twangster

Day 11 - Panama Canal
This is going to take a few posts, bear with me.  

In the early morning light you could see a virtual fleet of ships at anchor waiting their turn.


Panama City was becoming visible through the morning fog.


I was surprised by the number of high rise buildings.

We continued to glide through the flotilla of ships until we approached the Bridge of the Americas.


This bridge is the lowest of three bridges that now span the canal.  This is the original and lowest of the three.  The NCL Bliss as the largest cruise ship to ever transit the Panama Canal squeaked under but only at low tide.

Vision was built within Panamax standards so there is no question we'll slide under quite nicely.

Once past the Bridge of the Americas our adventure really begins.

The current smoking rules save me a fortune.  I avoid the casino on all ships but Empress which is smoke free.  I lose money on Empress so it's kind of an inverted blessing they allow smokers in the casino.  

I noted our seamen in the bow looked different.  That's because the ship crew who normally handle the lines got the day off.   When transiting the Panama Canal local seamen come on board to handle the lines.

In the last photo of my above post you can sort of see there is a split or fork in the channel.  
As we moved forward it became clearer the path to the left are the new locks for neo-Panamax larger vessels.  The fork to the right leads to the original locks for vessels meeting the original Panamax standard.
Here is a neo-Panamax ship being helped into position to enter the new locks.


An old locomotive possibly from the Panama railroad that used to run between the coasts.

The new locks on this side of the canal. 

Those pools of water in the foreground are part of the water conservation approach used by the new locks.


As we continue on towards the right and the original locks we can begin to see the Miraflores locks around the bend.

I noted our seamen in the bow looked different.  That's because the ship crew who normally handle the lines got the day off.   When transiting the Panama Canal local seamen come on board to handle the lines.

In the last photo of my above post you can sort of see there is a split or fork in the channel.  
As we moved forward it became clearer the path to the left are the new locks for neo-Panamax larger vessels.  The fork to the right leads to the original locks for vessels meeting the original Panamax standard.
Here is a neo-Panamax ship being helped into position to enter the new locks.


An old locomotive possibly from the Panama railroad that used to run between the coasts.

The new locks on this side of the canal. 

Those pools of water in the foreground are part of the water conservation approach used by the new locks.


As we continue on towards the right and the original locks we can begin to see the Miraflores locks around the bend.

It's a ship.  No different than sailing a modern cruise ship.  No matter what ship you board the same stories are rumored.  Same with hotels.  How old is the oldest hotel you've stayed in?  More than 20 years old year?  See any ghosts?
I tend to use one bed for stuff so that leaves one bed for snoozing.  
That was 1912.  This ship, the Queen Mary sailed for the first time 24 years later and for over 30 years since did that same route weekly, week after week.  In fact the crossing to Long Beach was sailing 1,000.  One thousand sailings across the very same stretch of water.  Her sister ship did the same.  Two thousands crossings and no Titanic moment.  
Learning from that tragedy the QM had lifeboat and liferaft capacity for 8,000 with a typical guest count of just over 2,000. 
The Queen Mary is proof that human engineering does evolve.  It learns from mistakes.  Those same lessons make cruising as safe as it is today.   
For me it's a time capsule or time machine.  A very rare opportunity to go back in history and see where this whole cruise industry evolved from.   
Fly in an airplane?  Want to list airline disasters over the past 30 years?  Didn't think so.  
Indeed.  Mankind learned a very big lesson that day that humbled a lot of learned scholars from that time.  We can all thank marine disasters such as Titanic for cruising to be as safe and casual as it is today.  
That's the takeaway - this beautiful old ship learned from previous disasters and was an incredibly safe means to travel.

I noted our seamen in the bow looked different.  That's because the ship crew who normally handle the lines got the day off.   When transiting the Panama Canal local seamen come on board to handle the lines.

In the last photo of my above post you can sort of see there is a split or fork in the channel.  
As we moved forward it became clearer the path to the left are the new locks for neo-Panamax larger vessels.  The fork to the right leads to the original locks for vessels meeting the original Panamax standard.
Here is a neo-Panamax ship being helped into position to enter the new locks.


An old locomotive possibly from the Panama railroad that used to run between the coasts.

The new locks on this side of the canal. 

Those pools of water in the foreground are part of the water conservation approach used by the new locks.


As we continue on towards the right and the original locks we can begin to see the Miraflores locks around the bend.

The Crocodile Tour base area has several restrooms for the hundreds of guests coming and going on motorcoaches just like ours.  
The grounds are nicely kept and the path to the boats is quite nice.


An Iguana sunning nearly oblivious to the dozens of guests walking past. 

Our boat tour will take place on the Tárcoles River.  There are different types of boats used by different tour operators in this section of the river, this was the type of boats we'll use today.

With three boats loading we are directed as groups based on the motorcoach we arrived on.

It doesn't take long to spot our first Croc.


The view upstream.

Local operators offer birding tours as well as crocodile tours.  There are dozens of species we'll see today and I could easily turn this from a crocodile tour into a birding tour.

Day 11 - Panama Canal
This is going to take a few posts, bear with me.  

In the early morning light you could see a virtual fleet of ships at anchor waiting their turn.


Panama City was becoming visible through the morning fog.


I was surprised by the number of high rise buildings.

