twangster

And then there were four. Four days remaining...

Below is a brief timelapse from Vision going through the MiraFlores locks in 2019. We are going the other direction on Radiance. I'm still deciding what camera gear to take with me for this cruise. I'm currently thinking of traveling light and using my cell phone for most content I'll post in this live report. That will help keeping it live. The helipad on Radiance will be a nice upgrade from Vision but I'm expecting it will be packed, at least for the Gatun locks. I really want to move around the ship more this time going through the locks. The deck 5 sides being so incredibly close to the "mules" and the activity of the locks is one area where I plan to spend more time than I did on Vision. In retrospect it felt like people camped out on forward facing position which is understandable yet you miss so much parking in one spot for so long. This time through the locks will be about seeing it from all sides so I'll be moving around a lot. The only thing I'm using my cabin for will be recharging batteries.

On the Allure crossing in 2020 they had a Pinnacle dinner in Samba sort of as a farewell. Three years later Samba lives! As a meat and potatoes guy I am looking forward to Samba once more.

$266.99 all in. I've seen reports of other cruisers on other ships as low as $240. I think they look at the options on board a particular ship and adjust the pricing. Radiance has decent options IMO. Izumi, Chops, Giovanni's and Samba (for now). On a 15 night cruise I think a 10 night package is a nice balance. I'd probably have a hard time eating 15 nights in specialty but 10 is manageable.

Probably a bribe or some other arraignment. Smart business tactic.

Curious of any VISA requirements for US citizens on this cruise. Beyond the MyICA app were there any travel authorizations or VISAs required? Any other wisdom for a US citizen looking to cruise out of Singapore? Thanks.

On Q class I am accustomed to propping my cabin door open to use the internet. I keep an empty water bottle on hand for just this purpose. Perhaps there is more steel in these cabin doors. On Anthem, Ovation, Odyssey and Quantum this has been an issue I've experienced. On a Quantum cruise the access point was outside my cabin door and I had them verify it was working it was so bad in my cabin. On my home I have wifi LED light bulbs on the outside of my garage. I put an outdoor rated access point in my garage for such devices. With my steel garage door closed the signal level from my LED light bulbs drops significantly and that is from a lightweight garage door with only 3m between access point and wifi light. WiFi signals just don't penetrate steel very well at all. The only solution is what they did with Wonder - access points inside each cabin.

Coffee is on my mind this trip as well. Last time I had to dust off the old Bodum french press then switched back to the pods once my "souvenir" Columbian coffee ran out. It's on my list for this trip.

Still beats what I was probably doing on that day 🙂

I booked it through Royal. Amazing Cartagena Bay and Walled City

Royal Caribbean Terminal 10 1028 Harborside Dr, Galveston, TX 77550

The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough is my favorite so far. There are some videos available from sources like PBS, History Channel, Smithsonian, etc. Youtube has some full length features for no cost.

I've visited Valparaiso by air. I like your method better 🙂

Flying in the day before into Hobby airport. I'll take a ride share down to my Galveston hotel. I just need a bed for a night with an after dinner arrival time so nothing fancy.

This will be my first time using the new terminal in Galveston. I've sailed from here a few times and I enjoy the experience but I'm eager to see the new terminal.

I'm solo on this cruise and I chose an interior cabin. I'm fine with interior cabins and will use the money saved for excursions, dining, tips and some play money. I've submitted some low RoyalUp bids but I'm not expecting anything to come from that. They don't offer the UDP dining package on long voyages like this so I picked a 10 night dining plan. Between a few nights in the MDR and a few nights in the Windjammer the 10 night dining plan was a splurge since I saved quite a bit booking an interior at the last minute. Radiance still has Samba Grill and I know it won't be around for long so this is my farewell Samba approach. I'll do a couple night in there with the rest split between Chops and Giovanni's.

Excursions In the Caymans I've booked an excursion that will get me out on the water. Some form of sailboat or catamaran is by go to Caribbean excursion so I picked the Seven Mile Beach Coastal Sightseeing Cruise and Swim excursion. I'm really looking forward to getting back to Cartagena. The last time there I did a comprehensive tour that went to many different attractions. This time I'm simply heading to the walled city. To get there I was going to purchase HOHO tickets locally but I saw an excursion that includes a boat tour of Cartagena Bay so I'm paying a little more to get there by water. Colon is the kind of port to book an excursion. I've only see the new Panama Canal locks at a distance so I've booked an excursion that goes to the visitor center for the new locks. Huatulco is new port for me. When in doubt get on a boat so I have booked a catamaran cruise with snorkel. For Puerto Vallarta I thought I'd try something different so it's an ATV excursion. Our times in port didn't align with local excursion operators well so I'm skipping the sailboat here and staying on land.

