I recently heard a saying: 'Every day on board is like a new adventure wrapped up in a dream.' I told a Canadian passenger as we both watched the coast of the tiny island of Aruba near. 'That is so true’, he said. ’Is that Mark Twain or perhaps Huxley? ' ’No’, I replied. ‘It is by that well known British philosopher, Dennis Tanner from Coronation Street!!’Aruba is a small island that forms part of the Netherland...

Cartagena (pronounced carta-hey-na so I'm told) is the 5th largest city (by population) in Colombia. Cartagena de Indias to give it its full title was discovered in 1501 by Rodrigo de Bastidas but it wasn’t until 1533 that a permanent settlement was established by Don Pedro de Heredia. After more than 250 years of Spanish rule, Cartagena declared independence in 1811 and today enjoys a city so rich in history it has been declared a UNESCO world heritage...

Having thought we'd originally have to get up at 5 am, we were told that the on board lecturer wouldn’t be starting his commentary until 6am and we wouldn’t be entering the first set of locks at Miraflores until 07:35. I had set my alarm for 06:30. We were already in the channel heading toward the Bridge that connects the Pan American highway to the continental divide. We are 17th in line to transit the canal today. It was going to be another very...

A day at sea and for the whole day we hugged the coastline of Panama inching our way closer to our next destination, Panama City and the gateway to the highlight of this trip, transiting the Panama Canal. We didn't lose sight of land until the sun went down and even then somehow you knew the land was still out there!Each stateroom receives a daily paper known as the Princess Patter. This provides the reader with all the activities to be found on board. Apart...

So now we have 3 days of 'nothingness' until our next port of call, Costa Rica. I’m not intending to give a blow by blow account of what we got up to in these days as apart from writing this on our third day at sea and struggling to remember what I had for my tea last night I will present you with, if you have PRINCE II Project Management qualification, a highlight report. If, on the other hand, you don’t – think ‘Match of the Day&...