From many perspectives, we found the partial transit of the canal to be our most interesting time in the Caribbean. The Canal is historically significant and should be on all bucket lists; Aruba and Curacao are very pleasant and prosperous islands and the jungles of Costa Rica are stunningly different from any North American sights.

I am a 3-star Mariner from up North and sailed with my husband and college-aged son, spending the Christmas and New Year's holidays on board for the Panama Canal cruise. Pre-cruise stay was at the Doubletree Gallery One on Sunrise, which is convenient to the Beach, but in the cool weather we toured the Bonnet House, hiked the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park and spent many hours sightseeing on the water taxi. Trip to FLL was interrupted by Delta flight delays in Atlanta due to lousy weather and delayed luggage. All luggage including my carryon was delivered rain-soaked. I had to unpack all the bags and hang wet clothing all over the hotel rooms. This was second year in a row this happened to me and I did take precautions of packing in plastic, but bags were so soaked and so much rain leaked thru the zippers that I had quite a bit of drying, pressing and repacking to do. Hopefully the cleaners can get the stains out of some of the formal wear. Washables are in pretty good shape, but I will now only pack by color and sort just like laundry before handing over suitcases to the airlines.

Highlights: Perfect weather, including rain in the Costa Rican rainforest! Read more