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

[PacnGoNow]

47 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Good point. We never did see her on the tender or on our excursion today, but did saw her husband on both.

So, if she was positive, her DH would have to be in isolation, right?   Maybe only she was being traced?

[cltnccruisers]

17 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I don’t think she was ever allowed to leave the ship. 

OK.  When I first read your post I thought it was returning that she got denied.  😂

[cltnccruisers]

2 hours ago, Kiran said:

Library report : it is still just  a nook but first day of cruise there were about 200 books at least including guidebooks coffeee table books

 

now very slim pickings so books must all be residing in cabins rather than on library shelves

I wasn't going to say a thing about the typos.  Just figured the right hand didn't know what the left was doing.  😄

Edited May 8, 2022 by cltnccruisers

[cltnccruisers]

57 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

You were on our cruise!  You’re so right!

Rough seas.  3 o’clock was wine time!!

lol

 

One good thing about repeating on a ship is I know what I'll be drinking.  Bourbon & Blood.  Knob Hill bourbon, citrus bitters, club soda and something else - O-Positive I think.  And an orange slice of course.

[waterbabyfish]

4 hours ago, cltnccruisers said:

How's the general rockin' and rollin'?  Our March cruise was the roughest we've ever had.  The sea itself didn't seem that bad so it made me wonder if it was partly mechanical.  Heck, I walk better drunk than I could sober on that cruise.

Yeah, I was on the March 19 sailing...thought the same about the rolling,thought maybe stabilizers not working.

[Ken the cruiser]

We’re now pulling away from Panama City and going to find a spot amongst the other ships, get some fuel delivered by some mobile bunkering platform (mobile fuel station) and then wait for our turn early tomorrow morning sometime before 7 am if all goes according to plan to head into the Panama Canal! Yay!!

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Thought this was a pretty picture. If you make the picture larger, you can see Panama City on the right side getting ready to get a few sprinkles. 😁

 

[waterbabyfish]

I remember how stinky the fuel was after getting it from there.

[Ken the cruiser]

A couple of fun tidbits we learned today from our tour guide.

 

First, did you know there are no paved roads across the border between Panama and Columbia. It’s all jungle. I guess when Panama declared their independence from Columbia in 1903, they drew the line in the jungle. 
 

Now, not sure about how current this information is, but he said the charge for a ship to go through the Panama Canal is $120 per container for container ships and $160 per person for cruise ships. He also said some of the super max container ships can pay up to $1 million to go through the Panama Canal.

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Von & John]

Ken  --  we cruised the Panama Canal on the Coral Princess, on the 2011/2012 Christmas & New Year's cruise...  The entire cruise was amazing & the day of canal fantastic...  At that time we saw them building the new canal...

 

We had planned to sail the Celebrity Infinity from Fort Lauderdale to Valparaiso, Chile - Dec 2016.

Unfortunately we had to cancel the cruise for medical reasons...

We are still hoping to do another Panama Canal Cruise one of these days!!

 

Enjoy your time on board 🙂 

[Ken the cruiser]

The evening show this evening was Comedy Magic with Greg Moreland and was quite funny and entertaining. 
 

 

Afterwards we headed to the Explorers Lounge and watched I’ll Take Music for 100 trivia with the assistant CDs and had another great time!

 

 

 

 

Then we stepped out on the promenade to check out the mobile bunkering service. Not as big as some we’ve seen on other cruises, but at least they deliver! 😂
 

Edited May 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 14, May 9, Panama Canal Transit

 

 

[runner2013]

Thank you Ken for all the Patters. 

It's great being able to see what activities and programs the ship is offering each day.

Also for all the pics. Since we can't all be there, it's nice to get a glimps  of the local scenery and wildlife 👍

[Kiran]

Laying in bed watching bridge cam ahead of me, window to the left of me

 

this is the easy panama canal experience

 

my brother is out and about from deck 7 promenade to top of ship

 

will get out of bed later , but not right now

Edited May 9, 2022 by Kiran
Add sentence

[Ken the cruiser]

And we’re on our way. We just crossed under the Bridge of Americas and there is Panama City to the east! 😁

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We’re slowly approaching the first lock and as you can see we have someone helping us walk the straight and narrow. This is of course the view from the aft! 😂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

For those interested, here’s the results of the speed test I just took and the photos are loading quite quickly at this speed.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We’re in the lock and they’re starting to close the gates. 

[GonzoWCS]

18 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We’re in the lock and they’re starting to close the gates. 

Fantastic!

[Ken the cruiser]

Looks like the water level rose a little under 8 meters and it looks like we have someone next in the queue!

 

[Ken the cruiser]

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. 😁

 

[Ken the cruiser]

My DW just told me that Kerry said the cost to transit the PC is $95 per empty passenger cabin and $138 per person for an occupied cabin. She hasn’t mentioned the total bill yet. If she does, I’ll let you know.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Looks like we have company as we’re moving into the 3rd lock.

 

[GonzoWCS]

Ken,

   Not sure this has been asked and answered yet, but is this you first time through or no?

 

Cheers

[Ken the cruiser]

We’re now in the 3rd lock. Off to the left is the water staging area to fill the locks, which 60% is recycled. Just found out the CB cost a little over $500,000 to traverse the PC. Now, if someone wants to get ahead in the queue, like a container ship, they can pay a little extra. One ship paid $250,000 to move up and save 7 days waiting.