BillB48

The lack of the regular volume of Canal cruises over the past couple of years has dried up current information on private tours. You might try looking at the Roll Call for your sailing to see if there is anyone arranging with a local tour operator. Beyond that give Trip Advisor a try to see if there are any tour companies available.

Path, truly was the book of record regarding the Canal. I certainly glad he lent his talents to write such an all encompassing book. Yes, he will be missed.

Ok, I waited until this morning to do the measuring, hoping the effects of last night's vino won't enter into the calculation! I came up with 11.8, so I think your figure is accurate. As I mentioned I've looked at a number of photos of the ships in question and I am just not confident that what I have come up with is all that accurate. Just too much of a fudge factor involved and we are dealing with just a few feet. Here's what I did do in pursuit of discovering heights of overhangs above water on the Liberty just before the flu shut down. In my mind the sticky wicket in the Freedom and Voyager class beyond their air draft was the outside portion of the promenade deck that extends out as it passes the MDR. I measured out a line 60' long with 55' denoted on the line. Had a weight attached and one day while we were in port I dropped it over the side in the vicinity of the overhang by the MDR. Unfortunately I don't think my efforts were very accurate. I came up with a distance of somewhere around 51' to 52' from the water to the walking surface of the deck. There was so much wind blowing and my weight wasn't quite heavy enough, the line had a big bow in it from the wind. In short I did not have a straight drop to the water. Of course the air draft on the Freedom/Voyager class seems to be the preeminent problem. The most common figure I have encountered in 208', but I have seen 207' and on the Mariner the Captain said in one of his chats that it was 206'. So the actual air draft may actually be close enough for modification provided the overhangs or protrusions don't become the deciding dimension. Maybe the statement the Radiance class ships are the largest Royal ships at the Canal might be the final word after all!!

Perhaps all of looking up at the height of the funnel may not be the limiting factor in the Quantum class ability to transit the Canal. The lifeboats sticking outside the profile of the hull is probably OK for the Q class, what could be a problem is the protrusion that essentially is at the base of the lifeboat davits that you mentioned. Protrusions up to 13' are permitted as long as they are 55' above the water. Below that height no protrusion is acceptable. I think the lifeboats are 55 or above, I'm just not so sure about that protrusion that runs along the entire deck at the base of the davits. I have tried guesstimating and interpolating the distance above the water on a number of pictures available on the www, but that is way less than accurate! So, there may be an issue.

Honestly, I don't have any direct knowledge whether they can still lower the funnels or not. I'll link below a YT video showing the funnels being lowered at see during a cruise sometime ago. The poster also describes in the video description about the Oasis's funnels being kept permanently in the raised position but not the Quantum's. That video is a few years old and now the Oasis has been lowering her funnels for the Verranzano Bridge for her New York cruises. The only thing that makes me believe the funnel lowering ability may still be available is both the Quantum and the Ovation have some cruises out of Vancouver. The Lions Gate Bridge has a little less clearance (a foot or so IIRC) than the BoA.

While they have not made a transit as of yet with a Quantum class ship, they were designed with the max air draft for the Bridge of Americas in mind. With the funnels in the lowered position they have an air draft of 205' which is permitted on a case by case basis.

Using the standard you provided in your post #5, it would be the same for the new locks. FLL-LAX port side... LAX-FLL starboard.

Although this doesn't concern cruising it may be of interest to Canal watchers. The CMA CGM Zephyr (1200x167) became the largest ship to transit the Canal in terms of capacity. The Zephyr has a capacity of 16,285 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) which surpasses the record holder for the largest ship by dimension. The largest ship in terms of dimension is held by the Evergreen Triton (1210x167), but only carries 14,424 TEUs. The toll for the Zephyr was just north of $1.2 million. The Zephyr exiting Agua Clara Locks.

Can't be of much help in choosing a cruise line, haven't been on HAL and my NCL experience is not recent. However, I did enjoy NCL when we cruised with them. Totally agree with Turtles about going through the original locks if this is your first transit. Another thing I would let influence my decision is whether or not the ship stops in Panama in addition to the transit. I think that a port stop is a plus to either let you see some more of the Canal or other items of interest in Panama. Some itineraries make the port call before the transit and some after the transit. Either IMO is good.

MeHeartC. summed up what the Sky's Canal cruise entails well. I'll just go into a little more detail and hopefully provide a little better understanding. The Sky will arrive at the Atlantic entrance to the Canal, normally a little before dawn. The ship will travel the next 7 miles to reach Gatun Locks. You will lock up the three chambers of Gatun Locks to the level of Gatun Lake. Once in Gatun Lake the ship will sail a short distance to the Gatun Lake Anchorage. At this point you will tender off the ship and board a bus for the trip to the Pacific side to meet your excursion vessel. This part of the your excursion may operate in one of two ways... leave from Ft. Amador, sail the Pacific entrance, under the Bridge of Americas, lock through Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks and then sail through Gaillard (Culebra) Cut, disembarking at Gamboa. This portion of the excursion can operate in reverse which is equally satisfying. After disembarking your excursion vessel you will return to Colon by bus. Ditto on it can be a long day! IMO it is worth it, in fact this excursion gives you a unique opportunity to experience passing through the locks from two different points of view. One, on your ship at Gatun Locks and a completely different perspective from the excursion vessel at Miraflores and Pedro Miguel. Your ship will seem to almost overwhelm the lock at Gatun and the locks will seem to overpower you on the Pacific side.

