Review of NCL Pearl cruise to Panama Canal - Dec 2016 with photos

Following is my review of my cruise on the NCL Pearl to the Panama Canal - December 8 -> 19, 2016. I took about 2,200 photographs (including over 600 in the Panama Canal) and several short videos (about twenty to thirty seconds each). Unfortunately it took me about three weeks to go through all the photographs, pick out the ones to post and those to link to (several photographs can be seen in each link). I'll post about 238 photographs and link to about 436 more. The review itself is 23 single spaced type pages (I'll post one day per post with photographs in between) and contains more than 13,700 words.

So, on to the review ...

NCL Pearl - Partial Transit of the Panama Canal - December 8 -> 19, 2016

Wednesday, December 7 - Travel Day

Before I start reviewing the cruise, I thought you would like to know a little about the person writing this. This is my 31st cruise. This will be my third NCL cruise and my first on the Pearl. My other two NCL cruises was an October 2005 cruise on the NCL Star to the Mexican Riviera and the maiden voyage of the NCL Jade, which was a full transit of the Panama Canal. This time I am only doing a partial transit of the Panama Canal.

I am platinum on Carnival and Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean (second highest level on both lines). I also have three cruises on Princess (plus two more booked) and one cruise on the Universe Explorer (that ship no longer exists).

There is a little story of how I ended up on this cruises. Originally I was set to go on this cruise in January 2017. The January cruise is similar to this cruise except it was ten nights and I actually liked that itinerary better. But then that cruise was chartered by the Trekkies, so I moved to this cruise. This is an eleven-night cruise and it cost $2,200 less. I am getting an extra night for more than 25 percent less than the cost of the January cruise. So I guess I cannot complain too much. I am in a forward facing suite with a large forward facing balcony that also has a large overhang (which is good in case it rains). So while everyone else is pushing and shoving for a space on the rail (while we are in the Panama Canal), I’ll have my own private forward facing space at the rail and I will not lose it if I have to go to the bathroom or if I get hungry. And it is a suite. NCL does suites better than Carnival or Royal Caribbean (I have not been in a suite on Princess).

When I am not going through the Panama Canal, I normally book a balcony cabin. However, I have been in an inside, an ocean view, a balcony (both side facing and rear facing) and suites (once on Carnival, twice on Royal Caribbean and this will be my second time on NCL). This will be my first eleven-night cruise, which means I have now been on a three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen night cruise.

So here I am in beautiful downtown LAX. I’m through security, there are two hours until my flight leaves and I’m in the Admiral’s club typing on my computer. Because people wanted more details in the review, I have started creating my review while on the cruise, when things are fresher in my mind. The people also like to see lots of pictures. I hope to satisfy that also.

Because of the rude dispatchers and unreliable service, I have given up on taxis for scheduled service. I use taxis for unscheduled service such as the airport to hotel and hotel to ship, but for home to the airport I am using a limo. It is not as expensive as it sounds. I am not paying for parking by driving my own car and using a taxi to go all the way to LAX would cost more than the limo. Going home, I’m going to try Super Shuttle again. I was very happy with their service last time. I was very unhappy with Prime Time’s service last time, so I will not use them again. My other option is the FlyAway Bus. The problem is one can wait awhile for it to show up and sometimes it is full. Thus, it is not a good option for terminals six and seven (American Airlines is in terminal four).

Well, enough about me, let’s start the vacation. Once the alarm goes off, I turn on my cell phone and I have a text from the limo company with information on how to contact the drive. I call him and everything is all set. He should be here in fifty minutes. It took him fifty-five minutes. First time ever a limo driver has been late. Then he heads off to a different freeway. I’m not paying by the mile but still, I suggest the freeway behind us would be shorter. He says he is dodging traffic. Even in Los Angeles the traffic is not that bad at 4:45am. I know the route he is taking. The way he is going, he will have to exit the freeway and take a short drive on the surface streets to get to the proper freeway. If he does that I’ll remain silent. Otherwise, we are going to end up on the wrong side of town. The limo is prepaid, so he cannot be trying to run up the meter. He does take the correct exit and then does get on the correct freeway. However, he did not seem too familiar with the route. A new driver?

