LIVE FROM - 9/20/17 Island Princess Coastal, Panama and More Panama

[ccrain]

Glad to hear that you and Judy are still cruising. How many years has it been since I first cruised with you?

 

I have 3 more cruises booked!

 

Sally

 

 

Hi Sally!

 

I think it was Dawn Princess in 2005. Mexican Riviera R/T from SFO.

[ccrain]

9/23/2017 – Los Angeles

 

Turn around was pretty reasonable. Did not have to get offthe ship – probably because of immigration in Vancouver. So already someitinerary changes. Instead of Chiapas we are doing Puerto Vallarta on the 26thand then Huatulco on the 28th and Puerto Quetzal on the 29th.Apparently the earthquake caused a rise in a hump in the harbor and the shipjust won’t fit.

 

Actually not a bad thing as we were not planning anythingspecial in Chiapas and Vallarta has a Wal-Mart!! Time for some Chicharrons!

 

Mariano Manfuso is the Captain, David Galloway is the StaffCaptain, Joeseph Bako is Food and Beverage Director, Dirk Daumichen is theExecutive Chef and Joachim Horst Rothe is the Maitre’ De.

 

So the patter for the cruise shows Callie Smit as CD, MikeWitte as ED; we have Comic Steve Bruner, Comedy Music Duncan Tuck, Guitar ComicGary DeLena, Vocal Group Branden James Duo, Tribute Act Donny Ray Evins,Headliner Dan Delgado, Instrumentalist Ryan Ahern, Vocal Impressionist TriciaKelly, Soprano Jennifer Fair.

 

We have On the Bayou, Motor City, Piano Man as ProductionShows. Humberto Nato as the destination expert.

 

For theme nights we have Majority Rules, Yes/No, Name thatTunes, Country and Western, 70’s, Who’s the Cuckoo, Marriage Match, PassengerFeud.

 

For MUTS we have Beauty and the Beast, Close Encounters ofthe Third Kind (oh the stories we could tell), A Dog’s Purpose, The Founder,Ghost in the Shell, The Great Wall, Guardians of the Galaxy #2, Keeping up withthe Joneses, King Arthur, Kong: Skull Island, The Mummy, My Cousin Rachael,Passengers, Pirates Dead Men, Zookeeper’s Wife.

 

And for Discovery at Sea we have Finding Bigfoot,Stargazing, Discovery Trivia, Animal Planet Trivia and Discovery Showcase.

 

Looks like Solutions is still with us. Stage Notes is in thewheelhouse – and we got the drink package – so this should be a really funcruise.

 

 

Later all – I got some drinks to down….

[Colo Cruiser]

9/23/2017 – Los Angeles

 

Turn around was pretty reasonable. Did not have to get offthe ship – probably because of immigration in Vancouver. So already someitinerary changes. Instead of Chiapas we are doing Puerto Vallarta on the 26thand then Huatulco on the 28th and Puerto Quetzal on the 29th.Apparently the earthquake caused a rise in a hump in the harbor and the shipjust won’t fit.

 

Actually not a bad thing as we were not planning anythingspecial in Chiapas and Vallarta has a Wal-Mart!! Time for some Chicharrons!

 

Mariano Manfuso is the Captain, David Galloway is the StaffCaptain, Joeseph Bako is Food and Beverage Director, Dirk Daumichen is theExecutive Chef and Joachim Horst Rothe is the Maitre’ De.

 

So the patter for the cruise shows Callie Smit as CD, MikeWitte as ED; we have Comic Steve Bruner, Comedy Music Duncan Tuck, Guitar ComicGary DeLena, Vocal Group Branden James Duo, Tribute Act Donny Ray Evins,Headliner Dan Delgado, Instrumentalist Ryan Ahern, Vocal Impressionist TriciaKelly, Soprano Jennifer Fair.

 

We have On the Bayou, Motor City, Piano Man as ProductionShows. Humberto Nato as the destination expert.

 

For theme nights we have Majority Rules, Yes/No, Name thatTunes, Country and Western, 70’s, Who’s the Cuckoo, Marriage Match, PassengerFeud.

 

For MUTS we have Beauty and the Beast, Close Encounters ofthe Third Kind (oh the stories we could tell), A Dog’s Purpose, The Founder,Ghost in the Shell, The Great Wall, Guardians of the Galaxy #2, Keeping up withthe Joneses, King Arthur, Kong: Skull Island, The Mummy, My Cousin Rachael,Passengers, Pirates Dead Men, Zookeeper’s Wife.

