Check it off the Bucket List! Panama Canal on the NCL Star October 1-16...with pics!

[roger001]

Not for a moment trying to take away from Cubechick's super excellent review of her trip...and I want a camera like hers. If anyone want's to see way tooo many pics of just the Panama Canal portion of the Pearl crossing in April, they are at the following. In the meantime, I'm standing by to hear more of her report. I could do the PC trip repeatly and never get tired of it I think.

 

http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff281/roganderson60/Panama%20Canal/?start=all

[Kruizin'Kath]

Not for a moment trying to take away from Cubechick's super excellent review of her trip...and I want a camera like hers. If anyone want's to see way tooo many pics of just the Panama Canal portion of the Pearl crossing in April, they are at the following. In the meantime, I'm standing by to hear more of her report. I could do the PC trip repeatly and never get tired of it I think.

 

http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff281/roganderson60/Panama%20Canal/?start=all

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed them all!:)

[Cubechick]

We're back on line (finally!), so let's get this show on the road!!!

 

 

Day 12…Cartagena

 

Our last “exotic” port of call before reaching US shores. We had booked another excursion through our roll call. This time we were more organized as a group, meeting in the atrium. Since this tour was with a lady, I was sure she would be more organized than the Okey-Dokey guys and I was right. She and her driver were positioned at both gangways with signs in hand. Five minutes after we walked off of the ship we were on the van. Our first stop was La Popa, the highest point in Cartagena, with a mission on top.

 

 

We were treated to a stunning view of the harbor, while Claudia shared with us Colombian history. Before leaving the van Claudia warned us that the “vendors” were ferocious. Sure enough, the moment the van door opened, hands flew in shaking their wares. I found with them that avoiding eye contact seemed the most successful method of by-passing them.

 

 

The next stop was a fort. Unfortunately this was only a photo op and you didn’t have a chance to explore. We took some pictures while evading the vendors.

 

 

There was even a guy with a three-toed sloth ready for photo ops. Never saw that before! From the fort we drove through insane Cartagena traffic to a shopping area (naturally). By insane I mean traffic like I’ve never seen before! There were 5 rows of traffic (I didn’t see actual lanes), bumper to bumper all jockeying to move mere inches (we were passed by a donkey pulling a cart at one point!). The busses are crazy. Claudia explained that they only cost a dollar, but have no set route and stop anywhere so there’s no structure. They also have numerous motorcycles that are “public” transportation. Someone got the bright idea at some point to get an extra helmet and offer rides for a price. Claudia said soon, everyone was doing it, whether they knew how to drive a motorcycle or not. She said they are more regulated now…which is good because it’s reduced the nasty lice problem! Ew! We were headed to Old Cartagena and the traffic became manageable as the busses and motorcycles weren’t allowed there. Anyway, once at the shops, we walked past them to the top of a fortified wall for more pictures of the area.

 

 

 

After that it was a short drive to where everyone would be let out for their 45-minute guided tour of Old Cartagena. This area was very pretty and quaint. Claudia pointed out a convent that has been converted to a boutique hotel, stating that it was probably the most expensive hotel in Cartagena.

 

From there we would drive to “new” Cartagena and the high rise apartments and casinos. Reminiscent of the jade stop in Guatemala, we were ushered into a Colombian Emeralds store for a quick lecture on emeralds and a soft sales pitch. The best part of this stop was that they offered ice-cold water, sodas, and beer…and bathrooms!

 

I did find the tour of the city interesting and was fascinated at how the extremely different areas of Cartagena co-existed. I could see by the end of the tour, why some people liked Cartagena as a vacation destination.

 

Not only was Claudia’s tour informative, it was cheap. The more people we got the lower the price (unlike Okey-Dokey) so the tour was a very reasonable $45 each.

 

Back at the pier I noticed workers armed with long-handled paintbrushes touching up the scrape marks from the transit the day before! I was on a mission to get my fridge magnet so I left DH on the ship after lunch and went back out to the pier. I’d spotted a tiny store and a Juan Valdez coffee shop that I wanted to check out. There was nothing really there, so I followed the “exit” signs and found that there was an alcove hidden behind the small building. There was a small grassy area where flamingos lounged, plus a small bar, and a much larger shop. I found my fridge magnet (and said hi to the Captain when I spotted him in his tourist garb) and considered the day a success.