Have not heard even a whisper, hopefully that is good news. Of course this is the off season for cruise ships so maybe this time has been used to get the whatever is needed to make the facility operational.

You certainly will have had one of the best viewing positions to see the Canal when you transit. Never the less it may be interesting to see some of the Canal operation from a shore side perspective. Since it is only a half day tour you are looking at, I wouldn't think a stop at the locks would take up much more than 90 minutes or thereabouts. Things I would be on the lookout for points of interest in a City tour would be a visit to el Casco Antiguo, which is the old walled city which was built after Henry Morgan destroyed Old Panama. The ruins of Old Panama (Panama Viejo) is also something that would be of interest as well.

From the looks of it there are a number of cruisers that enjoy the trip down the river and you can add me to that list. The trip up the river is great as well, the down side of the trip up is the end of the cruise is too near! Enjoyed the trip a number of times and never get tired of it. Besides you can't beat a sailaway that lasts 8 hours!

Depends a lot on just where in Panama City you start from. For example if you are starting from the Casco Antiguo (terry&mike referred to as Old Town), 25 minutes a good estimate. Coming from the airport maybe put on another 25. There is a Radisson on the mainland portion of Ft. Amador, which I have stayed at when it was a Country Inns and Suites. It was decent. I was just looking at a facility called The Beach House on one of the islands at the end of the Causeway in Ft. Amador. That one is practically within walking distance of the cruise port terminal. That's new since I was last there. Beyond that Panama has any number of hotels to fit most everyone's taste and budget.

A stop in Colon, then just disregard the portion that deals with transporting you to the Pacific side after you reach Gatun Lake. You still will be transported by bus from the pier to the Pacific side, but everything else remains the same. If you are interested in seeing the Canal this is the best of the Canal excursions. Since you will actually pass through the two locks on the Pacific side along with a passage of Gaillard Cut you will see much more of the Canal than you would with a shore side visit to any of the locks. The bus ride back and forth will provide with view of the country side as well.

From the Vision....

EM, I knew the yearbooks were on line, I just couldn't find them. I had been looking in my own yearbook for the info. Have a look here... http://gozonian.org/yearbooks/z62/image_197.html The younger... http://gozonian.org/yearbooks/z62/image_141.html

I found Jay, he was a sophomore at the time, that would have made him in the same class as mcmarya's husband. It appears the family may have left the Zone after the 1962 school year since I can't find any reference of him in the '63 or '64 yearbooks. End of the school year was always a popular time for families to relocate.

We have to... they don't make them anymore!😉 They just concluded a Panama Canal reunion this past weekend in Orlando. There were around 2000 in attendance. Some of the usual suspects at the pool.

Found her! It appears from the list of school activities listed in the '62 yearbook, she spent the entire 4 years and graduated Balboa High School. Can't say I recall her, while BHS wasn't a huge school, it was a good size. Our graduating class was just under 300 students. The student population of the BHS and Cristobal High Schools (Atlantic side) came from several groups. The largest would have been the children of Canal employees, closely followed by the dependent children of the military. The Canal Zone Schools also accepted the children of contractors that primarily provided additional support to the Canal. Minister's families would have been included in this group. To round it all out there was a significant number of Panamanian families that did not have any direct connection to the Canal were able to send their children to schools in the Canal Zone. A pretty diverse group of students passed through Canal Zone schools.

Ha! I wish!! BHS '62.

Have not used Celebrity for this excursion, but all the cruise lines use the same excursion boats and operate in the same manner. Basically this tour is offered for cruises that are making a partial transit of the Atlantic Locks or just making a port call at Colon. In the case of the partial transit cruise you will tender off the ship once you pass through the locks and reach Gatun Lake. From there you will be transported by bus to the Pacific side where you will board the excursion vessel which will take you through the original set of locks and Gaillard (Culebra) Cut. After the cruise portion of the excursion you will be bused back to Colon where you will re-board the ship. This is an excellent excursion that gives you a good look at the particularly if you are on a partial transit or just a port call at Colon. Happy to try and answer any specific questions.

If you are staying at a hotel in the Casco Antiguo I think you best bet would see what the hotel could offer.

The partial transits are great cruises and I highly recommend them, but a full transit is the best. Enjoy!

It's a small world after all! I grew up there also, went to school in the Zone and worked for the Canal. I had given the bridge commentary as well as a Canal lecture on a couple of cruises just before that "ill" wind blew in.