So, what else can I say? This time I have a much better camera that I am going to use and I have a very wide angle lens. In 2008 when I did the full transit I had a good point and shoot camera. Now I have a very good DSLR with very wide lens, so I’m hoping to get better pictures this time.

The DSLR is of course a high quality camera and will produce better quality pictures than a point and shoot camera will. In addition, the lens is capable of taking in as much information as four photographs from the point and shoot, thus also creating a better picture then stitching the four point and shoot photographs together. In addition to the DSLR I have a point and shoot camera for off the ship. The DSLR is big and heavy and the point and shoot camera is light and fits in my pocket. I also have a waterproof camera for, wait for it ... taking pictures under water. Bet you didn’t see that coming.

Well, I’ve written about as much as I can, given my trip has barely started. So I’m going to put the computer away for now. The next time we chat I should be in Miami. This will be the first time I’ve departed from Miami in a non-Royal Caribbean ship. My full transit cruise did end in Miami, so I have departed from an NCL ship in Miami before.

Good evening from beautiful downtown Miami. Nothing exciting happened during the flight, which is a very good thing when discussing flying. I was surprised that the taxi was not a flat rate, since it has been before. But the total ended up less than $34 with tip, which is what I was expecting. I’ll have to check to see if Miami Airport to downtown is still listed as a flat rate on the websites.

I’m home now and the flat rate is still listed on the Miami taxi websites. However, with tip, it comes out the same.

I’m staying in the Holiday Inn across the street from the Bayside Marketplace. Great location, except the hotel is not tall enough. I may not be able to see the ship from the hotel. I’ve stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel twice before. It is tall enough to see the ships on the other side of the roadway. However, though the Intercontinental is only as short walk to the Bayside Marketplace, the Holiday Inn is literally across the street from the Bayside Marketplace. In addition, being closer to the cruise docks means the taxi fare to the ship will be less. In fact, if I was going to Royal Caribbean, I could walk there, if the roadway had a sidewalk.

Due to lack of sleep the night before, I was tired. I went to the Bayside Marketplace and had dinner there. I have a very nice room at the Holiday Inn. When I made the reservation I was offered a discount if I joined some club which was free. Normally I don’t do this because I know they are after my email address. But the discount was significant and they have not spammed me (yet), so I am happy. An added plus is, I also get the best available room. It is a nice room, with separate sitting and sleeping rooms (yes, this is a two room suite) and the sitting room has a wet bar with a mini refrigerator. I am happy. I am also tired, so I’ll be back at you in the morning.

Sunrise from 10,000 feet ...

I thought my wheel broke, but once I cleaned the stuff off, it worked fine ...

The last two times I left from Miami I stayed at the Intercontinental ...

Colorful shoes for sale at the Bayside Marketplace ...

A red building ...

Thursday, December 8 - Embarkation Day

When I first entered the room, the thermostat was set for 66 degrees. Fine with me. Well, do you know what happens when you have warm moist air and cold glass? You end up with condensation. I woke up at about 5:30am and all the windows were covered with drops of water. I’ll have to wait until the sun comes up before I’ll be able to see outside. Given that, I decide to sleep in.

Finally around 10:00am I decide I better get moving if I want to be at the pier by 11:00am (which I do). I shower and dress and head out the door. Normally I do not eat breakfast, and since lunch is free, I decide to skip breakfast today also. The taxi is fifteen dollars but the driver claims he does not accept credit cards. Okay, I’ve got a twenty that is not part of my cruise money. I brought $400 for spending and two-hundred dollars for extra tips (I have pre-paid the standard daily service charge). Fifteen dollars plus twenty percent is eighteen dollars, leaving me with two dollars to bribe the porters with.

