Getting Internet/Wifi while on Panama Canal cruise

Internet service is rather pricey on the Island Princess, or on any cruise ship for that matter, .75 cents per minute. It is also very slow. Like one click every two minutes.

We brought our laptop computer with us to download the photos from our camera but we also tried to find Wifi at our ports of call. Difficult or non-existent is the best way to describe that endeavor.

Aruba: When you disembark from the cruise ship and walk through the secure port area to get to the street, turn right. Walk down about a block or so, staying on the same side of the street. Look for a building where Dunkin Donuts is on the second floor. They have free Wifi here. To be fair go in and buy a snack. We bought 2 iced coffees, cost about $4. We were able to download our email but could not send out any emails. This was pretty much our last Internet Wifi opportunity for 2 weeks until we docked in Los Angeles.

Cartagena, Colombia: Nothing that we could find but we spent the few hours we were there on an excursion and had no time for finding an Internet cafe. A taxi driver may be able to help. There are also some shops at the port, notably Juan Valdez coffee shop. I recall someone saying there was a shop nearby that offered Internet.

Panama Canal and anchored off Fuerte Amador: This might be a good time to try to find free Wifi from a nearby ship that has unsecure Wifi. You'd have to be out on your balcony or on one of the upper decks to make this happen. If you stay inside your cabin the only thing your laptop wants to connect to is the Princess service. In the marina there are a few shops. I don't know that there was Wifi offered anywhere but there were some computers with pay as you go Internet service. I noticed that they were out of order when we walked past them. There are lots of taxi drivers in the marina and just outside the fence on the street. I'm sure any of them can take you to an Internet cafe. We were away for several hours on an excursion and didn't have time to look for Internet service.

Puntarenas, Costa Rica: We were gone for several hours on an excursion but our guide did tell us there were several places in Puntarenas to purchase Wifi or use the Internet and pointed out a couple to us on the way back to the wharf. We returned to the Island Princess to pick up the laptop and went out to find one. We chose the one that was just down the street straight from the wharf, a couple of blocks away. $2/hour. It appeared this little shop was pirating Internet from the two cruise ships in port, Princess and Carnival. Hit and miss. In my case, miss. I moved over on to one of their computers and got access but it wasn't much use to me and left well before my hour was up.

Huatulco, Mexico: this is a small town with only a couple of streets near the dock. We did see a shop with an Internet sign out front. It was closed. This was a Sunday in port so its possible its open the other days of the week. However its my opinion that at the end of cruise ship season and no passengers for several more months that most businesses should make an effort to be open for the few hours a cruise ship is in town.

Acapulco, Mexico: Inside the secure port area, in the building, upstairs there is Internet service. I walked up there and a few people were using computers. There was a desk where one would expect to see an attendant but no one was there. There was no one standing/hovering at any of the people using a computer as if providing assistance. I was unable to determine if Wifi was available here. However I did see several Wifi places around town, including about a block away from the port, while we were out on our excursion. There are many taxis lined up around the port so I think it would be easy to ask one of them to drive you to an Internet cafe.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico: There were several restaurants around the marina that offered Wifi. But I would think that means you have to go in and buy drinks and nachos. Not such a bad idea!

Los Angeles, California: This was the best place to get Wifi. In the port its free. We all had to disembark and wait a bit and then embark again. We took our laptop off with us and while in the waiting area had no problem checking our email and surfing the Internet. There is also a shop in the port that offers Internet service on their computers if you don't have a laptop. The best thing is that back on the Island Princess we were still able to connect to the Port of Los Angeles free Wifi. Now, we had to go up to Deck 15 to pick it up but saw down at a table above the Lotus Pool and enjoyed Internet for awhile until it became slower and slower and we put it away.

Port of call: Puntarenas, Costa Rica

May 7, 2010 - Puntarenas, Costa Rica

We had prebooked a tour with Charlie Soto of Okey Dokey Tours. About a 7 hour tour that featured the crocodile man river boat tour and included a visit to a refuge to feed cappuchin monkeys, a plantation, and lunch, all for $99 but because we're members of the Cruise Critic forum there was a $10 per person discount.

We had a pretty full load with 12 people inside a 14 passenger van. The air conditioning only seemed to be working during the times we stepped inside but because of all the people and body heat we didn't get much benefit of the air conditioning. Just couldn't keep up I guess. Our guide was Chris, who'd lived in California until he was 14 years old and then moved to Costa Rica with his father, so his English was perfect.

Highly recommended. This tour was one of the highlights of our Panama Canal cruise. Charlie supplied a cooler with water, soft drinks, and beer. Much appreciated on this hot day. I don't drink beer but they ran out and Charlie showed up with another 6 pack. For more information, check out his website. http://www.okeydokeytours.com/ The tour we took was B4. One couple on the tour didn't go on the river boat but instead did the zipline tour nearby. The only thing that we missed on the tour was we did not go to a supermarket. Instead the guide took us to a woodwork shop that was run by a friend of his. All that being said, there is an opportunity to purchase coffee, vanilla, etc at the flea market near the cruise dock.

