Star Princess: 12-day Greek Isles Venice to Rome

In August 2011 Sharon and I visited Venice for 3 days prior to embarking on a 12-night Greek Island cruise aboard the Star Princess. Highlights of the pre-cruise stay are summarized in an earlier posting on this site. 


This cruise featured a very port-intensive itinerary with only one full day at sea. It was an excellent itinerary which will be repeated several times in 2012 on the Crown Princess.  This itinerary provides a nice sampling of ports in 4 different countries.  Our brief stops in Croatia and Turkey make me anxious for return land-based visits.

Star Princess at Santorini

Venice “sail away”: we boarded the ship on a Monday afternoon and the ship stayed in port for that evening and into the next day. We could have purchased passes for unlimited transfers to and from St. Marks Square. But after 3 full days in Venice we were ready to relax and enjoy the ship. On Tuesday at 1PM the ship departed passing St. Marks on its way to Croatia. We watched the sail away from the top deck; it was nice to see the sights from the perspective of being 15 stories up.

passing St. Mark's Square during 'Sail Away'

Dubrovnik, Croatia: A highlight of a visit to Dubrovnik is a walk around the ancient city walls that encircle the old town. We arrived on a very hot day.  We left the ship as early as we could so that we could complete the wall walk before the hottest part of the day. The ship docks at a location which is a long walk from the old town; to preserve time and energy we spent $15 on a taxi ride to town.

There is an admission charge to walk the walls, about $14 in local currency only, but credit cards are accepted. The walk involves lots of steps but can easily be done by anyone who is moderately fit. There are great views from the various outlooks. A complete circumnavigation took about 2 ½ hours to complete.  An audio device can be rented for about $7; it was moderately informative.

Dubrovnik Wall Walk

One regret of our visit is that we weren’t dressed properly to participate in one of the kayak tours offered near old town; perhaps next time.

Kayakers explore lagoon below the old town

Corfu, Greece:  Corfu is a large island, about 40 miles long, located in the Ionian Sea. It is a very green island covered in lush foliage. For this stop I booked a Princess shore excursion, the Paleokastritsa, Monastery and Kinopiastes Village tour. Paleokastritsa is a village perched above 6 coves on a rocky shoreline. The monastery was very picturesque and it had great views of the shoreline below. We were taken to a village tavern for snacks and a folkloric show. The folkloric show consisted of two musicians and two dancers performing 3 dance routines in different local costumes. The show concluded with the classic ‘dancer picks up a table with his teeth’ routine. It turned out that the ‘snack’ was actually a very tasty light lunch and it was served with unlimited local wine. It’s really nice when a tour operator under-promises and over-delivers.

Katakolon, Greece: this is the port city that is used for visits to the ancient site of Olympia. Many passengers traveled to Olympia via shore excursion or independently but I decided that a beach day was in order. There is a small pebbly beach called Renata that is a short walk from the cruise dock. The beach is quite pleasant but rocky into the water so water shoes are quite useful. When we arrived at 9AM we had a good selection of loungers to rent but the beach pretty much filled up by 10:30. There was a small bar/café above the beach. Overall it was a quite pleasant location. The local village of Katakolon is supposed to have some nice tavernas but we didn’t venture into town.

Renata Beach at mid-day

Athens:  There was some concern about the Athens stop due to the civil unrest and strikes related to the government's austerity measures.  I had been following the new stories but fortunately things had settled down by the time of our visit.

Athens lies about 12 miles from its port city of Piraeus. I had planned an independent trip to visit the Acropolis and other nearby sites by using the local subway. However the day before our arrival the ship announced that the subway was closed for maintenance and that taxis would be at a premium. We discussed our plans with our dining companions and decided that we would leave the ship early in the morning and share a taxi to the Acropolis.

