Live: Apr 20, 2024 Summit 14 Night Panama Canal Westbound Cruise!

[mahdnc]

Even though you are looking back at the Panama Canal, the aft balcony views were very awesome and more relaxing.  Here we are watching the doors close at the Miraflores Locks.  The Miraflores Visitor Center is the tall building on the right (where the IMAX theater is located).  Because it was late in the day (~5:30pm), there were not too many visitors watching us. 

 

 

In fact, there were not too many passengers watching either!

 

 

Main (Early) Seating at the MDR was at 5:30pm which meant that you would be eating when Summit passed through the Miraflores Locks.  Fortunately for us, we had a 7pm dining reservation at the Tuscan Grille.

 

 

When I walked back to our aft cabin from the helipad just after crossing all three Gatun Locks which was around noon-ish, I was surprised how many passengers were in the interior public areas going about their business like it was a normal cruise day (reading their tablet, doing a puzzle, etc).

Edited April 26 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

Yesterday when we crossed the Bridge of the Americas (bridge on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal), it was getting dark with nightfall approaching.

 

 

Built in 1962, the bridge was originally known as the Thatcher Ferry Bridge.  The bridge was named after the Thatcher Ferry which operated at that location and the ferry was named after Maurice Thatcher who was associated with the Canal Zone commission.  The people of Panama later changed it to its present day name. 

 

 

The "low" height of this bridge prevents some ships from sailing through the Panama Canal even though they might fit through the new locks such as the Oasis class ships.

 

 

The catamaran sailing under the Bridge of the Americas in the above photo belongs to Capt Andy's according to the signage on the boat.  A quick look at their website shows that Capt Andy's operates tours at the famous Na Pali coastline of Kauai.  I guess that is where she is heading!  She was one of the two small boats that shared the same lock with the large freighter going through the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks. The photo below shows all three ships together at Miraflores in the left most lock.  The catamaran is the front-most boat with the thin long white mast.

 

 

Edited April 26 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

The Capt Andy's catamaran had its business URL on it, so I emailed some of the photos I took of her to them.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 26 by mahdnc

[hcat]

Do I still see "trugs" alongside?

I read the article about the new vs old lock systems but still not sure how it all works..fascinating!

[BillB48]

30 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

Built in 1962, the bridge was originally known as the Thatcher Ferry Bridge.  The bridge was named after the Thatcher Ferry which operated at that location and the ferry was named after Maurice Thatcher who was associated with the Canal Zone commission. 

 

Thanks for referencing the Bridge's original name, Thatcher Ferry Bridge.  Maurice Thatcher was the last surviving member of the Isthmian Canal Commission which oversaw the construction of the Canal.  Thatcher also served as governor of the Canal Zone during the construction era.   In the picture of the catamaran sailing under the Bridge, the pilings for the ferry landing are still visible.

 

Enjoyed your pictures and videos of the transit!

Edited April 26 by BillB48

[mahdnc]

The luxury yacht that was one of the three ships to share the same lock at Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks was very nice looking. 

 

 

She is named H2O.  My Marine Traffic app says that she is Marshall Islands flagged and built in 2023.  Perhaps she is headed back to the Marshall Islands--a trip considerably longer than the Capt Andy's catamaran which probably was heading to Kauai.

 

 

She had two covered jet-skis sitting at the bow.  I think two small white rectangles mounted on top of the canopy are Starlink dishes.  Very nice.

 

 

Her anchors were beautiful shiny chrome.  I am not sure how you maintain that look in the long run after it's been used a lot.

[mahdnc]

Just now, BillB48 said:

 

Thanks for referencing the Bridge's original name, Thatcher Ferry Bridge.  Maurice Thatcher was the last surviving member of the Isthmian Canal Commission which oversaw the construction of the Canal.  Thatcher also served as governor of the Canal Zone during the construction era.   In the picture of the catamaran sailing under the Bridge, the pilings for the ferry landing are still visible.

 

Enjoyed your pictures and videos of the transit!

 

Thank you both for the compliment and the information!

[mahdnc]

Just now, hcat said:

Do I still see "trugs" alongside?

I read the article about the new vs old lock systems but still not sure how it all works..fascinating!

 

What are "trugs"? Tugs? 