 

 

Dinner was at the buffet…noticed that you were no longer allowed to serve yourselves food (you could still get your own drinks). A sure sign that a virus has crept aboard.

[Econom405]

Loving this review! I must have checked 4 times today to see if the new installment was up lol.

I keep pricing Panama canal cruises because we too have this on our bucket list. Have to wait until younger daughter is graduated high school first..class of 2013, so not much longer!

Thank you so much for taking the time to post your reviews of the ports and the pictures are amazing!

[spirit rev]

Aimee

Loved your description of the traffic and vendors in Cartagena. I was lol at it. I was reminded of our trip to Cairo - traffic and vendors are very similar, including the donkey carts! Guess I know what I'm in for when we arrive there in January.

Thanks for the great preview!

[roger001]

I had forgotten about the unbelievable traffic in Cartagena. It can not be overstated how unbelievably uncontrolled and reckless it is. And the motorcycles........carrying passangers, weaving and dodging. I asked our guide how many people were killed each day in that traffic mess. He wasn't sure. Thanks for the memories.

[Cubechick]

Aimee

Loved your description of the traffic and vendors in Cartagena. I was lol at it. I was reminded of our trip to Cairo - traffic and vendors are very similar, including the donkey carts! Guess I know what I'm in for when we arrive there in January.

Thanks for the great preview!

 

I had forgotten about the unbelievable traffic in Cartagena. It can not be overstated how unbelievably uncontrolled and reckless it is. And the motorcycles........carrying passangers, weaving and dodging. I asked our guide how many people were killed each day in that traffic mess. He wasn't sure. Thanks for the memories.

 

It is the craziest traffic I've ever seen! London had been my previous winner...but I can now appreciate that at least in London there are rules and regulations! :D

[Stickman81]

Thanks again for posting such a wonderful review.

It has been a great read and the pictures are awesome!

 

:cool:

[Cubechick]

Days 13 and 14…back to back sea days…

 

The first sea day was the promised bridge tour. We didn’t realize until later that so many people signed up for the tour that we were split into three groups. Ours was the first group, so that meant a buffet breakfast for us as we didn’t want to be late.

 

We’ve been on several bridges, but really, the experience never gets old. Each officer you speak with has his own take on ship life and his own sense of humor. This first officer told us that if the ship is listing, they will flood water to the other side of the ship in an attempt to stabilize it. If that doesn’t work, he joked, they’d announce there were whales on the side of the ship they needed weight on, and wait for the passengers to rush to that side. ☺

 

 

I finally remembered that day that I wanted to sign up for the Behind the Scenes Tour (as Platinum we get to do so for free). I called the reception desk and was initially told that I need to go to the desk because they needed to swipe my card and charge me for the tour. I explained that I was platinum, then she excused herself. A moment later she came back and said the tour was full. Really? I made a note to go down there later. There’s room for me if I’m paying but not if I’m free (and the invitation stated that I had until 6:00 pm to confirm my reservation)? I did check later…and at least in this gentleman’s favor, he said he had to check if there was space available before he asked my status. When I told him we were platinum he made a phone call, hung up the phone, and told me where the meeting place was the next day. ☺

 

Since we had another sea day tomorrow we attended one last martini clinic. At this point I don’t know if my liver will ever forgive me. Lorilie, our favorite bartender, kept us happy. She even kindly gave me a martini of my choice when the last two she poured weren’t to my taste.

 

Aqua’s again for dinner. I had the available at any time carbonara, which was delicious. Probably because DH told them I wanted extra bacon and they gave it to me! Two thumbs up for extra pancetta!

 

Day 14 we notice the ship has gone into full “code red” mode (our first experience with this). No cocktail menus are at the bar tables. All utensils, salt, pepper and condiments are gone from the tables in the buffet. The drink stations are roped off and servers take your order. In the main dining room (and Cagney’s) no more baskets of bread. The servers are doling out bread one roll at a time. The main doors to the public restrooms are propped open. We would hear later in the day from a fellow passenger that 40 cases of noro presented themselves on Panama Canal day alone. I’ve seen people complain bitterly (on the boards) when this has happened on their ships, but honestly I appreciated the effort. It kept us healthy, and I didn’t find it to be even a minor inconvenience.

