Panama Canal and Central America

Belated Happy New Year !  Hope that 2026 has been treating you well!

We started the new year on a Viking Ocean Cruise to the Panama Canal and Central America - and it was fabulous!

For the past few years we have been traveling over the holidays - this year we were home for Christmas but left soon after to spend the New Year and our anniversary on a cruise.

We started with a two night pre-trip in Fort Lauderdale

Included in our package was an airboat ride through the everglades!

It was a lot of fun...we did not see many alligators, but that was okay with me!

The next day we boarded the Viking Mars and had a sea day to enjoy the ship before we celebrated New Year's Eve.  We were upgraded to a two room suite and it was amazing.  Small world - we met people at the airport who live in the same retirement community we do, just in another building.   Since we had a bottle of champagne in our room we invited them for an early New Year's toast!

Then off to dinner and a great New Year's Eve celebration!

New Year's Day the ship had a huge brunch with lots of different foods and a fabulous Bloody Mary for me.

Our first port was supposed to be Montego Bay in Jamaica, but since that port is still suffering from hurricane damage we docked in

Ocho Rios - we had a rum and coffee tasting tour...and enjoyed a beautiful sunset as we sailed away.

Next up was the trip through the Panama Canal - and it was amazing!

Viking had coffee and pastry in the front of the ship Explorer Lounge and a historian on board that started commentary at 6 AM as we waited to enter the canal.

She was full of information about the canal, the ships going through the locks, and the wildlife along the shore.  

We ate lunch on the Pool Deck and the ship camera kept us up to date as we sailed into the lake and then back out of the canal.

One of the things we love about Viking is the on board historians who give wonderful lectures.  Later that day we attended a great presentation about the building of the canal.

Next day was a trip into Panama City.

Beautiful architecture and Panama Hats...

Next day on to Costa Rica and a great boat tour

and here we saw a crocodile...and some sloths, too.

and could not resist this fun photo!

Then another sea day...and we LOVE sea days as there is so much to do on the ship.  We enjoyed the spa pool with the warm whirlpool, and many cozy places to read and nap.

The head chef and the pastry chef did demonstrations of dishes that were being served that day...

We enjoyed the warm weather and just sailing along...

Lunch at the pool

and my traditional dessert each day...gelato - the flavors change each day - pictured here with red velvet cake and chardonnay. 

Food was amazing...here is a grilled beet and pineapple salad...

then scallops and shrimp for dinner...and more chardonnay!  It was  not a dry January for us...unless you figure that chardonnay is dry!!! 

That was our first week on the Mars...and we had another week and our anniversary to look forward to!

Do you like to travel at the holidays?  Thanks for coming along on our adventure and stop back to see the rest of our journey next time.  Please leave a comment below and let me know how the New Year is treating you.  I love hearing from you!

Thanks for stopping by Our New Vista!