BillB48

From the Amador Cruise Terminal, the airport (Tocumen, PTY) is about 45 minutes away. That of course is somewhat dependent on the day of the week. It is doable, but if NCL is doing the booking they may have a little sway in getting the flight held to get you on that flight.

The Serenade of the Seas will in just about any conceivable circumstances being using the original locks. It was probably my post on another thread where you saw the "barely" fits comment. By just barely means in this case the ship is built to take maximum advantage of the size limits Canal authorities have in place for ships using the original locks. The chambers for the original locks are nominally 1000'x110' and ships can be up to 965'x106'. IIRC the Serenade is 962x106, a whole 2' to spare! I generally refrain from making predictions that the ship will use the original locks, only because there could be some set of conditions that may make it necessary to use the new locks. It has happened before, mostly to cargo vessels that wind up using the new locks even though their dimensions would permit passage through the original locks. However, it has happened once where a passenger ship that could fit in the original locks used the new locks. I just leave a little room for that possibility. The new locks can only handle about 12 ships a day so the Canal would much rather use the new locks for ships that will generate a much higher toll. Do I think there is any real chance the Serenade will be diverted through the new locks? Absolutely not!

Thanks for the update, it sure looks like they aren't ready for prime time yet. I think the original completion date was 2019... and we are at 2022... holy stromboli!

Another vote cast for EM's prognostications! The Brilliance fits nice and snugly in the original locks, so barring any out of the blue or some off the wall unforeseen circumstance, the original locks are the locks you will use.

I think many times the inclusion of a weight limit is just boiler plating for liability reasons. If as you say he doesn't look it and there are not any mobility issues that would call attention to him, I would be shocked they would even have the equipment necessary for a weigh in.

The repositioning cruises generally occur Sep-Oct time frame when the cruise lines start shifting from the Alaskan itineraries to the Caribbean and then again in April-May when they leave the Caribbean and head back to the West Coast and Alaska. You can also find full transits from various lines through out the "Canal Season" which loosely runs from September through May. I did a quick look at Princess and HAL and they both offer a number full transit cruises during the winter and spring. As far as a cruise line recommendation, my suggestion would be to decide on what you like in a cruise line, do you have favorite line or at least pleased with? Then see if they have any full transits available. Most of the mainstream cruise lines have some Canal cruises to offer, some of them are the true re-po cruises at the beginning and end of the Canal Season and then to a lesser extent you can find a few cruise lines they have some offerings throughout the "Season." Two cruise lines off the top of my head where you can find Canal cruise throughout the Season are Princess and HAL. However, you just may find dates that would work for you on Royal Caribbean, NCL, Celebrity, Carnival and the smaller boutique cruise lines like Windstar, for example. The September to May period does fall in both of Panama's two seasons. The two seasons are the Rainy Season and the Dry Season. No four seasons in this part of the world, just wet and dry. The Dry Season starts in late December and runs through April. I think in general based on weather alone, January and February are about the "best" months weather wise in Panama. However meaningful differences are slight and I would only use this as a tie breaker in your decision making. Whether you choose a transit from Atlantic to Pacific or vice versa, either direction would be equally rewarding. I would let your travel preferences on getting to the embarkation port and getting home from the disembarking port. Some people prefer to have the "easier" travel arrangements after the cruise and to some it doesn't make a difference. Let me add one more thing that you will have to make a decision on that I don't believe you have thought of. You will have to choose whether you will want to make the transit of the Canal using the new locks or the original locks. To some it may not make any difference, but IMO the best Canal experience would be a transit using the original locks. Yes, 14-16 day cruises is pretty standard.

At least in February the chance of rain will be slim since that is in the middle of the Dry Season. Just keep in mind that Dry Season in Panama doesn't me no rain, but an excellent chance it won't rain! Enjoy whatever you decide upon.

While I don't have any direct knowledge as to what is available at the tourist area at the Cristobal piers, it is my understanding that it is not anywhere as nice as it was in the original pier.

