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We chose this trip, on board Seabourn’s "Legend", since we were looking for a trip in this hemisphere, which could easily by reached and returned from by air. The ship departed from Ft. Lauderdale, sailed down through the waters off Central America, through the Panama Canal and terminated in Port Caldera, Costa Rica. The trip on "Legend" greatly exceeded our expectations. The food was superb, the cabins spacious, the service excellent and all wine, liquor and gratuities were included. Truly a stress free two weeks shared with interesting passengers on this yacht like, cruise liner, carrying a maximum of about 200 passengers.

The most memorable occasion was when we visited Tikal, the famous Mayan Ruin in Guatemala on an optional shore excursion. We anchored off Belize and were conveyed to Tikal by tender, airplane and bus. After arriving at the site we hiked over a jungle trail to the center of this Mayan ruin, an open plaza surrounded by ancient ruins. At one end of the plaza was Temple 1, the first structure to loom out of the jungle. At the other end was the famous Temple 2, that could be climbed to the sacrificial altar at its top by the adventurous.

On one side rose the northern acropolis, which was referred to by our guide as a necropolis. At its base was a series of staeles, each with its companion altar. One could imagine the many captive sacrifices to appease the Gods that occurred here about 1500 years ago. On the other side rose the central acropolis. This may have been where the priests and princes lived during the height of Tikal’s greatness. The acoustics were marvelous. The spoken word from the top of Temple 1 could be heard at the top of Temple 2 but not at ground level. One of the two shipboard lecturers was an expert on ancient civilizations. His lectures brought the Mayan Civilization to life, helping us to interpret what we were seeing.

In addition to the many optional excursions we walked into Roatan, Honduras, just to see the village. Here two very polite youngsters who acted as our guides adopted us. One excursion took us by dugout canoe to an Indian Village not far from Port Amador, Panama, where we were entertained by speeches, music and dancing.

We entered the Panama Canal at night and proceeded to Gamboa, where we anchored. We were entertained ashore by dancers and given an excellent luncheon followed by a tram ride through the rain forest and a swim in a luxurious pool.

That night we sailed through the Culebra Cut to the Pedro Miguel locks. This was our first nighttime passage. We found it impressive as we dined in our room with the balcony door opened to the night air. The banks were alight with navigational lights and the passage of a freighter through the adjoining lock was surreal.

After leaving Panama we visited several ports along Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, going as far north as Port Flamingo. During these port visits, and later during a post cruise extension, we saw much of the country from the lowlands along the coast, to the mountainous spine where the cloud and rain forests abound. We hiked down a jungle trail, crossed swaying bridges over deep canyons and were lifted above the forest canopy during an hour and a half open tram ride. We also visited a volcano, paddled a dugout canoe, photographed butterflies and stopped at a river to view massive alligators swimming and sunning themselves on the bank. Costa Rica is a country with a friendly population, a good economy, compared to its neighbors, and many points of interest for the traveler.

The "Legend" is a relatively small cruise ship. It falls between the smaller expedition cruising vessels and the larger passenger ships. With its maximum of 200 passengers, and its open seating policy, it has all the charm found on the expedition vessels coupled with the formal nights and variety shows found on the larger cruise ships. The personal attention and superb service of the staff make this an ideal way to travel to exciting new destinations. Yes, getting there, is still half the fun!

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