help32250

Jen --- First of all, I LOVE the backdrop Northern Lights in your profile! Now about that scheduling of an Iceland/Greenland TSE cruise ... I think I expended the last of my 9 lives with them during the Discovery and Emerald TSEs. So in addition to me not having a lot of love for them (right now) I think the reverse applies too. Cunard's QM2 will actually be in Reykjavik on August 12th. That said, being in Port is a FAR cry from being at Sea. But the elephant in the room on Iceland/Greenland is that the cloud cover (based on history since 2000) will be at about 85%. In other words anyone expecting to see that TSE there has about a one in six chance of doing so, at Sea or otherwise. Even for The Sky Princess it will probably witness the underside of Clouds rather than a TSE ... as the historical cloud cover where it will be is about 60% probable then. Fyi, I think the only reason I was able to get Princess to do these latest TSE sailings was because I had established a line of communicatio with Jan Swartz who was then (2017) their President. So when Jan, now 4 or 5 levels above Padgett, asked Collin Steinke, then Princess's Director of Customer Service, to work with me on getting it ironed out, I was in a position of strength. But after 6 1/2 years on this, the last nearly 2 working very closely with Steinke and expending the last of my 9 lives, I am done. On the other hand I sent someone at Cunard (CC'ing Jan and Collin) a request for them to have The Queen Victoria sail a couple hours early from Tarragona to Mallorca so as to see the 2026 TSE at Sea .... --- The Helpster

MJ --- I think you, more than most others, know that I have been a stalwart Princess advocate. But regarding The Discovery Princess cruise (which I was significant in them doing even as a Port stop) they didn't even have the courtesy of giving me either an advance eMail on it or call prior to when it could be booked. It was only due to my dogged-viewing of their site that I found out (almost too late) that I could still book a stateroom. As late as Wednesday (the day before this cruise went on sale) my Princess TA didn't know it was going to happen! But he called me after I had spent 2 very-early-morning hours on Princess' site trying to find a Starboard side Balcony stateroom. To his credit he "wait listed" me as he knew I was very interested ... and shortly thereafter called me back getting a room he knew I would like. Even Collin (aka "my Princess Exec") didn't know a thing about it just over a week ago. It is very unfortunate and embarrassing their left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. So love Princess as I do, I often wonder why. And I find it fascinating to see Padgett climbing on the TSE Band Wagon after unceremoniously doing nothing about Total Eclipses before, including both of the just-concluded ones on The Discovery and Emerald. (And I have the USPS registered receipt return confirmations to prove it.) For those of you that are just reading my postings for the first time, I literally dragged Princess kicking and screaming into doing these cruises AND changing them to reflect this Cruise Critic Community's desires and preferences ... all while making money hand over fist. And everything that I told them and forecast would happen ... did. So for all those that couldn't get a booking ... allow me to forecast one thing what will happen on this itinerary that you might like: On May 10, 2026, the day that final payment is due and can be canceled without penalty, many of those currently booked will cancel. It happened on The Emerald Princess and it will happen on this one too. So if you really want to be on this cruise mark your calendar and be ready to act. The best to you MJ --- The Helpster

Retired --- I'm talking about my Earth-based permanent retirement abode. On the other hand, I think many at Princess would prefer my view be opposite to the one you are referring to. --- The Helpster

Based on actuaries, I can almost guarantee with 100% certainty that I will be "looking up" at that one ....

Kay --- Possibly. But as the person that spent much of the last 6 1/2 years of his life dealing (if not fighting) with Princess to make The Discovery's TSE sailing a reality ... let alone also getting them to change The Emerald's itinerary to witness it at Sea too ... my ability to sense humor has often diminished. And if that offends you, I'm sorry. Btw, with that statement you have received more apologies from me than I have from Princess. --- Help

Kay --- With all due respect, there is no such thing as a "John Padgett" eclipse. Padgett is President of Princess Cruises. And he announced a couple days ago that The Sky Princess would do a cruise out of Southampton that would highlight the August 12th 2026 Total Solar Eclipse ... as shown in my posting just above yours as posting #4.. Trust that Padgett is no Halley's Comet. --- Help32250