The tip money is for the concierge and the butler. Because I am in a suite I have a bunch of packages, including pre-paid service charge (tips), a drink package, a dinner package (for the extra cost restaurants, but not for the extra cost items in the free restaurants), 250 minutes of Internet use, and I have onboard credit (or so I thought). The pre-paid tips does not include the butler or the concierge. Given all the packages I have, I am wondering what I’m going to spend the onboard credit on (I ended up spending over $276, so I would have used up the on board credit – if I had any)? In fact, if I was not in a suite, I could go the entire cruise and have a zero onboard bill at the end, if I wanted to. Of course, if I were not in a suite, I would not have all these free packages, so I guess either way, I’m going to end up owing something.

At any rate, I’m at the pier at 11:10am and on the ship before 11:30am. One of the suite perks includes priority check in. Other perks includes a special place for breakfast and lunch. I enjoyed this perk with Royal Caribbean, so I am looking forward to it here on NCL. Now normally once I board the ship I go to my cabin and drop off my carry-on luggage. But here we are escorted to the special lounge where we can have our special breakfast and lunch, starting with today’s lunch. I opt for the cheese burger because I want to go out and start taking pictures. I usually take picture first and eat when the cabins become available. But they trapped me this time.

Given the delay in picture taking, the rain late in the afternoon, and the early muster drill (3:15pm) I don’t get all the pictures I wanted. However, the next two days are days at sea, so I still have time for more pictures. One thing I did find out, which surprised me, is that there is no water slide. Not a big deal, but I thought all the NCL ships had a water slide (I have since seen an older picture of the NCL Pearl and it used to have a water slide). The little kids (and I do mean little - no one old enough to go to school would be interested) pool area leaves a lot to be desired (even if you just turned three yesterday). However, unique to NCL (as far as I know) is that there is a bowling alley (which rumor has it that it will be removed during the dry dock next year).

Being in a suite, NCL mailed me some priority luggage tags. So naturally I am one of the last to get my luggage. My luggage arrived after the muster drill was over. Fortunately my muster station was in the Stardust Theater, so I didn’t have to stand out in the heat, humidity, and rain. This is not a suite perk, there are ten different muster stations in the Stardust Theater, for about nine-hundred passengers (about 35 percent of all the passengers onboard).

The muster drill was short and painless, mostly consisting of how to put on a life vest. Many first time cruisers have never done this before, so it is important. I’m still trying to figure out how many people that can afford to fly don’t know how to operate a seatbelt. Because it is raining, the sail-away has been moved to the Spinnaker Lounge. This is where our roll call group decided to meet if it rained. I decided that if half the ship was going to show up, I would wait a while. So I did go, but I didn’t meet everyone since by the time I arrived, most were gone. Not really a big deal, since we are all meeting for a Meet and Greet tomorrow.

At the sail-away I ordered my first drink. I got charged full price. I decided to go to guest services and see what I did wrong. The line was long, so I decided to come back later. Turns out they give me a receipt for the full price, but only charge me the local tax. We were not in port, but we were still in US waters, so I got charged eighty cents tax.

After the sail-away I went back to my cabin and relaxed until 8:30pm. I had peeked at the menu for one of the free (included) restaurants and it included an eighteen ounce bone in rib eye steak. When I got to the restaurant (Indigo) I was seated right away. I looked over the menu and noticed everything under the classic heading was high end. On Royal Caribbean the classic menu is the everyday menu. On NCL it is the optional extra cost items in the free (apparently not included) restaurant. It also is not covered by the dinner package which I have. No matter, I got it anyway. None of the appetizers looked enticing, so I asked to have the grilled shrimp (which was free) as an appetizer. I skipped the desert.

After dinner I met up with one of the people from the roll call that I saw at the sail-away in the guest services line. We had a nice chat, basically discussing why we were at guest services. He had four bottles of an adult beverage and I think was charged twice and they kept his bag. They gave him his bag back after dinner, and he had the receipt to show he paid the corkage fee (fifteen dollars per bottle or sixty dollars for four bottles). Apparently it required a manager to get that cleared up.

