Thursday Oct 13 - All Aboard
We returned to the hotel at 2:30pm after a half-day snorkelling trip and it was a bit of a rush to shower, wash out snorkelling gear and pack in time for happy hour at the Club Lounge. The lounge was full of other Sliver Explorer (henceforth referred to as SE) guests. At the appointed time we all made a dash for the ship.
After checking in and the safety drill it was off to the main dining room for a late dinner. We sat with a couple formerly from Sydney now living in the Gold Coast, Andy (founder and former owner of Costa coffee) & his partner, Georgie.
Friday Oct 14 - Sea Day
It was a sea day as we made our way to the first port of call, Havana. We had a quite morning finishing the unpacking and sending off a large bag of laundry. Fortunately our cabin included free laundry - so no trips to the self-service laundry for us !! Over breakfast we sat with Kate, a solo traveller from Melbourne who was part of the Captain’s Choice tour - we found out that the CC group was only 15 - quite a surprise. Kate had also been on the SE cruise immediately preceding ours which should of been from Boston to Nassau but they ended up stranded in Philadelphia. This cruise was also a charter through New Caledonia (?), a UK based company.
We attended a couple of lectures and had lunch on the outdoor terrace on a warm and sunny day. It was the captain’s welcome dinner so we dressed up a little and had lobster (very small - think large scampi) for dinner.
Saturday Oct 15 - Havana
Finally a pretty good night’s sleep. Around mid-day we cruised into Havana harbour - supposedly an impressive sight but I thought it was pretty ordinary. We disembarked at 2:00pm and set out on a vintage car tour - the cars were pretty amazing - they are literally everywhere in the city. We finished off the tour with a Mojito at the famous National Hotel - one of the bars is a hall of fame with photos of 100s of famous guests dating back to the 1930s.
After dinner we went to a major “tits and feathers” Las Vegas show - Cuba style - while very professional these group outings are not really our scene. We only got back to the ship at 1am - making for a very short night.
Sunday Oct 16 - Havana
The morning’s half-day city tour started at 9am - postponed from 8:30am by popular demand. The first stop - the old fortress was cancelled due to “road works” - really!!?? So we returned to one of the previous day’s stops - revolution square and heard the same spiel all over again - I guess they felt we needed a little more indoctrination. This was followed by a 2-3 hours city walking tour which was very interesting - the final stop being a mojito - tourist version - Sprite with a dash of rum and a sprig of mint. We got back to the ship hot and tired so has a pre-lunch drink on the poop-deck (aka outdoor grill) - we had lunch with another couple which took quite a long time so we finished the afternoon with a siesta instead of spending free time in the old town.
At 6pm we attended the sail away on the poop deck which is always one of the highlights of cruising followed by the day’s recap and briefing. We had a solo early dinner as I just wanted to crash out which I did.
Monday Oct 17 - Sea Day
We had a sleep in followed by a late and leisurely breakfast with 2 other couples (note I’ve stopped trying to record names). Since it was a sea day there were lectures scheduled - we gave the 10am one a miss - history of the sugarcane industry.
After lunch we watched a movie on the life of Fidel Castro - very interesting indeed.
Then it was six’es, daily briefing and dinner. A bit of a late night again.
Tuesday Oct 18 - Cienfuegos & Trinidad City
We were along side Cienfuegos at 8am with our bus trip to Trinidad taking off at 9am. It was an hour and a half to Trinidad - where we had a walking tour of this historic town including a stop for a drink then a buffet lunch. We arrived back at Cienfuegos around 4pm where we took the ‘look around town and walk back to the ship option’. At the dock the exchange booth was chaos as everyone wanted to change their leftover CUCs to dollars or euros but they only had very limited supplies of western currency so most people were left holding the bag (i.e. their completely useless CUCs).
Sail away was at 5:30pm with music and drinks on the poop deck. We had a dinner on our own as we both wanted an early night.
Wednesday Oct 19 - Sea Day
So it was now 2 sea days to our next stop of Cartagena — a few lectures, trivial pursuit and a bridge tour were all that was on offer. Good time to rest up.
Dieter had a “boys” lunch and I met with a few of the ladies on the poop deck.
Thursday Oct 20 - Sea Day
Another sea day so a repeat of yesterday - this evening was also the Captain’s farewell dinner.
Friday Oct 21 - Cartagena
We did a city tour in the morning then a mangroves tour in the afternoon. Then it was sail-away and dinner.
Saturday Oct 22 - San Blas Islands
We anchored off these island around mid-day. The afternoon was a ‘beach day’ with snorkelling, kayaking and some more cultural brouhaha - unfortunately while it was very warm it was seriously cloudy with rain squalls. The best news was that the snorkelling was really good - we finished off the after afternoon with a drink at the beach bar which the ship had set up.
We enjoyed our final dinner and off to bed after putting the suitcases outside the door.
Sunday Oct 23 - Colon - Panama City
After an early breakfast we disembarked in Colon and found a taxi (with an up sell to driver & guide) to take us to Panama City with a ‘drive by’ tour of the most famous canal. It was raining on and off so there was not really a lot to see. We arrived at our hotel, the American Trade Hotel, around 11am - the hotel, located in the old town, turned out to a real gem - a real 5 ‘blobber’ in Trip Advisor speak. The rain had stopped and it was a hot and steaming day - we walked around for an hour - the old town is undergoing extensive renovation and very picturesque. We returned to our hotel just after mid-day for lunch - it was hip-hop and happening - obviously the place to be for Sunday brunch. We shared a sandwich which was huge but delicious. By the time we finished lunch our room was ready and we had scored an upgrade to a wonderful corner room with great views.
We then had a siesta for a couple of hours as we were both zapped - a huge thunderstorm swept through while we were sleeping. Later, we went out again, the rain had stopped, and we went to a local bar, recommended by the hotel for happy hour - it was quintesenssaional Spanish in all respects except the $4 cocktails.
After showers we had a quick dinner at the hotel and hit the sack very early - 9pm. At 2:30am the phone rang advising us that the taxi we had booked to the airport was waiting - unfortunately for both us, the driver and the hotel receptionist, it should have been 2:30PM.
Monday Oct 24 - Panama City - Madrid
So last day on this side of the world. We had breakfast and packed up - fortunately we had been given a late checkout until 2pm. We took a taxi to the “new” city to visit the Trump Tower and look around. The new town has literally 100’s of high rise buildings - offices, hotels but seemingly mainly apartments - many still under construction. We had lunch at the pool bar / restaurant at the Trump Tower on the 13th floor but could not visit the 66th floor bar/restaurant as planned as it only opens at 5pm.
Back at our hotel we showered and left for the airport at 2:15pm for our 5pm flight to Madrid. We arrived in Madrid at 10:30am and took a taxi to our hotel.