Panama Travel Answers

First suggestion, skip the cruise excursions and check out cruisecritic.com for suggestions on how to make the most of your day in port. There's nothing wrong with taking a cruise, I like to think of it as maximizing travel, you sail overnight and you don't lose all that pesky time getting in between islands :-) It might help if you list where exactly you are stopping, I'm going to guess Ocho Rios for Jamaica. Think seriously about getting a private guide or at least one that is not ship provided. We used a company a couple of times while staying in Jamaica but it's better to get current recommendations. From Ocho, the most popular thing is Dunn's River Falls but it gets annoyingly busy once the cruise passengers start getting there. Ft. Lauderdale, are you flying in and staying or flying in and going directly to the cruise ship? Aruba I found to be beautiful but kind of sleepy, the beaches are gorgeous but there isn't a ton to do.

Not sure which port you are going to in Colombia and it would be easier if I knew what ship/cruise line it was, but I've done all of these ports except Jamaica. Ft. Lauderdale. if possible, fly in the day before and get a hotel that has both an airport and a cruise shuttle. I've been in and out of Ft Lauderdale several times, both on our own boat and on cruise ships - it is a good port to cruise from, but IMHO not very interesting. Aruba - I'm surprised that you are not also going to Curacao as usually the cruise lines do them together. Aruba has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. It was famous for this huge natural rock bridge, but that collapsed a couple of years ago. You can still see the remnants of it and also other similar smaller rock formations. Aruba has lots and lots of big sandy beaches if that is your thing. They also have casinos, and some diving and snorkeling. Now the thing people think of when you say Aruba is Natalie Holloway who disappeared when on a graduation trip. You can rent a car at the pier and just drive yourself around (it's a small island and you can't really get lost), or you can take a ship tour. Will you be at San Andreas Island or at Cartagena or Santa Marta? I have not been to Cartagena. San Andreas Island has only a couple of things on it worth seeing - there is an old Baptist church up on the hill with great views (if it is good weather). The people there were of African descent - English speaking former slaves. They don't regard themselves as Colombian, although they were made to learn Spanish. Our tour was a taxi tour for four people, and the taxis are not A/C. Santa Marta has an interesting cathedral where Simon Bolivar was originally buried and a Gold Museum. As for Panama - will you just go partway in and then come back, or are you going all the way through? When we did it we had a narrator who got on about 6 am as we approached the canal, and talked us through the canal. You need to get to your vantage point of viewing about 5 a.m. in order to secure a place. I went to the Crows Nest for the first transit (we went all the way through), and then went out on the shady side of the upper deck. On the way back I just stayed on the prominande deck. This would be one place where a room with a balcony would be worthwhile. I don't know if you will stop in Panama City or the San Blas Islands - if you are going to do that let me know and I can tell you about that, or you can read the travelogues I wrote, starting at Ft. Lauderdale "HAL Embarkation November 2008" - Port Everglades Travelogue by grandmaR

You will find the PC cruise very interesting for about the first hour then it's like watching paint dry. I wouldn't get all excited about staking out the "best" spot all that early as you will have plenty of time to see the locks and country side. As I recall we got on deck very early then after about an hour were in the dining room or maybe the bar. However, I loved doing the trip and would do a partial transit (we did the full Atlantic to Pacific) in a minute. Aruba has great beaches (not much else) we just walked off the ship, found a taxi to take us to Eagle Beach and hung out there. Jamaica (not a fan) I would stay on the empty ship and enjoy the day, but that's just me. Panama (we didn't stop) as we had just arrest Norreiga and they didn't recommend we go into Panama City. We did stop for a couple of hours at Balboa, but I doubt you will get that far west. Columbia, we did Isla Marrigitta (island, dah) off the coast on a more recent cruise and found the island to be awesome. Don't know if that's where you will stop.

My husband agreed with you about watching paint dry. But I found lots of fascinating photographic opportunities to keep me amused, particularly lighthouses and navigational ranges and I would do it again.

I took over 250 photos on the first transit and almost 200 on the second one. It would have been more if I had had to stop to eat.