 

We had dinner at Teppanyaki that night (reservations made that morning…something you’d never see on a seven-day cruise). It was kind of a strange set-up in that I technically wasn’t seated with my party. The table has two cooking surfaces and the other chef was cooking for everyone I was with. Not a big deal, but just odd. I think we all had the filet and agree it was some of the best steak we had on the ship.

 

Day 15…Key West

 

Next to the Panama Canal, this was the other moment I was waiting for.

 

Setting the alarm for 6:30 to clear immigration wasn’t exactly my idea of vacation. We’d received an invitation from Patrick to meet in the Stardust Theater “promptly at 7:00” to go through immigration. There was a hold up both because a) we’d find there’d been another medical evacuation, and b) when we were escorted to La Cucina their card readers wouldn’t work. I was unclear on the card reader thing. They scanned your card. You cleared immigration. They punched a hole in your key card proving you’d gone through immigration. When you got off of the ship, they scanned your card again. The first scan seemed unnecessary to me, but they obviously thought it important as it hung up the whole works while they got the scanners to function!

 

Ultimately, we were glad that we got to take advantage of the VIP immigration. While we were walking off of the ship they were still calling people that had booked tours through the ship. They hadn’t started on the floors yet and we would have been second or third down the list.

 

Mother Nature did not cooperate during our few hours in Key West, alternating between sprinkles, showers, and downpours. Our spirits were not dampened though! We’d been looking forward to this stop since booking this cruise and we had a great time.

 

 

Our first stop was Blue Heaven, where a foolishly optimistic hostess seated us outdoors (our waitress quickly moved us inside!). This was an amazing breakfast. BLT Benedict (that’s bacon, lobster and tomato!), lobster omelets, homemade pancakes the size of dinner plates and shrimp with cheese grits were among the food enjoyed. It was probably the most expensive breakfast I’ve ever purchased, outside of a hotel, but boy was it worth it!

 

DH and I broke off on our own and walked down to the Southernmost point. Took mandatory pictures of the buoy, then walked over to Duval St.

 

 

Backtracked to hook up with our friends who were enjoying Bloody Mary’s at the Green Parrot. At this point the Heaven’s really opened up, so we joined them for a beverage, waiting for a bit of clearing before we headed out.

 

 

I really wish this had been a longer stop. But we still managed to do some souvenir shopping and hit two more bars. Including the Hog’s Breath where we’d indulge in local brew and conch fritters (yum!).

 

 

Made it to Cagney’s for lunch moments before it closed. My last asparagus salad until February.

 

Back to the cabin to pack…boo! I always hate this part! Got through it as quickly as possible so we could enjoy the rest of the day. Made one last stop at Gatsby’s to visit our favorite bartender, Lorilie, and have that last round of martinis.

 

 

After several successful dinners at Aqua, this one just went south. We literally waited fifty minutes just to be offered bread. We brought a bottle of white wine with us, which was placed in a bucket to chill 20 feet from us. They ended up pouring our wine at another table and having to scrounge around to get wine for us. The courses arrived at different times and temperatures. Just crazy. Took us well over two hours to finish dinner.

 

Next...final morning and final thoughts...

[swedish weave]

Your pic of the view from the hilltop reminded me of the first few times we visited Cartegena. I was enjoying the view and a paper cup rose from behind the wall on a long stick. I looked down and there were people down there begging for money. I had a few coins in my pocket, so dropped one into the cup. It was received with a graphic description of my ancestry !!! I understood enough Spanish to determine that I was illigitimate among other things. I guess they wanted dollars !!!

 

The authorities have since banned them from the area !!

 

Loving your review !!!!

 

We experienced the remainder of your "code red" for the first four days of our cruise 10/16 before it cleared up.

[Cubechick]

Your pic of the view from the hilltop reminded me of the first few times we visited Cartegena. I was enjoying the view and a paper cup rose from behind the wall on a long stick. I looked down and there were people down there begging for money. I had a few coins in my pocket, so dropped one into the cup. It was received with a graphic description of my ancestry !!! I understood enough Spanish to determine that I was illigitimate among other things. I guess they wanted dollars !!!

 

The authorities have since banned them from the area !!

 

Loving your review !!!!

 

We experienced the remainder of your "code red" for the first four days of our cruise 10/16 before it cleared up.

 

This was the best description! I can totally see the cups on a stick! And hear the commentary. :rolleyes:

 

Sorry you were tortured by our virus. At least it sounds like being cautious allowed them to lift the ban!

