Seabourn Sojourn L.A. to Miami via Panama Canal November 15th - December 3rd, 2017 Pre-cruise one night stay at Crowne Plaza, Port of Los Angeles. Very convenient to cruise terminal, hotel provided shuttle for a nominal charge. Private Supershuttle from LAX to hotel cost $62 plus tip. Embarkation went very smoothly, from leaving hotel to sitting down to lunch in the Colonnade took little more than 30 minutes! Sail away was scheduled for 5pm, but we didn’t leave until around 7:30 pm due to a mix-up with the manifest. Not difficult to understand as when we got into our suite the stewardess welcomed us by a different name, borne out by ‘our’ personal stationery. The name mix-up continued throughout the cruise and was finally resolved after a second visit to Seabourn Square. We never did receive ‘our’ stationery. However, it seemed as though the glitch with the manifest would follow us throughout the cruise as we were subjected to several port delays, including the disembarkation in Miami. After 2 days at sea we dropped anchor in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on Nov 18th. A major sports fishing centre, lots of boats were departing as we arrived at 7:00am. The offered excursions did not interest us so we took the tender ashore and walked around the marina to the Puerto Paraiso shopping mall. It was extremely hot so the air conditioned mall was welcome. Lot of ‘silver’ and t-shirt street vendors as well as established stores around the port area. Almost got back to the ship unscathed when Gwyn hesitated just a bit too long & she was hooked by a silver seller & his family. I think we put his daughter through school! After 2 more sea days we docked in Huátulco (wah-tool-ko) Mexico on Nov 21st. We opted for the ‘Three Villages Tour’ from Seabourn. As the tour didn’t leave until 10:30 we had a leisurely breakfast & a walk around the port area beforehand. The walk didn’t take very long! The tour consisted of a bus trip (in 12 seater minibuses) up (& back down) a very windy road, which in places was a single lane as the other lane had slid down the mountain in the recent earthquake. It was a fairly uncomfortable trip & despite moving to the front seat induced a bout of travel sickness in Gwyn. Despite the description, we actually only stopped at two villages, the first a ‘comfort break’ at the civic center (which appeared to house the clinic & courthouse), and the second to visit a coffee outlet & church - neither were very exciting. A lunch was provided at a local hacienda/coffee museum (following which some passengers suffered digestive incidents! I ate it all and suffered no adverse after effects). Despite the shortcomings, our tour guide was so nice & enthusiastic, she almost made up for the obvious disappointment. We got back to the port just in time for departure. Other passengers on the beach excursion seemed to have had a more pleasant experience. Still in Mexico, the next day we docked in Puerto Chiapas, where we had signed on for a Mayan Experience. Those of us who had been on the bus tour in Huatulco were dreading another bus ride, but the bus turned out to be bigger & more comfortable. The tour consisted of a visit to two Mayan sites followed by a 30 minute cosmology experience (movie in darkened cinema, with the Mayan universe displayed on the ceiling - I fell asleep!) and a Mayan dance show (for tips) at a very modern cultural center. Better than the previous day, but seemed a bit rushed as no time to buy local crafts from the vendors who clearly depended upon it. As if we hadn’t had enough culture, the very next day we docked in Puerto Quetzal, Guatamala, where we had signed up for the tour of Antigua, a UNESCO heritage site. The tour consisted of a scenic 90 minute bus ride (each way) with several volcanoes on display, followed by a walking tour of the town, lunch & a visit to the Jade Museum. Recognizing that it was a guided tour, little free time was allotted, so some of us feeling the urge to explore on our own opted to walk to the lunch spot (rather than get back on the bus). We also managed to fit in a short walk between the jade museum & returning to the bus. It is easy to see why Antigua has been recognized by UNESCO but it is a very busy place with way too much traffic & more street vendors than you can shake a stick at! Following a day at sea, we docked in Punta Arenas, Costa Rica on the 25th. Having visited Costa Rica recently, and done many of the things on offer by Seabourn, we opted to just walk around the town ourselves. Frankly, it’s not much to write home about. It has a long, black sand beach & several bars/restaurants near to the cruise ship dock. The downtown area is not particularly interesting. A busy fishing port we wandered through the fish market. There were plentiful local crafts & t-shirts on offer at the dock. We were soon back on board for lunch & margaritas. Following another sea day, we reached the Panama Canal on Monday November 27th. The main reason for the trip, and another tick on the ‘must do‘ list of things to do/places to see! A guest commentator had come aboard with the Pilot to provide a running commentary of our passage through the canal. Due to transit the first locks (Miraflores) at 8:10am, we were delayed until approximately 9:30 (the manifest?). It was standing room only on the forward decks as, with the skyline of Panama City to our right, we sailed under the Bridge of the Americas and entered the canal. We were to use the ‘old locks’ - along with 2/3rds of the traffic as we were to find out, the new locks being for the post-Panamax vessels. There are way too many facts about the canal to start recounting here, but as a taster, each time a vessel transits through the old locks, 52 million gallons of fresh water is ‘lost’ to the sea, and the canal provides a 7,800 mile shortcut from going around Cape Horn at the foot of South America. The process of transiting the lock system is a slow one, as each lock fills & empties in raising & lowering each vessel. We were scheduled to exit Cristobal locks at 4:10 pm (an 8 hour transit), but we didn’t get through until well after 6:00pm. Gatun Lake - between the sets of locks - was a bit of a disappointment. Overall, I’m glad I’ve done it but I wouldn’t rush back. Although technically after traversing the canal we were at Colon, at the Caribbean end, we had to cruise in circles overnight before docking the next day (Nov 28th). Where we would once again be subject to a delay (the manifest?) of almost 2 hours, which played havoc with the excursions. Colon is not regarded as a safe place to walk around on ones own so the tours were popular. Having been told that the excursions would run as advertised, with the sole exception of the trip to the indigenous village (clearly they didn‘t get the message), all of the others ended up being rushed to get us back for the scheduled all-aboard at 1:30pm. We had chosen the Monkey Island Tour to Gatun Lake and frankly I was not too upset that it was shortened, however those that had chosen the cultural tour of Panama City (a 2 hour bus ride each way) were not at all happy as they only got an hour in Panama City and missed several of the highlights altogether. They were doubly upset as, having got back to the ship for 1:30pm, departure was delayed for 2 hours as we waited for the Indigenous Village tour to return! The very next day, Nov 29th, we docked in Cartagena, Colombia, our final port of call before Miami. Once again we opted not to take an organised tour. Friends had researched the town & kindly allowed us to accompany them on a walking tour. We took a taxi from just outside the port gates ($10 versus $20 inside the gates) to the visitor center in Cartagena from where we followed ‘our guide’ on a mystery tour of the town, ending up at the Castillo San Felipe, from where we took a taxi back to the ship. The town is quite picturesque if very busy, and the gold museum was interesting. Disappointingly the churches were closed until later in the day so we could not visit them. For $50 we could have taken a 2 hour taxi tour which would have taken us to the Convento de La Popa, a landmark atop the hill overlooking the town. After Cartagena, it was 3 more sea days to Miami. The itinerary included a lot of sea days, which of course, meant Team Trivia! We had joined up with friends and a family from Hong Kong on day 1 to form team ‘Sweet&Sour’. There were ten trivia teams & competition was friendly but fierce! Coming second on day one, we managed to get a head of steam over next few days, picking up 3 daily firsts. Struggling a bit as the competition wore on we managed to maintain our overall lead to pick up the cumulative prize and be crowned overall Team Trivia Champions! We disembarked in Miami on December 3rd - after another delay - laden with Seabourn treasures and more treasured memories.
