Monday, May 11, 2026               Fuerte Amador, Panama

Before office hours, I put the finishing touches on our informal Happy Hour Farewell Party. I had one last Distinctive Voyager, who boarded in San Diego.  I had not met her yet, but we had been in contact by phone.  Today, she came to the desk.  It turns out she had been on board since Fort Lauderdale but was not our client for most of the trip.  She got off in Alaska, and had planned to fly home.  She met one of my people who’s a TA on board and gave her the good idea to sail home from San Diego, instead.  She was delighted to be in the DV group, even if we didn’t have a shore excursion for her.  She had heard how good we had been with our people. 

The nearby dinner on Isla Flamingo didn’t sell at all.  Everyone wanted to go into Panama City, or they would eat on the ship.  So that wasn’t my best idea, but I was happy with it because it meant I would be able to catch Hyperion Knight’s one night walk-on.  He would board when the ship docked in Fuerte Amador mid-afternoon, and get off right after his 9:00pm show.  Better than nothing, but I had been hoping for a nice dinner with him on board.

I canceled both restaurant reservations for six, but still planned for Fishlovers, the little ceviche place that came so highly recommended.  When I got off the ship, I found out it would be at least a half hour walk for me, so I decided to take a taxi.  It turned out to be a bit of a rip-off because they didn’t let the metered taxis in to the terminal.  Mind you, if you are willing to walk to the end of the parking lot, you can pick up one there.  I saw yellow cabs loading unloading, from my expensive ride.  His name was Mario, and I wasn’t much pleased with him, but I did let him give me his card.

The “little gem” turned out to be not much more than a stand, but it had some tables, a view of the water and cold beer.  My 30 days of abstinence were over.  I ordered the gourmet sampler of ceviche:

The ceviche was good enough, but it would have been a real stretch to call it “gourmet”.  I ate about 2/3 of it and was ready for something else.  I found a delectable menu item in fried squid.  They had a gourmet version of that, tentacles only.  It was yummy.  I have made Montreal cruise buddy friends this trip, and lo and behold, they found me at Fishlovers, just at sunset, so I have this nice picture of Joey and Lee, who had walked over.

They are on the plane with me as I write this.  Once the sun was down, there was nothing to keep me there and I just might catch Hyperion Knight’s early show, if I took a taxi.  Fishlovers didn’t know a number to call, so I ended up with Mario again.  The rides cost as much as the meal, with two beers.

I did make Hyperion Kinght’s show, and he’s better every time I see him.  He’s very worth a google.  He came out after the show and I got my five minutes.  He has fond memories of a good time at our table last year and sends his condolences to Dee.

Tuesday, May 12, 2026              Panama Canal Transit

I shared the office in the atrium with Luggage Forward, where I got to see a lot of my people, waiting a long time to talk to the company rep, who had joined in Fuerte Amador.  People bring insane amounts of luggage aboard.  But, to each his own, if they want to spend days packing it, time managing it, and more days unpacking it, that’s their privilege.  I was giving a ten minute talk this afternoon about how to board for 133-days with only carry-on.

Someone who is as blasé about the canal transit as I am does not need to be immortalized in Holland America’s Official 2026 World Cruise video, but there I am, with my cousin, John, waving from the ship to the photographer on the dock.  I just happened to be doing my laps on the promenade deck, and John just happened to be looking out, and we chose our moment well. Here’s how the transit looked from our side:

Our last Distinctive Speaker was three of us.  I did 10 minutes on packing for a World Cruise in carry-on luggage, and Norm and Paula Radder finished their 8-year circumnavigation in a 35-foot sailboat.  Eleven people came to After Speaker Dinner and Salvatore Hasard gave us a good show. 

Wednesday, May 13, 2026          At Sea

Another day at the office, where I managed a lot of logging and blogging, and a super dinner with Linda and Bob Eckert, and Ben Sacks, and his mother, Kathy.  We laughed rather a lot but luckily our table is positioned where we don’t bother too many people and our neighbors have long since learned to put up with us.  The show was fun, too.  It was Breton Thunder, a Canadian band, brought on for the East Coast season which, on this ship, starts May 18, as soon as the World Cruise ends.  It’s a mash-up of Celtic music, rock, and everything else. 