When attempting to hire a taxi in Athens you are subjected to a major sales pitch for a private taxi tour. We turned down the first offer of one for 200 euro, about $290. We ended up agreeing to another one for 160 euro, about $230. In retrospect this worked out reasonably well.  But towards the end of the tour the driver became somewhat surly when we turned down his proposal to drive us down to see the Corinth canal for an additional 100 euro. We had another minor incident at the end when we declined his offer to leave us in a waterfront restaurant in Piraeus. My takeaway from this experience is that it is crucial to determine exactly where you are going and how long will be allocated for each of the stops. At one stop he gave us 45 minutes total to visit the Roman agora (mostly useless), the Greek agora (a huge site) and Hadrian’s Library (didn’t make it—ran out of time). I was unable to insert one of my major desires, a visit to the new archeology museum adjacent to the Acropolis. This shortcoming is covered by my philosophy “it’s always good to leave something for your next visit.”

The Parthenon is always covered with scaffolding

Theatre of Dionysus, aka "Yanni's Theatre"

 Mykonos, Greece: we arrived at Mykonos, everyone’s favorite party island, at about 1AM on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. The ship allowed passengers to go into town to experience the late-night revelry. We waited until morning. We awoke to a very windy day. The ship docks about a mile from town with no sidewalks on the narrow road. For safety considerations the ship strongly recommended using the overpriced local shuttle to get to town. We planned a beach day at Paradise Beach, reached by bus from town. We eventually found the bus station and arrived at Paradise about 15 minutes later. It was less windy there. The beach was pleasant and the water was reasonably warm. This beach has a reputation for wild late-night parties but during the day everything is calm.

After many hours at the beach we returned to explore the town. Even though we aren’t shoppers we spent some time visiting the high end jewelry stores and admiring the unique pieces created from gold and gemstones.

Mykonos town with cruise ships in the background

Sharon with a resident pet pelican

Paradise Beach

Kusadasi, Turkey:  Kusadasi is the port used to access Ephesus, an ancient Greek city later occupied by the Romans. Only a small portion of the ancient city has been excavated but the excavation and restoration was performed exceedingly well. I have read that the ruins of Ephesus provide the best visit for ruins of any site in the greater Mediterranean region; they are certainly impressive.

Reviews on cruisecritic.com led me to Ephesus Shuttle, a tour operator based in Kusadasi (http://www.ephesusshuttle.com/). They offer a variety of tour options and I selected the basic Ephesus tour plus the Terrace Houses. The cost for the tour for four passengers with a driver and guide in a very comfortable van was only $56/person. Our guide was college educated, extremely articulate and he provided an outstanding guiding experience.  The walk through the Terrace Houses provides some insight into how the wealthy residents of Ephesus lived.

Celsus Library

Terrace Houses were adorned with frescos



Every tour in Turkey seems to include a visit to a carpet factory. We were promised that this visit would be brief, informative and without sales pressure. During the demonstration of carpet making, Sharon had an opportunity to learn how to tie a few knots. After the demo, we were shown a variety of carpets in different sizes and qualities but we politely declined to purchase any. On our return to the port we were dropped off at a port-side restaurant which had very good food at reasonable prices.

Sharon learns the skill of carpet knot tying

Rhodes, Greece:  Rhodes is a very popular beach destination for Europeans.  Many cruise passengers opt for a shore excursion to visit the acropolis at Lindos or explore the medieval walled city of the city of Rhodes.  We began with a walk to the nearby beach district of Elli, about a mile walk from the cruiseport.  The beach had decent sand, warm water, and moderately priced loungers for rent.  After several hours of enjoying the beach and the Aegean water, we wandered through the old town.

Medieval walled city of Rhodes

Santorini, Greece:  The current topography of Santorini is what is left after a huge volcanic eruption over 5000 years ago blew up much of the island.  Here is a satellite image of Santorini today:

Ships "dock" in the central caldera and transport passengers to a tender dock on the edge of the caldera.  From here, you have a three choices to reach the main city of Fira at the top of the cliff: a walk up the donkey path, a donkey ride up the path, or a cable car ride.  In this picture you can see the tender dock at the bottom, Fira at the top and the zig-zag pedestrian/donkey path connecting them.  The cable car is barely visible on the left:

Santorini is incredibly popular and our visit was somewhat hampered by the presence of seven other cruise ships in port.  I had planned some independent exploration but the huge number of visitors made me nervous about the availability of local buses and taxis.  I selected a Princess shore excursion that included a visit to a winery and a visit to the picturesque village of Oia.  We also visited a small museum containing many artifacts from the pre-explosion island.

the village of Oia features wonderful sunsets

Naples, Italy:  Naples has a bit of a bad reputation for crowding and petty crime so I wanted to do an excursion.  One of the Cruise Critic members organized a private shore excursion for 12 passengers visiting Pompeii and the Amalfi coast (http://www.aptours.it/).  Our tourguide did a great job of showing us around Pompeii, the Roman town buried in ash by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79AD.  Our two-hour tour of Pompeii was followed by a bus ride to the towns of Positano and Sorrento.  An excellent pizza lunch highlighted our afternoon.

Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius in the background

view along Amalfi coast

pizza at il Leone Rosso in Sorrento

Rome, Italy:  The cruise ended at Rome's port city of Civitavecchia.  Last year we spent five days in Rome at the conclusion of a Crown Princess transatlantic voyage.  For this voyage we proceded directly to the Rome airport.  Disembarkation and the Princess bus transfer to the airport were both very well organized and efficient.

The ship:  The Star Princess is one of Princess' larger ships at 109,000 tons and 2,600 passengers.  It was refurbished in 2008 to add Movies Under the Stars, the Sanctuary and the Piazza.  Our category BB cabin had a double-sized balcony, half covered, half open.

Category BB balcony cabin

the Piazza features frequent entertainment

"Movies Under the Stars" is very popular all day



the adult pool below the Sanctuary



Venice Italy, pre-cruise trip


Prior to our August 2011 12-night Greek Island cruise on the Star Princess, I booked 3 nights in Venice. Venice is a compact set of interconnected islands.  I found it to be much more approachable than Rome and I very much enjoyed our visit.

typical scene along the Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge in the distance

 

some visitors opt for a gondola ride

Sharon at St. Mark's Square

vegetable market near Rialto Bridge

Hotel: this can involve a major expenditure if you wish to stay in one of the upscale canal-side locations. Hotels seem to run anywhere from $150 to over $1000 per night.  If you are carrying luggage, location becomes a significant consideration as getting to many of the hotels will require carrying your luggage over one or more bridges over the canals.  Most bridges have steps tall enough to require picking up your rolling suitcases.  If someone has any mobility issues at all, they should strongly consider taking a private water taxi transfer to/from the airport and to/from the cruise dock and using a hotel that is near a dock.  The water taxi typically runs about $150 per trip.

Westin Regina near San Marco ($700-1000/night)

I booked a much more modest place, the Hotel Santa Lucia near the train station, only $115/night without breakfast.  It was completely adequate with good air conditioning (important in summer).  It was near a snack bar with good pastries and fresh-squeezed orange juice. 

Shortly before leaving for Venice I discovered a very interesting website, Tom's Port Guides (http://www.tomsportguides.com/).  He recommends staying on the mainland near the Mestre train station.  To tour Venice the train provides frequent and quick service into the island and a major vaporetto stop is directly in front of the Venice train station.  From Mestre you can get a relatively reasonably priced taxi directly to the cruiseport.  After lugging 50-lb suitcases over the Constitution bridge and through the cruiseport in Venice, I'm inclined to agree with him. 

Local transport: Venice proper is fairly compact and theoretically you can walk anywhere.  However the twisting streets and limited passages over the canals make walking to a destination a bit like going through a maze.  Local water buses, called vaporetto, provide transport on the canals.  Individual tickets are expensive (about $10/ride) but day passes and multi-day passes are available.  Some tourbooks recommend carefully planning your days to make best use of a single day pass.  I decided that it was best to purchase a pass for our whole 3-day stay ($50) and not worry about it.  On two occasions, once during the day and once during the evening, we took the vaporetto for its entire length just to see the sights and we really enjoyed both journeys.

Vaporettos provide efficient local transport

Murano and Burano: I highly recommend a day trip to Murano, the famous glass making  island, and Burano, the lace making island.  The glass stores are almost like museums with amazing tableware and sculptures.

outdoor glass sculpture in Murano

most houses in Burano are brightly painted

Getting to the cruise port: it sound easy when reading the tour book.  Take your luggage to Piazzale Roma (near the train station), purchase a ticket for the People Mover, ride  the People Mover to the cruise port, walk to the luggage drop-off point for your cruise, and check in for your cruise.  This isn't too much of a burden for someone who is moderately fit carrying a reasonable amount of luggage.  However it is a major undertaking for anyone with mobility issues.  Anyone staying in Venice proper should strongly consider booking a water taxi.

