Laurie and Carol's Panama Adventure **Updated 6/11** COMPLETE About This Page:

[HeatherD]

Hey, how come your luggage got a vacation from the vacation and you didn't? Unfair, says I!

Thanks for all the updates....loved seeing the picture of the PC while you were still there - really cool.

[LizardCop]

for sharing your trip with us!!!

[lauriep]

Originally Posted by MGW

Thanks so much for sharing with us. So glad you had a wonderful time.

Where can I view all your pictures?

The photos are at: lauriep's photos- powered by SmugMug

For really great photos of the canal transit, see Deb Wills' blog at allearsnet.com

[chezp]

Great photos - thanks for sharing those.

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures Laurie

[DisneyMommy1022]

Originally Posted by lauriep

The entire cruise has been has been magical and I'd book the August repo if I could! One thing Disney does well is storytelling and the story of this cruise was perfect from beginning to end.

I am very new to this board and I just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed your trip report alot!!! I found myself at work trying to read it with out the boss seeing me!!! Me and my family will be taking our first cruise in May of 09 and can't wait!! Thanks you again for taking the time to fill us all in on your wonderful adventure!

[NanaTink]

Originally Posted by DisneyMommy1022

I am very new to this board and I just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed your trip report alot!!! I found myself at work trying to read it with out the boss seeing me!!! Me and my family will be taking our first cruise in May of 09 and can't wait!! Thanks you again for taking the time to fill us all in on your wonderful adventure!

DisneyMommy! We are glad you are here! You will your cruise!

[DyanKJ130]

Hope your luggage has made it home!!

[lauriep]

Originally Posted by DisneyMommy1022

I am very new to this board and I just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed your trip report alot!!! I found myself at work trying to read it with out the boss seeing me!!! Me and my family will be taking our first cruise in May of 09 and can't wait!! Thanks you again for taking the time to fill us all in on your wonderful adventure!

Welcome to the boards! I'm glad you enjoyed reading a few snippets about the cruise. You're going to have a fantastic time on your cruise!

[Kenny]

Just read through your report, Laurie. A very interesting cruise, I just caught up on Terri's report, too, so I'm getting two perspectives of the same cruise at the same time! Great pics!

[Cheriemek]

Just read your whole report, and enjoyed your pictures. Now I am definitely going to look into booking a Panama Cruise! Thanks for letting us view the pictures, and for writting your report. It makes me miss The Magic!

[lauriep]

Originally Posted by Cheriemek

Just read your whole report, and enjoyed your pictures. Now I am definitely going to look into booking a Panama Cruise! Thanks for letting us view the pictures, and for writting your report. It makes me miss The Magic!

Thanks, Cheryl, I'm missing The Magic, too! I have some summing-up notes to post, but haven't had much time to focus on it. It was, truly, a trip-of-a-lifetime.

[lauriep]

WRAP-UP AND RANDOM THOUGHTS

Two weeks has passed since the cruise ended and I’m still trying to process the experience. I’m also, of course, missing the pampering and good food!