In July of 2023 I suggested Princess plan a 2026 TSE Cruise. I suggested they plan to witness it, however, off the East Coast of Spain between Spain proper and Mallorcca. While I genuinely congratulated Princess on committing to do what they announced, they chose the West Coast of Spain where history shows it having a 60+ % Cloud Cover! Other than Cunard announcing that their their sailing of The Queen Mary II was now being branded as a 2026 Total Solar Eclipse Cruise because it would be in Reykjavik Iceland on August 12th, Princess' gall clearly takes second place. The attached graphics show the Ports Princess announced seeing but I have no idea in what order they will occur. But the only place they can possibly see the TSE on that map of their itinerary is off the North West coast of Spain. By contrast you can compare it to the East Coast side I recommended almost a year ago. And I added a comparison of it with that which The Discovery and Emerald Princess' just-concluded actual TSE sailings south of Cabo and West of Puerto Vallarta witnessed. That said, I ask you to do your own analysis based on the attached. Credit "TimeAndDate.Com" and "Google Maps" with all the graphic details below. --- Help32250

Now let's try a full res BluRay image to see if can be uploaded. 00000.m2ts

Let's try this at a bit more resolution (and larger file size) Transiting the AguaClara & Cocoli Panama Canal Locks 2024 V4.wmv

Test of New Locks Panama Canal Video Transiting the AguaClara & Cocoli Panama Canal Locks 2024 V2.wmv

Give Cruise Critic REAL KUDOS if they allow this one. It's the full transit of the same ship but you can watch the water levels being lowered AND at HDV 1080/60i 1440x1080 resolution (54MB). Also note that you will be able to clearly see The Panama Canal's Cocoli webcam time stamp of the transit on the upper top part of the video Now tell me THAT wouldn't be the best remembrance possible for any Panama Canal cruise!!!! And if you could position yourself to actually be seen during it? WOW! --- help32250 By the way, the Panama Canal webcams are currently out of service. But keep checking back on them because my bet is that they are performing some maintenance on them that will make your images even better. Test Full Cocoli Panama Canal Transit 0826.wmv

While my primary purpose in uploading this file was to see if the Cruise Critic's picture/video sharing website would accommodate a file as large as this (26MB) ... The Panama Canal now uses 1280x720 Webcams for you to view their locks in real time. For those of you taking a cruise through them it gives you an incredible opportunity for your family/friends to watch you transit the Canal in real time. It also gives your family/friends to capture your transit and give you some great souvenirs of it when you return. Alternately YOU could surprise them when they to through the Canal and cement their friendship for life! I did the attached video by taking screen captures off my PC, quickly (and I mean quickly as the webcam restores every 5 to 10 seconds) storing them as JPGs into a unique directory, and then copying them into my video processing software. To have my video look a little bit smoother I cut the individual images to only about 1 second and then put a very short fades between them. Hopefully you will have less funky music than me. Create/make your video as an MPEG as nobody seems to have a DVD or BlueRay player anymore. But on a BlueRay the images are really sharp. The nice thing is if your video isn't very good you'll still have the JPGs. If you do one for your family or friend's transit you might tell them ... before their cruise ... to be on one of the upper decks closest to the South side (if they are going through the Cocoli Locks), next to the rail, and maybe separated by a few feet from anyone else. This will make them easier to find. The Panama Canal's Webcam site is: https://multimedia.panama-canal.com/index.html and you can easily point and click on 5 locks. But for your convenience the Cocoli's is: https://multimedia.panama-canal.com/Webcams/cocoli.html My experience is that cellular coverage is very good through the Canal. So whether it's you or them, have the one transiting the Canal call to make sure that they can be seen. I think these suggestions can make an incredible experience even more incredible. --- help32250 Test Panama Canal Transit 0826 40 Sec 1280 x 720.wmv

I couldn't find a size limitation on Cruise Critic for uploaded file size so this is just a test of a 1 1/2 minute HD stream00000.m2ts

Test of The Island Princess Panama Canal Transit 2023 0501. Island Princess Transiting Miraflores Locks 2023 0501XFR.wmv

Marne --- Don't feel too bad about it. My first formal letter to Princess was on Sept 8, 2017 ... and I never stopped. I even communicated with CCL's now-retired CEO. The turning point was when the Princess President became the Group Executive for the HAL Group. She told a Director-level Exec in Santa Clarita to handle it for her and, after hours and hours of phone calls, eMails, and CFO/MBA level justification, I made not only The Discovery but the inclusion of the TSE on The Emerald happen. LOTS more to it than that. But that's the short story. I estimate that you are only about an hour flight from Panama City. So will you be on The Emerald or Discovery? Probably The Discovery. The Panama Canal for you would be like me going to Disneyland. --- help32250