In summary, I really enjoyed Venice and three days seems to be just about the right amount of time to explore the various sites.

BC

Hoover at British Columbia Fall

Bob's new Princess Cruises experiences

For our sixth Princess cruise, I was determined to try some new Princess-specific experiences. I feared that this would be a challenge as our 12-night Star Princess Venice to Rome Greek Island itinerary was very port intensive with only one day at sea.

This was a great itinerary with on overnight in Venice providing two half-days to see the city along with stops in Dubrovnik Croatia, Corfu, Katakolon (for Olympia), Athens, Mykonos, Kusadasi Turkey (for Ephesus), Rhodes, Santorini and Naples before concluding in the port city for Rome. I did manage to accomplish several 'firsts' as described below:




Bob, Sharon and new cruise friend enjoy Sabatini's

 

First alternative dining experience: Sabatini's Italian restaurant. I'm generally very happy with the food in the main dining room so I've been reluctant to spend the $20/person for the Italian venue or the premium steakhouse. Also, Sabatini's had a reputation for significantly overfeeding you. Recently they switched to an a la carte menu so I decided to give it a try. Our experience was marred by an arrogant and obnoxious head waiter and marginal service. However we enjoyed three starters and all were excellent. The main course lobster tail was large and perfectly cooked and served in a lobster bisque sauce.  Except for Tommy Toy's, this was the best lobster that I have ever eaten. The accompanying lobster risotto was gummy and not very appetizing but I didn't really need the starch. Another minor disappointment is that the dessert menu lacked a real chocolate dessert. Overall I would rate the dining experience to be quite good provided that you select good starters. I will likely try the Crown Grill steakhouse on my next cruise.




A portion of the Sanctuary

  First Sanctuary experience: most of the Princess ships have been refitted with an adult-only quiet area called the sanctuary. On the Star it is located above the adult pool and the spa. I am not a big user of the pools on-board and never visit the main pool as it is usually quite a zoo and on this voyage the indoor pool was filled with lots of kids. The adult pools on many of the ships are generally very comfortable. On the Star there were only 6 lounge chairs on either side of the adult pool and half of these were normally in full sun. One day I went to the pool about 1PM to find that all of the loungers on the shady side were occupied or 'saved' with towels and stuff. I decided to move upstairs to the Sanctuary where I could rent a lounger for $10 for the afternoon. I found that all of the best lounge locations were already taken by people that had booked the full day ($20) experience. However I found a nice location in dappled shade and settled in to read my book. Several times servers brought me fresh water flavored with lemon. They also offered food service for a small service charge (something like $3). It is a short walk down to the adult pool and hot tubs. At one point a group of loud Europeans began whooping, hollering and doing canon balls into the pool. I was a bit surprised that no one from the Sanctuary or the adjoining spa did anything to correct this behavior. I solved the problem by requesting a complementary mp3 player which came with high-end Bose noise canceling headphones. They really work. I very much enjoyed my Sanctuary afternoon and will repeat it on future cruises.

First Princess afternoon tea: each day between 3:30 and 4:30 an afternoon tea is featured in one of the main dining venues. White-gloved waiters pour from prebrewed pots of tea while other waiters circulate with platters of finger sandwiches, pastries and scones with cream and jam. This experience is not as elegant as on Cunard where the stunning Queens Room venue and live musicians create a very special event. However the Princess tea is a reasonably civilized experience and provides a nice opportunity to chat with fellow passengers. It is worth checking out.