The highlights:
•

• Just being on The Magic for that long a stretch was wonderful. I loved exploring the ship in the early mornings, when it was pretty empty. The design of the ship is so elegant and comfortable. It isn’t too huge, so walking to any location on the ship is easy for me. No stairs, no inclines. The only time the ship felt crowded (aside from the first and last day, when everyone’s boarding or debarking at the same time), was just before dinner at the entrance to each of the dining rooms. The long days at sea between ports were fabulous.
• The service on the ship is, in every way, impeccable! I loved our dining servers, cabin steward. They manage the perfect balance—friendly but not smarmy, attentive but not fawning. You never get the feeling that crew members have to rush away to do their jobs—everyone, from senior officers on down, has time to interact. (The morning after the canal, I was relaxing on a deck chair and stopped a senior officer to ask if he knew the name of the person who gave the narration on the TV and over-head system during the transit. He didn’t know, but sat down next to me, got out his walkie-talkie and called the Captain on the bridge! The Captain couldn’t remember his name, but said he’d e-mail back to the Canal Authority to find out. Fifteen minutes later, after enjoying a leisurely chat with the officer, I got my answer—Jorg Fernandez, a pilot on the canal, had boarded the ship at the Bay of Limon and stayed on until the Miraflores locks. )
• I never tired of looking at the sea and sky. From minute to minute, day and night, quiet seas or rough, it was fascinating and beautiful.
• So much to do! Lectures, cooking demonstrations, movies, bingo, spa, fitness room, pools, shows, nightclubs…. On this cruise I didn’t even go to the spa once and still, after two cruises, have never been to any of the nightclubs!
• The cabin was very comfortable. Plenty of room for all of our stuff. At the end of the cruise, after both of us shopping in the ports and on-board, we still had unused drawer space. The split bathrooms worked great. Carol, who has more stuff, kept hers in the slightly larger one with the shower, tub and sink, and I kept mine in the one with the sink and toilet. It was nice having the twin beds and not having to sleep on the sofa. I’m so glad we had the veranda on this long cruise. Not only did it add to the spacious feeling of the cabin, but it was terrific on canal day.
• The food was very good to excellent. Even the buffets, which I thought I’d get tired of, were very nice. Plenty of fresh fruits, wonderfully-cooked vegetables, lots of interesting salads, in addition to the assortment of breads, sweets, and anything else you could want. I was very happy with the vegetarian dinners, and Carol loved her meals, especially the seafood, also. The added Disney touches—quite a few of the meals were themed—Pirate night, Mexican Riviera night, Tropical night, Mousketeer night (my favorite!) were a lot of fun and took away the possible monotony of rotating through the 3 restaurants each night. The menus were beautiful to look at—each night a different cover and design. The snack bars on deck 9 and Cove Café were also wonderful.
• The Canal Transit!! This experience has really stayed with me—the sights, sounds and emotions of that day were extraordinary. The exhilaration of the technical achievement, at such great cost of money and of life was everything I’d hoped it would be. And the sadness, too, of passing the remains of the old French Canal, seeing Gold Hill, the locks and lakes, Culebra…... And Disney really made the day extra-special, even for those uninterested in the history of the canal. The festive atmosphere, deck barbecue, transit narration—it was great.

The not-so-great:

• My biggest peeve was the seating system at breakfast and lunch. If you choose to eat at one of the sit-down locations for these meals, you are automatically seated with others. You can specify that you wish to dine alone, but it’s uncomfortable to do so. I ended up going to the buffets or snack areas almost exclusively because of this. I really enjoy having a quiet table-service meal alone with a book and this wasn’t easy. At the buffets, on the other hand, you can sit where you wish and there were always tables available alone either inside or on deck.
• Internet service was frustrating—expensive, and slow.
• There weren’t many port excursions that were possible unless you can walk a lot. And not many that were culture-based. This didn’t bother me much, because I never minded more time on the ship!
  
• I can’t think of anything else I didn’t love!

Cruising itself is an odd kind of vacation, very insulating and it’s not really possible to explore any of the ports in depth or get a feeling that you’ve really BEEN there. Given that, however, and that the trade-off (for me) would be an in-depth cultural exploration of a country or city, with lots of difficulties in getting around and extreme exhaustion, I see more cruising in my future!

[lauriep]

WRAP-UP AND RANDOM THOUGHTS

Two weeks has passed since the cruise ended and I’m still trying to process the experience. I’m also, of course, missing the pampering and good food!

