Panama Canal Condensed Whole Route Transit

[Francesco]

We were on Panama Canal Cruise, October 24, 2010 and took a video of the entire route in a continuous sequence, but condensed it from 10 hours to 8 minutes.. You can see the the whole route and explanation as if you are sitting on the top deck at the middle of the ship. To view please click:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htUhrG9z3E8

[waggie]

Thank you so much for sharing the experience.

We are taking this cruise next September on Infinity and the video has really brought it to life.

If you have any suggestions for any of the port days I would be grateful.

[Cornishpastyman1]

Francesco - very nice job. Where did you position your camera for that and did you have to get any permission to do it ?

 

Waggie - I don't know your itinerary but in case it's any help I made these from my PanCanal cruise :

 

Cabo San Lucas - Kaying to El Arco (photo slideshow as kayaks are not very camcorder-friendly, or rather the Sea of Cortez isn't)

 

Acapulco Cliff Divers

 

Antigua, Guatemala

 

Puntarenas, Costa Rica - Crocodile River Tour (without crocodiles)

 

Panama Canal Transit - the full 50 miles

 

All the best for your cruise

Tony

[Francesco]

Hi Tony, Thank you very much for your nice comment. We did not do anything special but sitting on a high deck (Deck 11) and using the flag at the middle of the ship as a point of reference to take videos at intervals for more than 10 hours. The canal history and operations are so fascinating to us that the time did not seem to be long. Besides, we were chatting with some other people who happened to like to go through the same experience.

[Francesco]

Hi Waggie: We did land excursions by taxis except Puntarenas. The rate is about $20 per hr. or could be less. The taxis drivers inside the port gates speak English but outside do not. Some basic Spanish words would be useful. For short distance hiring $5 will do.

 

Cabo San Lucas: Hire a glass bottom boat to see the Arch up close, $10 per person.

 

Acapulco: The cliff diving should be seen at 9 am (if there is a special show for the Cruise Line) as there are less people.

 

Panama Canal: Passengers can be tendered off the ship before Gatun Locks and will be picked up at Colon in the night.

 

Puntarenas: No choice but to take an excursion offered by the cruise line or arrange your own with a reputable tour guide as most excursions will be very far from the terminal.

 

Cartagena: Very interesting old city and easy to make a walking tour plus taxi for some furthur attractions.

 

Have fun.

[waggie]

Fransesco,

Muchas gracias....espero pasar un buen tiempo!!

 

I have been learning Spanish and look forward to speaking to the locals!

I also hope to get some practice onboard.:)

[kram21]

We were on Panama Canal Cruise, October 24, 2010 and took a video of the entire route in a continuous sequence, but condensed it from 10 hours to 8 minutes.. You can see the the whole route and explanation as if you are sitting on the top deck at the middle of the ship. To view please click:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htUhrG9z3E8

 

 

Well done and thank you, the video music and editing and commentary were great. We are going through the canal on constellation on the 18 december and now can't wait. The overview you have produced is really good I am going to post it on our thread for others to look at.

 

Many thanks

Lorraine

[powderhorn]

Awesome video! Thanks for sharing.:)

[Francesco]

Hola Waggie. Muy bien. Entiendo tu espanol.

[AzCruiseGurl]

We were on Panama Canal Cruise, October 24, 2010 and took a video of the entire route in a continuous sequence, but condensed it from 10 hours to 8 minutes.. You can see the the whole route and explanation as if you are sitting on the top deck at the middle of the ship. To view please click:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htUhrG9z3E8

 

Francesco, Thanks for sharing.

Great video very well put together.

Enjoyed it very much. DH and I are doing a full transit

12/11.. Very excited after watching your video..

[Lady Chew]

wonderful video! thanks for sharing ...

 

We're doing the full transit is just a little over one month!! Opposite direction, though, Atlantic to Pacific ...

[Francesco]

Hi AzCruiseGurl and Lady Chew:

Thank you for your comments and interest. It is nice to go on the full transit as you can see the whole piece of this marvelous work…the smart locks at both ends, the largest manmade Gatun lake (at the time), and the difficult and troublesome Gaillard Cut or Culebra Cut, carved out of the mountain range of the Continental Divide. The Culebra or snake part of the canal is narrow and bends and has a new beautiful bridge carrying the Pan- American Highway to South America.

Have a great time.

[Quasar1011]

...and the difficult and troublesome Gaillard Cut or Culebra Cut, carved out of the mountain range of the Continental Divide. The Culebra or snake part of the canal is narrow and bends and has a new beautiful bridge carrying the Pan- American Highway to South America.

Have a great time.

It is my understanding that the Pan-American highway ends in Panama and does not continue into Colombia. :confused: Anyway, that border area of Panama/Colombia is supposed to be a) where the guerillas are, and b) where the malaria is.

 

If the locks on the canal raise the ships 85 feet at a time, and there are 3 locks (on each side), does that mean the canal is at 255 feet above sea level going through the Continental Divide? How high is the divide where it crosses the canal?

[BillB48]

The locks on the Pacific side raise the ship a total of 85' above sea level, which is the nominal height of Gatun Lake. The ships will cross the Continental Divide at 85' (Gatun Lake Level). Gatun Locks on the Atlantic side will then lower the ship back down sea level. An Atlantic to Pacific transit would just be the reverse with Gatun Locks doing the raising and the Pacific Locks doing the lowering.

 

Miraflores Locks (Pacific side) raises/lowers ships in 2 steps a total of 54'.

Pedro Miguel Locks (Pacific side) raises/lowers ships in 1 step a total of 31'.

Gatun Locks (Atlantic side) raises/lowers ships in 3 steps a total of 85'.

 

Gaillard Cut which is an arm of Gatun Lake is the area where you would cross the Continental Divide on a transit of the Canal. This is the area where most of the excavtion took place during the construction of the Canal. The peaks of highest hills in this area were close to 400' above sea level. The bulders of course followed the valleys of the hills in this area to minimize the amount of material that needed to be removed. The Canal bottom in Gaillard Cut is still 40' above sea level.