Through the Panama Canal -- Day 5

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Day 5 -- Colon, Panama High 80s, sunny

Another HOT day. We didn't have any excursions planned, so we slept in a little bit. Took our normal walk on Deck 12 and our regular small breakfast at the buffet. Around 11:30, we left the ship to check out the local shopping at the pier. The staff had warned everyone not to leave the port area unless we were part of an organized excursion due to possible crime in the area. So our plan was simply to visit the local shops, maybe find a cute place to have some lunch and then return to the ship mid-afternoon.

There were 4 or 5 tables right outside the exit of the port terminal. Local people were selling small souvenirs. Beyond that was a US-style mall which was still under construction. But to get to the mall, we had to walk through dozens of taxi drivers and tour guides who just swarmed anybody who walked by. And they were relentless. They just kept asking over and over again if they could take you somewhere. After about 10 of these encounters, I just put my head down, ignored everyone, and pushed my way through the crowd. I honestly felt like I was under siege.

Once we got through that harassment, the mall had a department store, a jewelry store, a sporting goods store. But because of the construction, almost nothing was actually open. So we did one lap around the building, and decided that there was nothing to see. So we turned right around and gratefully re-boarded the ship by 12:30. The whole afternoon essentially became a sea day for us, spent by the pool.

Since I don't have much else to talk about for this day, let me throw out some random thoughts and impressions about the Radiance before I move on to the evening's dinner

• The ambient music in the public areas of the ship is awful. It's a lot of modern pop/techno/dance music that I didn't recognize at all, or terrible remade versions of songs that were more recognizable. The exception to this was the outdoor pool. This is where we walked every day, and the mix here was more of a mid-1990s to mid-2000s mix, with a lot of stuff that I know and like.
• The hot tubs were in really rough shape, with big chunks of paint peeled from the bottom. Not a great look for a ship that just came out of a refurbishment.
• I think I mentioned that the pools are salt water. That's not a problem at all, but it might be surprise if you were expecting fresh water pool (as I was).
• The walking track on Deck 12 gets pretty busy in the morning. A couple of days, I chose to use the treadmills in the gym and it was a great alternative. The only drawback is that they don't have a video screen. The treadmills on some ships have a screen so you can either watch the ship's TV or view a neighborhood has you walk "though" it. So no TV, but you still get to look out and see the ocean in front of you at the front of the ship.
• I also mentioned bringing your own toiletries for your shower. Another issue with your bathroom is simply that the shower in your stateroom is tiny. (Again, unless you're in a suite.) This is a common complaint in the cruise industry. What I did on this trip was to shower in the spa. The spa provides showers for people using the gym or the sauna. They'll also provide you with towels. You can get a locker, as well. Unlike some cruise lines, however, they didn't have shower shoes available.
• The hallway outside our stateroom had a really strong musty odor and the carpet was wet. After the first few days, we mentioned it to our stateroom attendant. They put some fans in the hallway to dry the carpet, but it didn't do much. Toward the end of our first week, we noticed maintenance crew were working inside a panel of the hallway. Apparently, a pipe in the wall was leaking and getting the carpet wet. I think they eventually did get the leak fixed, but the musty smell never completely disappeared.
• While I didn't love all of it, the artwork on this ship is much better and more interesting than what we saw on the Celebrity Summit last year.

Ok, onto dinner. Kathryn had the strip steak again, and loved it. I had the braised pork short rib, and also loved that. For desserts, I had the chocolate cake, which was above average; and Kath had the cheesecake, which she felt was too dry.

I didn't take a picture of the steak because you've already seen that. But here's my short rib. Really good!

This was Kathryn's dad's dessert. A brownie with a deep chocolate gelato on top. Yum!

Cheesecake

Chocolate cake

The evening show was just a movie that no one wanted to see. So we walked around outside on the deck and enjoyed the warm night. No trivia, no lounge music. Because I'm just that old! It was just a very nice relaxing evening.