Journey Transit Panama Canal (3/24/15)

[Andy]

Hi Everyone, Azamara Journey is transiting the Panama Canal (Northbound) tomorrow - March 24th, 2015.

 

Here's a couple of website links and times, for our members to follow along.

Times listed below, are US Eastern time. Please note that all times are approximate, and subject to change.

 

Hope this is helpful !

 

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

 

http://panamacanallivecam.com/

 

Miraflores Locks (East Lane)

0930hrs - Arriving locks

1050hrs - Departing locks

 

Pedro Miguel Locks (East Lane)

1120hrs - Arriving locks

1155hrs - Departing locks

 

1255hrs - Passing by Gamboa

 

Gatun Locks (East Lane)

1600hrs - Arriving locks

1750hrs - Departing locks

Edited March 23, 2015 by Host Andy

[Familygoboston]

Thank you for sharing this, Andy! We will do this next year, and I'm so excited! I will be following along!

I hope some of the folks on board report back how the trip was :D

[Andy]

Thank you for sharing this, Andy! We will do this next year, and I'm so excited! I will be following along!

I hope some of the folks on board report back how the trip was :D

 

Thanks for your kind comments Familygoboston. BTW, she's headed in right now, as of 10:21 am eastern time.

 

Here's the best view : http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/webcams-works.html . The ship in the foreground is Celebrity Infinity.

 

Hope this helps !

[TUCHIK]

Here's a report from a close family member (UK)

 

Hi we are just about settling down after a terrible journey home First the cruise we had fairly rough sea the first 3 days we should have been only 2+ days and the tours for that day had to be cancelled as the ship only arrived in port at 5pm many people were sick we were ok having taken a sea pill. and had a large Brandy at least I did !!! The ports of call were mainly ok and we had really good weather for the rest of the cruise Panama canal cruising was brilliant and PANAMA city the only draw back was we had to tender and this messed up the timings for the AZAMARA evening We also had to tender at one of the ports in Costa Rica The lectures were good and we enjoyed the food in al the restaurants We ate in both the speciality ones really good choices Forgot to say that there were toilet problems throughout the Ship from when we got on until the end of the second day. they lost all suction and only a few of the rooms and some of the public ones could be used at any time The engineers had to go through each section of pipework until the faults were seen to We got 200 dollars on board spend

Re the flights on our return the flight from Costa Rica was so late in that even being fast tracted we missed the overnight flight to Heathrow It was now nearly 10 pm Miami time and we had to stand in line for over two hours to be given other flights for the following day We were not given a free hotel they said AA that due to the Spring Holiday there allocation of hotel rooms at the price they will pay had gone Loads of flights were delayed We ended up in a Suite at the Hilton We will be making a claim The next day we were at the airport till nearly tea time when we went via Philly to Manchester. On arrival here both are Bags were missing. !!!!!!

We have now got them back.

Never again

[Familygoboston]

Hmmm, not much about that sounds positive! I'm curious about the rough seas- was this one of the Pacific crossings or did your relatives cruise start in Miami? Sounds like the Pacific if they went "northbound" .

[ridolphi]

I'm confused too, as the Journey has not yet arrived in Miami, its on a Panama Canal cruise from Costa Rica to Miami. We know of people onboard, and they are still on the cruise and not due to arrive in Miami until Thursday April 2, which is when we will board for the TA crossing to Athens.

 

Was this on the Quest maybe?

[excitedofharpenden]

I'm confused too, as the Journey has not yet arrived in Miami, its on a Panama Canal cruise from Costa Rica to Miami. We know of people onboard, and they are still on the cruise and not due to arrive in Miami until Thursday April 2, which is when we will board for the TA crossing to Athens.

 

Was this on the Quest maybe?

Journey's previous cruise went from Miami to Puerto Caldera which is the one TUCHIK is talking about. I heard they had some pretty rough seas in the Gulf of Mexico on the way down to Curaçao.

 

Phil

Edited March 27, 2015 by excitedofharpenden

[uktog]

I understand part of the problem was the plane from Costa Rica went tech and they had to ensure it was properly repaired. Unfortunately these things happen - as does rough seas - all out of Azamars control. Sounds like a large part of the OPs beef is with the airline.

[ridolphi]

OK now understand, thanks for clarifying that.

So sorry TUCHIK's family had such a difficult situation, agree most of it was out of Azamara's control, but it does have an impact on one's experience. Hopefully they will try again somewhere, sometime and have a better experience.

[TUCHIK]

I understand part of the problem was the plane from Costa Rica went tech and they had to ensure it was properly repaired. Unfortunately these things happen - as does rough seas - all out of Azamars control. Sounds like a large part of the OPs beef is with the airline.

 

Just to clarify. the OP doesn't/didn't have a beef. Was just reporting (copying) an email from a relative.

 

Cruise was Miami to Costa Rica via Panama - early March. No Pacific travel.

 

If you read the original message, the complaint was about the "terrible journey home". There were some nice comments about lectures, dining and the Canal.

 

I was just trying to add some colour to the conversation.

[erdoc53]

We were also on this cruise. We felt it was the cruise from hell. Very rough, the boat handled the seas poorly, we could only go 20 mph across the Gulf of Mexico in rough seas. The toilets did not work even before we left port of Miami my husband checked and the toilets did not work on the whole port side and most of starboard also. So they left port to rough seas and toilets not working and they knew this. When we finally got to Aruba we stopped at the ship's doctor due to my seasickness they were announcing injections for sale overhead. Because I also said I had a little diarrhea the stupid doctor ( I am also a doctor) quarantined me to my room for possible Norovirus! I did not have a virus! I was seasick! He told us if we got off the boat in Aruba for our shore leave we would not be allowed back on! I asked what other alternative did we have he said we could disembark. So we could be quarantined to our room with a bad toilet and we had been told not to overuse the toilet and not use much paper, while being sick to my stomach, or get off the boat. We actually chose to get off the boat and flew home that day from Aruba. They have offered us to compensation , of course. And , i did not have Norovirus.

