Panama Canal

[genhelper]

Leaving May 9 for Panama Canal on 12 day RCCL cruise. WE sail outof San Juan and depart the ship :cry: in San Diego. Would appreciate any tips from anyone who has taken this cruise. We have previously sailed with RCCl (Hawaii and Bahamas)) and Princess (Alaska).

[Rev22:17]

Genhelper,

Leaving May 9 for Panama Canal on 12 day RCCL cruise. WE sail outof San Juan and depart the ship in San Diego. Would appreciate any tips from anyone who has taken this cruise. We have previously sailed with RCCl (Hawaii and Bahamas)) and Princess (Alaska).

Would you like to receive an additional shipboard credit of $200 on that cruise?

Here's how to get it.

>> 1. Buy 100 shares of stock of Royal Caribbean International's parent company, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL).

>> 2. Send proof of ownership (either a photocopy of the stock certificate or a photocopy of the page of your brokerage statement showing the shares in your account) and your booking and contact information to the company's headquarters.

Your travel agent can verify the $200 credit, which will appear automatically on your shipboard account before the end of the cruise. Just repeat step #2 for any additional cruises on either Celebrity Cruises or Royal Caribbean International that you might take to receive additional shipboard credits, fully combinable with any other promotions that you may receive including the credit and price guaranteee that the company offers for booking cruises aboard either line's ships.

There's a page with full details (http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_...nefit_2005.pdf) on the parent company's investor web site (http://www.rclinvestor.com). The form states that the offer will expire on 01 May, but company has renewed this offer annually for the last several years.

Norm.

[alison1170]

What sort of tips are you looking for? We sailed Brilliance over the holidays from Miami and back, stopping in Key West, Aruba, the canal, and Costa Rica.

In Key West we visited the butterfly sanctuary, walked back on Duval stopping in our favorite stores, and having lunch at Sloppy Joes (I used to work in the Keys as a scuba instructor so I love Key West). In Aruba we went to De Palm Island to go snorkeling with our ~4 yr old son and mos old daughter. Our son ended up just playing on the beach as he thought the water was too rough. Snorkeling was so so-not much to see, lots of coral damage. Lunch was good though-better than what we got on the ship! Panama we did an eco cruise on Gatun Lake. Not exciting, but we did get to stop at the lock for a close up and watched our ship go back through. Sounds like youre doing a transcanal trip though. I heard great reviews about the train tour if thats an option. If so, skip the observation cars-heard the ac couldnt keep up with the afternoon sun pounding down on them. Costa Rica we did a boat, train, and bus tour which was fun. Saw monkeys, sloths, iguanas, and birds, visited a banana plantation and a Dola packing plant.

The rest of the cruise was spent at sea. Our favorite spot to hang out at night while our son was in the kids club was the solarium. Most of the time it was empty. The lighting and peacefulness was priceless (our daughter napped in her stroller next to the hot tub).

Have a great cruise! Bring binoculars, a good zoom camera, sunscreen, hat, and drink lots of water because its hot and humid!

alison

[LisaK]

cruising thru the canal zone is very, very hot and humid, oppressively hot,pass-out type hot-- seek out as much shade as you can find, wear a hat,sunglasses, suncreen do not drink alcohol, drink lots of water.

[cwibb]

Hi

My husband and I are going on that cruise also. I'm looking forward to being back in Aruba. I love Aruba!