At the store I found a reasonably priced windbreaker type jacket that I bought. For some reason it was discounted an extra ten percent for me. I think this is another suite perk (turns out to be a Latitudes perk – I’m silver now, this cruise will make me seven points shy of platinum). I’ll find out next time I buy something.

Back to the cabin where I unpacked and then worked on this. And now it is almost midnight and I am tired. So it is time to go to sleep. Good night.

Click on the link below for a short video. Click in the lower right corner of the video for a full screen version ...

http://vid18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/NCL%20Pearl/Day%208%20video/DSC_9403_zps5zxsa8lx.mp4

Look out, her she comes ...

And there she goes ...

This was our itinerary ...

Tendering from / to the NCL Pearl ...

The NCL Pearl docked in Costa Maya ...

Friday, December 9 - Day at Sea

Good morning from somewhere off the cost of Cuba. I woke up a little before sunrise. However, it was not worth getting up for. Clouds on the horizon and no clouds overhead. Clouds on the horizon means the sun has to rise higher, which means it is brighter, which washes out the colors. Or, it would have washed out the colors if there had been any clouds overhead to create the colors.

I have a fancy coffee machine in the cabin. I don’t drink coffee. However, the buttons on the machine are well-lit. So well-lit that this cabin does not need a night light. Speaking of lights, it is going to take me more than two weeks to figure out which switch turns on/off which light. There are switches by the bed, switches by the door, and switches in the dressing area. Each one seems to operate a different light, or does nothing at all. At least I think some of the switches don’t do anything.

There are not many children onboard this cruise. Based on my experience, if the cruise takes more than five working days, you don’t see many kids. Personally I like the extra energy the kids add to the cruise.

In the Freestyle Daily (the ship’s newspaper) is an offer for a twenty dollar bag of laundry which will be returned on December 17 in the evening (the cruise ends on December 19). So let’s see, we have not been on the ship for 24 hours yet and they are going to take a bag of laundry and not give it back until a day and a half before the end of the cruise. Who has that much laundry in one day and then can go eight days without those clothes?

I went for breakfast and discovered the NCL suite breakfast is very similar to the Royal Caribbean breakfast. I had an omelet for breakfast. It was good and this is a very nice perk. Speaking of perks, I wanted this cabin because it has a forward facing balcony. It just happens to be a suite. But it came with a lot of extras. As noted, I have a free beverage package, a free dinner package, pre-paid tips, a special breakfast (7:00am to 9:30am) and lunch (noon to 2:00pm) restaurant exclusive to suite guests, a butler, a concierge, an Espresso machine, a DVD player, and 250 Internet minutes with an Ethernet connection (I don’t have to connect via WI-FI, even though I can). However, the TV is not interactive (another rumor is the TV will become interactive after next year’s dry dock). I have to go to Guest Services to check my account balance.

Speaking of changes, it would nice if they removed the “Hope you enjoyed your cruise” message that was playing for people that disembarked yesterday. That is not something I want to see on the first full day of my cruise.

At 11:00am we had a Meet and Greet. It was a good turnout. I would guess thirty to forty people. Many of the senior officers, including the captain, were there. We are going to be invited back at the end of the cruise to critique the cruise. I think it is great that NCL is actively seeking comments from passengers on the ship.

After the gift exchange we had a cabin crawl. We saw a rear facing regular balcony cabin, a side facing regular balcony cabin, a handicap ocean view cabin and my cabin. My first NCL cruise was on the NCL Star. I had a regular side facing balcony cabin. But I don’t remember it being only four feet deep. I knew people would be impressed with my balcony, which is about eighteen feet deep, including the six feet that are under the overhang. I called my butler to bring over one dozen chocolate covered strawberries. This is an extra cost request (I’ve got to spend my onboard credit on something or I’ll lose it). But, they make it fresh and he was not sure he could get it to the cabin in time. He arrived seconds after everyone left. Oh well, I invited them to come for Panama Canal, I’ll save the strawberries until then (the refrigerator works fine). I was able to demonstrate my walk through closet. I don’t have a walk-in closet, but I do have a walk-through closet. Unfortunately I forgot to show off my his and her safes (yes, I have two safes).

