BillB48

IMO you can miss it very easily!😉 Seriously during my time there, there was not any widely renown entertainment that would have been considered a "must see." Don't think that has changed.

Here is an answer I posted a couple of months ago for a similar question. I don't know if the whole link is displayed above, but click on the title box and it will take you to the original post. While you can never predict what the traffic gods have in store to create something beyond gridlock, the excursion is over good road roads for the most part, a fair amount interstate quality. The legendary traffic jams are usually confined to metropolitan Panama City or the bridges that lead to the western part of the country during holiday periods. Those bridges would not be on your route. One other note, the tour could operate in reverse order, Agua Clara first then to Miraflores. They may do that to maximize the opportunity of seeing ships in the lock.

In the past the "ferry" through the Pacific Locks and Gaillard Cut is an excursion that would be offered by your ship. Now the same company that provides the "ferry" to the cruise ships also offers partial transits and occasionally full transits of the Canal for the local tourist industry. These transits have usually been on the weekends. Even if your overnight on the ship coincided with one of the weekend dates, quite often the excursion operator devotes the assets to the cruise line.

Since the cruise terminal at Ft. Amador has become a work in progress, it is hard to tell just how conveniently it will be to access any of the nearby local restaurants and shops located on the "Causeway." The cruise terminal is located on one of the islands just offshore of the mainland that is connected by a causeway. There are not any real attractions beyond some local eateries, a great view of Panama City on one side and a view of the ships and islands in the bay on the other side. Walking, jogging or biking are popular activities. The nearest real beach is probably over on Taboga Island which is the largest of the islands in the bay. There is a ferry that makes several trips a day that take a half hour or so, have a look at their website... https://tabogaexpress.com The Biomuseo designed by Frank Gehry located at the mainland start of the Causeway, just a few miles from the cruise terminal. Other things to do would be shore excursions that would visits one of the locks of the Canal to see the the operation from a shore side perspective. Tours into Panama City to old part of the city, Casco Antiguo may be something of interest. I'm sure your ship will offer a number of other shore excursions as well.

You are right about Colon not being the garden spot of the Caribbean, however there is nothing inherently dangerous about driving through Colon to get to the cruise terminal/mall/hotel. Colon is not the place for set out on your own and admire the "sights." I have only passed by the lobby of the hotel and imagine it would be fine for a night. The hotel is there primarily to serve people having business with the Colon Free Zone. Only the new expansion locks, Agua Clara are open to visitors on the Atlantic side. To see the original locks you need to visit Miraflores Locks on the Pacific side.

Cartagena- The only thing real near the port is the little shops and a decent collection of birds. The area around the port while it doesn't look too bad... you never know. Architecturally speaking your best bet would be the walled city. Too far to conveniently walk. Ft. Amador for Panama City- Maybe they will have things sorted out by then and there are some eating spots on Perico Island where the cruise terminal is located. Might be a walk as the last time I was there the eateries were on the opposite side of the island from the terminal. Casco Antiguo, Panama City's old walled section is also a cab ride. Puerto Quetzal- See Essiesmom's comment. Puerto Vallarta- Some things available in the port area, probably a better selection if you go down to the Malecon. It is real easy to get your Wal Mart fix if you feel culturally deprived. Cabo- Lots of places to grab a bite in the port area and I am sure you can get to the beach without jumping through hoops.

Really the only thing in Colon for you to do or see is the cruise terminal. There is really nothing for the average tourist to do and other than use the cruise terminal, Colon is really not a place for a tourist. Embarking or disembarking your ship should be the extent of your visit to Colon. Visiting attractions on the Atlantic side such as the new expansion locks or Portobelo can be done from the Pacific side (Panama City area) well enough. I would recommend looking at your sailings Roll Call here on Cruise Critic for hotels some of your fellow cruisers are staying. Don't know if it is feasible for you to arrange a transfer to Colon with the cruise line or not. In any event the hotel you wind up staying at could assist in making arrangements to the cruise terminal in Colon. I know Uber is available in Panama, but I am not familiar with it down there.

Twangster, I think they may have lumped Celebrity's Millennium Class ships in for a total of 8. The Millenium, Infinity, Summit and Constellation are essentially the same sized ships as the Radiance Class and are powered by GE gas turbines. The X ships were built by Chantier's Atlantque and the Radiance class were built by Meyer Werft. The Millennium ships used Rolls Royce's Mermaid Azmuthing pods and the Radiance ships went with ABB Azipods. While there were growing pains with both systems, IIRC the RR Mermaid system was far more troublesome.