First 'special order ethnic meal' in the main dining room: I had read on Cruise Critic that it is possible to special order either an Indian or a Filipino meal in the main dining room. I was interested in trying their Indian offering. Since our table of eight only had four diners, I recruited three friends from the 'anytime' dining venue to join us. I spoke with the head waiter and she agreed that it could be done the following day. I was expecting a full dinner, perhaps starting with Mulligatawny soup, papadams with chutney, some samosas and an interesting main course. As we sat down our waiter presented us with the normal menu for the evening. I reminded him that we were going to be having the Indian dinner. After the third time he asked us what we wanted to eat I determined that we had a failure to communicate. I chased down the head waiter and explained my concern. She informed me that the 'Indian meal' is only a main course with two side dishes and that we should order soups, salads and starters from the traditional menu to round out our meal. She returned to the table with me and took our orders for some starters. After our starters the Indian food arrived featuring chicken in a red sauce (they called it tandoori but it was more likely a variant of tikka masala), an amazing spinach and corn dish, and a garbanzo dish. I found the chicken to be quite good and loved the spinach. I don't eat garbanzos but it got favorable reviews from the others. Dessert was from the main menu (thankfully as gulab jamun and rice pudding don't qualify as proper desserts in my opinion). With regard to the confusion, clearly I didn't ask enough questions when arranging the event. Now that I understand the system, I'd be inclined to try again on another voyage as the Indian food provides a nice diversion from the normal meat/fish/poultry offerings.

First Princess airport transfer: our outbound flights were scheduled from Rome airport, a distance of over one hour from the cruise port. On a previous cruise into Rome I had used a private taxi service for the transfer of four people to downtown Rome. This time the same taxi service offered an 8:30 AM pickup for an 11:00 AM flight which I found to be too risky. Princess initially offered a 7:00 meeting time but I was able to switch to a 6:00 AM meeting time. Promptly at 6:00 we were released to the gangway for a short walk to the baggage claim terminal. Our bags were neatly laid out in color-coded areas. Our luggage was loaded onto a bus and we departed by 7:15. We were at the terminal by 8:30 and met by a Princess rep who provided luggage carts. Our arrival was in plenty of time for a very inefficient US Air check-in process. Overall I was very impressed with Princess' ability to provide a virtually effortless transfer to the airport.

Conclusion: many cruisers are reluctant to spend additional money on specialty restaurants and experiences like the Sanctuary. Given the very low per diem rates currently offered by Princess, this seems short sighted. While spending $20 on a special meal or $10-20 on a Sanctuary experience is not going to turn a $100/day Princess cruise into a $400/day Crystal cruise, these expenditures can make the very affordable Princess cruise feel a bit more special. I suggest that Princess cruisers give them a try.

StayCation

In February, the kids had a week off, but I was not sure I would be able to take the time off work. I negotiated a few days off so I started making phone calls. I wanted to stay in San Francisco near the wharf, but there was some trade show taking all the local rooms. The Best Western agent I was talking to found me a 50% off rate at a hotel only 30 minutes out of SF, but right on the beach.



The first day we drove directly to SF and bought the SF pass. It included tickets to several attractions and saves hundreds if you use them all... We started by using our first ticket on a bay cruise under the Golden Gate bridge. Kids loved that. Then to pier 39 for Bubba Gumps. We used a ticket from our pass to explore the Aquarium by the bay. We then headed to the cable cars for the price of 1 more ticket (unlimited rides). It started to rain, so we bailed and picked up some chocolate at Ghiradelli's. The rain was picking up as well as the wind, so we decided to head to the hotel.






When I arrived in Pacifica, the hotel looks a little weathered, but it is right on the beach. The agent asked for my business card and upgraded me for free to their best ocean view/balcony room RIGHT OVER THE BEACH on the 3rd floor. It was a beautiful view. We unpacked and went walking around the hotel. They had a few shops and restaurants around the area, so we picked a burger place. They had many choices and we all picked something a bit different and shared. We left and picked up some Dryer's ice cream on our way out.

That night at the hotel was amazing.. we kept the door open most of the time and just listed to the ocean as I worked (one of the deals to get away...).



The next morning, we headed out to a little Mom & Pop shop for breakfast, but we missed them by 5 minutes.. they closed at 10:30 to prepare for lunch...so we went a few doors down to the High Tide for breakfast. I am not exaggerating, we could have ordered 1 plate and all shared it. I have never seen such large plates overflowing with food. Not even my teen son could finish.

Back to SF for another busy day of touristing... started at the Walt Disney Museum, which I loved, but my youngest wanted to rush through. Then to Exploritorium for a day of kids hands on fun...We stayed until they closed then picked up Gorilla's BBQ (From Dine in's, Diners & Dives show). Again, so much food and so little room... It was really good thought.



