dmwnc1959

I'm an early riser so that will be an excellent way to start the day with some breakfast at O'Sheehan's. 👍

If I buy the Starbucks ☕ package can I use it on embarkation day and immediately upon boarding? Will the Java Café & Bar be open? Does anyone have a recent daily schedule from Norwegian Jade on the atrium coffee bar 🕰️ hours of operation? And the last day of the package will be a turn-around day for me, what's the latest on that day I can use it before it 'expires'? 😫 356 days and counting. 😁 🎉

From Norwegian Encore's Bridge cam this morning...

Maybe now it's a way to sort of force passengers hands, with reports of cookies disappearing everywhere, that if they really want them they have to actually buy them. It's a shame Norwegian Jade doesn't have some kind of international café where you can purchase sweets and treats. My last cruise has a patisserie loaded with macarons and tons of other cakes and sweets.

I'm still wondering if the mass disappearance of cookies has anything to do with the fact that they are available on the website to order?

They will be sealed, still in the store bag with receipt. I wonder if the Ghirardelli store has fancy cookies?

I was seriously contemplating buying the Starbucks drink package. Thought it would be nice to take down a couple of soft baked cookies to enjoy with a specialty coffee. I've been tracking down stores close by to where the ship docks, and there ate plenty of opportunities to run out and grab some supplies. Including cookies.

So, a quick question about NCL's policy regarding bringing food on board in US ports. On the repositioning cruise, when we stop in LA or San Francisco or Astoria and I go out into town and buy a couple of boxes of soft baked cookies, can I bring them back on board with me?

Any April updates on the cookie situation? 😁

That's another reason why I was so keen on the Coral Princess itinerary. She stopped in Fuerte Amador the day prior to her full-transit arriving at 7am, which gave plenty of time to do the small boat tour/transit and still have some time to see Panama City. As an update on the Norwegian Encore transit. According to Marine Traffic once clear from the last of the Cocoli Locks she remained there alongside the lock pier-head for just over two hours. When the tides were just right she finally passed under the Bridge of the Americas approximately 9pm local time and arriving at Fuerte Amador just before 1030pm. What's crazy is that while she was still tied up at the lock pier-head, I took a bunch of screenshots. When advancing back-and-forth through these, you can actually see the ship rise and fall with the tide. Never visualized it quite like that, and seeing basically a time-lapse of this was fascinating.

That I am going to do as well. Our port stop prior to the transit is Colón, and as soon as that tour opens I'm going to book it.

That's my next goal, to do northbound hopefully to hit this area just before sunrise. The approach to the industrialized Gamboa area lit up and passing under the bridge that early in the morning would be fairly impressive.

Pretty cool picture! Love all of that clean, neatly folded laundry! 🥰

My very first time will be April 2025. Not sure I could do the Panama Canal fifteen times. 😉 And of all the full transits I've looked into none of the ships were larger than 60-90k tons. I'd most definitely prefer the smaller ships for this, just to hit the historic locks and see them (and the old lock gates) from the promenade deck at eye level while we are wedged into a 110-year old lock chamber. But that's probably just the beginner and me talking. 😁

Well, she is definitely underway now. It'll be interesting to see what time she comes out the other side of the last locks.

Oh, I'm sure they are! Earlier this week the small cruise ship Island Sky did a full nigh-time transit heading northbound. And I've seen some of the small National Geographic ships do that as well. And the NG ships will anchor off of Barro Colorado Island overnight. I think going through the Culebra Cut in the dark would be totally crazy with all of the buoys and range markers blinking on and off all the time.

Maybe that's an advantage of doing a full transit on one of the smaller NCL ships over the mega-ship, since it's more of a full 'daylight transit' even in January. Basically from just after sunrise to exiting well before sunset.

I've seen that coming in from the Pacific side, after exiting the Cocoli Locks heading into the canal, they did the same before proceeding towards Centennial Bridge.

This also explains why last November she was coming in from the Pacific side at 2 o'clock in the morning.

At the rate she's going now, they won't exit the Cocoli Locks until dark. There comes a point in time when the directional traffic through the narrows at Culebra Cut becomes on way. She may bring up the tail end of that window heading southbound. But as of right now she's still sitting there.

After going through the new locks for the Panama Canal, Norwegian Encore took up position in the southwest side of Gatun Lake and basically just came to full stop two hours ago. Right now she is basically station keeping in one position. She is doing a full transit in route from Cartagena to Fuerte Amador. Is there any reason that she would still be stopped in Gatun Lake for so long? She really should be at this point well into Culebra Cut. Don't think I've ever seen this on a cruise ship doing a full transit.