Hot fun sounds good, Jodi!!

awesome! my mom did it from the other direction, and got thru the canal, but ended up off ship in costa rica after falling (NOT the ship's fault!!) she loved the part she got to take, sigh...and actually was very well cared for in c.r. i had them rush her home and she probably would have been better off saying!

I did something similar, but boarded at San Juan and ended up in Acapulco. You can book land tours now or when you board the ship. We took off ship land tours, the first one was great the second was so bad they didn't even ask me to pay for it. I found out later if you don't book through the ship, the ship won't wait on you if you are late coming back.

I did something similar without the Mexico stops. It's very humid. We paid to take a small boat through the canal, but I think it is a waste of money. I do, however, think it's really cool seeing the huge cruise ships going through. You can literally touch the sides of the canal it's that close of a fit. I loved Cartagena, really old world charm.

I've never been, but it looks like a nice split of "at sea" and "at port". I look forward to your report.

I've done cruise to Panama, but not the canal. I did take an excursion to see the dam, etc.

Enjoy!

Yes, I've heard some great things about Cartagena.

I've only begun to check out all the shore excursions offered. It's really overwhelming and of course pricey. Last year when we cruised to several ports in Alaska, we didn't sign up for a single shore excursion. Instead, we got off the ship early and booked something at one of the many tour stands near the ship. We saw everything others saw, for about half the price. I do know that not booking through the ship is no guarantee they will wait for you but we found the tour vendors very aware of the consequences if we are late. And it's bad for business. Plus, we bought great travel insurance. :-)

I am not looking forward to a hot and humid vacation, in the last six years I've been to Japan, Russia and Alaska in winter (3x) and Antarctica. I love traveling to cold places but DH is not a fan, so we're going somewhere warm.

Our original plans this year were for a cruise down the Nile but sadly that's not going to happen. It's getting harder and harder to find new places to travel that are safe.

I'm not looking forward to the Mexico stops. The last time I traveled to Acapulco and Mexico City (1977) I landed in the hospital for a week after my return and was out of work for 6 weeks due to a nasty bug (Shigellosis) that I picked up there. I was deathly ill. But I guess that can happen any time you travel to countries like that. Now the drug lord wars are another worry altogether. Some ships have been known to skip and entire Mexican port to avoid the danger. It's so sad.

Jodi-

I wondered about the Mexico stops (But did not want to be labeled a DD - ha!).
I know that most of the trouble has been border towns. For example, two Texas teens tragically gunned down a couple of weeks ago. I don't think the resort towns are immune, but it seems that there has been less trouble there. I'm sure you will check travel advisories before you go.
It is sad what has been happening in Mexico and of course it hurts the poor of that country the most.

You might and check on the two Mexican stops. It was on the news that some of the cruise ships are not even letting people off but I cannot remember which town it was. It does sound like a great trip with lots of fun and new people to meet.

Did a quick search and it was Mazatlan and I think it was Holland America and/or Disney. So have a great time.

I hope you have a wonderful cruise....16 days is too long for us.......but our friends made that trip and enjoyed it very much. We just don't like to be gone from home that long. There are web cam's where you can watch the ships going through the canal. I don't remember any URL's but I watched our friend's when they made the trip...It's an all day affair from one end through to the other.....

It's so sad that Mexico is in such turmoil......Years ago we had such wonderful times vacationing and just doing day trips to Mexico.

PS...Holland America was a wonderful cruise line.......The best food of any ship we have been on........well that's not all that many but the food was so far above........

Ruthie, I didn't even realize the cruise was 16 days until you mentioned it! LOL I just know that I don't have to show up at the office for two glorious weeks!

I've done an 18 day cruise on the Holland America Statendam. The food was pretty good but the ship itself had many mechanical problems.

The ship we're taking through the Panama Canal is the Celebrity Infinity. We sailed from LA to Alaska last year on the Celebrity Mercury. Food was so-so but we still had a great time.

It sounds heavenly to me!!

I'd have to check out Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo Cantina!

Have a blast Jodi!!

I doubt whether the cruise line will let you go ashore in Acapulco. Tourists have been murdered during the drug wars. It is really too bad about the drug wars, I loved Acapulco when I was there in 1969.

Cartegena can be a tough area, too. It's been almost 10 years since I was there, but there were tons of armed soldiers throughout the city. I don't think we would have felt comfortable going out on a tour of our own.

We loved going partially through the canal - my brother-in-law; however, said it was like watching paint dry, but if he wasn't gambling, he wasn't happy anyway. My husband and I thought it was fascinating to watch our ship be boarded by the canal pilot and escorted to the eastern (but really westernmost) entrance of the canal. Did you know that the eastern entrance is more west than the western entrance?

We also had the opportunity to visit the San Blas islands, home of the Cuna Indians - it was quite an eye-opener to see the sea-level islands.

Helene

Whoa, I just googled it. Linda is right. I hear mostly about Texas border violence and I had no idea that things had gotten so terrible in Acapulco.

I sure hope Cartegena is safe enough to leave the ship. Acapulco I'm not so worried about since I've already been there before and boy did we have a great time. We traveled to Mexico City and Acapulco with a couple whose wife is Mexican. They showed us around both towns like they were locals.

Jodi-

It would be a lot of time onboard the ship for me. I wouldn't be getting off until Costa Rica. lol

We've done the canal twice, but east-to-west, and on shorter trips. One full day through the canal was more than enough for me, DH wanted to do it the second time. One trip we couldn't put in at Puerto Valarta (sp?) because some British royal was there, so we had a dull day at Cabo.

We made two tries at Mexico and everyone got sick both times, despite making an effort to eat and drink safely. We never returned, and certainly won't during drug wars. I can experience that much closer to home in parts of Chicago.

I would like to visit Costa Rica and Columbia. Please tell us all about it when you're back -- or while you're on the trip!