FionaMG

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.

With the Miraflores Locks complete it was time to proceed.  The ship before us is already halfway across Miraflores Lake.

They begin to let the cables to the locomotives go as we slowly move forward.

As we make our way across Miraflores Lake that ship is nearly through the Pedro Miguel lock that comes next. 

Tugs at the ready to push us around.

Two people in a row boat...

Our narrator over the P.A. system informs us they had studies done to evaluate replacing the people in a row boat with various other ways to accomplish the same goal.  At the conclusion it was determined this remains the most flexible means to get the job done.  It simply works.

Looking at the countryside you get an idea of just what they had to deal with over one hundred years ago when they started building the canal.

At this point we could clearly see the Centennial Bridge, the next bridge we would pass under and channel forward into the Culebra cut.

As we approach the Pedro Miguel lock the doors begin to open

Most definitely huge thanks to @twangster for that!  Wish I knew how to make stuff like that ?

My pleasure. I did too the first time I saw the post. All credit to @twangster for the hard work in compiling it.

A little bit about the Panama Canal.
In order to make it from one ocean to the other the ship needs to reach the man made Gatun Lake that lies in middle of Panama.  That involves three canal locks that are used to lift the ship a total of 85 feet (~26m) to reach the level of Gatun Lake.  Once across Gatun Lake another series of three steps in canal locks lower the ship back to sea level.
From West to East we will go through the Miraflores locks, across the small Miraflores Lake and then into the Pedro Miguel locks.  Once through those locks we will be at the level of Gatun Lake.  On the Atlantic side of Gatun Lake the Gatun Locks will lower us in three steps to the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. 
Miraflores Locks
There are two steps in these locks.


These tugs are an important part of the canal operation. Ships our size are assigned two tugs.

Two people in a row boat...

They bring "messenger" lines over to the ship that will be used to haul the steel cables from the locomotives over to the ship.  Ship lines are not used in the transit.

The crowds at the front of the ship do become somewhat thick.  An opportunity to meet new friends. 


The Miraflores locks will lift us two of the three steps required to reach the level of Gatun Lake.

The locomotives on each side will help guide the ship into the lock channel and keep the ship centered. These have been upgraded over the years but their function remains the same as it was in 1914 when the Panama Canal first opened.

The locomotives are nicknamed "mules" and operating under guidance from the control room,  the onboard seamen and the pilot they keep the ship moving centered in the lock chamber.  The ship uses it's own propulsion to move forward.

As the ship moves forward we approach the lock door that hold back massive volumes of water.  Behind us a set of lock doors will close creating a chamber for us to ride in.

Once the doors behind the ship close the lock is flooded with water.  The spray seen here is normal leakage, the chamber is actually filled from below. 

As the chamber fills we can sense we are gently rising.

It's a subtle rise that can be hard to notice.  The water line against the lock doors can be used to see how far the water has risen.  


With our first lift complete the lock doors in front of us open and we advance into the next lock chamber.

The ship before us is already moving into Miraflores Lake.

The orange ship in the new locks has already reach the level of Gatun Lake and is starting to move forward to continue the transit.  The Borinquen Dams separate the new Pacific access channel where this ship is from Miraflores Lake.


These Miraflores locks were originally completed in 1913. 

A visitors center allows people to view the locks (and us) in operation.

One more lift to go to reach the level of Miraflores Lake.

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.  

We continue upstream.

The sightings continue.  A crocodile on the right bank...

A large crocodile on the left sunning itself...


We turn to head back and in a place where we were just a few minutes ago a crocodile has appeared.



Continuing back a herd of cattle appear.

Seeing this I suddenly feel like I am in one of those nature shows where a crocodile bursts out of the water and the cattle run for their lives.  That didn't happen but it sure felt like it could.

A Willet...

Great Blue Heron...

The notes for the excursion stated "Wildlife sightings not guaranteed".  That wasn't an issue today.

We were given a handout with different species of birds that we could use to identify them.  We quickly started running through them like bingo. 
A Tricolored Heron, a Snowy Egret...

A juvenile Great Blue Heron...

Iguanas...

Crocodile on the left bank...

Another Tricolored Heron (I think)...

Another Croc swimming away from us...

A pair of Snowy Egrets flying around us...


I could go on and on.  In fact I had to ignore dozens of photos just to keep these posts reasonable.   

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.