The highlights:
•

• Just being on The Magic for that long a stretch was wonderful. I loved exploring the ship in the early mornings, when it was pretty empty. The design of the ship is so elegant and comfortable. It isn’t too huge, so walking to any location on the ship is easy for me. No stairs, no inclines. The only time the ship felt crowded (aside from the first and last day, when everyone’s boarding or debarking at the same time), was just before dinner at the entrance to each of the dining rooms. The long days at sea between ports were fabulous.
• The service on the ship is, in every way, impeccable! I loved our dining servers, cabin steward. They manage the perfect balance—friendly but not smarmy, attentive but not fawning. You never get the feeling that crew members have to rush away to do their jobs—everyone, from senior officers on down, has time to interact. (The morning after the canal, I was relaxing on a deck chair and stopped a senior officer to ask if he knew the name of the person who gave the narration on the TV and over-head system during the transit. He didn’t know, but sat down next to me, got out his walkie-talkie and called the Captain on the bridge! The Captain couldn’t remember his name, but said he’d e-mail back to the Canal Authority to find out. Fifteen minutes later, after enjoying a leisurely chat with the officer, I got my answer—Jorg Fernandez, a pilot on the canal, had boarded the ship at the Bay of Limon and stayed on until the Miraflores locks. )
• I never tired of looking at the sea and sky. From minute to minute, day and night, quiet seas or rough, it was fascinating and beautiful.
• So much to do! Lectures, cooking demonstrations, movies, bingo, spa, fitness room, pools, shows, nightclubs…. On this cruise I didn’t even go to the spa once and still, after two cruises, have never been to any of the nightclubs!
• The cabin was very comfortable. Plenty of room for all of our stuff. At the end of the cruise, after both of us shopping in the ports and on-board, we still had unused drawer space. The split bathrooms worked great. Carol, who has more stuff, kept hers in the slightly larger one with the shower, tub and sink, and I kept mine in the one with the sink and toilet. It was nice having the twin beds and not having to sleep on the sofa. I’m so glad we had the veranda on this long cruise. Not only did it add to the spacious feeling of the cabin, but it was terrific on canal day.
• The food was very good to excellent. Even the buffets, which I thought I’d get tired of, were very nice. Plenty of fresh fruits, wonderfully-cooked vegetables, lots of interesting salads, in addition to the assortment of breads, sweets, and anything else you could want. I was very happy with the vegetarian dinners, and Carol loved her meals, especially the seafood, also. The added Disney touches—quite a few of the meals were themed—Pirate night, Mexican Riviera night, Tropical night, Mousketeer night (my favorite!) were a lot of fun and took away the possible monotony of rotating through the 3 restaurants each night. The menus were beautiful to look at—each night a different cover and design. The snack bars on deck 9 and Cove Café were also wonderful.
• The Canal Transit!! This experience has really stayed with me—the sights, sounds and emotions of that day were extraordinary. The exhilaration of the technical achievement, at such great cost of money and of life was everything I’d hoped it would be. And the sadness, too, of passing the remains of the old French Canal, seeing Gold Hill, the locks and lakes, Culebra…... And Disney really made the day extra-special, even for those uninterested in the history of the canal. The festive atmosphere, deck barbecue, transit narration—it was great.

The not-so-great:

• My biggest peeve was the seating system at breakfast and lunch. If you choose to eat at one of the sit-down locations for these meals, you are automatically seated with others. You can specify that you wish to dine alone, but it’s uncomfortable to do so. I ended up going to the buffets or snack areas almost exclusively because of this. I really enjoy having a quiet table-service meal alone with a book and this wasn’t easy. At the buffets, on the other hand, you can sit where you wish and there were always tables available alone either inside or on deck.
• Internet service was frustrating—expensive, and slow.
• There weren’t many port excursions that were possible unless you can walk a lot. And not many that were culture-based. This didn’t bother me much, because I never minded more time on the ship!
  
• I can’t think of anything else I didn’t love!

Cruising itself is an odd kind of vacation, very insulating and it’s not really possible to explore any of the ports in depth or get a feeling that you’ve really BEEN there. Given that, however, and that the trade-off (for me) would be an in-depth cultural exploration of a country or city, with lots of difficulties in getting around and extreme exhaustion, I see more cruising in my future!

[Colexis Mom]

Great wrap up Laurie Thanks so much for taking us along on the cruise with you