BillB48

The reason that ship no longer uses the original locks as it once did is the addition of the duck's arse on the stern. While the addition doesn't extend the overall length by a huge amount, it does exceed the 965' LOA. The Magic has the distinction of being the first passenger ship to use the new locks.

Forgive me for wanting to set the record straight on this point. Sounds like Carlos was a perfect host and guide for your hike up Ancon Hill, however in this case he must have been using some creative history or relying on urban legend. The fact is birth in the Canal Zone never conferred US citizenship in the 77 years of United States administration. I think if that were the case a large percentage of the Panamanian population would be carrying US passports. Any child born in the Canal Zone would acquire citizenship through his or her parents. In the 1970s Panama did pass a law granting anyone born in the Canal Zone the right to claim Panamanian citizenship. I have enjoyed you pictorial documentation of your transit and excursion. Enjoy the rest of the cruise!

At least there is some progress, thanks for the pics.

Things have moved off the front burner, the Supreme Court has ruled the law enabling the mine operation unconstitutional and the President has indicated they will abide by the ruling. Right now it looks as though the mine will close, the disturbances have abated and things have returned to "normal". I don't think anyone really knows what the final solution for the mine will be and whether or not it will become an issue again. Either way the short fall of revenue to the government from no mine and the falling tolls because of the reduction of transits through the Canal offer a number of tripwires. At the moment no problemo.

IIRC you are doing your transit on a Panamax Princess through the original locks. I think experiencing the locks in a smaller vessel gives you a greater idea of just how big the locks are. Sometimes on a large ship the size of the locks is not appreciated as much and when you are on the upper decks you can almost feel removed from the process of passing through the locks. While transiting on your ship I think it is a good idea to go down to one of the lower outside decks and watch the operation from there at least for a portion of the time you are in the locks. You can save that for one of the later locks.

Where the ship docks is the middle island (Perico Is.) there is a marina in between that island and the outer island, Flamenco. In the past the ferry has departed from there. Just a note, sometimes the tour can run in the opposite direction from the description. Either way is good. They just out into international waters where they can manage gray water and more importantly open the casino and shops. There is room enough for two ships and I would think you would be moored at the dock. I know of late Princess has tendered when the pier seemed to be available. I have no explanation as to why they will anchor at times when the pier seems available. Since your cruise isn't until '25, maybe they will have the cruise terminal completed by then... emphasis on maybe!!

As for the Ft. Amador cruise terminal, the pier is operational but the terminal seems like it has become a project without end. The last mark on the wall for completion was December, the December we are now in. I have not heard a thing on its status and I suspect with all political brouhaha of late in Panama, I feel sure the mark on the wall is just another missed mark. El Casco Viejo has come a long way since I had any close contact with it. There are some very nice small hotels and restaurants that have opened up and many of the buildings have been restored. However, I can't offer any suggestions, maybe someone in your roll call might have some ideas. You should be able to get a cab to El Casco, here again can't offer any info on where exactly they are located due to the terminal not being finished. In the past they have offered shuttle service through the construction... so who knows?? While I think it is perfectly safe for you to take a tour of El Casco in a cab on your way to or from wherever you choose to eat, a stroll around that part of town late in the evening would not be my choice. The area in general probably has more security than most other places in the city as there are a number of notable residents, to include the President of the Republic. Still the area is surrounded by less prosperous areas and the flavor of the neighborhood can change rather quickly without you realizing.

Glad the Canal has seen fit to get the cams back up, they have been down for a while this past week. Looking at the tides, the time in the lower level appears to have worked in conjunction with low tide for clearing the bridge this morning which was at 5:14AM. Nothing like knocking a few mimosas down before the sun comes up.

That is a change from my last several transits, thanks for the info.

While calling in Panama as a port call your are considered in transit and not "officially" entering the country. Just a driver's license and your ship ID us sufficient. The mall area where the ship is docked is safe, just don't venture beyond that unless you are with a tour or in a cab. Going through Colon via a tour is not inherently unsafe, it is just not a DIY stop.

I think your observation of the lushness of the jungle is probably about the same as most residents in Panama. I believe it stems from the use of the word "drought". To many of use that word conjures up desert scenes that have not seen a drop of rain for many moons. The truth is what has been missing are real heavy reservoir recharging rains that normally occur over the upper reaches of the Chagres River watershed where the annual rainfall can exceed 120". Depending on whose estimates you want to use the real heavy rains are shy anywhere from 25% to 40% of normal. Even 40% of the 120" still leaves a lot of water to keep canopy and the country side fairly green. The blame for this shortfall of rain is a very strong El Nińo. In a strong El Nińo period, the heaviest rain systems that normally fall over the Chagres River watershed are pushed a little farther south only to expend their rain in the Pacific Ocean. The level of Gatun Lake the day you transited was just a little under 82' (81.7' actual), the Canal likes to have the lake close to 7' higher at this time of year. The 81.7' is approximately the level of the Gatun Lake at the end of the Dry Season in May. Here it is December and the Dry Season officially starts on Dec. 21. I am sure the Panama Canal Authority is hoping for a very wet end to the Rainy Season. We shall see. Ample water reserves have been on the Canal's mind for a long time. The first study I was aware of to expand the water storage capacity dates back to 1970s. After the turnover of the Canal to Panama in 1999, the Panama Canal Authority completed another study in 2003 concerning additional storage capacity. However like so many other entities the only thing that is ever agreed upon is the need for additional studies! Thanks for the pictures of one of my favorite places.

