Panama City, Panama

            Tuesday, 12 Dec 2023 – The ship was docked overnight at Panama City, the capital and largest city in Panama.  It is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal and has a population of 1,938,000, with over 1,500,000 living in its urban area.  The city was founded on 15 Aug 1519, by Spanish conquistador Pedro Aria Davila.  Afro-Panamanians, mestizos make up 70 percent of the population.  There is a great deal of cultural diversity within the city, which manifests itself in the wide variety of languages comply spoken, such as German, Portuguese, French, Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew and English, in addition to Spanish.  Panama uses the U.S. dollar for its currency, although they have some Panamanian coins.

            We were scheduled to meet in the Marina Lounge for an excursion, U.S. Heritage in Panama, at 9:45 AM.  So, Jesse pre-ordered breakfast from room service.   Our tour group met in the Marina Lounge.  There we were given group tickets and disembarked when our group number was called.  Then, we boarded a bus which drove us around Panama City.  Our tour guide was Michelle and our driver was Dane.  We were driven through the city, as Michelle narrated the sights and gave us a brief history of Panama.  A road from the canal to the city was constructed using materials excavated during the canal construction.  We made a brief stop along the way to take photos of Panama City’s impressive skyline!  We passed a monument for the students who were killed while protesting the United States occupation of the Panama Canal.  We traveled to Fort Clayton, the former U.S. Army Base, and past the former Albrook Air Force Base, parts of which have been converted into a high-end commercial and residential area that includes an airport.

We got a close-up view of one set of locks, although no ships were transiting at the time.  Then we watched a 3-D film showing the operation and construction of the canal.  Afterwards, we climbed to an elevated observation platform, where we had a good view of one set of locks, although, again, there were no ships in transit.  On our way back to the ship, we stopped at a very large souvenir shop.  Jesse went in to look for tools and a sewing kit, but didn’t find anything.  He thought about purchasing a $45 Panama Hat, then thought, when and where would he wear it?

After returning to the ship, Jesse went to the Beauty Salon/Spa and scheduled Sally for a Swedish Massage, and himself for his second pedicure.   Then, when Destination Services opened at 4:00 PM, he went there with a question about complimentary shore excursions, which we would be receiving on our next cruise segment.  He had been to the desk previously, but had been told by the representative that we would be receiving no such benefit.  So, he returned with the documentation.  After arguing with a representative for several minutes, her supervisor finally came over, and after reviewing our booking, showed her that we did actually have the benefit.  The representative apologized for the misunderstanding.  He had only wanted to ask for the price limit on the complimentary shore excursions, which turned out to be $199.00, each.   Jesse has always claimed that he does not like to argue, so he was very flustered afterwards. 

Jesse had scheduled Sally for a 50-minute Swedish massage for 5:00 PM.  During her massage, Jesse went next door to the fitness center.  He chose to try riding an exercise bicycle.  He tried two different bicycles, but wasn’t able to get either of them working properly.  There were several different exercise and TV/screen options.  Since there was no one available to assist him, he made the best of it.  Sally’s masseuse was Praev, who found muscles to massage that Sally didn’t know that she had!  Sally enjoyed the massage immensely! 

Dancing to the Marina Show Band had been scheduled for 5:45 – 6:30 PM in the Horizons tonight, but we missed seeing in on the schedule and had assumed that there was no live dancing for the night, so we missed the opportunity.  We ate generously in the Terrace Café tonight, as a reward for all the walking during our tour earlier today!