 

And for Discovery at Sea we have Finding Bigfoot,Stargazing, Discovery Trivia, Animal Planet Trivia and Discovery Showcase.

 

Looks like Solutions is still with us. Stage Notes is in thewheelhouse – and we got the drink package – so this should be a really funcruise.

 

 

Later all – I got some drinks to down….

 

 

Excellent! Duncan Tuck is really good. We are good friends with him and his wife. They live here in Colorado. If you get a chance tell him Keith and Tamie say hey!

Love Gary Delena too!

[ccrain]

9/25/2017

 

So far no issues with the drink package. Only a few drinkson the menu over $10 and I wouldn’t like those anyway. Service is fantastic andonce again we haven’t ventured into the dining room again because the food in theHC is above average for a buffet. My three breakfast standards – scrambled eggs(soft, not crispy, not overcooked), crispy bacon and French toast that is notgreasy have been exceeded. My dinner standards are something different andtasty (last night was a seafood stiryfry that had some spice and kick), freshtasty bread (always) and some standard fall back items. Although the lamb was abit chewy and tough, the nice thing about a buffet is that you can always find somethingquickly and easily. And, as I have been told, the chef has much more flexibilityin the menu in the HC whereas the MDR is pretty fixed with not a lot offlexibility.

 

The Tai Chi at sea is rather interesting. Not aerobic atall, but a very good stretch and pre-cursor to Zumba. Wish they would do it outsideas the Wheelhouse is quite stuffy in the morning – and it will only get hotteras we go south. Yesterday’s Zumba was with Holly on the Lido deck near the pool.A third cruise staff we have sailed with before. Holly was on the Emerald lastyear during the Baltic, Norway and Scandinavian cruises with us.

 

So we have Holly, Amparo and Walter that we have sailed withbefore. Its like old home week!

 

We have never sailed with Callie Smit before, but I reallylike him. He led the sailaway, which in the old days was common, but then fadedas the CD did more and more paperwork. Now with the ED concept we see a lotmore of him at the activities. He’s very personable, nice to talk to andenthusiastic about his job. I like that.

 

I really appreciate the work ethic of the Head Waiters onthis ship. On some ships, Head Waiters supervise the staff. On this ship all ofthe Head Waiters work their rear off. I see them carrying trays of dirtydishes, cleaning tables, setting silverware, getting water – not justsupervising. It really makes for a team environment that shows in the level ofservice. Very much appreciated.

 

We are really missing the Universe Lounge. The Elite Loungeis being held in Explorer’s with the food service on the dance floor – which losesus a dance floor from 1700 to 1900. Bummer. Even canned music would be nice toshake off the last vestiges of that power nap!

 

Gary Shahan is the lecturer on board, and the lecture isrepeated on TV for those who missed it. Yesterday was “Crossing the Pacific”and it was an interesting mix of everything that crosses the Pacific frompeople to whales to tsunamis.

 

Last night we went to see Gary DeLena. A mix of standupcomedy with re-mixed funny tunes or bits of tunes. Nice show. Absolutely packedtheater at the 1930 show.

 

They had NFL games on MUTS all day as well.

 

Tonight is formal night. We will not dress up too much, butwon’t do shorts either. We have Tai Chi this morning, then Zumba, then possiblyLine Dancing. They have three production show times tonight for On They Bayou –1745, 1930, 2145.

 

 

So off to Tai Chi…

[Woobstr112G]

9/25/2017

 

So far no issues with the drink package. Only a few drinkson the menu over $10 and I wouldn’t like those anyway. Service is fantastic andonce again we haven’t ventured into the dining room again because the food in theHC is above average for a buffet. My three breakfast standards – scrambled eggs(soft, not crispy, not overcooked), crispy bacon and French toast that is notgreasy have been exceeded. My dinner standards are something different andtasty (last night was a seafood stiryfry that had some spice and kick), freshtasty bread (always) and some standard fall back items. Although the lamb was abit chewy and tough, the nice thing about a buffet is that you can always find somethingquickly and easily. And, as I have been told, the chef has much more flexibilityin the menu in the HC whereas the MDR is pretty fixed with not a lot offlexibility.

 

The Tai Chi at sea is rather interesting. Not aerobic atall, but a very good stretch and pre-cursor to Zumba. Wish they would do it outsideas the Wheelhouse is quite stuffy in the morning – and it will only get hotteras we go south. Yesterday’s Zumba was with Holly on the Lido deck near the pool.A third cruise staff we have sailed with before. Holly was on the Emerald lastyear during the Baltic, Norway and Scandinavian cruises with us.

 

So we have Holly, Amparo and Walter that we have sailed withbefore. Its like old home week!

 

We have never sailed with Callie Smit before, but I reallylike him. He led the sailaway, which in the old days was common, but then fadedas the CD did more and more paperwork. Now with the ED concept we see a lotmore of him at the activities. He’s very personable, nice to talk to andenthusiastic about his job. I like that.

 

I really appreciate the work ethic of the Head Waiters onthis ship. On some ships, Head Waiters supervise the staff. On this ship all ofthe Head Waiters work their rear off. I see them carrying trays of dirtydishes, cleaning tables, setting silverware, getting water – not justsupervising. It really makes for a team environment that shows in the level ofservice. Very much appreciated.

 

We are really missing the Universe Lounge. The Elite Loungeis being held in Explorer’s with the food service on the dance floor – which losesus a dance floor from 1700 to 1900. Bummer. Even canned music would be nice toshake off the last vestiges of that power nap!

 

Gary Shahan is the lecturer on board, and the lecture isrepeated on TV for those who missed it. Yesterday was “Crossing the Pacific”and it was an interesting mix of everything that crosses the Pacific frompeople to whales to tsunamis.

 

Last night we went to see Gary DeLena. A mix of standupcomedy with re-mixed funny tunes or bits of tunes. Nice show. Absolutely packedtheater at the 1930 show.

 

They had NFL games on MUTS all day as well.

 

Tonight is formal night. We will not dress up too much, butwon’t do shorts either. We have Tai Chi this morning, then Zumba, then possiblyLine Dancing. They have three production show times tonight for On They Bayou –1745, 1930, 2145.

 

 

So off to Tai Chi…

 

Enjoy your day onboard.....:):):)

 

Bob

[dickinson]

Gary Shahan is GREAT! If he does his three day lecture on the old route 66... it is a can't miss.

[jlf1]

Late to the party but am subscribed now. I always greatly enjoy your "Live From"

 

Judy

[ccrain]

9/26/2017

 

IntoPuerto Vallarta. Its shopping day for us. Been to Vallarta so many timesbefore. Short day for us in Port in lieu of Chiapas tomorrow because ofearthquake damage to the Chiapas port entrance.

 

Did theWal Mart run with at least half the crew and many from the ship itself – anexcursion to Wal Mart. Able to access the ATM with no problems in Wal-Mart andthe selection is pretty good. Let’s put it another way. Souvenir T’s at thedock for $15. Souvenir T’s at Wal Mart for $5. Guess what the grandkids aregetting for Christmas? Hot sauce, Mexican Vanilla and more candy for the crew.Done and done.

 

Colorsof the World has always been my favorite production show – especially theversion without the LED screen behind it. But On The Bayou is a pretty closesecond. Good music, really liked the riff on Thriller without actually goingthere. Good vocals, good story, everything made sense and it was a 45 minutefull show, not the truncated 35 minute version. Nicely done. Really enjoyed it.

 

Startingto enjoy this Tai Chi thing. Good stretching, excellent teaching of breathcontrol. Walter did Zumba yesterday. He’s easy compared to Holly – Holly kickedour butts.

 

We havetwo excellent dance bands. Stage Notes in the wheelhouse are very good – lastnight the floor was crowded with at least 15 couples at the same time.Solutions is a great R&R band. Easy to dance to and Romeo plays a good mixof canned dance music as opposed to 5 cha-chas, 5 rhumbas, 5 tangos (all in arow), etc. So we are set as far as dancing goes.

 

Tonightwe do the first Crab Shack on this cruise. Looking forward to it. We’ve alwaysenjoyed Crab Shack.

 

So Ikinda figured out what is screwing me up on the Island. A couple of things. Thecenter elevators face aft, not forward like the Grands and Super Grands. ThePatisserie is exactly katty corner to the IC on the Grands and SuperGrands. Notto mention that the HC is on the front of the ship, and the gym in the rear andon deck 6.

 

 

Ohyeah, good news. The Pizza is back. Gave the Pizza on deck another shot today.Salt in the crust and the toppings tasted far better. Good stuff – once again.

[ccrain]

Live From Jessymar in Huatulco;

 

Sitting here under a palapa with the CC group having beer, ceviche, chips, salsa and it is raining like all get out.

 

The ceviche is fantastic, the chips homemade, Mondelo light and dark, Victoria and Indio beer.

 

The wifi is fast, included, the beach beautiful, the rain has cooled things down, the company great - life is good!