[dreamer321]

48 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

...  Perhaps she is headed back to the Marshall Islands...

 

..

I'll bet that she hasn't been within a thousand miles of the Marshall Islands. She's just flying a flag of convenience.

[mahdnc]

A few random photos of the famous "mules" whose main purpose is to keep the transiting ships centered in the lock and away from the side walls.  In some of the photos you can see a pair of thin steel cables coming from the mules and are attached to Summit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mahdnc]

Just now, dreamer321 said:

I'll bet that she hasn't been within a thousand miles of the Marshall Islands. She's just flying a flag of convenience.

 

I told my wife the same thing.  It's just that she happens to be going into the Pacific.

[JackE]

10 hours ago, mahdnc said:

Here is a link to a time lapse video I took from the back of our balcony was we crossed the Gatun Locks: link

 

I took the time lapse with my iPhone on a tripod.  A backpack of filled water bottles hung off the bottom of the center pole to provide weight for the tripod to prevent it from blowing over.

 

WOW! That was a fantastic video! You should get commission from Celebrity - everyone is going to want to experience this!

[TMLAalum]

I've been through the Soo Locks and Yangtze River locks plus river locks on the Danube and Rhine, but I gotta say, the transit through the Panama Canal has a bigger wow! factor thanks to seeing them via this thread!

DH has sailed through the Panama and the Suez canals back when he was 3rd officer on various merchant ships.

[AZCruisergirl]

11 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

I've been through the Soo Locks and Yangtze River locks plus river locks on the Danube and Rhine, but I gotta say, the transit through the Panama Canal has a bigger wow! factor thanks to seeing them via this thread!

DH has sailed through the Panama and the Suez canals back when he was 3rd officer on various merchant ships.

This was my second time going thru the Panama Canal and all I can say is it was still a big WOW. If this is on your bucket list, do it, do it, do it, and do the full transit, before it’s too late. 

[DaKahuna]

@mahdnc  If it's not too late, make sure you stock up on coffee in Costa Rica.  I still believe they have the best coffee beans in the world. 

 

[mahdnc]

Just now, DaKahuna said:

@mahdnc  If it's not too late, make sure you stock up on coffee in Costa Rica.  I still believe they have the best coffee beans in the world. 

 

 

We may do just that.  It's funny though--since November we have been on cruise vacations that have taken us to Ecuador (Nov Xpedition), Vietnam (Dec Solstice), Ethiopia (Dec Solstice flight home), Columbia (Apr Summit) and they all claim to have the best coffee! 

[mahdnc]

For the past 12 hours or so, I have been unable to get on the Cruise Critic website.  First I thought it was a connection problem on Summit.  Then I thought it was a problem with the website.  This morning I tried a different web browser (used Safari instead of Chrome) and that seems to have solved the problem.  I have some catching up to do on this thread.  Sorry.

[Essiesmom]

44 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

For the past 12 hours or so, I have been unable to get on the Cruise Critic website.  First I thought it was a connection problem on Summit.  Then I thought it was a problem with the website.  This morning I tried a different web browser (used Safari instead of Chrome) and that seems to have solved the problem.  I have some catching up to do on this thread.  Sorry.

For some of us we can’t get into the boards on Safari and had to move to Chrome.  Boards were very slow on my iPad yesterday.  No boards on iPad on safari but okay if slow on my iPad mini.  On iPad now with CHROME.  

[Reel Love]

Thank you so very, very much mahdnc for sharing all of the pics and videos.  They are fantastic!  And for folks like me who would like to cruise through the Panama Canal but are not sure for various reasons that it may actually happen, following your thread is more enjoyable than you may know!!!  Sincere appreciation for taking the time and effort to post!  🙂

[mahdnc]

Here is a final set of photos from our day at the Panama Canal.

 

If you are a hard core Panama Canal enthusiast, there really is no dead time during the 12 hour crossing that you can break away and not miss something.  I ordered room service for breakfast and paid the room service charge to get a hot breakfast because I didn't want us to miss the start of things.  That was a good decision looking back on it.

 

In my mind I figured I could take get lunch at the MDR while we were cruising Gatun Lake.  However we ended up sailing through some of the Culebra Cut while we were eating.  Knowing that, I would have done something different like get room service again or run up to the Oceanview Cafe and grab something to take back to the cabin.  And as I mentioned in another post, our MDR dinner early seating time was at 5:30 pm and we were still going through the Miraflores Locks at the time.