That night, a bad storm blew in. I woke up around 2 am to what sounded like gun fire on our patio doors. It was raining and hailing so hard I thought the glass was going to break. Keep us up for several hours, so we all curled up and watched TV for a bit.

The next morning, the sun was shining and we tried breakfast at the Hotel restaurant. It was really good, but pricey. The view was wonderful, with a stacked row of tables all having an ocean view. We packed up and checked out and headed back to the city. We spent the day at the CA Academy of Science. Fun for all and then only a 35 minute drive home.

The benefits of a staycation is that it is far enough away to feel like a vacation, but close enough that we didn't lose days traveling. (rather inexpensive too)...Another great thing was it was Tulipmania in SF - so the whole city was beautiful:

Panama Canal on Island Princess, November 2010

In late November Sharon and I traveled to Ft. Lauderdale to embark on a 15-night cruise to Los Angeles on the Island Princess.  This was an excellent trip with an interesting itinerary on a recently refurbished ship.  I particularly enjoyed this cruise because:
--cruise length of 15 days is a good amount of time to really get to know a ship and enjoy its features
--there was a good balance of days at sea and port stops
--two excellent lecturers, one who addressed the ports and their history (no shopping pitch!), the other spoke about various topics related to space travel.
--an extra day in Panama: this itinerary features the 'Princess 2-day Experience' including a day spent at Fuerte Amador so that passengers can further investigate the Panama Canal, visit Panama City visit the rainforest.  I found port this to be a great addition; this port and Puntarenas Costa Rica were our favorite port stops and we hope to visit both countries on a land-based trip sometime soon.

Partial Transit or Full Transit?  Canal cruises are available as a partial transit, generally 10-days from Florida, in which they enter the Caribbean-side locks into Lake Gatun, then exit these same locks and return to Florida.  Full transit voyages are generally 14 or 15 days from Florida to LA or San Diego or reverse.  I prefer a longer voyage so I selected the full transit.  I chose to start in Ft. Lauderdale primarily to get the longer flight out of the way at the beginning.  We took a Jet Blue red-eye nonstop SFO-FLL flight, checked into an inexpensive hotel (Days Inn Dania Beach), spent a fun day hiking around the area, purchased some wine for the cruise and had a great fish dinner at a Florida-style diner.  A disadvantage of the full transit is that there are 2 Mexican Rivera ports that many people may have already visited.

The ship: Island Princess:  this ship was built in 2003 and carries just under 2000 passengers.  It has recent improvements like "Movies Under the Stars" but it is too narrow to incorporate the Piazza-style atrium.  I found the ship to be in excellent condition and quite user-friendly.




Island Princess at anchor at Cabo

 


"Movies Under the Stars" screen at sailaway

 












The food: I'm generally quite happy with the dinners in the main dining room so I've yet to try any of the Princess specialty restaurants. Our experience was enhanced by an excellent waitress who helped guide us to good menu selections each evening. We ate about half of our lunches in the main dining room. In addition to a more civilized dining experience you get to meet some interesting passengers who are randomly assigned to your table. I had a really good bratwurst at the grill and the pizza was quite good if it was relatively fresh.

Shore excursions: During this trip we used a combination of  independent shore excursions (coordinated by using the Cruise Critic Roll-call message board) and Princess shore excursions.  The independent excursions weren't much cheaper than the Princess excursions but group sizes were much smaller.  The Princess excursions offer somewhat lower prices if booked online prior to the cruise rather than onboard.  And yes, I know that there is always a measure of risk of being stranded when on a non-Princess excursion but this risk can be minimized by careful selection of tour operator and itinerary.

Aruba:  We had a relatively short stay in Aruba (7AM until noon).  Many of the passengers did beach oriented excursions but we were up for something a bit more adventurous.  I booked us on a Princess excursion featuring a nature hike in Arikok National Park.  This hike was led by a park ranger who was very knowledgeable about the plants and wildlife.  During our few hours on the trails we saw  lizards, goats, colorful flowers, and interesting cacti.  At the conclusion of the hike we were taken to a beautiful beach where I was able to swim in the warm water for about 1/2 hour.  On our ride back to the ship we drove through the hotel zone; someone who enjoys fancy hotels and beautiful beaches could really enjoy a trip to Aruba.

