The Panama Canal has been on my bucket list for a few years. Now that we are retired, we have more time to travel. This is the longest cruise we've taken. However, some people were on the ship for almost a month, having sailed Alaska, and the Pacific Coastal to Los Angeles.

We are Platinum Latitudes members, having sailed NCL many times, as well as Celebrity, Royal Carib, and Viking River Cruises, all more than once on each. We've stayed in Ocean view rooms, balconies, mini suites and full suites. We originally booked a balcony for this trip, when a special deal came out to book the mini suite for a couple of hundred $ more, we jumped on it. Thank goodness we did!

We stayed overnight at the Best Western San Pedro. A good hotel with a hot breakfast, in a not so good neighborhood. It was fine for one night, plus they had free transport to the cruise terminal in the morning. Read more