Rare Ken the cruiser Posted May 9, 2022 Author #451 Share Posted May 9, 2022 Just noticed they also use the ship’s lines, adjusted as needed, to keep us from going side to side. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted May 9, 2022 Author #452 Share Posted May 9, 2022 (edited) We’re now through this set of locks. Check out the space between the container ship and the walls of this new lock. Imagine if it was one of the super max Evergreen ships! Next set of locks will be early in the afternoon! 😁 Edited May 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cltnccruisers Posted May 9, 2022 #453 Share Posted May 9, 2022 19 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said: We’re now through this set of locks. Check out the space between the container ship and the walls of this new lock. Imagine if it was one of the super max Evergreen ships! Next set of locks will be early in the afternoon! 😁 Hope she doesn't get stuck. Evergreen ships haven't had much luck lately. 😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PacnGoNow Posted May 9, 2022 #454 Share Posted May 9, 2022 1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said: It appears to be a 3 stage lock system and we’re now in the second lock. Sorry, I can’t hear Kerry speaking over the loud system as I’m on our aft balcony. 😁 She should be on your TV also, if you can crack the door? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted May 9, 2022 Author #455 Share Posted May 9, 2022 (edited) 21 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said: She should be on your TV also, if you can crack the door? She was. My DW was in the cabin watching her on the web cam channel while keeping cool. It’s a little hot and humid outside today, even in the shade. However, sitting on our aft-facing balcony, the ship’s as well as the tug boat’s engine noice kind of drowned her voice out. Now we’re just peacefully cruising through the channel. Edited May 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GonzoWCS Posted May 9, 2022 #456 Share Posted May 9, 2022 13 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said: She was. My DW was in the cabin watching her on the web cam channel while keeping cool. It’s a little hot and humid outside today, even in the shade. However, sitting on our aft-facing balcony, the ship’s as well as the tug boat’s engine noice kind of drowned her voice out. Now we’re just peacefully cruising through the channel. Panama Hot! Did a little time there for Operation Just Cause. Salute to 23 brothers that didn't make it back with us. Have also passed through it twice since. Cheers 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted May 9, 2022 Author #457 Share Posted May 9, 2022 But it’s not all relaxing as we did our walk around the promenade. Sometimes we’ll see a pretty waterfall along the way. Or one of the entrances into Gatun Lake. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GonzoWCS Posted May 9, 2022 #458 Share Posted May 9, 2022 A true marvel! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted May 9, 2022 Author #459 Share Posted May 9, 2022 Here’s an interesting tidbit. Not commonly known is the fact that the two oceans have different sea levels, and different levels of high tide. At the entrance to the Panama Canal, the Pacific Ocean can rise as much as 20 feet, but 45 miles away, the difference between high tide and low in the Atlantic is just three feet. https://www.yourpanama.com/panama-canal.html 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted May 9, 2022 Author #460 Share Posted May 9, 2022 (edited) This is the first ship we’ve seen heading towards the Pacific. According to Wikipedia in 2017 it took ships approximately 11 hours and 38 minutes to go between the two sets of locks. Here’s another one passing the ship following us. We’re guessing ships enter one side in the morning hours (midnight to noon), hang out in Gutun Lake, if necessary, until it’s their turn to exit out of the Canal through the applicable set of locks in the afternoon hours (noon to midnight). I remember when we did a RT from the Caribbean side awhile back on the HAL Zuiderdam. We went in by way of the Atlantic side locks in the morning, hung around in Gatun Lake until around 1:30 pm, and then headed back through the same Atlantic-side locks we came through earlier. Edited May 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Essiesmom Posted May 9, 2022 #461 Share Posted May 9, 2022 Time to enter the first lock at Cocoli: Gat beginning to open to middle lock Into the third lock Out you go I don't think you were all the way into the third lock when the cam locked up And 20-25 minutes later, it woke up Views from the Miraflores cam View from Cerro Luisa cam at Pedro Miguel locks 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cltnccruisers Posted May 9, 2022 #462 Share Posted May 9, 2022 55 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said: A true marvel! Cheers More than a century old and it still impresses. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Essiesmom Posted May 9, 2022 #463 Share Posted May 9, 2022 1 minute ago, cltnccruisers said: More than a century old and it still impresses. Yes, the old locks...But those are the new ones, opened in 2016. EM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted May 9, 2022 Author #464 Share Posted May 9, 2022 6 minutes ago, Essiesmom said: Time to enter the first lock at Cocoli: Gat beginning to open to middle lock Into the third lock Out you go I don't think you were all the way into the third lock when the cam locked up And 20-25 minutes later, it woke up Views from the Miraflores cam View from Cerro Luisa cam at Pedro Miguel locks Thanks! So according to those time stamps, it took roughly 90 minutes to get through the first set of locks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GonzoWCS Posted May 9, 2022 #465 Share Posted May 9, 2022 12 minutes ago, Essiesmom said: Yes, the old locks...But those are the new ones, opened in 2016. EM Yeah - SE here understand the timeline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cltnccruisers Posted May 9, 2022 #466 Share Posted May 9, 2022 14 minutes ago, Essiesmom said: Yes, the old locks...But those are the new ones, opened in 2016. EM Were all the old locks replaced or just some? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GonzoWCS Posted May 9, 2022 #467 Share Posted May 9, 2022 11 minutes ago, cltnccruisers said: Were all the old locks replaced or just some? Old locks still in placed and being utilized. New lock built to accommodate PANAMAX+ sized ships. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cltnccruisers Posted May 9, 2022 #468 Share Posted May 9, 2022 3 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said: Old locks still in placed and being utilized. New lock built to accommodate PANAMAX+ sized ships. Cheers Makes perfect sense. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted May 9, 2022 Author #469 Share Posted May 9, 2022 We are approaching the set of locks on the Atlantic side and it looks like the container ship queue is starting to form in Gatun Lake. I counted a total of 7 hanging out waiting for their turn. I guess since we paid the big bucks, we get to go to the head of the line. 😁 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted May 9, 2022 Author #470 Share Posted May 9, 2022 (edited) According to Wikipedia for those wanting more details than they probably care to read. 😂 The Panama Canal expansion project (Spanish: ampliación del Canal de Panamá), also called the Third Set of Locks Project, doubled the capacity of the Panama Canal by adding a new lane of traffic allowing for a larger number of ships, and increasing the width and depth of the lanes and locks allowing larger ships to pass. The new ships, called New Panamax, are about one and a half times the previous Panamax size and can carry over twice as much cargo. The expanded canal began commercial operation on 26 June 2016. https://www.bing.com/search?q=new+panama+canal+supermax+ships&form=APIPH1&PC=APPL Edited May 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare rheathslc Posted May 9, 2022 #471 Share Posted May 9, 2022 Thank you all for posting the photos and Bridge Cam shots! I'm following along with the Bridge Cam on the Princess website as well. 🙂 I can't wait to do a full-transit cruise next year! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted May 9, 2022 Author #472 Share Posted May 9, 2022 OK, Kerry just gave us a price update. It seems the price for us to transit the Panama Canal was only $320,000. It seems you get a better deal if you’re going from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Who knew!! 😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted May 9, 2022 Author #473 Share Posted May 9, 2022 And so it begins again! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GonzoWCS Posted May 9, 2022 #474 Share Posted May 9, 2022 You will love it!! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted May 9, 2022 Author #475 Share Posted May 9, 2022 We’re getting ready to go into the second lock after they dropped the water level 9 meters. Interesting note, even though there is a queue of at least 10 ships waiting to go through these locks, there are no ships either in front of us or behind us! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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