Teeara

They dropped us off in Colon after our 7 hour shore excursion to Panama City and had to walk through the mall area next to the port. It was hopping with people, but we had no trouble walking through (we were late getting back to the ship, but since it was a ship-sponsored shore excursion they weren't going to leave without us and there were 6 other late buses behind us). I think we would've been okay just hanging out in the mall, but again, keep an eye on your belongings and don't leave that mall area. It didn't look safe in the surrounding neighborhood.

I just got off Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas Panama Canal cruise two weeks ago. Radiance is a medium size ship and went through the old (original) locks. Yes, you will need to be up early if you want a spot in the front of the ship, however don't stand exactly in the middle! Our ship kicked several people away in order to set up a photo opportunity for cruisers, so try to stand about 6 feet to the left or right of the front. You'll still have an excellent view. The captain will tell you when you should be going through the locks, but that can change. We originally had an 8 a.m. time to start our transit from the Atlantic side. Onboard we learned it had been changed to 10 ish. We didn't actually enter the first lock until after 11 a.m. due to some issues with the locks. Folks were at the front of the ship starting at 5:30 a.m. If you're going to be out there early make sure you have water, a hat (especially one that you can tie on since one guy next to me lost his baseball cap when the captain decided to take us in a big circle away from the entrance when we were delayed entering and the wind suddenly popped up) and maybe some snacks. You won't be able to leave your spot and get it back later on. I had people 8 deep behind me and some were mad that we weren't moving so they could be in front. Um, riiiiiiight. You slept in, had breakfast and expect to be at the very front of the ship whenever you leisurely show up? No, I don't think so. Passage times depend on whether there are issues. We were told that it would take 8 hours to do the full transit. It ended up taking nearly 12 hours due to our first locks issue. You will also want to see the passage through the 3 sets of locks at different places around the ship, too, so don't plan on being at the front the entire time. If you're on one of the outer decks that are level with the mules you'll be able to wave to the drivers and they'll wave back ;o) There are lots of scenic places, but my favorite was approaching the Culebra Cut and going under each of the 3 bridges. We did have people who spoke about the canal as we were going through it, but we could not hear them at the front of the ship. We only heard them later on when we were inside the ship. I just started to post videos of my Panama Canal cruise on my YT channel. Last week was my first video and was on pre-cruise packing. This week's video will be on flying to Tampa and our hotel (I post Wednesdays at 6 p.m. EST). I don't expect to get to the canal portion for probably 6-8 weeks (I post videos in order of what happens on the trip and the Canal was a week into our cruise), but if you want to check it out, here's the link to the playlist where I will be posting my videos: In any event, have a wonderful time! The Panama Canal is a true wonder to behold and it was a fantastic cruise for us. Make sure you're active on your Roll Call. I met so many great people on the Roll Call and then when we finally met up pre-cruise and on the cruise it was so much fun.

As requested, the first video is now up!

I bought this one in 2022 for our Wonder TA and have been using it for regular commute too since then. I like that it can be locked in several places and holds a lot. It has space for a laptop and can slide over the handle of your carry on. I just used it again for our Radiance Panama Canal cruise and it still retains the original shape with no issues whatsoever. Lots of colors, too. Monsdle Travel Laptop Backpack... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DHMPTRW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share Mine is the purple one. My roommate has the red one. Here’s a better look at it. Again, at this point we’ve had them for 2 years. These photos were taken 3 weeks ago. We love them.

I used Lyft.

I’m with you on those 25 hour days. So sweet!

Glad to hear the weather is consistent!

We did the westbound TA on Wonder in October/November of 2022. We had a fantastic time and we only had a few days that were a little "rough". I made a video showing what the conditions were like during the crossing. I hope this gives you an idea as to what to expect.

Our main reason was for getting off the ship fast at the end of the cruise in order to make our flight home. But again, everyone has their own reason and budget. Good luck in your decision.

For us it was worth the price. We boarded and disembarked with the suites, so we were on and off the ship close to first. The internet usage was huge for us. We didn’t use it for shows. We plan on using it again for our Allure WB TA next year. I would say it’s definitely worth the price if it’s close to the daily price of the internet which it was for us. I got it last year during Black Friday week.

I will certainly let you know. I usually post on Wednesdays at 6pm. Fingers crossed for next week (definitely not tonight since we’re still unpacking and getting settled here at home).

I hope you enjoyed the photo journey of this Panama Canal cruise. We had so much fun (even if I did catch a cold). I will be doing a much more in depth review on my YouTube channel. If you’re interested in a lot more video content from this cruise, please feel free to check it out. I expect the first video in the series to drop in a week or two. https://youtube.com/@TheEmptyArmchair?si=3lkqT_1hVRg9-fTp

Last of all, I wanted to share all the new Alaska items for sale in the shops. They brought it in a couple of days before the end of the cruise.