[Familygoboston]

What is going on here?? I don't understand this itinerary people are reporting at ALL! The geography doesn't seem to work...a cruise coming FROM the Gulf Of Mexico would have to transit the canal going NORTHBOUND. Then the cruise went to Aruba? Did it END in Miami? So the water was rough in the Gulf (before the canal), or was it rough in the Caribbean (after the canal)? Can anyone from Azamara confirm whats going on here? Where did this rough, bad toilets cruise start and end?

How did the people from GB fly from Costa Rica? Were they docked on the Caribbean coast? Does anyone know what the itinerary of this ship was?

[Keystonetraveler]

The geography works just fine. The cruise in early March started in Miami. The next stops were Curacao, Aruba, and Cartagena before transiting the Panama Canal. The transit from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific is largely SOUTHBOUND. Then there were stops in Panama City and two towns in Costa Rica. The disembarkation port was Caldera in Costa Rica. There, the majority of passengers were transferred to San Jose for their flights home. The very rough seas were between Miami and Curacao. For the most part, I agree with all the negatives passengers on this cruise have reported. There were also many good points. But, overall, it was far from the best cruise I have been on. Some of the confusion may lie in the fact that this thread is actually about the next cruise from Caldera back to Miami. It went to different ports and seems to have gone much better than the earlier cruise.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Keystonetraveler

[Familygoboston]

The geography works just fine. The cruise in early March started in Miami. The next stops were Curacao, Aruba, and Cartagena before transiting the Panama Canal. The transit from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific is largely SOUTHBOUND. Then there were stops in Panama City and two towns in Costa Rica. The disembarkation port was Caldera in Costa Rica. There, the majority of passengers were transferred to San Jose for their flights home. The very rough seas were between Miami and Curacao. For the most part, I agree with all the negatives passengers on this cruise have reported. There were also many good points. But, overall, it was far from the best cruise I have been on. Some of the confusion may lie in the fact that this thread is actually about the next cruise from Caldera back to Miami. It went to different ports and seems to have gone much better than the earlier cruise.

 

Ok, I get it...the rough cruise you were on, is not the same as the one Andy references here then...Northbound (Milaflores at 09:30 to Gatun at 16:00) That's where the confusion is! I'll be on a similar itinerary as yours, although ours won't be going to Aruba (MIA, Cartegna, PC, Panama City, then CR)...maybe that's a change made in response to the roughness of the water getting to Aruba? Not much you can do about the weather, but the toilet thing is concerning...seems like most Azamara cruisers are pretty experienced cruisers and should understand the vacuum assist toilets and know what "ahem" goes in there and what shouldn't! ;)

 

 

Hi Everyone, Azamara Journey is transiting the Panama Canal (Northbound) tomorrow - March 24th, 2015.

 

Here's a couple of website links and times, for our members to follow along.

Times listed below, are US Eastern time. Please note that all times are approximate, and subject to change.

 

Hope this is helpful !

 

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

 

http://panamacanallivecam.com/

 

Miraflores Locks (East Lane)

0930hrs - Arriving locks

1050hrs - Departing locks

 

Pedro Miguel Locks (East Lane)

1120hrs - Arriving locks

1155hrs - Departing locks

 

1255hrs - Passing by Gamboa

 

Gatun Locks (East Lane)

1600hrs - Arriving locks

1750hrs - Departing locks

[BBMacLaird]

We were also on this cruise. We felt it was the cruise from hell. Very rough, the boat handled the seas poorly, we could only go 20 mph across the Gulf of Mexico in rough seas. The toilets did not work even before we left port of Miami my husband checked and the toilets did not work on the whole port side and most of starboard also. So they left port to rough seas and toilets not working and they knew this. When we finally got to Aruba we stopped at the ship's doctor due to my seasickness they were announcing injections for sale overhead. Because I also said I had a little diarrhea the stupid doctor ( I am also a doctor) quarantined me to my room for possible Norovirus! I did not have a virus! I was seasick! He told us if we got off the boat in Aruba for our shore leave we would not be allowed back on! I asked what other alternative did we have he said we could disembark. So we could be quarantined to our room with a bad toilet and we had been told not to overuse the toilet and not use much paper, while being sick to my stomach, or get off the boat. We actually chose to get off the boat and flew home that day from Aruba. They have offered us to compensation , of course. And , i did not have Norovirus.

 

Hello ERDoc, first if all forgive my tardiness in answering. With the Easter weekend I had a bit of difficulty in researching the situation, and given the gravity of it I was hesitant to answer off the cuff.

I have heard from most of the departments, including the ship itself. It appears a series of difficulties cascaded beginning with an incident of towels flushed in a toilet which through off the vacuum suction facility. I understand they believed it was mostly fixed, and restricted to only a couple cabins upon departure of your voyage.

I'm looking into more about the compensation to those affected. I'll post again later today.

In the meantime I am truly sorry you experienced such a perfect storm of bad luck on your first cruise. The day you posted I had noted it was your first post on CC. And since then I've noted your post on NCL saying you'll never cruise again. In so many ways I ache knowing not only that we have lost you but that you will never consider cruising as an option. I hope you'll give cruising another chance someday, even if it is not with us. I've been in the cruise industry since 1983 and can tell you your perfect storm is extremely rare.

More later,

Bonnie