How has your internet been along the way?

Radiance has been upgraded to Starlink satellite internet but it's unclear how that's going to work out for us. A number of countries in Central America haven't approved Starlink yet so the closest gateway cities are relatively distant. I am anticipating some challenges keeping this live along the full itinerary but am hoping for cellular backup to help in places.

This will be my second time through the canal. My first transit was from the Pacific to the Atlantic on Vision of the Seas. I've been looking for an opportunity to do the transit in the other direction so when I saw a last minute deal for Radiance going from the Atlantic to the Pacific I knew I had to book it. While we are traveling East to West in general terms our canal transit will actually be a Southerly one.

A cruise through the original Panama Canal is not just a cruise between two oceans, it is a journey through history. Join us live for 15 nights as we sail from Galveston to Los Angeles through the Panama Canal aboard the Radiance of the Seas. Fri 21Apr2023 Galveston, Texas - 4:00 PM Boarding Sat 22Apr2023 Cruising Sun 23Apr2023 Cruising Mon 24Apr2023 George Town, Grand Cayman 7:00 AM 6:00 PM Tendered Tue 25Apr2023 Cruising Wed 26Apr2023 Cartagena, Colombia 7:00 AM 5:00 PM Docked Thu 27Apr2023 Colon, Panama 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked Fri 28Apr2023 Panama Canal, Panama 6:00 AM 6:00 PM Cruising Sat 29Apr2023 Cruising Sun 30Apr2023 Cruising Mon 01May2023 Huatulco, Mexico 8:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked Tue 02May2023 Cruising Wed 03May2023 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 12:30 PM 8:00 PM Docked Thu 04May2023 Cruising Fri 05May2023 Cruising Sat 06May2023 Los Angeles, California 7:00 AM - Departure Canal au niveau de la mer - Sea-level channel. The decision to pursue a sea level canal across the Isthmus of Darien may have been the single largest factor in it's failure. In the 1800's French diplomat and entrepreneur Ferdinand de Lesseps was an amazing character who conceived and completed the Suez Canal. It was an outstanding success. He was well known and respected as the "Great Engineer" despite having no formal technical training. In the wake of the success of the Suez Canal when he announced he was taking on the task of completing a waterway across Columbia his declaration of a sea level canal was challenged by few. The only problem was he had not yet stepped foot in the region. Despite surveys that suggested otherwise, despite no real maps of the area, de Lesseps insisted on building a sea level canal. It had worked quite well for the Suez Canal so why not? It turns out the jungles of Columbia are nothing like the deserts of Egypt. The idea of a canal au niveau de la mer turned out to be a tremendous mistake that led to one of the greatest scandals of the time and French investors, many being everyday citizens, lost their life savings. The failure of the French effort opened the door for the Americans to become involved and ultimately for a new country to be created. Today the Panama Canal is an amazing engineering marvel and equally great study of geopolitics. The impact of America assuming the project and its successful completion is hard to calculate. How the Panama Canal became what it is today is a fascinating story the likes of which are unlikely to ever be repeated in modern times. Seeing it operate live should be on every cruisers bucket list.

The number you posted is for Speedcast's Ship Dial service. http://www.dialaship.com/ The person calling you enters a ship name and credit card. It rings the ship operator (usually guest services). The moment the call is answered by the ship the clock starts at $7.95 per minute. They round up so 62 seconds is two minutes of charges. On most ships they can transfer the caller to the cabin number provided or they can take a message and they will leave a voicemail on the cabin phone to call guest services for a message. It's likely to result in a charge for the caller of around 2 - 3 minutes at a minimum so $16 to $25-ish and up from there depending how efficient they are explaining the situation and getting off the phone. If they were to be transferred and you happened to answer it's $8 per minute on top of the minute or two it took to get transferred so if you talk for 10 minutes think in the neighborhood of around $100. Talk for 20 minutes? $180-ish. Your head may be spinning but think quick and get off the phone quick.

Have you tried the usual clearing cache, different browser, different computer?

Typically you lose cruise planner purchases if you can't keep the same reservation number. For US bookings on the US website you can normally upgrade categories and keep the same booking number.