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What does it cost a for ship like Vision of the Seas to transit the Panama Canal? Bill Benny admits he hasn't seen our bill but he can guestimate it pretty close. Ship are charged based on capacity. For cruise ships it's the number of berths regardless if they are being used or not. For cargo ships it's based on their cargo capacity regardless of the amount of cargo actually being carried. Cruise ships pay $138 per berth. To go through on a specific day they have to make a reservation. This costs $35,000. To go through in daylight hours also has a fee of $30,000. The tugs come with a charge between $12,000 and $14,000. The Panamanian sea men who come on board to handle the cables cost around $4,000. Each cable on a locomotive has a $300 charge. There are some other fees and charges that are pocket change in the bigger picture. Bill's guestimate for Vision is about $380,000.00. Ship's are tagged with a new name when they transit. We were N 29 Zulu. Northbound, 29th ship of the day and zulu means preferential treatment (daytime reservation). Remember the NCL Bliss that used the new locks last year? They paid $880,000.00

Sooooo good new is: WE TOOK 3rd PLACE AT THE 50’s DANCE PARTY!! Bad news is: there were only 3 competitors ????

On both sides of the canal there have been ships at anchor waiting to transit the canal. This leads to the question how long do they have to wait? Bill Benny offered that the typical wait time without a reservation can be up to ~ 36 hours. Timing varies based on demand and how many ships have reservations. Typical volume is forty ships per day. The new locks don't have locomotives. Each ship is allocated two tugs, one forward, one aft. They do all the control, forward or aft or lateral movements that the locomotives do in the original canal. The entire Panama Canal system uses gravity. There are no pumps. Water flows from Gatun Lake into upper lock chambers then to the next lock chamber down to the ocean. This area of the Americas receives a lot of rain, it always has. The Chagres River which was dammed to create Gatun Lake flowed into the ocean. The man made Gatun Lake is a reservoir that flows water into the locks as they operate replacing the natural draining of the Chagres River into the sea. Too much rain isn't a serious issue as spillways can dissipate excess water. If nature changed rainfall amounts downwards there are concerns about a lack of rain impacting canal operations. If there was a major change in weather patterns that denied the region the rain it normally receives it is conceivable the canal would reduce operations compared to how it operates today. Gatun Lake is freshwater. It also supplies drinking water to millions of people. Gatun Lake has Crocodiles and Caiman. The canal generates around 3 billion USD in revenue annually. Roughly half of this goes to the Panamanian treasury and half is consumed by the canal for operational use and development.

Well folks... what can I say... what. a. day. We started off this morning with our PADI dive class which ended about an hour and a half short due to one our our classmates throwing up in the pool ? ? . Class ran from 06:30am-10:30am. (They had to clean out the whole pool!). You can read more about the PADI certification process over here https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/16546-all-about-our-padi-certification-on-board-harmony-ots/ DRINK COUNT x5 frozen mojitos, x1 fresh squeezed juice, x2 shots of Bacardi (to spice up our frozen mojitos ?) = 9 total DINNER AT CK This was the first formal night and we actually had made reservations for 5:45pm. Due to the pool vomit, we had to reschedule part of the class in the pm. This meant we had to push CK dinner plans later till 8pm. I was super nervous they would be overbooked, but they were accommodating. And in the end they were practically empty. Dinner was really delicious! Personally though... if you pay for the UDP... I don’t know if I would pass up a meal in one of the specialty restaurants to eat in CK. While on the topic of food, we made a stop by the concierge desk and inquired about having to pay for food at Captain Jacks on Perfect Day Cocoa Cay. I couldn’t get over how cheap it is to charge someone $10 for wings, when the person has already paid $179-$200 for “unlimited” specialty food. ?? They were really insistent it would not be covered. Be forewarned. Anybody think I can call customer service and have it comped or is it not worth the effort??? PADI open water portion starts tomorrow in Costa Maya. I’ll let y’all know how it’s going!

Day 12 - Colón, Panama Our progress... We sailed right past here yesterday, went to sea for the night then came back in the morning. At sea last night it felt like a storm was moving in. Winds of change were in the air. We've been very fortunate on this cruise during the rainy season since we've encountered very little rain. This morning that changed. We had rain, heavy at times. After it cleared a bit in the distance I could see the Atlantic Bridge. More ships at anchor waiting. The night before I received notice my excursion for Colón had been modified and I was given an option of a 20% discount or a refund. I was pretty tired from an active and long day running around the ship during our day transiting the Panama Canal so I decided to take the day to rest and I took the refund. I did leave to ship to see what the area was like near the terminal. I noted a few scars from the canal. In a couple days time these would be painted over. I took these pictures leaving the ship. Of course it started raining while I was off but the walk back to the ship outside in the rain was brief.

