LIVE from Radiance Apr. 21, 2023 - The Panama Canal - Canal au Niveau de la Mer

[little britain]

14 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

I've been looking for it for 25 years, have seen it twice, but never got it on camera.  I'm told it's impossible on a ship because of the movement.  From Hawaii:

 

We all cheered in the VCL at the green flash last night! 
 

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by little britain

[little britain]

Our disembark experience was terrible. We left breakfast in Chops around 8:30 and were amazed to see so many people on board. Every seat was take in the Schooner bar and around the atrium.
We got off around 8;45. There seemed to be a big delay with luggage coming off so we stood and waited in a long line ( no priority for non USA/ Pinnacle's… we tried!).  Eventually collected cases then another life line for passports.. they only had 4 passport people on duty … we eventually got out of the terminal at 9:30.

 

It was very poorly handled with no announcements by RCI as to what the issues were 

 

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by little britain

[little britain]

13 hours ago, kernow said:

We will need to get from airport hotel at LAX to the port for our cruise in Nov. Sorry if this sounds stupid but never used Lyft or Uber (don't have them where we live in the UK) but are those prices plus tip and if so how do you add it?

 

You download the app, set up an account t and register a credit card. Use one that doesn’t charge fx fees like Monzo or Chase.

Then when you want a ride; you just go into the app and select your from/to… and someone appears within minutes!! I love it! We don’t have it in our part of England either.

 

I recently discovered you can reserved a driver for future dates… we actually had one booked for 9:10a for $44, but when we heard of the passport delays we cancelled him ( you are charged if you are not there within 5 mins).. thank goodness we did as we didn’t get out till 9.30a.   We booked another driver who was there within minutes and it cost $36.90!!!

And when you get your confirmation on completing the ride, you can add a tip and a rating!

 

LB who is 5*! 

[ONECRUISER]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

Our disembark experience was terrible. We left breakfast in Chops around 8:30 and were amazed to see so many people on board. Every seat was take in the Schooner bar and around the atrium.
We got off around 8;45. There seemed to be a big delay with luggage coming off so we stood and waited in a long line ( no priority for non USA/ Pinnacle's… we tried!).  Eventually collected cases then another life line for passports.. they only had 4 passport people on duty … we eventually got out of the terminal at 9:30.

 

It was very poorly handled with no announcements by RCI as to what the issues were 

 

 

Not surprised. Normally I'm one last off Ship and on my 2 Dozen Repo's, Sailings not doing reg run's, almost 50% the time last off has been 10:15-10:40. This on Radiance Class. LA, TPA, FLL didnt matter. At times only 3 were doing Passports, couple times only 2 when I'm getting off. Never heard any announcements on Ship what Delays are/were

[kernow]

2 hours ago, little britain said:

You download the app, set up an account t and register a credit card. Use one that doesn’t charge fx fees like Monzo or Chase.

Then when you want a ride; you just go into the app and select your from/to… and someone appears within minutes!! I love it! We don’t have it in our part of England either.

 

I recently discovered you can reserved a driver for future dates… we actually had one booked for 9:10a for $44, but when we heard of the passport delays we cancelled him ( you are charged if you are not there within 5 mins).. thank goodness we did as we didn’t get out till 9.30a.   We booked another driver who was there within minutes and it cost $36.90!!!

And when you get your confirmation on completing the ride, you can add a tip and a rating!

 

LB who is 5*! 

Thanks, didn't realise you could pre book, that might be good. 

I know about the star rating as Luke and Katie use Uber and Katie is always proud to tell us she is 5* too😁.

 

 

Thanks to both you and @twangster for all the updates and pics. As always I've enjoyed following along and it's made me even more excited for our transit in Nov.

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

[kernow]

14 hours ago, orville99 said:

We will have to track each other down. We are doing both the westbound and eastbound transits as a B2B

Definitely, both the roll call and the other group seem very quiet.

 

 

[orville99]

4 hours ago, kernow said:

Definitely, both the roll call and the other group seem very quiet.