[swedish weave]

This was the best description! I can totally see the cups on a stick! And hear the commentary. :rolleyes:

 

Sorry you were tortured by our virus. At least it sounds like being cautious allowed them to lift the ban!

 

I have many memories of our stops in Cartegena. We were there two days after the president was assinated in Bogota, and security was "awesome" That was a few years ago !!:p

 

You mentioned the Emerald store, and if the same one we visited, you went into the shop first where they were making the jewelry, then into the store for the sales pitch.

 

We also went to the Emerald district with lots of vendors outside and many stores selling jewelry. I found a vendor selling "molas" and after much haggling, I bought his entire supply for a little over 50 cents each. Nice gifts when framed and with the history of the molas attached !!

 

Thanks for the memories !!

[biker@sea]

Live web cams http://www.floridakeyswebcams.tv/

 

 

Check in on Hogs Breath when you can.;)

[cruizer101]

Great photos and review so far......

 

The Panama Canal is on my Bucket List also...;)

 

My sister did the repo from Vancouver to LA before this cruise. One CC passenger on her cruise did the canal right afterward and posted of the Noro which broke out on the canal portion. One older gentleman was taken to a hospital in Cartegena and his elderly wife accompanied him. The ship was totally cleaned and the first Western Caribbean cruise was delayed because of this effort. We did the second Western Caribbean on the Star on 10/23 and had no issues with virus.

 

Interesting review. Keep posting...

[swedish weave]

My sister did the repo from Vancouver to LA before this cruise. One CC passenger on her cruise did the canal right afterward and posted of the Noro which broke out on the canal portion. One older gentleman was taken to a hospital in Cartegena and his elderly wife accompanied him. The ship was totally cleaned and the first Western Caribbean cruise was delayed because of this effort. We did the second Western Caribbean on the Star on 10/23 and had no issues with virus.

 

Interesting review. Keep posting...

 

There were a few other emergencies on the Panama cruise. The ship was diverted to Manzanillo with two unrelated emergencies in addition to the one in Cartegena.

 

The code red for noro outbreak was in effect for four days of our cruise 10/16 but was lifted when it was determined to be controlled. It is not that uncommon in hotels and cruise ships. I have also seen the procedures implemented on HAL and Princess cruises. Just hope you don't get it !!!!! :D:D

[cruizer101]

There were a few other emergencies on the Panama cruise. The ship was diverted to Manzanillo with two unrelated emergencies in addition to the one in Cartegena.

 

The code red for noro outbreak was in effect for four days of our cruise 10/16 but was lifted when it was determined to be controlled. It is not that uncommon in hotels and cruise ships. I have also seen the procedures implemented on HAL and Princess cruises. Just hope you don't get it !!!!! :D:D

 

Hey, weren't you on our Western Caribbean cruise on the Star last week?! Hi

[jebl]

Cruizer 101,

 

How did you like the W Carib on the Star? Did you post a review? I am going in Jan.

 

Sorry to hijack the thread. Looking for more of the PC review.

[swedish weave]

Hey, weren't you on our Western Caribbean cruise on the Star last week?! Hi

 

Yes -- We were on the Star from 10/16 to 10/30 Back to Back. Very nice and enjoyable two weeks !!!

[Urban trekker]

Also disappointed that the weather didn`t cooperate in Key West as it was my first time there - walked around in the rain for an couple of hours - picked up a specialty t-shirt for a friend of mine - they had his size - 4XL - as this is a family site won`t tell you what the message on the T-Shirt is.

 

Might get back to Key West if I do the Colonial America cruise next October.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your great review of our cruise.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Cubechick]

While I wrap up my final thoughts, I thought I'd throw out a few more of my favorite Panama Canal pictures...we took something like 400 photos, so we have a lot to choose from!!!

 

 

The French channel

 

 

 

Centennial Bridge

 

 

 

I just think the entire experience was just amazing!

[time2cruise1]

Thank you for the trip back thru memory lane. Just a great review.

 

For those that can not get enough pictures here is a link to 300 more but at least broken up into 5 folders. The first a 60 picture quick trip thru the 15 days. Included are even a few pictures of the author of this review :-).

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/jimalaska

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Cubechick]

Thank you for the trip back thru memory lane. Just a great review.