We continued to glide through the flotilla of ships until we approached the Bridge of the Americas.


This bridge is the lowest of three bridges that now span the canal.  This is the original and lowest of the three.  The NCL Bliss as the largest cruise ship to ever transit the Panama Canal squeaked under but only at low tide.

Vision was built within Panamax standards so there is no question we'll slide under quite nicely.

Once past the Bridge of the Americas our adventure really begins.

I noted our seamen in the bow looked different.  That's because the ship crew who normally handle the lines got the day off.   When transiting the Panama Canal local seamen come on board to handle the lines.

In the last photo of my above post you can sort of see there is a split or fork in the channel.  
As we moved forward it became clearer the path to the left are the new locks for neo-Panamax larger vessels.  The fork to the right leads to the original locks for vessels meeting the original Panamax standard.
Here is a neo-Panamax ship being helped into position to enter the new locks.


An old locomotive possibly from the Panama railroad that used to run between the coasts.

The new locks on this side of the canal. 

Those pools of water in the foreground are part of the water conservation approach used by the new locks.


As we continue on towards the right and the original locks we can begin to see the Miraflores locks around the bend.

Day 11 - Panama Canal
This is going to take a few posts, bear with me.  

In the early morning light you could see a virtual fleet of ships at anchor waiting their turn.


Panama City was becoming visible through the morning fog.


I was surprised by the number of high rise buildings.

We continued to glide through the flotilla of ships until we approached the Bridge of the Americas.


This bridge is the lowest of three bridges that now span the canal.  This is the original and lowest of the three.  The NCL Bliss as the largest cruise ship to ever transit the Panama Canal squeaked under but only at low tide.

Vision was built within Panamax standards so there is no question we'll slide under quite nicely.

Once past the Bridge of the Americas our adventure really begins.

I noted our seamen in the bow looked different.  That's because the ship crew who normally handle the lines got the day off.   When transiting the Panama Canal local seamen come on board to handle the lines.

In the last photo of my above post you can sort of see there is a split or fork in the channel.  
As we moved forward it became clearer the path to the left are the new locks for neo-Panamax larger vessels.  The fork to the right leads to the original locks for vessels meeting the original Panamax standard.
Here is a neo-Panamax ship being helped into position to enter the new locks.


An old locomotive possibly from the Panama railroad that used to run between the coasts.

The new locks on this side of the canal. 

Those pools of water in the foreground are part of the water conservation approach used by the new locks.


As we continue on towards the right and the original locks we can begin to see the Miraflores locks around the bend.

Welcome to the message boards.
The Key does not allow you to move to the front of all lines.  The Key does provide priority at specific events such as on boarding day in the terminal or at the times listed for specific activities such as FlowRiders, Zip Line and Rock Wall.  These times are set aside for guests with the Key.   It can also provide a designated seating area in some theaters that is set aside but you have to get inside the theater like everyone else to reach the reserved seating area. 
Don't confuse that with "if there is a line, the Key allows you to go to the front".  That is not the case.

Just like the bacon trough in the windjammer, one of my favorites?

Best cake in the global world. Thank you.

I just spotted this sign in the galley on Empress of the seas during the all access tour on Thursday. Looks like they will be up on the Royal App starting 11/15/19. 

Sail away was timed perfectly with the Costa Rica sunset.




Lots of small boats out tonight.


The flight of the Pelicans.

Back to the tour base...


"No swimming" - no problem, I'll gladly comply.

Our two motorcoaches from the train were gathered to take in a few cultural dances of Costa Rica.


Fresh local fruit was available as well as some free Costa Rica coffee to sample.   


Shopping is also available.  Of course I bought some Costa Rica coffee from a small farm to take home.

Back on the motorcoach we begin the drive back to the port and cross the river again to see... more crocodiles.  

Empress, but I'm sworn to secrecy and can't say anymore.  

You and I will be on the first sailing! hahahh

If he is sworn to secrecy I think he missed the point about keeping it a secret.

If he is sworn to secrecy I think he missed the point about keeping it a secret.

If he is sworn to secrecy I think he missed the point about keeping it a secret.

The tenders don't have set times.  They do not publish a schedule that says "Tender will leave ship at 15 minutes past the hour and return at 45 minutes past the hour".
Rather they operate tenders as they fill up.  If a tender boat reaches capacity they send it.  When another tender boat reaches the ship, they send the one currently filling up to make room to receive the incoming tender boat.  At times during high demand they fill up quickly and there could 3 tenders heading towards shore at the same time.  At slower times they'll pull some boats out of the rotation and use fewer tender boats.  It's a dynamic process without set times.  
Overnight in Maui is unique for tendering.  What they did this past September was to use the ship's tender boats until 10pm.  The crew had been on duty for a long day by this point.  At that point they hired a local boat to operate the overnight tendering service so that crew could rest.  The local boat operator used one boat all night long.  It would go to shore, drop guests, pick up any incoming guests and return to the ship.  The ride and process of moving guests off and on that boat takes roughly one hour to execute one round trip.  This can vary slightly since a full boat takes longer for passengers to move off or on, an empty tender at 3am would run slightly faster times.  So the one hour loop time is not cast in stone, it could be as long as 70 minutes or it could be as short as 50 minutes.  It's dynamic.

Can I rent a kid from Adventure Ocean for 30 minutes on day one?