The ship delivered certificates to our cabins:

Oh how fun....are you Frenchie?

Based on other research I think I saw the type of excursion boat that would be used in the morning while we were at the Miraflores locks: The people on the top looked like they were getting to know each other on a personal basis. Combined with a distinct opportunity for rain and the modification that would cut the tour length in half while skipping Culebra Cut plus my full day transit experience fresh in my head I was okay with missing the excursion. If someone was doing a partial canal cruise and they wanted to see Culebra Cut this would be a great excursion.

One of my dilemmas as I thought about how to capture this day was where to go on the ship for the best pictures. I captured the timelapse on my GoPro while I waited on deck 10 forward for the morning approach and the first set of locks. However I didn't want to stay there the whole day guarding my GoPro. At the same time I really wanted a full transit timelapse so I cheated a little bit. Vision of the Seas has a TV channel dedicated to the forward facing bridge camera. It's channel 41 on the TV system. Hmmm. What if I used my other phone to capture a timelapse of channel 41? The full transit in 21 seconds.

I wanted to start this blog by sharing our Open Water Diver Certification process on board Harmony OTS, Nov 2019. Hopefully this will help answer any questions or concerns. This will be partly live since we are still on board; if you have any questions you want me to relay, let me know! (We disembark on Nov 16, 2019) We signed up for the excursion about a week prior to the cruise. I asked a bunch of questions, and THAT same day the excursion team reached out to the dive team. All my questions were answered that same day (appreciated the quick responses!). They also included copies of our medical questionnaire (see pictures) and asked us to send them back. The same day I sent them back, they responded with my PADI redeem key so I could start my eLearning modules. I HIGHLY recommend getting them done early (obviously...) this was a last minute decision (largely thanks to @twangster and noting some advice he posted. I owe you a beer on our next cruise...provided I get certified... ??) Since it was a last minute decision, we spent most of the morning of our embarkation (both before and after we were on the ship) frantically trying to finish ?? Ultimately it didn’t seem like a huge deal if we hadn’t, since all open water stuff was going to be done the following day. They didn’t seem too concerned that some of our modules appeared as not complete (even though they were), they just softly reminded us to finish them and encouraged us to get them done ASAP. There are NUMEROUS glitches with the PADI eLearning app (known as “PADI Library” in the Apple store). We found the iPad to be WAY easier to use vs. just an iPhone. Even with the large screen of the iPhone 11 Pro... it still was difficult to navigate, watch videos, take exams, etc. Once on board, we showed up before 3:pm to prove all our pre-cruise requirements were completed, our medical questionnaire, doctors note (if needed), and PADI folder were all filled out. I would HIGHLY suggest you review the medical requirements and get all issues signed off by your MD well in advance. We had to show back up at 6pm to fit our gear (and buy what we didn’t have). They (Francois and Kelly) seemed really friendly, and probably would have let us borrow equipment had we pressed the issue, but we wanted to just buy our own anyway. If you’re smarter than we are, I would suggest going to your local PADI (or dive) shop, try on products there, and buy them in advance. Ultimately the masks they offered ranged in price from $20-120 , but they had limited options for colors, styles, brands etc. This is like going into your local bowling alley and seeing all the pretty, fancy pro gear, and then going online and seeing about 8 million different options than what was offered. You may not only save some money, but also have something that fits better or you like more. That was it for day 1!! They were supposed to have us do our confined water dives on Perfect Day, but the pool was down for maintenance apparently. This meant we got a free day in Cocoa Cay! BUT it meant we had to use the on board pool (and NOT the aqua pool like I’ve heard they used in the past) for our initial confined dives. This meant our first sea day was an almost all day practicum day and only in 4.5 ft of water ? Day 2 (our 3rd cruise day and first sea day). We met at 6:30am at the dive shop. We grabbed our gear (prepared and fitted previously) then prepped it like they taught us, and went into the pool. There are 7 in our class and they said that is about typical for on board certification. People ranged from having previous dive experience to having none. Overall our class went until about 10:30am. At that time one of our classmates apparently gagged on something and threw up in the pool ?? Whatever, lol ? happens. Rolling with the flow of the ocean is what cruising is all about. They did have to clean out the pool which meant lessons were over for the morning. This was kinda a hindrance since we need to come BACK this/that evening at 4:30pm for more training. As of writing this (I’m sitting in the hot tub in the solarium relaxing until evening class), things haven’t been too crazy difficult or hard. Super basic skills (removing mask and regulators, practicing emergency procedures etc) were all we completed. (But according to our instructors we are doing relatively well!) I’ll keep you all updated with the thing that happen next and relay any lessons learned I thought might be useful!

