BillB48

That would be great! Thanks so much.

A good friend of mine, (back to high school) is the port lecturer on the Emerald Princess and does the Canal narration as well. The Emerald Princess is calling at Ft. Amador tomorrow the day before the transit. He will be assisting on the partial transit excursion offered by Princess. He won't be the narrator but just assisting in keeping all the ducks in a row. I won't be available tomorrow to get as the excursion vessel goes through Miraflores to get a screen grab. Best guess is it is the Pacific Queen and possibly a southbound partial, but don't know for sure. He would like to use it it in his presentation on the partial transit that he will give a couple of days from now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Made a back to back Canal cruise from Florida to LA and back to Florida a couple of years ago, on the trip to LA we called on Colon the day before the transit, spent the full day in Colon and sailed that afternoon. Went sufficiently offshore to enable everything to open and the following morning entered the opening used for ships transiting the Canal. On the return leg just the opposite, exited the Canal, spent the night at sea and called at Colon the next day.

I suppose it is because of government regs... in most ports casinos and the ship's shops remain closed. So head out to international waters and then the passengers can make some donations. I am sure that beats paying higher fees for a longer time at the berth.

You are in luck, that still is a good time. Actually the Dry Season should be fairly well established by then, but everything will still green and lush along with very little chance of rain. The other thing you will avoid that occurs in late Dry Season is the haze that is often present due to brush fires. Even though the Jan-Feb period of time you find the "lowest humidity" many people coming from winter to the tropics may look upon the weather as being humid.

If you were going to pick a time for the most comfortable time of the year to visit Panama, January is about the best. Right after the Rainy Season ends and the Dry Season starts is the lowest humidity and the high temps are not bad. Much better chance for regular breezes out of the north as well.

Yes keep checking specially around final payment time, a lot of cabins open up then. Starboard side on a southbound is not the end of the world in any event, I've been on the "wrong" side of the ship numerous times! Enjoy!

First of all the stop in Colon from 5p to 8p is primarily to pick up the passengers who took ship's tours at Gatun Lake. Those times are very fluid and I would not count on the times being used for any type of tour. And as Bruce pointed out you really should not leave the port area in Colon. Leaving the port area is fine if you are on a tour, but there is not time for a tour. In all honesty beach and food are nothing you will find in Colon. The nearest beach is at least 90 minutes away and the nearest food would be on your ship and a whole lot better than what you will find ashore. Suggestion... let him go visit the original locks and you enjoy the ship.

I can not say with absolute certainty, but I think not. They are closed when the ship is in port in Panama, I am inclined to believe the casinos would also be closed while the ship was transiting as well.

Many partial transit veterans may recall this location being referred to as the Gatun Yacht Club. It is still generally known as that today, even though you will notice a distinct absence of yachts. Actually in its heyday there really were not very many yachts, but it was a favorite watering hole when people lived in Gatun. At that time most of the Yacht club consisted of the white building that you can easily see in EM's bridge cam shots from the Gem near the center of the picture. I'll take this opportunity to give you a little historical trivia, although I doubt it will pop on any Trivia challenges. The white X on the picture denotes the approximate location of the first ship to sink in the Canal. At that point on the bottom lies the wreckage of the SS Brion. She was not a huge ship by today's standards but she was a little over 200' long. She was a northbound transit and began taking on water coming across Gatun Lake. The pilot attempted to beach her in that area, the ship was evacuated and then it slipped from the shore and sank to the bottom. The Lake is well over a 100' in that location g

Good to see he is back on the job now that the mine issue is resolved😁.

Suppose if I thought about it for a minute it would be just being repositioning voyage and would only be carrying crew. Just checked AIS and it looks like she is taking on bunkers.

Was she carrying passengers or in "ballast"?

Meant to include this in the above... The book of record for most people who are interested in the Canal you will want to include The Path Between The Seas by David McCullough. Pretty much a doorstop edition but worth it.

Not a history lesson per se, but there is a narrator that describes the operation and points of key items of interest. They will cover some of the construction, but I would not call it a history lesson. PBS's American Experience is available on YouTube, is a good start.

