DAY 10: Panama City, Panama

Panama City: Yet another day at sea. So many on this cruise. If you wake up, have coffee, exercise, shower, etc., it can be ten or eleven o’clock before your day begins, but that still leaves so many hours to devour. Dave joined me on Deck 8 this morning. We were like ships passing in the daylight. I was listening to my podcasts until I hit 10000 steps (only 4 miles for my short legs) and then made a quick exit to our cabin. I was showered before My Driver returned from his five miles (and then he did a stair workout). It was super windy on Deck 8 this morning, and so many peeps were out walking today - so many more than usual. After seeing so much sea life yesterday, today we say only a few dolphins. Nothing else.

As is our habit, we went to lunch in one of the dining rooms. The menus are so varied, but they always have the usual burgers, salads, etc., to choose from. I had the Caprese salad and DT ordered poached blue fish with legumes. Our waiter apologized because the blue fish was not actually blue… but then he laughed, so we understood he was joking.

We were so lazy this afternoon, needlepointing and watching NFL. Arriving in Panama was quite exciting though. Where we have seen few ships since leaving Los Angeles, suddenly it was like a traffic jam of ship traffic as we approached the canal. Hundreds of passenger and container ships greeted us as as we arrived in Panama City. It gets very busy around the canal passage.

We were also not expecting to see this skyline!

Our Captain had to make a sharp left turn to slide the Norwegian Bliss onto the dock adjacent to the Viking Star.

Our ship docked at 5p, and passengers could leave by 6p - when it was dark. We decided to remain onboard this evening, as we have over 24 hours remaining to explore Panama City. The port provides shuttle buses for cruise ship passengers, and the last bus departs Panama City back to the ship at 2a. Not sure we are target consumer for this bus? We had a very quiet evening on board, as probably half the ship went ashore.

Usual cocktail in the Observation Lounge, then we went to the Bliss Theater for a Beatles cover band show. Can’t really report this was a true Beatles cover band, as the singers (dressed in Sargent Pepper costumes tonight) are Argentinian and sang with a Latin accent, but whatever.

Dave and I had dinner in the Manhattan dining room. It was mostly empty. Enjoying all the soups and broths on this ship so far, I had a cup of beef broth as my appetizer. Super good. Not too salty, as so many broths can be. Dave had a tomato salad with cornbread croutons for his appetizer and another appetizer - asparagus and artichoke risotto - as his main. For my main, I tried the lamb tikka. DT helped, but dang if this wasn’t just so yummy. Delicious and spicy. Drizzled with yoghurt and a cilantro garnish (see, they DO have cilantro on the ship - put some in the guacamole).

Big day for us! After watching (most of) the Beatles show before dinner, we caught the comedy show after dinner. Andrew Sleighter (from Portland, Oregon) was good for many laughs.

Not enough? We went up to the Observation Lounge to watch ex-Duck Justin Herbert (Chargers) v the Miami Dolphins… but didn’t stay long. Chargers were ahead, and most of the crowd were Floridians. We went back to our room to watch the end of the game on our television.

The ship is now on east-coast USA time, three hours ahead of Los Angeles time, and I am signing-off before the end of the football game.

Tomorrow we will explore Panama City! We do not leave Panama City until 10p tomorrow night and will transit the canal Tuesday during the day. So excited for this passage! Until my next update, from Panama City, I remain your “I have Wi-Fi all the time right now” correspondent.

LINKS:
Panama Tourist Guide
Panama City Tourist Guide
Norwegian Bliss
Real-time ship tracking

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