When I first saw EM's pictures from the bridge cam and did a very superficial check of the tides for today which showed a high tide this morning of 5:28AM. My contact answered back a said that ship (and probably the others in her class) have tide restrictions at the BoA. So I carefully looked at the time stamps and the first one shows 2:27AM with ship all the way up on the water ready to move from the lower level to the middle level. What you quoted from the onboard guest noting a 2 o'clock arrival at the first lock gave me a good place to backwards engineer the Bridge time. I think a best guess for when the Bliss went under the BoA is probably somewhere between 1:00AM to 1:30AM. That's just a real long way of saying she cleared the bridge much closer to low tide. Low tide on Nov. 29 was 11:17PM, that would make her clearing about 2 hours past low tide. The tide range from the low tide just before midnight on the Nov.29 and the high tide at 5:28AM Nov.30 was 16.5'. At that tide range you will have an increase of about 2.5' in the height of the tide each hour. On the bright side (maybe that's not the best metaphor in this case) there certainly were not any issues of sunburn at the first lock! The last of EM's screen grabs shows the Bliss just north of Cocoli Locks, since there are not any time stamps on the Miraflores cam, time of day is another guesstimate. Sunrise today was 6:18 and judging by the amount of light I would say it is 6:30ish. That indicates to me the Bliss probably held on the north approach wall of Cocoli until daylight.

Once again one of the big NCL ships making their way through one set of locks under the cover of darkness, well under glare of the high mast lights anyway. Tides and the BoA were not an issue as her passage beneath the Bridge occurred a little before high tide. The mystery continues.

Have been watching earlier, have a good friend doing a B2B on the Serenade.

I was just going to reply that my contact in Panama told me that things had quieted down to a large degree. There were far fewer roadblocks and demonstrations particularly around the cities and the when there were roadblocks they generally were not long lasting. There was mostly a wait and see attitude while the Panama Supreme Court pontificates on the matter of the mining agreement being constitutional. This morning he wrote and said the Court had ruled that the agreement was unconstitutional. I feel sure in the short term things may settle down to "normal", how long that will last is an open question, it will be totally dependent on whether there is a complete shutdown, nationalization or even a renegotiation of the agreement. I am sure the cruise lines will just have to be flexible and make last minute decisions on port calls.

I think the two Bruces have given perfect advice and I have no quarrel with all the other advice. but I will suggest my preferred side. If you have a choice, choose the port side while transiting from Atlantic to Pacific. This does not mean the starboard side is a wasteland and there is nothing worth viewing, it is all great and scenery is all around. Here are a few of my reasons... most of the built up areas you will pass such as the harbor of Cristobal with Colon in the backdrop, Gamboa where the Dredging Division has much of their fleet moored, Gold Hill which was a very prominent and difficult section of the Gaillard Cut to dig and the skyline of Panama City as you exit the Canal can all be viewed from the port side. One other plug for the port side, when you are crossing Gatun Lake, that is the best time to view on coming ship traffic and you may get a glimpse at the first transcontinental railroad in the background speeding across the continent! Nice to see if you are taking a break on your balcony.

There certainly is an element of that, but what kicked the current furor is the government renegotiated the agreement that allowed expansion and a much healthier payment to the government. For the healthier payment the government granted some privileges to the mining company that are extremely reminiscent of the authority the US had when it administered the Canal Zone. The authority the US had was a irritant to many Panamanians even though the treaty which turned over the Canal to Panama went in effect more than 40 years ago. The company has been operating the mine since 2013.

Not really but they do occur. The present is about a Canadian copper mine and seems to have much of the country roiled. Things have settled a bit but not enough for the cruise lines. How long it will continue anyone's guess.

Celebrity has not had a huge presence at the Canal in general and probably even less in Colon, so I don't think there will be too many posters who may have taken that tour as cosntructed by Celbrity. If there is anything you want to know about Agua Clara Locks or Portobello perhaps someone here can answer that.

I was curious, the fee for daylight transit for the larger cruise ships is $30K, I did not know if there was a lower fee for small ships such as the Hamburg. Well, there is just one fee only... $30K! If a smaller ship were to opt for a daylight transit, the daylight fee would be a much higher portion of the total transit cost. Possibly that is the reason they transit whenever the transit gods permits?

I have noticed some of the smaller ships will sometimes wind up completing at least part of transit at night. While it would not be my first choice, the Canal is attractive at night, particularly the Cut.

Perhaps the best way without any direct recommendations is to work through your hotel. While the price may not be the cheapest, it still is negotiable.

And a great gift for retirement it is! Congratulations! Figure on around a 6AM sunrise, normally I don't think be at the bridge by then, you may have started up the channel towards the bridge. When you enter the channel on the Pacific side it normally takes about 30 minutes to get to the Bridge and then another 30 minutes to get to Miraflores. The cruise director or other staff will normally put out a guesstimate on the arrival times at the Locks and the beginning of the transit the day before the transit. Hopefully there will be no surprises, however earller this week the NCL Encore went under the bridge and through Cocoli Locks before dawn. That was unusual.

Good to see he is not participating in the on going demonstrations😁.