Some Thoughts

Random thoughts:

• Can't say enough good things about Holland America Lines. So organized! They think of everything. 
• The excursions we picked were just OK. We picked ones that were "easy" so they tended to be bus trips. A "Moderate" category would have been more interesting.
• I can't say I was very impressed with the towns we visited. After all, these are third world countries. Aruba was a resort town with beautiful beaches, Willemstad was the most interesting, showing off its Dutch heritage, Cartegena, which is not an island, was old and dirty. We didn't really see much of Colon or Port Limon.
• My ultimate goal was to see the Panama Canal. Our day there was great. We saw the important parts and got lots of information. Mission accomplished.
• The weather was great! Always good to get away to where its warm in the late winter.
• I was a little disappointed that we never visited a beach and put our toes in the water. But, we are not sun worshippers or swimmers anyway, and I, at least, would sunburn very easily. In order to have visited a beach we would have had to sign up for an on shore excursion. So its all good!
• If one is interested in white sand beaches and blue waters, sometimes within walking distance of the ship's docking, a better itinerary would include places like Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, St Thomas, Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman. Including the Panama Canal in a 10-12 day cruise makes those destinations not feasible.