If you are wishing to stay with Princess the only ships they have that can use the original locks are the Island Princess and the Coral Princess. The rest of the fleet must use the new locks. The answer to your question is, the new locks are 180' wide and presently they allow ships with a beam of 167' to transit. By comparison the original locks are 110' wide and ships with a beam of 106' to transit. Afterthought... If you do a partial transit on a ship using the new locks, usually there is an excursion that is a partial transit on the Pacific side where the excursion vessel would use the original locks as well as transit the Gaillard Cut.

According to the past track on AIS the Royal Clipper was at anchor all day just off the cruise terminal. The tankers are still at the terminal pier. Even though she only has a little over 200 passengers, that must have been fun tendering disembarking and embarking passengers. Hopefully there were a bunch of back to backers. Headed towards Miraflores at this time, 0756.

From what I know about similar versions of US Heritage in Panama, this is a tour that takes you to installations that were previously military bases and to the civilian towns that were operated by the Panama Canal/CanalZone Government. The description says it does take you to Miraflores Locks as well. Except for the visit to Miraflores Locks, unless you had served a tour or two with the military or had a close connection with the PC/CZG I really don't think there is a whole lot that would be of interest to you regarding the focal point of the tour. The Panama Experience takes you over to the Atlantic side to visit the new Agua Clara Locks and then to Miraflores Locks to view an IMAX presentation narrated Morgan Freeman. The tour description does not indicate if you will have time to view the operation at Miraflores Locks. The IMAX presentation is excellent and Agua Clara Locks are worth seeing, but it really doesn't take that long to see them and if there isn't a ship in the locks... well there isn't a lot to observe. You will have about 3 hours of bus ride to view the country side.

To complicate describing the vessel used, there are at least three different "ferries" that can be used for this excursion and what they offer in amenities can vary somewhat. However they all offer essentially the same product and similar amenities. Of course there are the exceptions in the long drawn out Canal portion of the excursion, these don't happen every trip, but they can happen. If you are wishing have a good look at the Canal, this is your best option.

In the past they have always done a "blanket check" and once the ship has been cleared you may go ashore.

I was just lurking on Facebook on a Canal group's page and a person reported they had just returned from a recent Viking cruise (I presume the Star) where they had taken the railroad excursion. Evidently they are providing service to the cruise ships, however I do not know if they have resumed their regular passenger service.

Not much to add except I found a report that stated some of the injuries were bruises and others were transported to a hospital. The Norwegian Encore is presently in Cocoli Locks.

Details are rather sketchy at the moment, but it has been reported that 7 people were hurt when a gangway collapsed at the Ft. Amador Cruise terminal. The gangway was being used on the Norwegian Encore.

https://www.telemetro.com/nacionales/llegan-panama-mas-2000-turistas-bordo-cruceros-viking-star-y-norwegian-encore-n5799248 Found the above, really doesn't tell you anything about the facility. There is a picture of the Viking Star and then if you scroll down a little more there is a short video and an interview with General Director of Ports. With my rather limited Spanish he basically detailed the differences between the stops of the two ships, the Star being a home port operation and the Encore providing just a port call. He also noted the difference in the local spending of a home port passenger and an in transit passenger, $300 and $100 respectively. They also spoke of the number of "reservations" for the upcoming 2022/23 season. I assume they are referring to vessel reservations. If anyone can extract a better summation, it is more than welcomed!

My contact has not gotten back with me about the status of the terminal as yet. He has been off work since it was a big 4 day weekend down there celebrating Panama's Independence from Colombia. Maybe something will pop up in the local media announcing the event.

Busy day at the Amador Cruise Terminal, the Norwegian Encore has joined the Viking Star at the new pier.

Don't know if you would want to take in a visit the Miraflores Locks visitor's center and see the operations from a shore side point of view. There is an extensive collection of Canal history items to enjoy in addition to observing the operations. I don't know if they have reopened the IMAX theater yet or not, but if they have, an excellent documentary on the Canal narrated by Morgan Freeman is presented. A visit to the Casco Antiguo, the old city maybe of interest. There you will find the Church of the Golden Altar (Iglesia de San Jose) and see the ruins of the Iglesia de Santo Domingo. Iglesia de Santo Domingo is also known as the Church of the Flat Arch which was often used as an example of the geological stability of Panama from earthquakes. That example may be a little misguided as Panama does receive its share of earthquakes, fortunately they have not risen to the devastating magnitude in and around the Canal area. Just yesterday a 6.7 earthquake struck just 35 miles off the Pacific coast in western Panama, fortunately no reports of injury or damage. Lastly you could visit the ruins of Old Panama, Panama Viejo.