Sadly, these are the last 2 days of photos I have to share with you for the last 2 sea days. We went to Giovanni’s for dinner.

It’s 11:30 pm here in Boston and we’ve been traveling since we got off the ship at 8:30 am PST (11:30 am EST) and we still aren’t home. Major traffic leaving Boston due to road construction. Ugh. Anyway, I do plan on finishing up this thread tomorrow after a shower tonight and good sleeps in my own bed tonight.

I knew there weren’t that many kids onboard. Only saw about 10 during the entire cruise. They were all well behaved (as opposed to some adults we came across during the cruise).

Nope. I didn’t have any noro symptoms. Just a garden variety head cold.

Love your shots, especially the one with the 3 ships!

Here are the Windjammer nightly themes for dinner: Day 1: Day 2: Day 3: Day 4: Day 5: Day 6: Day 7: Day 8: Day 9: Day 10: Day 11: Day 12: Day 13: Day 14: There is no dinner for Day 15 since that is disembarkation day. I hope you find this helpful.

Today we were in Puerto Vallarta. We were indeed docked across the street from Walmart. We had the Top 5 Vallarta Highlights and Shopping tour at 8:30 this morning. Our first stop was the Malecon along the waterfront. We caught a couple of rides for the next part of the tour. We checked out this mural during a bathroom break. Our next stop was this church. We had a few stops during our walk. We stopped at a square with some beautiful mosaic benches that were reminiscent of the ones at Park Guell in Barcelona. We were given time to walk down by the beach where there were a lot of beachfront restaurants. Too bad we didn’t have time for that. They took us to a jewelry store then back to the ship by 1:00. We had a beautiful sunset tonight. Here is the Cruise Compass. And here are the location maps:

Sorry for the delay kids. My cold has been getting better but I’ve been going to bed early so I’m missing some of the time I would usually use for posting here. Our second sea day after Puerto Quetzal was pretty quiet. We spent a good portion of the day in the Colony Club reading. The temps are much cooler than the previous days and with my cold I want to be warm. In the afternoon they had the enrichment lecture on Puerto Vallarta. They told us we would be docked 3 miles from old town but across the street from Walmart (for those who are interested). We ate in the WJ and it was British night. I got the fish and chips. Buyer beware. I could immediately tell that it wasn’t whole fish, but a fish cake. The texture wasn’t what I was expecting so I didn’t enjoy it. They did a good job with the tartar sauce though. Back in the cabin I prepared our Wash & Fold laundry bag for tomorrow. For comparison, the Cruise Compass is letter size. We were only doing undies and socks for this load. I’m not seeing any maps or Compass for this day. My apologies.

My roommate found a tiny one on embarkation day. I found this one in my medicine cabinet after our cabin crawl. 😁❤️. Otherwise I’ve never found a duck yet. It made my day. I’m keeping him.

Today is a sea day. Hard to believe we’re getting close to the end of this cruise. Here’s our current position: This morning was another enrichment lecture. Today’s topic was on the Aztecs and how Hernan Cortes conquered them in 2 years with only 300 men. We had lunch in the WJ again and then camped out in the Centrum for a couple of hours. We like it there since there are chairs next to our cabin. I left a couple of times to take some pictures and videos for a future vlog on door decorating. Here’s a few of my favorites: We had dinner at Izumi. If you are planning on doing Izumi on Radiance, bring a sweater! It was freaking freezing in there. I had to go back to our cabin for our sweaters. We had the salad as our starter, then the teriyaki chicken with the vegetable rice ( too many peppers). We finished our meal off with the assorted mochi ice cream. We didn’t like the green tea one. Wish we had the chocolate one instead. Pam liked the strawberry the best and I liked the mango. We’re now in the Colony Club listening to karaoke and then there’s a game show before the orchestra comes in for Earth, Wind & Fire and Tower of Power (what we’re here for). Glad we came when we did. Seats are going fast. Here’s today’s Cruise Compass: Lastly, here’s tonight’s MDR menu. We went to the podium to let them know we aren’t going to be dining inside for the rest of the cruise. It had to do with the people they seated us next to and not our waiter or assistant waiter (Jun and Paul) who were fantastic. That’s it for tonight. Have a great day everyone.

I heard it was a 2 hour drive to get to Antigua and 2 hours back. That doesn’t leave much time for a tour and some shopping time. The Jade Museum at the port was very informative and the selection was extensive. I would go back in a heartbeat. Sorry to hear you were pickpocketed! But better the $12 than your passport!

Here are the daily maps: