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Panama Canal full transit

TandAatsea

By TandAatsea,
in Celebrity Cruises

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TandAatsea

TandAatsea

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After doing some research on the Panama Forum it has come to our attention that some cruise lines hire a historian to narrate information as the ship travels the canal.

Does anyone know if Celebrity does this? How informative it actually is? etc...

We are travelling on the Infinity at the end of April!

Thanks :)

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TravelerThom

TravelerThom

Posted
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After doing some research on the Panama Forum it has come to our attention that some cruise lines hire a historian to narrate information as the ship travels the canal.

Does anyone know if Celebrity does this? How informative it actually is? etc...

We are travelling on the Infinity at the end of April!

Thanks :)

Yes all cruise ships have this. For the quarter of a million US dollars that the ship pays to transit the canal, the Panama Canal Administration throws in a no additional cost a pilot and a narrator. It is pretty informative - and the ship will have continuously cycling TV shows about the Panama Canal which are worth watching before your transit. You will get to see the progress being made on the new larger third lane of the Canal.

 

I have done the transit on the departed Celebrity Mercury and on the Celebrity Infinity.

 

enjoy

Thom

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boogs

boogs

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.... For the quarter of a million US dollars that the ship pays to transit the canal, .....

 

During our transit on the Infinity in 2009 the captain mentioned on one of his talks about ship's operations that the bill for our transit was about $330,000. This included a reserved slot on a specific date and time (normally, a ship arrives and goes to the end of the line behind dozens of other ships, sometimes waiting two or three days for their turn), the pilot, the tug boat that escorts the ship through the narrow section of the canal, and the eight "mules" (the electric locomotives that guide the ship through the locks as it moves under it's own power). The total cost is based on the total number of revenue bed positions a passenger ship has, regardless if they are occupied or not.

 

Ships waiting their turn after we are given permission to proceed just two hours after we arrived:

 

CIMG0844.JPG

 

 

Our tugboat escort through the narrow Gaillard Cut:

 

CIMG0930.JPG

 

 

"Mules" guiding container ship through the last of the Gatun Locks, as it moves under it's own power towards the Atlantic Ocean. Note how close to the walls this ship is - barely two feet on each side:

 

CIMG1041.JPG

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robtulipe

robtulipe

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During our transit on the Infinity in 2009 the captain mentioned on one of his talks about ship's operations that the bill for our transit was about $330,000.

 

That is why the port fees and taxes are so high for a panama canal cruise as this add about $165 in fees per passenger for a panamax ship like the X M class.

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boogs

boogs

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Cruise ships above 30,000GRT pay US$134 per berth as of the 1 Apr 2011 Panama Canal Authority Maritime Tariffs http://www.pancanal.com/eng/op/tariff/1010-0000.pdf

 

Thom

 

Thom, thanks! I looked at the link and notived that there is a difference in tariff for ships with passengers and ships with no passengers. Either I mis-heard what the captain said about same cost regardless how many passengers, or the tariffs have changed, or the captain was simplifying the info so as to not get too technical for us non technical people. Thanks for the further clarification.

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Northern Aurora

Northern Aurora

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We also did a full transit of the Panama Canal on the now departed, but not forgotten, Mercury in 2008. The Celebrity naturalist Milos Radavich (I know that is not the correct spelling of his last name, but anyone who has had him as a naturalist knows who I am talking about.) did excellent presentations on history and construction of the canal. The day of the actual transit we had one of the official guides on board, and, as mentioned above, the guide's live narration was also broadcast live on the ship's TV channel.

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TravelerThom

TravelerThom

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Thom, thanks! I looked at the link and notived that there is a difference in tariff for ships with passengers and ships with no passengers. Either I mis-heard what the captain said about same cost regardless how many passengers, or the tariffs have changed, or the captain was simplifying the info so as to not get too technical for us non technical people. Thanks for the further clarification.
I THINK you heard correctly. I found the Tariff sheet a little confusing. At first I thought the Tariff was $134 per occupied berth, and $108 per unoccupied berth, but I think that the "$108 per berth when in ballast without passengers or cargo" applies only to ships dead-heading with zero passengers [and you might claim that with zero passengers it is not a cruise ship]. I don't see anything saying revenue berths, but I think [as you said] that these charges are against revenue berths.

 

Note that the Panamax RCI Jewel of the Seas [90,090GRT (Gross Registry Tons); 2501 passengers] would pay significantly more than the slightly larger Celebrity Infinity [90,280GRT; 1950 passengers],

 

Thom

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Rassa

Rassa

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After doing some research on the Panama Forum it has come to our attention that some cruise lines hire a historian to narrate information as the ship travels the canal.

Does anyone know if Celebrity does this? How informative it actually is? etc...

We are travelling on the Infinity at the end of April!

Thanks :)

 

I was on Infinity two years ago next April. Yes, there was a historian on board and he naratted for about 7 hours, with some rests, of course. It was fantastic and interesting and I would love to do it again.

 

If you do a search on these threads, someone started a thread of their Panama crossing with lots of pictures of the cruise about a year ago on Infinity - it brought back some great memories.

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BillB48

BillB48

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After doing some research on the Panama Forum it has come to our attention that some cruise lines hire a historian to narrate information as the ship travels the canal.

Does anyone know if Celebrity does this? How informative it actually is? etc...

We are travelling on the Infinity at the end of April!

Thanks :)

 

While I have not been on a Canal transit with X, I'm sure they will have a historian/port lecturer on board for your cruise. Hard to imagine that they would not have someone like that on board. Whether or not this person will provide the commentary for the Canal transit, I really don't know. My last full transit was on RCI who provided a port lecturer for the cruise, while the transit narration was provided by someone from the Canal. The Canal narration was informative and accurate. The port lecturer on the other hand, his two presentations about the Canal were true disappointments. The presentations were polished and professional in appearance, however the information he provided had some very glaring errors. The errors were significant enough for me to wonder how accurate his lectures were in the other presentations he gave that I attended.

 

Here's hoping you will get a great port lecturer and Canal narration as well. Whatever happens it still will be a great cruise!

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mpace58

mpace58

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I strongly recommend reading "A PATH BETWEEN THE SEAS" before going. It is available in paperback and on iPad books for $19.99.

 

You will be so informed you will impress others.

 

I agree!! It is a great book detailing the history of the Panama Canal. After reading it and then sailing by the french canal you think, "All those years, and that's what you accomplished?" :D

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