Completely agree with you that the chances a Panamax cruise ship might use a combination of new and original or use the new locks exclusively are right around slim and none. And I think Slim has already left town! Kidding aside, I do like to leave the door cracked open just a bit, because there is just that possibility, although extremely unlikely. To date there has been one Panamax cruise ship use the new locks for the complete transit. That dubious distinction goes HAL Zaandam, in May 2020. Again it is the extraordinary set of circumstances that come into play. This all back in the early stages of Covid when the Zaandam arrived off the Pacific coast of Panama with 4 dead passengers and a number of other passengers displaying symptoms. The Canal's first response was to deny transit, there was even some discussion at the time of not permitting the ship to dock in Florida, its final destination. In the meantime HAL Rotterdam arrived on the Pacific side as well and they were going to do some passenger swapping and proceed to an alternate destination. All of that became unnecessary when arrangements for transits were made for both ships. At that time since little was understood about the transmission of Covid, the Canal wanted minimal human contact with the ship and crew. Only one pilot was used where this type ship normally uses two pilots, no Canal seamen were placed aboard the ship to handle lines in the new locks and no lines were used to make the ship fast while the water was being raised or lowered. The ship was held in the center of the chamber and tugs were not used to assist the ships through the locks as is the general practice for ships using the new locks. After the two pilots completed their respective transits they went into 2 weeks quarantine. I really believe that anyone booked for a Canal transit using the original locks will not be disappointed!

What you see here is a rarity, a reporting of both the maximum and the waterline or as in this case they refer to it as hull. The 105' 8" is the controlling figure in this case, so she will be able to use the original locks. The Rhapsody of the Seas is one of 4 Vision class ships still within Royal Caribbean's fleet. Originally these 4 ships all had the same dimensions of 915x106 (rounded up), however they have lengthened one of the sisters, the Enchantment, to 990' so she will have to use the new locks whenever she transits the Canal. I think your research demonstrates the difficulty in trying to determine a ships dimensions in order to find out which locks it will use at the Panama Canal. Having sailed on the Rhapsody and transited the Canal on Vision, I am certain that the max dimension applies to the bridge wings of the ship. Canal does permit dimensions that exceed the waterline maximum provided they are a certain height above the water. I do like to throw in this little caveat... although your ship will fit in the original locks, you can't preclude the possibility that some completely unforeseen set of circumstances could arise and make your Panamax ship use the Neo-Panamax Locks. For cruise ships I only know of one back to back instance where this happened. So it is a rather remote possibility it could happen, but I would not take a bet that it would happen. (Unless I wanted just to take your money😉).

Going to the new Agua Clara Locks and a drive over the new bridge should be doable. There were many taxi drivers available. Just agree on what you will pay beforehand and make sure the driver has sufficient English skills. The only "nearby" points of interest would be Ft. San Lorenzo or Portobelo, both of those are some distance away.

I knew you would get a quick answer. If that is the cruise you decide on, you practically can see the original locks on the Atlantic side (Gatun Locks) while you are in the new locks of Agua Clara. On the Pacific side you will sail right by the original locks of Pedro Miguel and you will be able to catch a glimpse of Miraflores on your transit. In essence the only thing different in the transit is which locks you use, the remainder of the Canal is still the same.

E&I, in all honesty EM's suggestion of throwing out the name of the ship/s you are considering is the easiest and there is always someone knowledgeable here that will give an accurate answer. Web sites often report dimensions that at first glance indicate the ship is actually larger than what the Canal's limits are. This is the case often times when the beam of the ship is quoted for the widest point of the ship, such as the bridge wings which could lead to an inaccurate conclusion. The determining figures are at the waterline and many websites do not always provide that figure. If you want to give a go at your own research, here are the magic numbers: L 965' W (or beam) 106'. Those figures and under, original locks. anything over... new locks. Maybe your grandfather knew my grandfather!