2/18/2022 – We arrived in Colon, Panama at 10am. It is a warm beautiful day. Colon is a city and seaport in Panama. It lies beside the Caribbean Sea and near the Atlantic Ocean entrance to the Panama Canal.
On our slow approach to Panama, I thought it was a good time to give you that walking tour of deck 15. I tried this a few days ago, but the wind was so strong I could not make it around the deck. Enjoy the walk!
Last time we came this route, we did an excursion at every port. This time Steve wanted to relax ha or save money. He says relax. We got off the ship and walked around the port and got back on. It is not a port I want to walk out of and into the city. It appears they are in the process of doing a lot of refurbishment.
The duty-free store was very expensive including the little, tiny bottles of water. They were $1.00. Coca-cola products were abundant.
This is the first time ever we have left a ship with our passport. Last time we were here in 2020 we did not need our passports. Now the Panama government looks at your passports before you can get in the port. If you stop at Limon on a cruise, my suggestion is to book an excursion. If we come back again, I want to do the cross-Panama train. It goes to Panama City on the Pacific Ocean. I was just too cheap/frugal to book it. It was $170.00 each. Now I am sorry. We got back on the ship pretty quickly.
It was another hang by the pool day.
We love the bar server by the pool. What a nice young man. Quick, prompt, polite, funny, and has such love for his parents.
The desert gardens around the ship and by the pool are so nice and a great idea. Easy maintenance and people do not touch and break the plant leaves.
The hot tubs around indoor pool are so very nice.
I can’t handle just hanging around. The buffet is now more a cafeteria style restaurant. Someone hands you a tray and you just go around and tell people behind the counters what you want. The employees in the buffet are all so nice and make you feel happy.
It is so much nicer than it used to be. Only the server and you handle the plates and only the server handles the serving utensils. I have to say this is the second MSC ship we have been on, and they are super super clean. Not a speck of dust in your room or anywhere on the ships. They take pride in their ships. At dinner I found out the train excursion was cancelled today to Panama City. So, it was definitely not meant to be. We departed Panama and headed to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica this. evening. We will be traveling 191 nautical miles arriving at 7am tomorrow. Clocks are going back one hour tonight. One last comment. We do normally go to a few shows, but the other night we went to go into the theater, and it seemed really crowded to us for covid. So we have not seen any shows. Thinking about it. Even though I am cheap, I think the real reason we have shied away from excursions is the same reason “covid”. Hard to get out of that covid stay away from people mentality especially when masks have to be worn outside. In the casino the one day they scanned our card for covid tracking. Ugg. It is so nice to come back to the room in the evening to towel animals
To see more about the MSC Divina click here: https://deestimes.com/divina/
For more information on Limon, Panama, click here: https://deestimes.com/ports/
Today’s product recommendations are traveling essentials. 1) Luggage hand cart – we love this cart for easy rolling for easy cruise carry-on bags. Even when you can’t go to your room right away this is so easy to walk around the ship with. Here’s the link https://amzn.to/3s37EOw
2) This large toiletry bag is the best. Steve has the black and I have the pink. We both absolutely love them. Here’s the link https://amzn.to/3v1p6ok and picture