 

When we got back to the cabin after lunch, we were sailing through the last parts of the Culebra Cut on our approach to the Pedro Miguel Locks under the watchful eye of a tugboat trailing behind us.

 

 

Sailing through the cut is interesting not just from a history perspective, but also because it is unusual to be on a cruise ship and see the shore so close to either side for an extended period df time.  A forward view from the helipad (or Retreat area) or the view from an aft balcony (or Sunset Bar) really gives you that river cruise view effect.

 

Thankfully we got back to our cabin in time to watch Summit sail under the second of three bridges along the canal route--the Centennial Bridge.

 

 

Roll call member @julieawill and her husband happen to book the Ultra Deluxe Veranda cabin next to ours and you can see both of them in the above photo.  We later invited them to our balcony so they could get a starboard side view of the canal because the other set of locks were on the starboard side of Summit when she crossed the Pacific side locks.  When Summit crossed the Atlantic side locks, the other set of locks were on the port side of the ship.  I presume that this is all random and nothing you can plan the cruise by.

 

 

Summit's crew required access to the Penthouse Suite's balcony when we arrived at the Pedro Miguel Locks to help get the ship connected to the mules (photo below).  I guess that is what the external stairs that pop up on the Penthouse Suite deck are for--so that the crew do not have to trudge through the Penthouse Suite itself when they have to do this type of work.

 

 

Watching the crossing of the Panama Canal from the Penthouse Suite balcony must be nice.

 

 

The Penthouse Suite on the port side of the ship in the photo below had friends over to watch Summit cruise through the Pacific side locks.

 

 

Most canal enthusiasts are well aware that the Panama Canal does not use pumps to fill and empty the locks.  The large amounts of water are moved by gravity.  To facilitate the movement of water by gravity, there are a number of huge culverts (pipes) on floor of each lock.  Below is a photo where you can the surface of the water in the lock being disturbed during the filling of the lock. 

 

 

Even though I have seen it with my own eyes, the large scale of this man-made canal and the ships that pass through it are hard to fathom and certainly are not reflected in any photo.

 

 

Below is a photo taken from the bow of the last set of Gatun Locks that brought us up to Gatun Lake's level.  You can see the two cables on the left side of the photo that connect Summit to one of the mules.

 

 

Walkways are installed on many (but not all) of the doors of the locks that permit personnel to walk across when the doors are closed.

 

Edited April 27 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

Just now, Essiesmom said:

For some of us we can’t get into the boards on Safari and had to move to Chrome.  Boards were very slow on my iPad yesterday.  No boards on iPad on safari but okay if slow on my iPad mini.  On iPad now with CHROME.  

 

Yeah, I think the Cruise Critic website works now on my Chrome browser.  I have received error messages on a couple of different days during this cruise indicating that the CC website/server is down.

 

Thank you for posting screenshots of Summit crossing the canal as I wanted to do that, too, but simply didn't have time.

 

When I was up at the bow, I was able to get a weak Wi-Fi signal and quickly took one screenshot and iMessaged it to my parents to remind them to look at the canal webcam to watch us.

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

CC on Safari is working today , yesterday it was very painful 

[hcat]

20 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

What are "trugs"? Tugs? 

 Soory the mules..i got my lingo confused!

 

[mahdnc]

Just now, hcat said:

 Soory the mules..i got my lingo confused!

 

 

That's ok.  In Post #260, I posted several photos of the many mules that we saw during the crossing.  The Beyond the Podium speaker said that they cost a couple million dollars each (I cannot remember the exact figure).  It was interesting to watch them work and they are part of the charm of the old locks.  The new locks do not have them.  The ship positioning is managed completely by tugboats which accompany the ship into the locks.

[hcat]

20 hours ago, mahdnc said:

A few random photos of the famous "mules" whose main purpose is to keep the transiting ships centered in the lock and away from the side walls.  In some of the photos you can see a pair of thin steel cables coming from the mules and are attached to Summit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

wonderful photos !

  when we did the partial on Royal C.. It was a tight fit!  The ship got scraped..All heck broke loose..Cap was not happy &  had workers out there on scaffolds  painting as soon as we got into the lake!