They did not close for an immediate inspection, but they could have carried out an inspection some other time when it would not disrupt transits. They of course could go ahead and operate with only the one gate at that end of the chamber if they had concerns. They do configure the chamber using only one gate ahead of the ship and one gate astern. This is usually done when the ship is at max length(1215') to give a little more room for the bow and stern tugs. My contact at the Canal said the damage was limited to a bruised ego and a bent mast on the tug! No doubt about some extra laundry expenses. Your photo mystery about the staircases has now sent me on a fool's errand. I have been on all 4 Radiance class ships to include the Serenade in January and I would have sworn they all had centrum stairs. I am often reminded not to swear. I now have dug up two previous cruises on those ships and of course, I don't have centrum pics in those batches!

Those sunrise shots look like a perfect way to start another rigorous day at sea. Thought I would send this along before the Canal get too far astern of you. The video was taken at Agua Clara Locks recently at just about the same vantage point of your pictures which is the Gatun Lake entrance (south end) of the Lock. The incident could have resulted in significant damage, not only to the ship and tug but more importantly the lock gate. The loud alternating sound is the signal that the gate is moving.

hThe Radiance and the Serenade in Huatulco back in 2009

Great example on why Magellan came up with the name.

There was a major difference in the equipment used to excavate the new locks. I think you would be underwhelmed, for one they did not need nearly as much equipment or as large equipment for the excavation, they did not use spoil trains as was done when the Gaillard Cut was excavated. Also you have to consider a great deal of the excavation of the third locks started in 1939 and continued until 1942 when the project was suspended on account of WW2. On the Atlantic side the Agua Clara Locks sit on exactly the same excavation that was completed at that time with the Water Saving Basins being new excavations. Meanwhile on the Pacific side's Cocoli Locks the original excavation footprint is where the Water Saving Basins are located and further excavations for the lock chambers were dug just to the west of the WSBs. A large part of the excavation had been completed before Panama made the decision to complete the third set of locks in 2007. Essiesmom has provided a nice collection of the construction of the new locks. By comparison the new locks envisioned in 1939 were to be 1200'x135' while the new locks as constructed are 1400'x180'. The original locks can accommodate vessels 965'x106' and the new locks can take vessels 1215'x167'. There are plans underway to increase the beam limit to 173'.

Thank you twangster, great job documenting your transit. The only thing that could have been better would have been if I was there taking the pictures. Think you have proved how much there is to see when you move around the ship. Well done.

Only 54' more to go... down that is!

Welcome to the Pacific side.

Looks like you are approaching one of the few visible remains of the French effort. On the starboard side is the channel the French dug to connect to the Chagres River. Edit... great shot

When you consider the tolls, pirates probably is an accurate term!😉

Thanks, there are stories abound that it was once owned by Al Capone, it later was taken over by the US Government and used as a mine detecting vessel back in the days around WW2. Came to Panama in the 60s and eventually wound up in the tourist industry. Really don't know whether Capone's ownership is fact or fiction, but it is legend anyway!

The three bodies of water that are next to the chambers on each level of the new locks are Water Saving Basins (WSB). The purpose of the WSBs is to reuse the water from the chamber several times before it actually winds up in the ocean. Using the WSBs is supposed to allow the new locks to use less water per lockage than the original locks even though the new lock chambers are larger than the original lock chambers. It actually takes a little longer for a ship to traverse the new locks using the WSBs to fill/empty the chambers, but it is saving a resource that at some times of year is in short supply. Of course with every new idea there comes the law of unintended consequences. The new locks along with the use of the WSBs has introduced greater salinity into Gatun Lake. Various studies are underway to mitigate the increase.

Twangster, was there any back story on the vessel landlocked "floating" vessel in your first picture in post #660? By chance is it the Islamorada? Thanks.

Port side balcony would be preferable depending on the direction you are traveling through the Canal. Now a stern view could be a better choice in portions of the Canal for example crossing Gatun Lake. However going through the locks and Gaillard Cut I would really recommend being out on some of the forward looking decks. Homesteading your cabin for major portions of the cruise is not the best idea.

Generally they may sell out the online portion of tours, however check with the shore excursion desk as soon as you can after boarding to see if there are any of the Canal tours you are interested in. Normally they will reserve a portiion of the tours to sell on board.