[Steelers36]

I hope they keep the good musicians into January for South America. Nice to read that they setup an Alfredo's equivalent in Sabatini's at noon (enjoyed that venue on the Regal). Hope they have gelato somewhere (but maybe my waistline doesn't).

[ccrain]

09-28-2017Puerto Quetzal

 

Yesterdayin Huatulco was a blast. Because of all the schedule changes in thecancellation of Chiapas we were in port from 0800 to 1300. Just enough time toshop, buy the remainder of Christmas for the kids and have some really goodceviche, chips, salsa and beer.

 

As istypical for Mexico, there are is a ton of selling. Can’t step 5’ withoutsomeone wanting to sell you something – no I don’t want to go fishing, no I don’twant a silver chain, no I don’t need anymore t-shirts, no I don’t want to tradein my wife – oh! – wifi? – beer? – fresh ceviche? – chips? – salsa? – now youhave my interest!

 

So weended up at a place called Jerremayer under a huge Palapa at a table in the sand.Fresh octopus, snail and shimp ceviche with lime, cilantro, a hint of spice andonions and home pressed corn tortilla chips. OMG. Accompanied by Victoria beer –Pacifico was not available and I’m not drinking corona in Mexico! (Next timethough I’m going for the Modelo Dark.)

 

Thiswas really, really good. And with fast wifi I did the 1,253 updates for ourcells, tablets in about 3 hours. (I also downloaded more maps for the Map2Goapp.) The crew had also gathered at this place, so we trusted it as far as foodand drink went. Can’t go wrong if you follow the crew.

 

Oh, andit rained. I’m not talking about a little mist, or a deluge or a steady rain –I’m talking about a wall of water coming down in a frog strangler. I’ve onlyseen it rain more in a Colorado or Virginia thunderstorm. And this wall of watercame east from the ocean and we watched it come in from the sea, blotting outthe peninsula, then the buoy, then the fishing boat, then the front of theIsland Princess.

 

Severaldifferent groups of CC people came in from the rain while we were enjoying ourceviche and beer. Judy held a 3’ foot iguana ($5 for the photo) which wasabsolutely gorgeous. All colorful and very friendly.

 

Wewalked back to the ship in the rain and got absolutely soaked – no we did notpack umbrellas nor raingear – but it was a warm rain. Only needed some soap andshampoo and we would have been set.

 

A greatday for sure.

 

Sotoday is Puerto Quetzal. We are doing the Antigua on our own tour and plan towander around the town, probably hiring a guide, but will play this one by ear.Going to look for another local restaurant with wifi and kick back, drink beerand people watch!

 

 

Cheers!

[greenie082756]

Sounds absolutely enjoyable!! Warm rain is the best!

[EastBay Cruisers]

Sounds as if you are having a blast !! Thanks for sharing your fun cruise with us.:D - EBC

[OhioDogLover]

Thanks for taking us along with you.

 

Ohiodoglover

[kathyt939]

Thank you for sharing!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ccrain]

9-30-2017 At Sea To Panama

 

Brief description of our day in Antigua – It was OK. Not great, not terrible, but just ok. Now we’ve been there, done that, no need to do it again.

 

We did Antigua On Your Own, but hired a guide at the Jade “Factory” to take us on a walking tour around Antigua and to lunch. Takes about 1.5 hours to get to Antigua via the bus and almost 2 hours to get back depending on traffic and weather. So you only have about 4 hours in Antigua proper.

 

The tour guide on the bus drive was witty and entertaining, but spent a little bit too much time on politics and social engineering vis a vis Guatemala. Now a little is ok and appreciated. 30 minutes is too much. He did have good tips on food, souvenirs, things to do, places to see, clean restrooms and wifi locations.

 

The bus dropped us off at the Jade ‘Factory’. It really has some great looking Jade, but I was not in the mood to drop hundreds on jewelry. We picked up a guide, $15 each, and headed for lunch. The guide’s English was limited and he was difficult to understand at times, but his services were invaluable. He kept 80% of the street vendors away from us. They did not pester us like we saw people without guides getting pestered. And lunch would not have gone off as well without him. More about that later.

 

First of all, the native foods are really different and really, really good. We skipped breakfast on the ship, so we were good and hungry by the time we arrived. We went to Fonda de la Calle Real. (Recommended by the tour guide.) Two bottles of local beer, Gallo, Judy had the Tamal Pepian (a very different sauce with both savory, sweet and chile spices including pumpkin, three different types of chile, nutmeg and cinnamon. Sort of a mole, but not based on cocoa), which was a tamale steamed in a banana leaf with pork. I had the Plato Tipico with a chile reinous, black beans, papooso, banana and fresh corn tortillas. We had Dulce de Anita for dessert. The food is not Spanish or Mexican. A distant relative maybe, but definitely unique and tasty, which is what we were going for.

