For most of us, Colon is just a jumping off point to the nearby feature synonymous with the whole country of Panama – the Panama Canal. There are some human achievements that show that grand plans can come to fruition and we should be proud of what we can achieve. In an age when laying national broadband cables seems all too difficult, it’s hard to imagine looking at 77 kilometres of mountains and disease-ridden jungle and picking up pick and shovel and thinking “we can dig a ditch through this and link two oceans”...
We had booked a day-long 4WD trip to the lava fields of the 10,800ft high volcano but as there were not enough takers it had been cancelled, so we set off for Taormina to see if we could find a local tour operator offering something similar.
Not visiting Colombia in general and Cartagena in particular is one of the regrets of my travel life. I’ve seen Romancing the Stone and remembered the dramatically beautiful scenes around the port of Cartagena.The first port of call on this Radiance of the Seas voyage is Cartagena, so one travel regret is about to be redressed.
I expect there are people who walk on to a ship for the first time with a deck plan etched into their brains. Not me – I read the reviews and get a feeling for the ship but I love the joy of discovering things for myself. It’s even better if the journey of discovery finds enough hidden nooks and crannies that it continues for a few days.
My alarm went off at 8 am and I woke to complete darkness. There was a moment of fear. Had Cuban pirates boarded the ship in the night and consigned me to a barrel?
I am not speaking of the cute British kids’ television series from the 1960’s in which Hammy Hamster, Roderick Rat and GP the guinea pig had amazing adventures, but the increase in the popularity of river cruising......
Here’s Azamara Journey docked in her port of registry, Valletta, the capital city of Malta. This 16th-century city is a living history lesson and the guided walk we took around the streets and key sights was well worth the $41 charge.
As the editor of P&O Cruises’ in-cabin magazine Pacific (as well as Cruise Passenger of course), I recently commissioned a feature on the theme of “How To Do Nothing On A Cruise Ship”. A sea day on this cruise is the perfect opportunity for me to practise what we preach. I could now leave this page blank while I do nothing at all ... however...
Fernando is living the life we all aspire to. He has sailed for 130 world cruises aboard ultra luxury line Crystal. That's 15,600 days of being served the finest cuisine, sleeping in suites with a personal butler and visiting the world's most beautiful cities. Who better to tell us about Crystal's next world cruise!
