Not impressed with the embarkation process. There was no order. When they finally started calling people to embark a sea of people rushed the door. A little chaotic at best.

Cartagena, Colombia: You can take a shuttle or walk from the ship to the port entrance. The port is actually very nice with numerous animals to see including black geese, iguanas, macaws, parrots, tucans, ducks, a condor, etc. There's a shopping area, as well. I recommended taking a quick look at prices before heading into town so that you can make the best decisions in terms of quality and price. If you don't find something better in town, you know what to expect when you get back. There's WiFi at the port for $5/hour or a certain amount of data. We initially planned to walked outside of the port and get a taxi for about ~$5 one way to the Walled City. "Taxis" (meaning someone who will drive you around in a car and give you a tour) are waiting as soon as you leave the animal preserve. They asked $20 per person for a 3 hour tour. We walked a little further on, almost to the point of leaving the port and got one of these same "taxis" for $30 for the four of us. He took us to around Cartegena, to a couple of forts, to the new town, to an emerald museum (you'll notice that every emerald shop calls itself a museum in Cartagena) and finally to the old town, which is the only place we wanted to go. He took us to a shop and stood outside to make sure we didn't meander to another shop (so that he would be sure to get his commission), then took us to see several statues, etc. We had asked for him to help us find a place to use WiFi and a public restroom--neither of which ever happened and by the end, we just wanted to get back to the port. When we got back he told us he expected a $10 tip. In the end, we paid $40 for 4 hours and only saw a part of what we wanted to. The point is, there are options. Be persistent until you get what you're looking for and don't settle for the high prices of the taxistas waiting to pounce. If I had it to do over, I'd have walked a little further and gotten a regular taxi outside of the port and gone straight to the Walled City and spent a few splendid hours there doing what I wanted instead of being stuck to the taxista's agenda.

Colon, Panama: We walked around the port shopping area and used the WiFi at a little cafe. It was $5 for unlimited time and data.

Lima, Peru: The port is in Callao which is a less than savory area of the city and very industrial, so the ship provided a shuttle that took us to the Plaza de San Miguel a little further into the city. The port was not set up to receive cruise ships. There was a section where they were doing work and the traffic was down to one way. What should have taken 10-15 minutes, took 45 minutes due to poor planning on the part of the port. At San Miguel, there's a shopping center and movie theater. There are the obligatory taxistas waiting to take you on a tour of the city. We walked over to the shopping center and found a real taxi driver to take us to La Molina where we met a friend and had lunch with her. On the way back, we took a taxi and drove past Miraflores (but unfortunately didn't have time to stop), where there is a beautiful seaside park and free WiFi. The taxis one way to La Molina (about 20 km from San Miguel) was $10. If you just want to go to Miraflores, I suggest walking a few blocks and getting a real taxi to take you to Miraflores for a few dollars instead of taking a "taxista" who will take you on a tour to see things you don't want to see for a lot of money.