 

The service was not great. And it wasn’t just the language barrier. We wanted to try a variety of dishes including apps, but our waitress was not interested in finding out what we wanted, she just wanted to get our order and leave. So we turned to the guide to order what we wanted. Even that took some effort. On top of that, we sat near an open door/window to the street. Big mistake. Street vendors kept walking by trying to sell us something. One guy in our group tried a little reverse psychology by trying to sell the next vendor the flowers on the table. (That was funny.) Judy was not happy with this constant interruption into an otherwise pleasant lunch. Next time – sit inside the restaurant and forgo the view.

 

Basically Antigua is laid out in a square pattern with Hacienda style construction – Haciendas being the Spanish style square house up to ¼ block large with the courtyard in the center. Most of the Haciendas near the Central Park in Antigua have been converted to multiple small shops.

 

The most interesting buildings we visited were the San Francisco Chapel, near the Saint Pedro Museum and the San Jose Cathedral. The chapel has been completely restored and is beautiful, but the crypt of Saint Pedro, his miracles and his canonization by Pope John Paul II in 2002 is a great story to hear and see as people pray for healing at his chapel within the church itself.

 

The San Jose Cathedral was almost completely destroyed in the two earthquakes and the volcano since its completion in the 17th century, but it must have been magnificent. Over 30 domes and over 16 chapels are in this huge cathedral. Only walls and columns are still standing, but there are a few domes still in place. Something about old piles of rocks and architecture still fascinate me.

 

The big negative in Antigua is the constant selling pressure. Even in the markets, it’s a constant stream of offers, bargains, prices, for you only type sales pressure. (They line up and take turns at you.) No time to admire any workmanship, all items are native produced, including those with Made In China tags, all jade is real, all silver is real, its just not very fun at all. Constantly saying no, no, no, no is just a real downer. Not as bad as the Grand Bazaar in Turkey, but close. And then at the end, you get taken back to the Jade Museum for a personal introduction to real Jade, real jewelry with really large price tags. But the restrooms are clean and the police keep the local vendors at the doorstep.

 

That is probably the main reason we won’t be going back to Antigua. If we are in Guatemala again, we are going to a coffee plantation. At least we will be limited to one or two sales pitches instead of a constant stream.

 

We got back to ship around 1730 and hit the Horizon Court along with half the ship that had missed their early seating. Sushi night, but I really miss the Nigiri (even if it is only tuna, or shrimp). Rolls with veggies and fake crab stuff are pretty tame, but it was pretty good, along with the pickled ginger, and really hit the spot.

 

We did make it Steven Ragatz’s juggling show. A nice show, well-choreographed, nice tricks, good show. We enjoyed it. Then promptly crashed and burned…

 

All in all – a good day!

[PamelaRic]

Am reading with great interest as friends and I are doing this same cruise on the Island in December. Thanks for all the great recommendations and what to stay away from.

[ccrain]

10-01-2017

 

A little excitement last night after the R&R party. Lost power. Twice.

 

Just falling off to sleep when ‘pop’, the emergency light over the desk turns on, the A/C shuts down, no lights in the cabin, and the ship starts to slow. No power for about 15 minutes, the ship basically goes dead in the water, all the emergency lights are on, announcement in the hallways, not the cabins. So we wait, power starts to come back on, A/C comes back on, then ‘pop’, all power goes off, emergency light over the desk turns on, captain announces something in the hall way, I just turned over and went to sleep. Sometime later, apparently, everything came back on.

 

One of our CC members has one of the new cabins on Deck 7, right next to an emergency generator. They were about ready to move to a different cabin when everything was restored and the generator shut down. Everything appears to be ok this morning.

 

Last night, I believe, had the best food in the HC I can remember. They had the Mongolian BBQ and cold salads, all of which Judy could eat (no mayo), that were the best ever – and the best of the best was the shaved fennel and orange supremes. Although the beef salad and the mushroom salad was a very close second.

 

Love Mongolian BBQ. This one had lamb, pork, beef, chicken, shrimp and seafood mix. Lots of fresh veggies, lots of sauce selection, nicely cooked, very tasty.

