#45 - Cruising to South America through the Panama Canal

We excitedly boarded the Norwegian Sun and checked into our 2 cabins that would be our home for 2 weeks. Fortunately, they were outside cabins with unobstructed views, but unfortunately, they were on different floors. Our first week was spent happily exploring the ship and smoothly sailing south past Cuba and the Dominican Republic, porting in Columbia, passing through the Panama Canal, and finally entering the vast Pacific Ocean. Our second week took us south of the equator to Ecuador, Peru and Chile with a final disembarkation in San Antonio, just an hour's drive from Santiago, where our next stay will be.

 Highlights:

1. Kids Club on board
2. Musical Entertainment
3. All the general things that we like about taking a cruise
4. Panama Canal transit
5. Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile
6. Tera's Cruise Musings:Time, Structure, and Community while exploring the world with family.

​(Click below right to read more . . .  )

Highlights:

1. Kids Club onboard – This cruise turned out to be a very slim cruise in terms of the number of children and teens on board. With it being a 2-week relocation cruise from Miami to Chile, plus right before the Christmas holidays, it doesn’t work well for most families.  Nevertheless, it was the best run kids' club and teen club that we’ve ever seen. Megan and Jacob loved the Splash academy, as it is called onboard. The counselors were fun and engaging, the activities truly something to look forward to, and the overall experience was a surprising breath of fresh air. Megan learned to juggle and craft, Jacob mastered the Chinese yo-yo and dodge ball, they  both learned fun new games, Tyler became adept at the Wii Smashy-smashy game, while Anna continued to excel at Mario Kart. I ask you, what greater aspirations could we wish for our children on vacation?
2. Musical Entertainment – As with any cruise, the musical entertainment was varied and constant. I was especially impressed with the resident singing and dancing troupe, and the Jazz Quartet was silky, smooth and scintillating. 
3. All the general things that we like about taking a cruise – Honestly, our intent in taking this cruise was less about being relaxed and well-fed and entertained and joining tours, and more about having a place to unpack, spend time together, and get projects and schooling done, while enroute to new and interesting places. We appreciate the fact that we don’t have to worry about any transportation or our itinerary while on our trip; we can unpack our bags and “stay” on the ship; we don’t have to think about buying food or any meal-planning at all; we don't have to tackle doing dishes; keeping the kids entertained is effortless (in fact, the effort is needed to extract them from entertainment in order to accomplish schooling & family goals); plus we get to visit numerous new countries. 
4. Panama Canal Transit – One of the main reasons we jumped aboard this cruise was the Panama Canal Transit! Cruising from Atlantic to Pacific through this historic waterway did not disappoint. We had a presenter on board who gave a talk about the canal as we sailed along, which inspired more research to discover the history and stories about its planning and construction.  It is a pretty fascinating story, with winners and losers, and war and politics, all resulting in an amazing impact on the world.                       
5. Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile - This cruise was not so much about the individual ports, since it was a repositioning cruise.  We chose not to take any port tours from the ship, but chose instead to get off the boat in each port and walk around a bit. We took a taxi in Cartegena, Columbia, as well as one to see the Plaza Mayor in Lima, Peru.  But for the other ports, we enjoyed a walk along the beach or just exploring the local port village.
6. Tera's Cruise Musings - One of the main reasons I love cruising is because it allows us to have many of the benefits of "slow travel" while also exploring different places in a short amount of time, usually my favorite perk of "fast travel". What are these benefits I speak of? Things that are usually super hard to support while traveling. ​Time, Structure and Community while still exploring the world with the family. Time and structure to help support my myriad personal/family goals, a community of new friends to meet, plus some great educational and entertainment options available right outside my doorstep. Time is abundant on a cruise: no grocery shopping, food prep, and meal clean up; no cleaning and making beds; no errands; no "wasted" time spent transporting ourselves between places; no outside obligations and commitments; no easy wifi and cell signal . . . Structure is easy to maintain on a cruise: set meal times, set entertainment times, set travel & exploring times, set class and workshop times . . . We just add in our own schedules for personal and family priorities each day and it becomes so much easier to be consistent and successful. Community is totally available, surrounded by people from many places in the world all interested in traveling, all contained with you on the same boat for 2 weeks, with plenty of opportunities to gather and visit and play and connect. All of this while being able to watch every sunrise and sunset; to exercise in a gym and walk a track with a great view; to feast at a salad bar or be served a luxurious 5+ course dinner as often as I would like, or not like; to be present in a fun and educational way with my family and myself; and to be gently rocked to sleep in my cabin each night.