 

 

Probably because there are a lot of older people like us on this type of cruise that never do roll calls and don't use social media very much.😇

[NanaP1398]

On 4/28/2023 at 8:25 PM, twangster said:

One thing to note about Radiance and a canal transit.   They block access to the outdoor promenade aft deck 5 area. 

 

These bollards  or whatever is the proper name on the sides near the aft were used for the steel cables from the mules.  There was a lot of worn paint chips and bare metal showing so they would be a hazzard to guests.  I'm assuming a lot of tension is on the cables so a safety risk. 

 

Thank you for all your wonderful pictures & review. I am going solo (for 1st time) in Oct. Leaving SanDiego to Tampa though. Can’t wait!

[twangster]

Cruise Summary

 

The Panama Canal.

 

Just saying those three words conjures up a lot of emotions, sentiment and history.  It's one of the most impactful human endeavors ever completed that has changed the global economy as well as the tides of war in ways that can't be calculated. 

 

The amount of goods that pass through the Panama Canal is staggering.  The time and fuel saved by hundreds of thousands of ships over more than a century is an impact that is hard to calculate.  The ability and ease of raising massive oceangoing ships eighty five feet to sail across a peaceful freshwater lake is an incredible feat of engineering.

 

Seeing our ship being guided by the "mules" up close and watching as the lock walls raise and lower in front of our eyes is an amazing experience.  The sounds of the mules and their cables applying or removing tension is forever in my memories. 

 

Clearly the Panama Canal is the star of the show but every visit to Cartagena is a welcome bonus to a Panama Canal cruise.  Once again Cartagena did not disappoint.  

 

Huatulco really impressed me and I am glad it was an itinerary swap for Nicaragua which to this day still requires testing for unvaccinated visitors.  

 

The expansion of the canal to allow larger ships was started by the Americans but had to be postponed once the world was at war.  Many decades later seeing the expansion finished so well by Panama shows how far this country has come.

 

There is talk of expanding the locks once again as ships are becoming larger and larger.  That begs the question if they'll consume the original locks to make way for the next canal expansion.  That has to be on their minds.  

 

I've read estimates that as of 2012 there have been 815,000 ship transits through the Panama Canal.  With the Panama Canal operating 24 hours per day there are now between 13,000 and 14,000 ships that use the Panama Canal every year!  In a couple of years the number of Panama Canal transits will reach one million.  Simply amazing!  

 

If you haven't booked a Panama Canal cruise yet you really should consider it.  Who knows?  Maybe you'll be on the one millionth ship to make the journey across the Isthmus of Panama.

 

I hope this has been informative and I thank you for viewing.  

[twangster]

One of my NextCruise bookings was another Panama Canal transit. 

 

In this case I'm taking advantage of Rhapsody being home ported in Panama.  It's a seven night cruise which is rare for a full Panama Canal transit.  By embarking in Panama it will also give me an opportunity to stay in Panama City and explore more of the region from the ground.  

 

Flights through Air2Sea are pretty reasonable for my home city.  Direct flights on Copa are around $550 per person.  I'll probably add ship transfers to this one making for a pretty easy cruise experience.

 

I've done a Vision class ship through the original locks of the Panama Canal before and I look forward to experiencing this amazing destination once more.    

[lovelife]

On 4/22/2023 at 8:06 PM, little britain said:

@Jimbo. BOGO worked! 

Just to let you know this did not work for us. We are on Radiance now.  Booked and paid for one Giovanni's dinner in advance like you did and then advised them two would be dining using a BOGO that day one evening. After the meal they brought a bill for $57 for the second guest. We explained we were using a BOGO and the manager came over and made an embarrassing scene saying that isn't allowed and we have to sign the ticket. This morning I advised the concierge of the situation and he agreed that pre paying is not allowed. I have done this many times in the past also but this time it  was not allowed.

[Sobro]

Thanks for a great review and those very cool pictures.  We sailed the Canal aboard HAL Zaandam this past January and you caught a few things that I didn't see. 