Thursday, May 14, 2026             Cartagena, Columbia

They landed the formal night on a port day again, but it wasn’t much of a port.  I elected to just visit the aviary, right near the port, where there were reported to be monkeys, too.  The monkeys were shy while I was there but this guy sure wasn’t:

I got back to the ship, did a lot of logging and blogging before dinner with Bob and Toya Howard and Toya’s sister Anna.  Sobie and Al Toledo joined us for dessert and I didn’t even recognize her.  What a difference a wig can make.  It was the night of The Grand Finale Ball, but those things aren’t the fun they used to be when you’re old and single.  In fact they can be downright depressing and I don’t do depressing.

Friday, May 15, 2026                 At Sea

One last day of work, before I’ll turn my attention to packing and tipping.  I got the farewell letters out early to remind everyone there’s a party, if the ship’s reminder yesterday wasn’t enough.

28 out of the 46 Distinctive Voyagers still on board, came to Happy Hour, where I bought everyone a drink as there is no budget for such a thing.  HAL was nice enough to give us a roped-off space and it ended up costing me $203 in half-priced drinks and tips for the bartenders and servers.  It’s not much and that attendance shows it is important.  Please try to get us a proper farewell party on these very long cruises.

At one point there were 16 people signed up for dinner at 7:30pm, but the cancellations kept coming in until we were down to six, if Joanne and John stayed away and came the next night instead.  I had them do that and used my regular table and servers for a nice intimate dinner, with the best service on the ship.  The World Stage Cast had one more show for us and it was oldies, “Hits on 45”, my music.

Saturday, May 16, 2026              At Sea

When you arrive in carry-on there’s not much to pack.  HAL gives you a lot of stuff, though, including a bag to carry it in, and of course I had bought a few things and some presents.  My airline ticket included a checked bag, so I tossed all the excess into that.  I was done by the time it was time to check in to my May 17 flight.  When I did so, I noticed there were still a few free seats on my plane, which was far preferable, as to time, to that of Joey and Lee, which was at 9:00pm.  Air Canada’, via its crappy web site and undermanned phone lines, managed to waste all the valuable time I had left. 

John and Joanne joined me for a last dinner with Alice and Amin, and the menu was probably the best in 133 days.  Ya think they do that on purpose to keep you coming back?  Methinks.  Lots of hugs all around the ship and Breton Thunder on the Stage.  It was a good world voyage.  I do remember why I like doing this.

Sunday, May 17, 2026                Debark Fort Lauderdale, FL

I had a half package of Pedialyte and figured it would be a good idea to dump it into a bottle of water as a hedge against dehydration, which, in my case, sometimes brings on vertigo. (another joy of ageing).  That turned out to be genius, going through security at the airport.  When they wanted to take it away from me, I vocalized about it being my electrolytes.  The agent asked me if I needed them and I stated my case.  And that’s how you get your bottle of water through security.

I traveled to the airport with Joey and Lee.  There were still 4 seats on my 12:40 flight.  The guy who checked my bags in said they would have to pay $225 in change fees, if they wanted to fly out earlier than 9:00pm.  Lee didn’t want to do it, so we said our fond farewells, with me uttering (sputtering?) a last thought about how much better they would feel if they got to Montreal for dinner tonight instead of breakfast tomorrow.  Personally, I’d lose 2 days of productivity if I did that.  I know, Air Canada has made me do it, involuntarily, often enough.

Things continued to go well.  Lee reconsidered and the next time they approached Air Canada, they found a good guy, who let them on for what they had already paid.  Fair enough, they had paid for seat selection and there was no way they were getting any of that.  It was a smooth flight.  The plane even landed in Montreal a half-hour early.  Robbie was waiting for me and so was Dunn’s, with a famous Montreal “Smoked Meat”.  That means the whole sandwich but we never order more than “Smoked Meat”.  I’ll be having it again tonight as I welcome my guests for Grand Prix.  It’s Thursday, now.