 

For those that can not get enough pictures here is a link to 300 more but at least broken up into 5 folders. The first a 60 picture quick trip thru the 15 days. Included are even a few pictures of the author of this review :-).

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/jimalaska

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Thanks, Jim! It was nice to sail with you again. Hopefully we'll get to do it again someday!

 

:)

[Cubechick]

Some anecdotes and last impressions…

 

Just some funny/quirky things that happened during our fifteen days. While watching the Patriots game on the first Sunday, our television suddenly went dark. No amount of button pushing would bring it back to life, so we dashed to the Red Lion Pub to catch the end of the game. DH decided this was a good time to go to reception and report the television, and also a burned out light in our bathroom and that one of our safes needed a new battery.

 

When he explained about the safe, the person at reception said, “You need your safe opened?” and he said, “No, I need a new battery. There’s an error that reads ‘batt’ when you try to enter a code.” They tell him someone will be in our room in five minutes. He swings through the pub to let me know what’s happening and goes to our room.

 

Of course when he returned to the room, the television was on. Why wouldn’t it be?? But when the security guy came, he said, “I’m here to open your safe.” DH said, “I don’t need the safe opened. I need a new battery.” Pause…”Oh. I can’t do that.” DOH! DH demonstrated for him that when you tried to enter a code the “batt” error would pop up. Finally, at least it seemed that everyone was on the same page.

 

When they’d finally do this the next day, it took two people and they replaced the entire door instead of just the battery.

 

Another funny thing was the time changes. I was prepared for three time changes as the west coast is three hours behind the east cost. NOT! Not that it was a problem, but we had 6 time changes…both losing and gaining time! It was quite funky. This was a cruise where you were definitely on alert for the time change notice in your room and/or the Freestyle Daily (just in case your room steward forgot to give you a notice). We met several people that didn’t adjust their watches accordingly!

 

The final morning, we just hit the buffet for breakfast, which tends to be our norm. Patrick had arranged for three separate VIP disembarkation times, and we planned on using the last one as our flight wasn’t until almost 1:00 pm. I don’t know for certain that disembarkation was hung up, but that was the impression that I got. When we left the ship at 9:30, the first colored tags had not yet been called. Also, we saw our friends who had planned to get off of the ship with the first escorted group, just minutes ahead of us. Perhaps they ended up dawdling? Perhaps the perceived delay was due to the fact that it was the Star’s first time in Tampa?

 

At any rate, we quickly found our luggage (that’s always a relief!) and followed the directions to the taxi queue. A cab was only $20 versus $20 per person to arrange transportation through NCL. We talked football with the cab driver and were dropped at the Jet Blue terminal before we knew it.

 

Jet Blue is awesome in that they offer (for a price) more legroom seating and live Direct TV. We watched the 1:00 football game almost in its entirety, and found ourselves landing at Logan. Quickest three hours in air that I’ve ever experienced. We arrived at home in time to watch the final half of the Patriots game. So, despite the fact that we were traveling for three games, we were able to see most (and in one case all!) of our games. Phew! ;-)

 

Final thoughts on the cruise…

 

First and foremost, the Panama Canal is beyond worth it. I swear, we could have had no stops beside the transit and I would have been enthralled. Okay, maybe not, but truly, the Panama Canal transit was the star of the show. It should be on every cruisers “bucket list”. Everyone should cross it off of their list if they can. After having been on this cruise, and having seen all of the medical evacuations, I’m thankful that we were able to do this well before “retirement” age (whatever that means in this day and age).

 

We had a lovely time on the Star, with a few exceptions here and there, and would sail her again.

 

Now we turn out sights toward our next Bucket List cruise. The Spirit in February is a Western Caribbean, with ports we’ve never experienced before. But the icing on the cake will be spending a few days in New Orleans when we disembark to experience Mardi Gras.

 

Thank you for hanging in with me during this review. It was a long one, and the hiccups with work travel and power outages made it seem longer than normal!!

[RichNY]

Once again I would like to thank you very much. We'll be on the Jewel next year and you have put to rest any of my wife's concerns about security..I can grantee her camera will be going full time....maybe she can top her 1500 + Alaska pictures...:D

Thanks again..

[swedish weave]

Cubechick --- Take lots of pics at MardiGras as you earn your beads !!!! Probably can't post them here !!!!

 

Try Cafe Du Monde = A landmark famous for beignets !!!