We started our day around 8am when Charlie instructed us to meet his van at the end of the tour. Our group gathered around a female employee near where the van was parked a short distance down the street from the end of the pier. The police also showed up and told the driver to the move the van so he had to go once around the block and stop and park it about 30 feet behind where he'd started, almost directly at the end of the pier. I'm not really sure what that little exercise was all about but we boarded and were on our way.

A 20 minute drive took us to the monkey sanctuary. A woman runs the farm and keeps the monkeys in her forest by feeding them, thus preventing them from crossing the highway where they were being killed by passing cars. She supplied us with chopped bananas to feed the monkeys. This was a big highlight for me. I have a huge stuffed animal collection and it was great fun interacting with real monkeys. They were very tame and approached us to take the bananas but didn't hang around too long, scampering back up their trees to eat the treasure.

Next stop was at a plantation. This one served sugarcane juice and also sold mangoes, papayas, cashew nuts, and other fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Our next stop was the crocodile man river boat tour.

We spotted a crocodile swimming in the river and the captain beached the boat, hopped out, and proceeded to tease it with raw chicken.

Brave or stupid?

We spotted a howler monkey up in a tree.

There were some baby crocodiles swimming in the river and a passenger at the back of the boat reached over and grabbed one.

A close up of the baby croc.

Birds on a fallen tree limb in the river.

Saw some maccaws just as we were leaving.

Lunch was included at this restaurant in Jaco Beach.

A typical Costa Rican meal. This restaurant is very popular with locals and tourists. This meal including a large glass of pineapple juice would cost $4.00.

The only thing I was disappointed about on the tour was while I was in email contact with Charlie I asked if there would be an opportunity to swim at the beach where we were stopping for lunch. He assured me there was so I wore my swimsuit under my clothes and brought a towel with me. The restaurant was not located on the beach but was a short walk down the street. Here is what we saw when we walked to the beach.

So that was a little disappointing I didn't get to swim in Costa Rica. I am a good swimmer but I decided not to risk it.

In Puntarenas the cruise ship docks along the pier and we can walk down the pier to town or take this free shuttle. The Island Princess is on the right. The other ship belongs to Carnival and it arrived about 2 hours after Princess.

At the end of the pier there is a flea market with all kinds of goods for sale. We purchased two framed feather art work - the artist painted a tiger on feathers and a monkey on feathers. Incredible. Cost $20 each. We wouldn't be able to buy the frame for that money here. We also purchased an artist's rendition of a farm scene that was made from items found in Costa Rica such as sand and seeds. We also purchased coffee from a stand here and some leather bookmarks for souvenirs.

One last view from the beach with the Island Princess behind us.

Princess Cruises, Island Princess Grand Panama Canal cruise coming up

We are set to sail on April 29 2010 on a repositioning cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Vancouver. 18 days aboard the Island Princess. A trip of a lifetime through the Panama Canal.

And yes, I'm getting a little excited!

Our itinery includes a stop in Aruba. We have no plans other than being beach bums here. We're geocachers and have noted a couple of caches hidden at beaches near the cruise ship port, on Eagle Beach and Palm Beach, so we're hoping to make a couple of finds and leave some travel bugs behind.

The next stop is in Cartagena, Columbia. We've booked a shore excursion with Princess to visit the mud bath volcano at Totumo. Jumping into a vat of mud isn't everyone's idea of fun, but we're looking forward to it. I found an article and photos of it here. http://www.twobackpackers.com/1692/south-america/mud-bath-in-volcano-totumo-colombia/

Then a day's passage through the Panama Canal. I found web cams here of some of the locks. Its kind of interesting watching the boats pass through. http://www.acp.gob.pa/eng/photo/camera-java.html

Then we anchor at Fuerte Amador and tenders take us ashore. We've found a tour company called My Friend Mario and have booked a 6 hour city tour while in port.

Then on to Costa Rica where we've booked a 7 hour tour to visit monkeys in a nature reserve, a plantation where we can sample fruit, a river boat tour for crocodiles, and a local lunch at a beach where we can swim, and a stop at a market where coffee can be bought for half the price as its sold in other shops. Sounds like a great day.

The Island Princess then heads to Mexico. We'll be doing the beach bum thing again at a stop in Hualtulco. At Acapulco I've booked a city tour with some other passengers on the cruise and we'll be seeing the cliff diver's afternoon performance. On to Cabo San Lucas where again we're planning to hang out at the beach for the day.

The ship then heads to Los Angeles where passengers will be embarking and disembarking. I've been to California so many times and seen most of the tourist attractions many times that none of the shore excursions interested me. The time in LA is so short that I didn't want to venture off in my own and get stuck in a traffic jam and miss the 4pm departure, so we'll be staying in the San Pedro pier area. There are heritage trolley cars that operate for a mile and a half and take passengers up to a mall, so that's likely all we'll be doing.

Then a couple more days at sea and we'll be back in Vancouver. The Island Princess then does the Alaska cruises for the summer months.