 

So now I know why we’ve not sailed with Callie before. He’s been in Asia the past 3 years on the Sapphire leasings. He and Mike did take my suggestion and Mike has been putting the menu selections for the HC in the patter. That’s how we knew about the BBQ and was able to prepare for it.

 

Saw Motor City in the theater. I really prefer the Vista Lounge version, or the Universal Lounge version, but its still a great show that has held up well over the years. My favorite part is still the ‘gravevine’ part with the girls in the short jacket. Wow! They can really strut their stuff!

 

Stayed up late and did the R&R party in explorer’s. Lots of fun and dancing. Solutions is a great R&R band. They have a wide variety and range in their music. In the pre-show dance hour we actually were able to dance nightclub, cha-cha, hustle, rhumba and foxtrot all in a row with no repeats. Its just not fun to dance 4 cha-cha’s or hustles in a row – not to mention really, really tiring!

 

After the party we had the excitement going on till after midnight, so this morning is one of those ‘nah – just don’t feel like it mornings’. Coffee, some office work, a little snoozing, a little snuggling, a little gym work – typical day at sea!

 

Later!

[Murray's Pop]

Following this as we are on the Oct. 12 LA to FLL sailing. Thanks! Enjoy your cruise.:D

[ccrain]

10-2-2017 – Panama Canal

 

Cruising Tip of the Day – Never go to bar wars on an empty stomach and then drink a Callie doctored drink! Whew! Smacked me right upside the head! (But tasted so good.)

 

Second Tip of the Day – Mixing the syrup coffee. This morning was a perfect example of mixing the syrup coffee properly. Ever notice that the coffee in the dining room is better than the coffee right out of the taps? That’s because of the mixing valves. If you observe the stream you will see it go from light, little syrup, to very dark, lots of syrup. In a large carafe, these variations are mixed out because of the volume in a carafe. In a small cup, you could get a light stream, or a dark stream, or a perfect stream – thus the larger variation when getting your own coffee. We’ve been using 16 oz coffee mugs which seems to even things out a bit better.

 

The Food and Service So Far – I have to mention this. It has been nothing short of phenomenal in the HC. A good variety of dishes and cuisines and methods, very tasty – a lot of great stuff and very few ‘what the heck was that’? We have not made it to the MDR yet and probably won’t. No need to. The cold salads have been fantastic. Asian, European, American, South American, you name it, they have made some great cold salads.

 

The service had been outstanding and we are having a blast with the crew. Especially the wait staff in Explorer’s. And we get to keep them for another cruise!

 

Lightning woke me up this morning. Very distant lightning with very faint thunder. Oceania is running into the canal with us this morning. Too dark to make out the ship. Might as well get up, get some coffee (see aforementioned tip) grab a free muffin and do some blogging and work before it gets daylight and we start into the canal.

 

The schedule looks like this:

0530 – pilot on board

0630 – under bridge of Americas

0730 – arrive Miraflores locks

0840 – depart Miraflores locks

0905 – arrive Pedro Miguel locks

1000 – depart Pedro Miguel locks

1015 – under centennial bridge

1100 – passing Gamboa

1400 – drop anchor in Gatun Lake

 

Apparently you can follow us on:

http://www.panacanal.com

 

Later!

[BillB48]

Looks like you are running about a hour behind the schedule, but then schedules are made to be broken!! Note: The times posted are Eastern Standard Time, no DST in Panama. Another Note: The only other Canal web cam working is the HD cam for Gatun Locks, have to wait until she comes back down tomorrow for other pics.

 

[Essiesmom]

You must have had a medical emergency or a death. You spent over an hour in the second lock at Miraflores, put out a gangway and finally did something with the ambulance:

 

 

Then another truck backed up, folks milled around some more and loaded something into the back, it left and you finally completed that lock:

 

 

[ccrain]

Yes we did have a medical emergency on-board and an evacuation while in the lock.

 

We were an hour late getting into the locks, and then the evacuation put us about 2 hours behind schedule. We are now at anchorage near the Gatun locks just off the yacht harbor.

 

No excursions while we are in the lake overnight.

[BillB48]

Bummer. Are they going to have any excursions in the AM before you head back? What time is your south bound transit scheduled? Hope you had a good day at the Canal, delays not included.

[ccrain]

No excursions at all. Here's the return schedule:

 

0915 - Depart Gatun Lake

1210 - Passing Gamboa

1305 - Centennial Bridge

1320 - Pedro Miguel

1435 - Miraflores

1645 - Bridge of the Americas

1730 - Anchor off Balboa and refuel

 

After refueling we head back north.