What I did not realize is that there are some rear facing cabins that are not suites. I knew the balconies were not as big as mine, but I did not realize that there are rear facing regular balcony cabins.

After the cabin crawl I had lunch. It was the same menu as yesterday. Today I had the pasta. Back at the cabin I called the concierge for dinner reservations. 8:30pm at Moderno (the Brazilian restaurant - one of the specialty restaurants). Then I worked on this.

Well, it is almost 3:00pm and time to go out and get some day at sea pictures. Be back at you later.

Got some day at sea pictures and finished off most of the inside pictures that I wanted. I decided to rest until the early show tonight, featuring a group (four men) that perform all of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons hits. They were good, but there wasn’t as much energy as I like.

Between the end of the show and my dinner reservation I stopped by guest services to get a printout of my account.

After that I went to Moderno for dinner. They hand you a menu of a dozen different cuts of meat. I picked out the one I wanted and waited. Soon a waiter came to me with a card. A picture of the front end of a cow with a green background on one side and a picture of the other end of the cow with a red background on the other side. After I get my salad from the salad bar and I am ready for the meat, I turn my card green side up and the servers with the meat will come by. They bring all twelve cuts (not all at the same time) and give you a little of each one. You can have seconds if you wish. Well, a little here, a little there, pretty soon you are full. I was full and turned my card back to red. It was good, but it would not be a good place for vegetarians.

Back to the cabin where I had an invitation for a party hosted by the captain. Another suite perk. I noted the time and then looked at my account. No surprise charges but no onboard credit either. So I got my printout and went back to guest services. I showed them my printout. They took a copy and sent a note to Miami. They would get back to me when they had an answer.

After that it was back to the cabin to upload my pictures, finish this and get some sleep. See ya tomorrow morning.

Come take a walk out to my balcony with me (by clicking on the link below). The seas were heavy and I was having trouble walking and holding my camera still. Note how quiet (and little wind) there is under the overhang. Out in the open the wind picks up. Don't forget to click on the lower right corner of the video to go to full screen mode ...

http://vid18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/NCL%20Pearl/Day%209%20video/DSC_9690_zpsb2uuqlcn.mp4

My cabin is down there somewhere ...

Here it is ...

You don't need a night light with those buttons glowing all night ...

I have no idea who that is SECURITY! ...

His and her safes ...

It is not a walk in closet, it is a walk through closet ...

The camera is in the entry hall and you are looking through the walk through closet to the bathroom ...

Sign on door to the balcony ...

Inside looking out ...

Outside looking in ...

My butler brought me lots of free snacks ...

Saturday, December 10 - Day at Sea

Woke up with some hope of a good sunrise picture. I even got out of bed and was going to heat up my lens with the blow dryer (so it would not fog up when I took it outside) when I realized there would be no sunrise. There were clouds overhead alright, there were also clouds over the horizon. I don’t believe I saw the sun all day.

So I took a ginger tablet as a precaution and went back to bed for a couple of hours. I eventually headed to breakfast and had French toast. I noticed that the water was sloshing around in the pool pretty good and got some video of that. I began to realize that this might not be a day to remember when I noticed an officer speaking to the person in the pool. Sure enough, the person then got out of the pool. I kind of figured that this was a prelude to emptying the pools, and it was.

The pools are emptied for two reasons. First of course is safety. As the water in the pool moves up and down, so do the people in the pool. Too much up and down movement and people could get hurt. The second reason is that the water is heavy and it is up high (deck 12). Emptying the pools helps stabilize the ship.

After breakfast I finished taking the inside pictures of the ship. I was hoping in the afternoon to get some more day at sea pictures. It was not to be, as the weather got worse.

