Live from the Caribbean Princess: Panama Canal - Apr 26 to May 14 - SF to FTL

[Ken the cruiser]

We’re now entering the second lock and still no ship getting ready to go after us. I’m sure there is a logical explanation and it probably has to do with $$$. 
 

[cltnccruisers]

I know this is a bit off topic, but I'll throw it out there anyway.

 

I'm a big fan of Women's Golf.  The Womens US Open is at Pine Needles while we'll be on board.  Do any of the bars qualify even remotely as a sport bar where I might be able to bribe a bartender to put it on the tube?  😀

[Ken the cruiser]

It looks like the water level went down another 8 meters in the second lock. 
 

 

It also looks like there is a big container ship getting in position to enter now. 
 

Edited May 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

We’re in the third and final lock! If you look to the right you can see the water storage tanks for the second lock. Also, there’s another huge container ship queuing up in the distance and it looks like it’s actually going to be the next one in!
 

 

 

[Essiesmom]

First lock at Agua Clara:

 

 

Entering the middle lock

 

 

Gate opening for entry to last lock

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

The third and final lock dropped another 8 meters and that container ship in the first lock is huge!!!

BTW it is 51 miles between oceans, or more specifically the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

As we’re leaving the final set of locks and heading towards Aruba, that container ship just keeps getting bigger and bigger!!! 😂

 

[srice]

Ken, did you use http://en.youwebcams.org/category/panama/ for your external pictures?

[Ken the cruiser]

It’s official now, we have left the area as we just went under the Atlantic Bridge. If you look to the right you will see the entry to the original French attempt to build a canal through Panama, which eventually failed before the US bought the rights to build it. 
 

[Ken the cruiser]

10 minutes ago, srice said:

Ken, did you use http://en.youwebcams.org/category/panama/ for your external pictures?

No. I used my cameras on my iPhone and iPad depending on their battery levels! 😂 The webcam shots were provided by @Essiesmom who is following the thread which gave a different perspective of which I’m very thankful she did. 😁

Edited May 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[rheathslc]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If you look to the right you will see the entry to the original French attempt to build a canal through Panama, which eventually failed before the US bought the rights to build it. 

That's so fascinating! I had no idea that had happened.

[cltnccruisers]

45 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

First lock at Agua Clara:

 

 

Entering the middle lock

 

 

Gate opening for entry to last lock

 

 

 

Was that as tight a squeeze as it looks or just the angle?

[Ken the cruiser]

4 minutes ago, cltnccruisers said:

Was that as tight a squeeze as it looks or just the angle?

It didn’t seem all that tight. At post 451 I posted a picture where they used a tie rope from the ship on each side to keep it steady as the water rose or dropped in the lock. 

[Essiesmom]

18 minutes ago, srice said:

Ken, did you use http://en.youwebcams.org/category/panama/ for your external pictures?

The external pictures are screen shots from the Panama Canal webcams, which can be found at multimedia.panama-canal.com.  EM

[srice]

8 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

No. I used my cameras on my iPhone and iPad depending on their battery levels! 😂 The webcam shots were provided by @Essiesmom who is following the thread which gave a different perspective of which I’m very thankful she did. 😁

By external pictures I meant one like this

Most likely that is where she got those webcam pictures plus the shots from Princess' webcam.

[Ken the cruiser]

7 minutes ago, rheathslc said:

That's so fascinating! I had no idea that had happened.

We definitely had a great time and my DW really enjoyed Kerry’s narrative throughout the transit! 😁

[srice]

1 minute ago, Essiesmom said:

The external pictures are screen shots from the Panama Canal webcams, which can be found at multimedia.panama-canal.com.  EM

Thank you for the link.  That appears to be a great source.

[Ken the cruiser]

5 minutes ago, srice said:

By external pictures I meant one like this

Most likely that is where she got those webcam pictures plus the shots from Princess' webcam.

The new locks are 180 ft wide. If you could look up how wide the CB is that should give you a good feeling for how tight it really was. 

 

The new lock chambers are 180 ft (54.86 m) wide, 1,400 ft (426.72 m) long, and 60 ft (18.29 m) deep. These dimensions allow for an estimated 79% of all cargo-carrying vessels to transit the canal, up from 45%.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[rheathslc]

4 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

The new locks are 180 ft wide. If you could look up how wide the CB is that should give you a good feeling for how tight it really was.

looks like the Beam (widest point at the nominal water line per wikipedia) on this ship is 159ft

[cltnccruisers]

1 minute ago, rheathslc said:

looks like the Beam (widest point at the nominal water line per wikipedia) on this ship is 159ft

So about 10 ft clearance on either side.

[Ken the cruiser]

19 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

The new locks are 180 ft wide. If you could look up how wide the CB is that should give you a good feeling for how tight it really was. 

 

The new lock chambers are 180 ft (54.86 m) wide, 1,400 ft (426.72 m) long, and 60 ft (18.29 m) deep. These dimensions allow for an estimated 79% of all cargo-carrying vessels to transit the canal, up from 45%.

You got me curious, so I went and looked up the CB stats. 

 

General characteristics
Class and type	Grand-classcruise ship
Tonnage	112,894 GT
Length	951 ft (289.9 m)
Beam	118 ft (36.0 m)
Draft	26.2 ft (8.0 m)[3]

Then I went and looked up the width of the old locks. 
 

Each chamber is 33.5 meters (or 110 feet) wide and 304 meters long. 

From these figures it doesn’t appear the CB would fit in the old locks, but would definitely fit quite comfortably in the new ones that are 180 feet wide. 
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_Princess

Edited May 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[GonzoWCS]

34 minutes ago, rheathslc said:

That's so fascinating! I had no idea that had happened.

If you get a chance read Path Between the Seas.  It is a fantastic book.  I read it as we sailed to and through the Panama Canal our first time.

 

Cheers

[rheathslc]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

From these figures it doesn’t appear the CB would fit in the old locks, but would definitely fit quite comfortably in the new ones that are 180 feet wide. 

The Island and Coral were built to Panamax specs for the old locks and are smaller than the Grand Class ships so CB does not fit through the old locks. 

[Ken the cruiser]

14 minutes ago, rheathslc said:

looks like the Beam (widest point at the nominal water line per wikipedia) on this ship is 159ft

I like your figures better as it did seem there was 30’ of space on each side of the ship. But then I never was at a vantage point where I could actually see the gap on each side. 

Edited May 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[rheathslc]

1 minute ago, GonzoWCS said:

If you get a chance read Path Between the Seas.  It is a fantastic book.  I read it as we sailed to and through the Panama Canal our first time.

 

Cheers

Just used this month's Audible credit to get this one. Thanks for the recommendation! I am currently listening to Atlantic and just finished Pacific both by Simon Winchester who is one of my favorite non-fiction writers so this will be a perfect complement.