@RCVoyager While I may have a difference of opinion when we are done, I would have to say it depends on the circumstances. We intentionally did it on this cruise because we were NOT cruising with friends/family. So generally speaking, I would agree with that sentiment; it would be hard to enjoy this experience AND try to enjoy the company of fellow cruisers. We have also had to curtail our drinking (which you may not believe if you read our live blog). It really depends on the individual person and your personal goals too. If your goal is to eat, drink, see all the shows, lounge by the pool or relax the whole cruise, this may not be the best fit. But if you pick this with intention, you may have an amazingly positive experience. If we could go back and rebook and plan this better, we probably would have NOT selected the UDP, the spa all week access, or The Key. (I’ll give a better review when we are done) Getting our certification has been a goal of ours for almost 9 years. To FINALLY be able to get it done, AND scuba in some amazing ports, AND have the security of a 5 Star PADI dive shop with amazing instructors, for one low price, it really is something that SHOULD be considered. You just must do your due diligence to ensure this experience fits the circumstances.

A little late, but this is my hubby in his glory days.

Don't rain on my parade ? lol

Allure of the Seas is headed to Texas, bookings will opening soon!

Book 2 adjoining cabins..... not only do you get more space, you also get two bathrooms, and that can be a BIG deal.

Well After That Is Was Time For Lunch At The Windjammer. After Lunch At The Windjammer I Headed To The Pool Deck To See Them Doing This!!

Looking back towards the locks in the distance you can see the new locks to the left and the original locks to the right. New locks: Original locks:

The third and final bridge over the Panama Canal is the Atlantic Bridge. This bridge was completed August 2019.

Bill Benny our guest commentator had suggested we keep an eye out on the port side after leaving the Gatun locks. This small inlet to the left was the area to look out for. This small canal that forks to the right is the only visibly remaining sign of the French effort of late 1800's. That was the original width they were planning to make the canal. It's become overgrown a little and in their defense he pointed out that ships were not that big back at the time. He doubts anyone involved with the design or building of the original canal would have any idea how big the ships that use the canal today have become.

Pictures don't do it justice. I've taken a series of video clips that I plan to stitch together that will hopefully capture the day. Until I get that video put together here is a clip that should give you a better idea of what it's like to move between the lock chambers, how close the ship is to the walls of the lock and an up close look at the locomotives.

A tanker ship is now opposite us locking in the Southbound direction. Another benefit of being down on deck 5 is the ability to move around and experience different areas of the process. Having cleared the lock chamber the gates behind us close and we get ready to repeat the process again.

Approaching the Gatun locks. The men in a row boat get ready once again. Bill Benny our commentator talks about the signal on the lock that was used in the days before radios. It's still maintained and is in operation today. If the arrow is pointed straight up the lock is not ready, do not approach. If the arrow is pointing towards the 2 o'clock position it means the locks are being prepared and should be ready in approximately 10 minutes. If the arrow is horizontal and pointing to the right it means enter the right lock. In the position displayed here it means approach and tie up with the locomotives. Massive rubber wheels protect the corners of the locks. To our right that orange tanker is progressing into the new locks. We begin to move towards and line up with the lock wall. Tugs push us towards the lock was so that locomotives on the port side can be connected. With the locomotives connected on the port side and tugs pushing us on the starboard side we move forward. The locomotives on the starboard side return from their last ship and get ready to send their cables to the ship.

Down under lurker here …

Hi everyone! I pride myself on being very social when I meet people in person, but online, I’m a certified lurker ?. I read the message boards, take notes ?, and have learned so much from everyone on this blog (thanks @Matt for this awesome platform) but I rarely make a post or comment. Maybe it’s because everyone has already said what I was thinking (and y’all don’t need to see my “ditto” response ?)... Maybe it’s because I can’t come up with any interesting new questions or topics that are worth posting ?... Maybe it’s because I’m afraid that my post will be the equivalent of the kid sitting alone at the lunch table in a crowded middle school cafeteria ??... Soooooooo... This post is dedicated to all of the lurkers out there just like me! Say hi, hit like, or drop a comment of your choosing below! Or don’t. ? You are still loved and welcomed here!