Back at the cabin I uploaded my pictures, choose a few to email back to the rest of the team at work (just to rub it in), resized the pictures for emailing, and composed my cover note. I don’t care how much NCL brags about their fast Internet, it is not as fast as it is for me at home. I don’t want to spend my entire 250 minutes emailing one 24 megapixel photo. So I down size them to about one megapixel. Then I backed everything up.

I relaxed for a little while and then had lunch. I went with the French dip because it had bread. Now, not only was the ship rolling, but it was also getting wet (rain). And, the wind had picked up enough that the outside exposed decks were roped off and the barf bags were placed near the elevators. When I got back to the cabin I took another ginger tablet, just in case. Ginger (the tablet, not Maryann’s friend) helps prevent nausea.

During the cabin crawl I point out many of the things that are sort of unique to these forward facing cabins, including the big metal plate that can be placed over the window “just in case”. However, I did not know the reason for the rope until my cabin steward came in. He had been instructed to tie up the deck furniture. The deck furniture is tied up so that it cannot blow away.

I noticed I had a phone message. It was from guest services regarding my onboard credit. I went down to guest services and was informed that “Miami” said I was not entitled to an onboard credit. Arguing with the guest services agent was not going to do any good and would just get me mad and ruin my vacation. This is more of a principle thing than anything else. So I am not going to allow it to ruin my cruise. I booked this through a travel agent and she is getting a good size commission out of it. I sent an email to my agent and let her take care of it.

I called the concierge to make reservation for Teppanyaki. I knew it was popular and thought about making a reservation before I boarded the ship. However, that defeats the whole idea of do what you want when you want. All the good times for the next few days are booked up, so I’m having dinner at 9:00pm tonight. That is okay with me, since I usually eat late.

With any plans I had for the afternoon wind and rained out, I decided to just relax until the 6:00 captain’s reception. I’m sure the only reason I was invited is because I’m in a suite. I had my picture taken with the captain and spoke to him briefly. Then I sat down, had a few drinks, a few little snacks, and spoke to a few of the other officers. I listened to the soft music the live band was playing as long as I could, and then headed back to the cabin to work on this.

While typing on this the weather report changed from four to seven and half foot waves to seven and a half to twelve foot waves. Some of those big waves can really push the ship around. Also, while I’m working on this I can hear the music from the Stardust Theater show. It is not loud enough to bother me, but it is something I would not have expected.

At any rate, it is time for dinner. I’ll see you later.

Teppanyaki is a Japanese restaurant where they cook your food in front of you and entertain you at the same time. On land they do both at the same time. Dinner takes about one hour. Here it seems the focus is on entertainment. While the entertainment was pretty good, I was there for dinner. I enjoy the entertainment with dinner. I did not enjoy the part of the show that was performed before, and instead of, cooking dinner. It was a 9:00pm reservation. I didn’t get my first bite of food until 10:00pm (yes, I looked at my watch).

However, I felt better when I realized that they had cooked too much fried rice. I like fried rice. I had three bowls of fried rice, along with my chicken and shrimp meal. So I didn’t leave hungry. However, all the extra entertainment added thirty minutes to the length of the meal. So it ended up taking ninety minutes instead of the sixty minutes it takes on land.

Now I understand they are trying to have fun, the same as on land. However, the cook entertaining another table was so loud that I could not hear the people next to me talking to me. For the most part I just pointed at what I wanted and could never figure out what the second choice for dessert was or even if there was a second choice. I ate the half of the desert I wanted, tasted the other half and left that half on the plate.

Overall a good enjoyable meal, however, I will not be eating there at Teppanyaki again this cruise.

Special lunch menu for suite guests ...

Special breakfast menu for suite guests ...

And this is were we ate ...

Breakfast is served ...

Sunday, December 11 - Cartagena

Today is our first port of call and the weather has definitely improved. If I had gotten my bearings straight, I would have gotten a really good sunrise photo. After traveling south for a full day we turned left to get to Cartagena. I was not sure which way we were headed and thus wasn’t sure where the sun was. Once I figured it out I had to go top side as the sun was a little behind my view. By then most of the good colors had disappeared. Still, I got an okay sunrise photo.