 

Our cruise did not overnight in Panama so I still need to set foot in that country so I really enjoyed the excursion reports. 

[orville99]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

One of my NextCruise bookings was another Panama Canal transit. 

 

Westbound or Eastbound? There’s an interesting combo on the last Eastbound crossing that you could B2B with a repo back to Ft. Lauderdale

[orville99]

For those who don’t know what a canal mule is and what it does (from our February partial transit):

[orville99]

1 hour ago, lovelife said:

Booked and paid for one Giovanni's dinner in advance like you did and then advised them two would be dining using a BOGO that day one evening.

What we have done in the past is pre-book and then go to the restaurant as soon as we board, cancel the pre-booked res and then make a BOGO res. We have never had a problem with that.

[lovelife]

11 minutes ago, orville99 said:

What we have done in the past is pre-book and then go to the restaurant as soon as we board, cancel the pre-booked res and then make a BOGO res. We have never had a problem with that.

Wish they would have offered us that!

[twangster]

Now that I'm home with real internet this is my first opportunity to look back at some of the pics in this thread.  Ugh.  I have a pet peeve about crooked horizons and boy did I post some crooked horizon pics going through the canal.  🤣

[orville99]

27 minutes ago, twangster said:

Now that I'm home with real internet this is my first opportunity to look back at some of the pics in this thread.  Ugh.  I have a pet peeve about crooked horizons and boy did I post some crooked horizon pics going through the canal.  🤣

Probably an artifact of the camera being used or the motion of the ship itself. Have had the same problem whenever I’m not using an SLR camera or am on a moving platform.

Edited May 7, 2023 by orville99

[lovesthebeach2]

@orville99 when I saw the video you posted, I thought, hey that looks like the same ship that was behind us in the canal…..then I saw you posted it. We have almost the exact same video!

[Hoopster95]

56 minutes ago, twangster said:

Now that I'm home with real internet this is my first opportunity to look back at some of the pics in this thread.  Ugh.  I have a pet peeve about crooked horizons and boy did I post some crooked horizon pics going through the canal.  🤣

twangster, you are, and have been for years, the number 1 reviewer on these boards hands down. Your explanations, information, pics and videos are always first class. Being critical myself with my own review photos I personally didn’t notice any issues with your photos. Phenomenal review again and truly appreciate your time and effort putting these reviews together. Back to lurking 😉

[Wrunkles]

Thank you so much for your review!  All your pictures were great.  I appreciate you taking all of us along with you.  It was very informative too.  My next trip stops in Cartagena so I took some notes.  Glad you got home safe

[orville99]

2 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

@orville99 when I saw the video you posted, I thought, hey that looks like the same ship that was behind us in the canal…..then I saw you posted it. We have almost the exact same video!

Too bad we didn't figure that out while we were actually on the ship😇. The excursion was great, but we could have done without the E Ticket bus ride back to the ship.😱

[lovesthebeach2]

37 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Too bad we didn't figure that out while we were actually on the ship😇. The excursion was great, but we could have done without the E Ticket bus ride back to the ship.😱

Would have been nice if the bus had A/C

[cmsjab]

@twangster I thank you for this review! We are on the Panama Canal sailing - Tampa to LA, April 2024. Your review has been incredibly helpful in my planning. Happy sailing!

[Jimbo]

7 hours ago, lovelife said:

Just to let you know this did not work for us. We are on Radiance now.  Booked and paid for one Giovanni's dinner in advance like you did and then advised them two would be dining using a BOGO that day one evening. After the meal they brought a bill for $57 for the second guest. We explained we were using a BOGO and the manager came over and made an embarrassing scene saying that isn't allowed and we have to sign the ticket. This morning I advised the concierge of the situation and he agreed that pre paying is not allowed. I have done this many times in the past also but this time it  was not allowed.

Should have showed them @little britain(post) thread, where it was okay the week before on the very same ship you are on now.

 

Pretty lame on Royal's part.

 

I would have got up and not signed it.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Jimbo