BillB48

I've been lured and caught😉! I presume Pacific Cruise Terminal is the "official" moniker of the new pier and terminal at Ft. Amador. In any case there is only one passenger facility for the Pacific side and it is at Ft. Amador. There hasn't been any news on the progress of the terminal, but that probably isn't unexpected since this is the off season for Canal cruises. As far as the number of excursions available, I too think that additional excursions will be added as the sailing date nears

Six years ago today the new locks for the Canal opened for their first paying customer, the MV Cosco Shipping Panama. The ship was renamed for the occasion, previously it was named Andronikos. Attached is a short video highlighting some of the major milestones in the last six years. The Canal in the past has provided English versions for events as this, but so far no English edition has been offered. Some of the major takeaways are... 46% of the vessels transiting are container ships, 22% are gas carriers, 96% of the world's maritime fleet is able to use the Canal, more than 17000 transits have been completed using the new locks and more than 50% of the total Canal tonnage and income is generated by the new locks.

Here's the trolley route, passes a variety of downtown businesses.

It's fairly easy to get to from the Colon 2000 pier, about a 20 min ride perhaps. If you are docking in Ft. Amador, the Agua Clara locks is more like 1.5 hours away. Don't have a good feel for the cost, but a starting point would probably be somewhere around $20-25/hr, depending an what you want. I would recommend engaging the cab for the complete trip. While they could drop you off, finding a cab to take you back could be a challenge.

I haven't tried to take an excursion on most of the times I was on a B2B and the one time I did sign up for an excursion it was cancelled because of not enough participation. YMMV As Biker yes, the exact process may differ. I have usually had some sort of identification indicating you were "In Transit" paper that would get you around some of the congestion. Pre Covid often times, a special lunch in the MDR was held for the B2B people.

With stop in Ft. Amador after the transit will allow to choose from a full range of shore excursions. Usually these excursions include visits to both the old and new locks, possibly a partial transit of the original Pacific side Locks along with a passage through Gaillard Cut, visits to the Embera Indians and tours of Panama City.

Yes, that is a complete transit using the new locks. Enjoy!!

As a practical option for transportation across the Isthmus, the railroad is not really an option. The only passenger service offered is M-F, 7AM Panama to Colon and a return trip to Panama City a little after 5PM. Just one round trip a day. I have been gone too long to knowledgeably comment on bus travel, but I can assure you unless you are well versed in third world travel, that is not a real good option either.

CWH, Just off the May 14 sailing of the Allure and they announced they had a new captain on board and was still in quarantine so the staff captain would be doing the visible passenger events. Never got the name but he sounded as if it were Capt. Shawn. Seems like a short rotation for Capt. Holmes???