We decided to cruise through the Panama Canal this year on board Oceania Cruise Lines', M/S Regatta. This is a sister ship to the Insignia which we took last February around Cape Horn. Overall the cruise was delightful with the highlight being the transit through the canal. Our first port of call was Cabo San Lucas. We opted not to get off the ship as there was little there to interest us. Our next port of call was Acapulco with the world famous cliff divers. This was really something to see and the town's location was beautiful. From Acapulco we traveled to Guatemala to visit the Myan ruins at Tikal. We had seen Chichenitza in Mexico but this site was much larger, although much restoration remains. Costa Rica was next. Our stay in Costa Rica was short and could had been better if we had chosen a different excursion. We opted for the skywalk through the forest and found it rather disappointing. Some of the other excursions would have been better. Next came the highlight of the trip, the Panama Canal. This experience lived up to our expectations.

After transiting the canal, which took the whole day, we sailed to Cartagena Columbia. This is a very beautiful city but unfortunately we were only in port about seven hours. We opted for the boat tour of the harbor and while this afforded us vantage we would not have experienced otherwise, it would have been much more interesting to see the old city. Grand Cayman was next and it was basically one large duty free shopping area and banking center. In fact I noticed that Oceania has taken it off it route for next year.

Overall a relaxing trip with great friends.