While the snow was falling recently in Chicago, I was sailing through the Panama Canal on the Pacific Explorer with Cruise West.  What an experience.  Like most of you, I had a basic knowledge of the Canal, which consisted mainly of the fact that it was located in Panama, it was hot and there was lots of water!  Imagine my surprise, when I learned there was a 50 mile lake in the middle of the entire process of crossing the canal.

Travel advice: getting to Costa Rica (in winter) in time to connect with a cruise ship is not an easy task. We flew from Chicago to... Read More