Yes, prices on the drink packages tend to be more expensive the shorter the duration of the cruise. I'd grab it now, and then watch daily (seriously) for a price drop. While prices may drop on Black Friday, I've seen weird deals pop up even during times that weren't advertised sales. I've gotten some great deals that way.

That is one crowded boat! Not my scene. ?

We've only been on four ships so far - Freedom in 2007, Anthem in 2016, Harmony in 2018 and Navigator in 2019. Because she was our first, Freedom will always hold a special place in our hearts. We loved the cantilevered hot tubs over the sides of the ship. As much as we loved Freedom, Harmony was truly amazing! There was so much to do and see and we never felt overly crowded for a ship with so many people on it! We enjoyed the newly amplified Navigator, but, we didn't think it compared to the Freedom or Harmony. Anthem has been our least favorite ship so far. The promenade area seemed narrow compared to the other ships. Whenever we walked through it, we always felt crowded. The one thing we did enjoy on Anthem was the Solarium - we felt that it was the best of all the ships so far. Looking forward to Mariner and Oasis next year. Would love to go back on Freedom soon as well.

Favorite ship so far is Symphony. I love the different neighborhoods (Central Park is so peaceful to walk through, Boardwalk so so fun to walk through). Shows are amazing. Lots of restaurants to choose from, included and specialty. Staterooms are new and modern. Crew great. So many places to explore. And I love the overall atmosphere and the decor. Each stairwell has different interesting fun art. But have yet to have a bad cruise or one that I didn't enjoy. My personal order is Symphony Allure Independence Navigator Mariner Voyager Grandeur Going on Adventure soon, and Anthem in March. Am curious where Anthem will rate...but guessing below Oasis class, above Voyager class. Someday DH and I hope to try Brilliance for the smaller ship experience (even though I'm a big ship gal).

On cruise planner, you can link your reservations so that you can make your dining reservations together! That's probably the easiest way, but if you stop down to Main Dining Room the first day, I'm sure they'd be able to accommodate you, especially if you happen to have My Time Dining.

What's my favorite ship??? lol -- those that know me know the answer to that one, the soon to be, "Late Great Grandeur" ---- But I will say this, I haven't been on anything larger than Voyager Class (Navigator), but one of the features on any ship that I truly loved, was the Outdoor space of the Windjammer on Brilliance. The way you can enjoy a meal at the back of the ship is amazing. Now, I'll be on Freedom in March right after it's AMPing.... so we'll see if my opinion on a favorite changes.

My favorite ship, and there are others that may give the same answer, is the ship that I'm currently on. All joking aside, you will love Anthem, I've been on her. There are a lot of fun activities and the shows and venues are great. Each ship has its own "personality" that can vary from sailing to sailing, and a lot of cruising is what you make of it. I was recently on Navigator and had a blast with the recent amplification additions. The slides are great, the food is awesome. By the end of 2021 I will have sailed on one ship from almost each class of ship in the fleet and look forward to adding more. I feel its good to experience all that RC has to offer and not limit yourself to one class of ship.

I would book the week they are released best chance of getting the lowest price.. Then I would price watch like a hawk to see if the pricing goes down at all.. I would totally get 2 rooms. You guys are all adults essentially and just having 2 bathrooms vs 1 bathroom makes all the difference.. Plus the people who would have to sleep on the sleeper couch will be so uncomfortable.. Sure the sofa is fine for kids but in my opinion its horrible for adults its just really not comfortable.. Also because Royal has a limited number of cabins that fit 5 and 6 people they jack the prices up and its often better to book 2-3 cabins rather than 1 cabin..

Mathematically you do have to win sometimes.. lol.

wait you guys are winning?! That was an option!?

Wife should have been happy..you woke them up cause you won $!!!!....

Thank you, thank you for the canal transit pictures. This has been my number one to do cruise for years and seeing it now in full like this just reinforces that feeling. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

US Citizens are taxed on all income wherever it is earned. Obviously there’s more to the tax code than just that, but it’s the starting point.

This may be more trouble than its worth. You need to be on board I believe at least one hour before sail away, so if your tour runs long, or get stuck in traffic you could be denied boarding. I have never tried to get off the ship once checked in, but overall this just sounds like a missed cruise waiting to happen.

With that we've been lowered from 85 feet above sea level and we are now in Caribbean Sea at the level of the Atlantic ocean. The gates close behind us and get ready to do it all again for another ship. From the aft looking towards the left you can see the new canal locks through the trees.