By the time I am ready there is not enough time for a sit down breakfast, so I decide to the go to the buffet, get three slices of watermelon, a banana and two glasses of orange juice. The breakfast of champions.

I am on the Scenic Cartagena tour that meets at 9:00am in the Stardust Lounge. We leave Cartagena early (2:00pm) so that we can make it to the Panama Canal nice and early. The tour is only two and a half hours. I am hoping it is similar to the tour I took in 2008, because there is a photo I want to repeat with my better camera.

Well the tour was scenic, but not very photogenic. I did not take too many pictures and we didn’t go to the place where I wanted to repeat the 2008 photo. On the plus side I got to see parts of Cartagena I did see last time. The streets near the ocean were covered with water from yesterday’s rain.

We did stop in the same shopping area that we stopped in eight years ago. I felt very comfortable there eight years ago and felt even more so this time. I was after souvenirs for seven different people and was very happy with what I found. Originally the price was $118 (and the conversion rate was 3003 to one). However, after I paid that they recomputed it to $83, refunded me the $118 and charged me $83. That kind of honesty is hard to find, even in the US. For those that are interested, it was store number ten. The tour guide was pushing store number three. I spent $14 in store number three on coffee (store number ten also had coffee).

I bought four shirts for four young friends of mine (no, they don’t say my friend went to Cartagena and all I got was this lousy t-shirt). I bought a short glass for a friend of mine who collects shot glass (because of me he has a large collection of Caribbean shot glasses). And finally several bags of coffee for my sister and brother in law (I don’t drink coffee).

The tour itself was not everything I hoped it would be, but the tour guide was good, so I left her a tip.

After the tour I had lunch in the exclusive suite restaurant and had the chicken. Personally I don’t think any place that lets me in is all that “exclusive”. After lunch I took some port day photographs of the pool area. Then back to the cabin and changed so I could go swimming. I was just floating around when the ship’s horn went off (I didn’t know they let the horn get off). Somebody must be late. Still, when we left I didn’t hear any names called, so I guess everyone made it back.

Tonight I decided to check out Summer Palace (the free or included restaurant). Am I willing to share? Yes. So am taken to a six top where one other person is sitting. Shortly after than one more person joins us. I decide to go for the pasta from the classic menu. This time there is no extra charge. I used to have this Freestyle down pat. That was eight years ago. Actually I prefer having a set time and place for dinner. However, one has to make certain sacrifices if one wants a forward facing balcony. It’s a tough life, but someone has to do it.

After dinner I am tired, which is good, because I want to get a full night’s sleep for tomorrow’s early visit to the Panama Canal. So for now, good night.

Approaching Cartagena ...

Castillo San Felipe de Barajas ...

The NCL Pearl and the former Monarch of the Seas from across the harbor ...

This is where I was hoping the tour would go so that I could recreate a picture I took in 2008 of the NCL Jade, but with my better camera ...

This is the picture I took from the mountain top above of the NCL Jade in 2008 with a point and shoot camera ...

Monday, December 12 - Panama Canal

I’m up in time for everything. We are supposed to arrive at 6:00am and I’m already up, showered, dressed, and I’ve set out some snacks and drinks for the people I invited to share my balcony with me.

The first of many surprises came at 6:00am. It was still dark and it looked like there was a lighting storm outside. But no, apparently the captain was allowing passengers to go to the crew area at the bow. People were taking selfies (okay) and people were taking pictures of the land which was at least one mile away (nobody has a flash that powerful).

They set up a couple of tents for shade and drink sales (of course). But they suffer from the same problem everyone else has (except for those of us in the twelve forward facing suites). Once they move away from the rail, it could be hours until they get their place back. I have cold water (I ended up having my butler bring me four more bottles of water and a bucket of ice), I have food (and could have ordered more, except my butler brings me edible gifts every day - there is no chance I’ll starve in this cabin), I have easy access to shade, I have easy access to a bathroom, and the best part is, I’ll still be able to get my place at the rail back. This is why I booked this cabin.