The reason that ship no longer uses the original locks as it once did is the addition of the duck's arse on the stern. While the addition doesn't extend the overall length by a huge amount, it does exceed the 965' LOA. The Magic has the distinction of being the first passenger ship to use the new locks.

Forgive me for wanting to set the record straight on this point. Sounds like Carlos was a perfect host and guide for your hike up Ancon Hill, however in this case he must have been using some creative history or relying on urban legend. The fact is birth in the Canal Zone never conferred US citizenship in the 77 years of United States administration. I think if that were the case a large percentage of the Panamanian population would be carrying US passports. Any child born in the Canal Zone would acquire citizenship through his or her parents. In the 1970s Panama did pass a law granting anyone born in the Canal Zone the right to claim Panamanian citizenship. I have enjoyed you pictorial documentation of your transit and excursion. Enjoy the rest of the cruise!

At least there is some progress, thanks for the pics.

Things have moved off the front burner, the Supreme Court has ruled the law enabling the mine operation unconstitutional and the President has indicated they will abide by the ruling. Right now it looks as though the mine will close, the disturbances have abated and things have returned to "normal". I don't think anyone really knows what the final solution for the mine will be and whether or not it will become an issue again. Either way the short fall of revenue to the government from no mine and the falling tolls because of the reduction of transits through the Canal offer a number of tripwires. At the moment no problemo.

IIRC you are doing your transit on a Panamax Princess through the original locks. I think experiencing the locks in a smaller vessel gives you a greater idea of just how big the locks are. Sometimes on a large ship the size of the locks is not appreciated as much and when you are on the upper decks you can almost feel removed from the process of passing through the locks. While transiting on your ship I think it is a good idea to go down to one of the lower outside decks and watch the operation from there at least for a portion of the time you are in the locks. You can save that for one of the later locks.

Where the ship docks is the middle island (Perico Is.) there is a marina in between that island and the outer island, Flamenco. In the past the ferry has departed from there. Just a note, sometimes the tour can run in the opposite direction from the description. Either way is good. They just out into international waters where they can manage gray water and more importantly open the casino and shops. There is room enough for two ships and I would think you would be moored at the dock. I know of late Princess has tendered when the pier seemed to be available. I have no explanation as to why they will anchor at times when the pier seems available. Since your cruise isn't until '25, maybe they will have the cruise terminal completed by then... emphasis on maybe!!

As for the Ft. Amador cruise terminal, the pier is operational but the terminal seems like it has become a project without end. The last mark on the wall for completion was December, the December we are now in. I have not heard a thing on its status and I suspect with all political brouhaha of late in Panama, I feel sure the mark on the wall is just another missed mark. El Casco Viejo has come a long way since I had any close contact with it. There are some very nice small hotels and restaurants that have opened up and many of the buildings have been restored. However, I can't offer any suggestions, maybe someone in your roll call might have some ideas. You should be able to get a cab to El Casco, here again can't offer any info on where exactly they are located due to the terminal not being finished. In the past they have offered shuttle service through the construction... so who knows?? While I think it is perfectly safe for you to take a tour of El Casco in a cab on your way to or from wherever you choose to eat, a stroll around that part of town late in the evening would not be my choice. The area in general probably has more security than most other places in the city as there are a number of notable residents, to include the President of the Republic. Still the area is surrounded by less prosperous areas and the flavor of the neighborhood can change rather quickly without you realizing.

Glad the Canal has seen fit to get the cams back up, they have been down for a while this past week. Looking at the tides, the time in the lower level appears to have worked in conjunction with low tide for clearing the bridge this morning which was at 5:14AM. Nothing like knocking a few mimosas down before the sun comes up.

That is a change from my last several transits, thanks for the info.

While calling in Panama as a port call your are considered in transit and not "officially" entering the country. Just a driver's license and your ship ID us sufficient. The mall area where the ship is docked is safe, just don't venture beyond that unless you are with a tour or in a cab. Going through Colon via a tour is not inherently unsafe, it is just not a DIY stop.