During our drive over to the boat ride that comes next our guide tells us many facts of Costa Rica.  This includes the fact that Costa Rica has the highest density of biodiversity of anywhere.  It's unique position bridging North and South America combined with it's numerous climatic regions has created different areas that can support a wide variety of species.  
As we approach our destination our driver tells us to get our cameras ready.  As we cross over a river we spot several Crocodiles on the banks of the river below.




We're going on a Crocodile Boat Tour.

Today's excursion in Costa Rica is "Pacific Train, Boat and Bus Adventure" booked through Royal.
We start by boarding an ultra modern motorcoach for a 25 minute ride to a train.  This Sandy Point area back in the days contained a cargo terminal to handle the growing coffee trade that Costa Rica was becoming known for.  Completed in 1914 trains carried the coffee to the port.  Today much of track is no longer used or serviceable but we ride the train along section of the old tracks that once was used to transport coffee to awaiting ships.

Along the way we spot a monkey in the tree. 

The motorcoach pulls up very close to the stairs of the train so it's a quick transfer from bus to train.

Soon we start down the old tracks.



Along the tracks are shanties put together with whatever materials people can find.

As we pass through some mangroves a termite mound is spotted.

The people are very friendly waving as we pass by.



An opportunity to try a local beer, Imperial.  La Cerveza de Costa Rica. $3.



More friendly people waving to us.


The train cars were refinished in original materials when they started using the railroad for passengers.



Forty five minutes later we've gone roughly 5 miles and it's time to re-board the bus for the next adventure.

They pull the bus right up so we never touch the ground.  Maybe because it's still rainy season they do this to avoid tracking dirt and mud into their coach, I'm not really sure but it makes for an easy transfer. 

As we drive off to our next stop we pass the train reversing back towards it's starting point.



While not fast moving the train is a nice way to see some of the countryside we otherwise would have never seen.

Here is a timelapse up to this point:
 
 

According to @twangster's absolutely amazing Voom comparison, for a 9-night cruise if the cruise planner price is $15.99 you are cheaper to wait and buy on board on day 2. This is assuming you have cell coverage that you can use prior to sailing and can do without being connected for the first few hours after sail-away.
From the moment the price hits $14.99 or less you are cheaper to buy pre-cruise. If you do this you should monitor the cruise planner daily for discounts. I re-priced mine down twice to get a final price of $11.99, so I think you can fairly safely assume that yours will go down at some point.

Your wish is my command!  
 

My pleasure. I did too the first time I saw the post. All credit to @twangster for the hard work in compiling it.

Your wish is my command!  
 

According to @twangster's absolutely amazing Voom comparison, for a 9-night cruise if the cruise planner price is $15.99 you are cheaper to wait and buy on board on day 2. This is assuming you have cell coverage that you can use prior to sailing and can do without being connected for the first few hours after sail-away.
From the moment the price hits $14.99 or less you are cheaper to buy pre-cruise. If you do this you should monitor the cruise planner daily for discounts. I re-priced mine down twice to get a final price of $11.99, so I think you can fairly safely assume that yours will go down at some point.

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.

Just spotted a brand new dining option in my cruise planner, called "Taste of Royal". It's a four-course meal featuring dishes from various specialty restaurants across the fleet. It looks like it might be something that folks who enjoy Chef's Table might like.
(PS, sorry if it's already been posted about. I did a search and nothing turned up...)

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/10/29/royal-caribbean-offer-prix-fixe-specialty-restaurant-lunch-experience.
From a recent posting. From @Matt.

We did the ABC islands last year so although we are not adventurous ourselves we did uncover quite a lot of stuff that might be of interest to you during our research. 
In Aruba, you could look at the trikes tour https://trikes-aruba.com/ or one of the ATV tours https://actiontoursaruba.com/
In Curação, you could look at Irie Tours all west beach hopping tour https://irietours.com/all-west-beach-hopping
And in Bonaire, if you enjoy snorkeling you don't need to book a tour; you can just get the water taxi over to Klein Bonaire https://www.watertaxikleinbonaire.com/ where the snorkeling is supposed to be fantastic. Our table mates raved about it. Alternatively, another very popular option for Bonaire is to rent a golf cart and drive around the island at your own pace http://www.bonairecruisers.com/
Hope this helps. It's a great itinerary so you're going to have an amazing time. 

Day 8 - Sea Day
Ugh.  The cruise is half over!
Our progress as we sail off the coast of Nicaragua... 
 
Pretty great weather so far as we do some bird watching on this sea day.

It's pretty amazing to see them fishing.  They dive completely underwater to pursue a fish. 

When one of them catches one it's like a 2 for $20 t-shirt sale on the promenade.