I wanted to see what it was like looking out my deck 3 cabin window as we descended. They were both pretty wet from the humidity but I managed to get some pictures working around the water droplets on the outside. Not bad for concrete work that is over a hundred years old in the Panama humidity.

The canal has its own fire department. A Southbound container ship is locking opposite us. As we are getting ready to drop the container ship was being lifted. The high walls of the containers created a reference point so you could see just how quickly it was lifted. Soon enough it was on its way while we were now closer to the level of lock. From deck 5 you really feel the canal, like you can reach out and touch it.

We have many carnival ships within 30 minutes of me but i rather fly all the way to Florida from California for royal caribbean. Loyal to Royal!

On our left the Gatun Dam makes all of this possible. The earthen dam is very wide. It took a tremendous amount of earth removed from Culebra cut to build enough land over 90 feet tall to create the lake. It is said that there is enough earth in the dam to build a wall 5 feet tall and 1 foot wide around the circumference of the planet at the equator. The concrete structure in the middle is simply the spillway that can be used to release excess water when required due to heavy rains. This is what keeps the lake at 85 feet above sea level. To our right that orange ship we saw in the new locks on the Pacific side has reached the new locks here on the Atlantic side. We will use the original Gatun locks. A Southbound tanker clears the locks and begins to make her way across Gatun Lake.

Our cruise across the Panama Canal continues as we sail through Gatun Lake. A channel was created in sections of the lake. The ship following behind us is seen here navigating the channel through the lake. It occurs to me before the lake was created this would have been the top of a hill that you could climb up, assuming you could make it through the dense jungle. Through a clearing to starboard we could make out another bridge in the distance. This section of the lake opens up and there were several ships at anchor waiting their turn to use the Gatun Locks around the corner. Central America themed items for sale during the transit.

Once through the Culebra cut we enter an arm of Gatun Lake where it begins to widen. A railway runs along the canal that in places is visible. At this point we are roughly halfway across Panama. Screen capture from the MarineTraffic.com app:

While creating the man made Gatun Lake solved the largest span between the oceans it didn't quite reach all the way to the Pacific. The 8.75 mile gap required another solution - digging. Enter the Culebra Cut, also known as Gaillard Cut. The volume of earth removed from this section of the canal is staggering. At one of the narrowest spots you can see the terracing of Gold Hill and Contractor's Hill from the original days of canal construction. This area was known for its landslides dumping massive amounts of earth back into channel of the canal as it was being excavated. While the effort to construct the entire canal is impressive the amount of effort to create the Culebra Cut is mind blowing. Spoils removed from the cut were hauled away in train cars used in other areas of the canal or dumped in the jungles. The earthen Gatun dam that creates Gatun Lake was created from this excavation. Tugs are always at the ready in case a ship suffers a breakdown or mechanical issue that could be devastating to canal operations. If a ship lost propulsion or ran aground and closed the canal that would cost a fortune in lost revenue. Consequently tugs always escort ships through the Culebra Cut and they are ready to spring into action should a ship start to get into trouble. The canal is quite deep to accommodate the draft of the biggest ships that can use the canal so you can imagine how landslides were an issue over a hundred years ago and even to this day in places. Looking at the vegetation and how thick the jungle is you can imagine what it would have been like when workers first arrived to begin working on the cut. Efforts continue to ensure run off from the rainy season is managed in a controlled fashion.

With that we were now up to the level of Gatun Lake. Moving around the ship I wanted to see how it looked from different areas around the ship. Looking back from where we came it was clear how the original locks were augmented with the Pacific access channel for the new locks to the right. In the case of the new locks there are still three steps but they are all done in one lock complex so they bypass Miraflores Lake. The Solarium roof was once again open. Next we pass under the Centennial Bridge.

At this point I decided to move down to deck 5 to get a closer look at the lock. Down here you get a much better feeling for just how tight a fit we are. This spot near the control tower for the Pedro Miguel lock is the narrowest part of the original canal. While the lock chambers are 110 feet wide, this section is 109 feet wide. Our commentator Bill's last position with the Panama Canal Company was working in the control room at this lock. Earlier in his time at the canal he was also a mule driver, something many canal workers did back in the day. Looking straight down. It was really great to see the operation from this very close perspective. A lock gate in the opposite lock. These are called miter gates. Close up look at the lock walls. On the other side of the ship you could clearly see we were nearly up to the level of new Pacific access channel.

Haifa Port taken from the Baha’i Gardens

I very recently joined in for the first time ... a grand example of "long time listener, first time caller ..."