you cannot go upside down and each line isn’t that long. Again, all about experience. My table mates did the Sights and Sounds of Costa Rica and were very happy as they got to see a little bit of everything there was to see / do in the country. It’s a 9 hour trip but from their pictures, I think I would have preferred to see all they did.

Day 9 – Sea Day

Wow, the trip is half way done and I’m enjoying this format of sea and port days. With the other cruises I’ve done I usually need a vacation from my vacation as it’s a series of get up, go, eat, and repeat. With this day on, day off format I can tire myself out in a port and then relax and chill out the next day. Mentally this is the first vacation I’ve been on where I am actually relaxed. Yes, it’s a bummer there are not more single people or even married folks my age that I could spend some time with. If that’s my only complaint about the trip when I’ll measure this trip as a total success. Weather has been perfect. Highs in between 85 – 91, fairly high humidity but not enough to be uncomfortable, mostly sunny, overall very comfortable. It’s only rained for 30 minutes and that was at the end of the day in Columbia. Otherwise, Mother Nature is taking care of us nicely.

Day 10 – Puerto Quetazal, Guatemala

Well, we were due for a stinker of a port and today is that day, both literally and figuratively. This morning when I opened the balcony door I was knocked over by the smell of what I can only liken to manure mixed with the aroma of forest fire. Don’t forget it’s also humid as heck so those smells mix and stick to everything. It’s a smell that you can’t get rid of nor will it leave your cabin while you’re docked here. Thus far all of the ports have been very solid and well worth the trip. Guatemala has no landscape other than being flat (at least as far as I can see), some jungle that you saw in the other cities, and not much else.

This morning there were two couples sitting next to me. “What’s your plan today?” asks couple one to which the second couple replied “Right there, tent city. We should be back on the boat in 10 minutes.” The actual port terminal is (no joke) 50 meters by 50 meters and can accurately be described as a tent city of vendors. There is nothing in eyesight of the boat to do.

There are two problems with this port right now: distance to things and the cost of everything. Boat excursions are double the price of Columbia and you get half the adventure. Want to visit a old Guatemala town? $89. See a coffee field, $99. Both activities are going to require at least 3 hours of driving each way. My dinner mates did both and they both had the same comment, people here are so SO poor and there are beggars everywhere when they got to their destination. The AVERAGE salary here is $2/hr. They said they just couldn't get over the poverty to enjoy the excursion.

If you don't want to see what it's like to be extremely poor just plan on this being a day to nap or hang by the pool. It’s suppose to be 98 degrees with 70% humidity. Maybe today will be the much overdue massage. I’m off to see what’s discounted today. Wifi fans, there is a spot but it's expensive, $5 for 30 min.



On the cool side of things, the President of Guatemala is onboard today! Apparently we're the largest ship to visit the port and the first ship that Royal has brought. Only two boats port here a month and the President is trying to drum up additional business with Royal. Now it makes sense why the army was out in droves all around the dock and pier.

Tomorrow is another sea day and then Acapulco.

Day 11 – Sea Day

People are different today. When we’ve had the last sea days people took the off time to relax, sleep in, eat, etc. Today the entire pool is filled, the library is filled, the computers are filled, couches filled. In contrast, the buffet is rather empty, there are hardly any “do not disturb” signs in the key slots. Everyone is either reading a book, enjoying their eReader, or sharing a laptop. One older couple even had their iPhone out just so they could play a game of backgammon. Seems that people are getting antsy and they just want to be busy. I can’t blame them, I’m feeling the same way. 10 days is a great number of days to be on vacation. But this 11th has me crawling to get back to work (ok, maybe not work but certainly home). Four more days… I may need to learn a new card game to hold me over these next days.

Day 12 – Acapulco

After Ixtapa, Acapulco is maybe the most beautiful Mexico port on the Pacific. Besides the beauty there is lots to do as a traveler. There’s a lot you can see when you visit here and all the excursions ships offer are pretty solid. Don’t want to do a formal tour? Just walk out the terminal, hang right, walk 100 yards or so and there are beautiful beaches. The cliff divers are always a safe and interesting excursion. The dolphin swim is unique in that you will swim in a stadium that mimics SeaWorld and after you get to spend time in the local water park. No one I talked to around the boat hired a private taxi or tour guide to show them the area.

Now, the down side with Acapulco. When I was here in 2008 it was a big, yet cozy and safe town. Things have changed a bit in the last 5 years. The drug violence has found its way to this town and problems have occurred in and near the tourist areas. If you decide to do any tour or sight seeing on your own, stick to the beaches. Should you decide to venture off the main street to see things, take a tour. Things are bad enough here that the US has officially issued a travel warning for all American citizens. The day before we arrived in port everyone received a separate piece of paper from the captain, warning us about the dangers and need to be extra safe. We received no such paper in any other port nor have I ever on any other trip I’ve been on. As a result of all this, the boat is packed. In fact, at noon you’d think we had a sea day with all the people still onboard. Rightly or not, I guess a lot of people are worried enough to simply not take a chance by getting off today.

Just be careful when you stop here. Be mindful of your surroundings and don’t put yourself in a position where someone or something could take advantage of you being our of your normal surroundings.

Day 13 – Sea Day

Those midnight buffets are sure tasty. The second or third trip to the pasta station and the open-almost-all-the-time grill has food that hits the spot. It would seem that today everyone realized they had fallen “victim” to the Cruse 4. If you don’t know, when the average person cruises they put on 4 pounds during a 7-day cruise. Why do I say people are aware of this today? The walking track around the upper deck is packed. All the gym equipment is being used. The cardio classes have no room on the floor. Lounges are not filled today like they have been. I guess the theory is that if they put the weight on in 11 days they can take off a good chunk before they get home if they’re REALLLLY serious about it (yeah, like that’s going to happen). Here’s a little trip, if your boat offers a class on how to eat correctly on your cruise, take it. It’s full of simple lessons on how to eat most what you want and yet not leave the boat and still be able to wear the pants you had on before embarking on the trip.

Day 14 - Cabo San Lucas