The Freestyle Daily said there would be Panama Canal t-shirt sale on the pool deck starting at 6:30am. I went up at 6:15am to get a preview and didn’t see a thing. Then I went back to my cabin. I didn’t want to leave at 6:30am because I didn’t know when my guest would arrive. They came at 7:20am and confirmed that they were selling t-shirts on the pool deck.

So I left my cabin to my guest and when up to get a couple of Panama Canal t-shirts. They had a blue and gray shirts in my size. I picked up the blue one and looked for my size in some of the other colors. Guess what, the color determined the size. No yellow or red for me, they were all too small. So I went with the blue and gray ($15 for one and $20 for two – or the big special, three for $75).

Back to the cabin and I was able to explain a few things about what was about to happen because I’ve done this once. But there are two channels now (not one). Are the new locks operating? None of us knew the answer, but it quickly became apparent that they were. Which way would we going? I said I had never entered from this side before, but looking at the size of the ships ahead of us, I was guessing that to the right was the old locks and to the left was the new locks (I was right). I also noticed that we were a bit behind the posted schedule. That would later snowball into a (much) bigger problem.

At any rate, up the locks we went. It is not exactly a thrill ride, but it is interesting. Even more interesting is that one hundred year old technology is being used, and it is still working perfectly today. For example, there are no pumps. All the movement of water is done with gravity.

Once we entered Gatun Lake, we moved off to the left and anchored. Then passengers on the excursions were tendered to a meeting place were all would join whatever excursions they were on. It took a long time. I would later find out that about eleven hundred passengers (almost half the passengers) left the ship.

Then we went down the locks. Personally I think they should just open the gates and lets the ships slide down, it would only take about thirty seconds compared to the two and one half hours it takes doing it their way.

Now here is where the delays became a big problem. We should have been in Colon at 5:00pm. It was 5:30pm when we exited the last lock. The captain said this was out of his control, since they have to follow the schedule the Panama Canal managers give him. We did not get to Colon until just before 7:00pm. Because we were late the captain gave us an extra half hour. We had to be back onboard by 8:00pm. He could only give us an extra half hour because of the high speed run to Puerto Limon. High speed? I checked the speed on the TV, we never went above seventeen knots. For a ship capable of twenty-five knots, I would not consider it high speed unless we were going over twenty knots.

Being in a suite I get priority debarkation. I got off at 7:10pm. The sign at the gangway said crew had to be back my 7:00pm and passengers had to be back by 8:00pm. As I walked out I saw the looong line to get back on the ship that the excursion passengers had created. Everyone who left the ship in Gatun Lake was on time, and apparently they were not being told why the ship was not there. So they were not happy campers. I set a time limit of 7:30pm. No matter what I was doing, at 7:30pm I was heading back to the ship.

Those of us on the ship understood the situation, but that did not make me any less disappointed about not seeing Colon. I had time to buy two shot glasses and then I headed back to the ship. The problem was simple. Instead of having three hours to embark everyone, they had fifty minutes. To save time they were not using the metal detector or x-ray machine.

The five of us (my four balcony guests and myself) had plans to meet at Summer Palace (an included restaurant) at 7:00pm. We decided to throw that out the window and meet for dinner tomorrow night.

So I headed to La Cucina, the Italian restaurant. The place was empty. I had a personal sized pizza and some pasta. All good and free, as this was the third of my five free specialty restaurant dinners.

After dinner I decided to go back to the cabin and get some sleep. I spent the entire day in the sun and it was time to get some sleep. So until tomorrow, good night.

Click on the link below and you will be able to view several videos from our trip through the Panama Canal ...

http://s18.photobucket.com/user/ZefH/library/NCL%20Pearl/Day%2012%20videos

Water coming out of the lowest lock to the sea ...