Dailies for the Rotterdam to Panama Canal

[pcann]

Does anyone know how I might get copies of the Dailies for the Rotterdam 10 day cruise to the Panama Canal? We will be taking the cruise 11/22/04 and would love to have dailies to check out before cruising.

[doone]

I did this cruise last March and its wonderful, you will enjoy it. I don't have any of the dailies, but any questions, please ask, I will be happy to answer them the best I can.

[sail7seas]

I did that cruise just before Doone and I think I have some of the daily programs. I don't have all, but a few. Like Doone, any questions, and I'd be happy to try to help.

[localady]

A question here-

Did either of you take an excursion from Colon after cruising the Canal in the morning??? If so which one and would you recommend it?

Thanks in advance! Your expertise is always appreciated!!!:cool:

[DFD1]

The Panama Canal railway excursion from Colon along the canal to Panama City and back in restored vintage air conditioned rail cars was a good trip for us when we were there on the Noordam a couple of years ago. You go along part of the canal and make a stop at the locks. Very scenic.....very ordinary snack lunch on board.

[BCEagle78]

My wife and I did the railway thing to Panama City last November.

The conductor was the most interesting part of the the trip. All he did was talk about his love of beautiful women and how he had spent time with the Miss Universe when the pageant was there a few years ago. They have a number of attractive young women on the train to serve refreshments. The conductor acted like they were his little "harem". We learned more than we wanted about him and less about the sights passing by around us.

The trip was amusing in some ways but we thought it was overpriced for what you get.

Just one opinion...

[jazzsea]

I will be on Rotterdam October 20 - 30, 2004 and one of my goals is to get copies of the Panama Canal "dailies" to prepare for our group cruise on Rotterdam, January 5, 2005.

If I am successful I will share them with you when I return.

Of course, I ask that you let me know what you think of the ship and itinerary when you get back....

[pcann]

Jazzsea, that would be super! If you could send info on your trip and the dailies. I would be happy to do the same. My e-mail is pcann4@comcast.net. Be sure to mention HAL in the subject line. Thank U again.

[doone]

I did the train ride that DFD1 described above and loved it, I would recommend that excursion as well.

If you have a stop in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, I HIGHLY recommend the Torteguera(sp) Canal excursion. I found this to be one of the best excursions I have ever taken. We boarded a bus and took about and hour ride through the banana plantation heading over to the canals. Once we got to the area where we were to board the boats to take us through the canals, there was a little area where you could buy some trinkets and use the facilities, then onto the canal boats. This was fantastic, we saw monkeys, sloths, all kinds of birds, turtles, crocodials, it was truly a wonderful excursion. I'd go back to Costa Rica just to do this excursion again. Oh and the coffee, gotta get some of that. The ship will offer you a package deal on Cafe Britt coffee. They'll mail it to your home so you don't have to worry about taking it with you, shipping is free. I enjoy this coffee so much, I am still ordering it through their web site, www.cafebritt.com just got a shipment last week.

You will certainly enjoy this cruise.

[BCEagle78]

Doone, while we might disagree about the train in Panama, we are 100% in agreement with the tour of the Tortuguero Canal out of Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. This was the highlight of our cruise. I wouldn't miss it.

[Gsel]

We did the same trip with Doone and the same excursions and agree with her completely. The Canals in Costa Rica are something to see, and something you will never forget. We are also ordering the coffee from Cafe Britt, a great company with wonderful coffee.

[doone]

Gsel, glad you are enjoying that coffee, it sure is the best.

[saltydog28]

doone-regarding the Cafe Britt-I have only had the whole bean light roast. Have you tried the dark roast or the other coffees they offer? And if you have gotten ground, how fine of a grind was it?
Thanks,
Pat.

[doone]

Saltydog, I have tried the Organic coffee, which is very good and then my FAVORITE one I truly love is the Tres Rios Valdivia. Dad loves the decaffeinated and I always buy the ground coffee, which is great. I find the ground coffee to be perfect for the auto drip coffee pots.

[localady]

Thanks to all for your very helpful comments! This is one of the reasons I love the CC board so much! :cool:

P.S. Was interested to see that our AAA magazine listed this website as one of their recommended websites for finding values in cruising!:)

[saltydog28]

doone-on the Cafe Britt website, have you click on 'contact us' then did their survey?
A $10. coupon.
Pat.

[doone]

Yes, I have, that's pretty nice.