Divi Divi Tree

A typical Aruba beach scene



Cartagena, Columbia:  I booked a private tour coordinated by a cruise critic member.  This tour used Lee Miles private tours, tour C-CC,  http://www.destinationcartagena.com/privatetours/,  This tour began at the fort and continued with a walking tour of the old town including a famous church and palace.  The streets of the old town were quite scenic, reminding me somewhat of New Orleans.  We really enjoyed our day there but I wouldn't likely revisit Cartagena for a longer stay. 

The Canal Passage: The Panama Canal is an amazing feat of engineering, perserverance and medical beakthroughs.  It was initially begun by the French who were defeated by lack of money and disease.  Americans took over the effort in 1904 and the canal opened ten years later.  Prior to the cruise I obtained an excellent video from the library: A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama. This video was also shown onboard the ship and was augmented with a lecture about the history of the canal construction.

We woke up very early to be able to see the entry into the first lock.  Much of the canal passage was narrated by the port lecturer and available on all of the outside decks.



freighter entering lock, we will use the lock on the right



Clearance to the edge of the lock



on our way out to the Pacific Ocean



Fuerte Amador, Panama:  this is the port for Panama City.  We arranged a private tour to visit an Embera Indian village.  This tour was guided by an American woman, Anne Gordon de Barrigon, who is married to one of the local Embera.  Princess offers a similar excursion but the reviews told me that Anne would do a much more personalized tour (and we were not disappointed).  The tour included a scenic drive, a trip on the river in a dugout canoe, a visit to a waterfall, and a visit to a village.  The village visit included a dance performance, lunch, a Q&A session with one of the village leaders, and a tour of the village compound.  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and I highly recommend a trip with Anne (http://emberavillagetours.com/).



Our welcome to the village







Part of the dance demonstration

Anne showing kids some photos on the laptop

Puntarenas Costa Rica:   For this stop I booked a Princess excursion called "Forest Sky Walk and Pura Vida Gardens".  We had a small group, about 14, with an outstanding guide.  After this excursion I am anxious to return to Costa Rica to see more of this country, likely to visit Panama at the same time.  A highlight of this excursion is a hike through the rainforest including crossing several bridges suspended high in the tree canopy.



Our very knowledgeable guide



Sharon on the suspension bridge

Acapulco:  On a recent cruise visit I attempted a self-guided walking tour from the cruise port but we found that this was not very satisfying.  For this trip I booked an independent tour arranged through Rosie's tours http://www.acapulcorosiestours.com/.  Rosie met us at the dock and handed us off to a driver-guide who gave us a nice overview of Acapulco including some of the famous sites from the 1950's when Acapulco was a mecca for the Hollywood types.  The Cruise Critic group was divided among 3 vehicles; ours had about 10 passengers.  I was very happy with Rosie's operation and highly recommend it.

The two pictures below are us with Acapulco as the backdrop and one of the famous cliff divers.  There is also a link to a very short video of a cliff dive.

Cabo san Lucas:  another short port stop (7AM-2PM).  I booked a Princess excursion to Todos Santos, an 'artsy' town just over an hour north of Cabo.  We were given a short walking tour of the town finishing with lunch at Hotel California (some claim that this hotel was the inspiration for the well known Eagles song but that claim is generally in dispute.)  I found this excursion to be mildly amusing but I don't highly recommend it.

Some tips:
--one of the main dining rooms was open at embarkation.  This is a more civilized way to start your journey and avoids the crowds of newbies in the buffet.  This feature is not advertised, you must seek it out through a search of the various dining rooms.
--there is a dessert that it available but never on the dessert menu: the Volcano.  It is basically a glorified banana split but it is a beautiful presentation.  Order it early in the sailing; your tablemates will be jealous and will order one for themselves the next night.
--there are two 'semi-secret decks' at the front of the ship which are great for watching the passage through the locks.  Go to either the Baja or Caribe deck and go all the way forward through a pair of doors to the outside.  We spent several hours here during the day and it was never crowded.  It's a great place from which to take photos.