January 28, 2022 Panama Canal Full Transit - Live From Emerald Princess

[Shelly97060]

For those sailing on Emerald and missing Alfredo’s pizza. Tonight we ordered room service pizza for the first time. It was $3 for a pizza that was approximately 12 inches in diameter. We thought this pizza was like what we would get at Alfredo’s and was very good.  Nice thin crispy crust! 

[iamaqt2]

49 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

For those sailing on Emerald and missing Alfredo’s pizza. Tonight we ordered room service pizza for the first time. It was $3 for a pizza that was approximately 12 inches in diameter. We thought this pizza was like what we would get at Alfredo’s and was very good.  Nice thin crispy crust! 

Thanks for that heads up Shelly!  Is there an option for toppings?  Or is it pretty standard offerings such as cheese or pepperoni?

[Shelly97060]

32 minutes ago, iamaqt2 said:

Thanks for that heads up Shelly!  Is there an option for toppings?  Or is it pretty standard offerings such as cheese or pepperoni?

Here’s the menu of what you can order directly from TV menu or App. If you want to customize you would need to call room service.

[LBBLovestoCruise]

10 hours ago, Robbie555 said:

It must be a real bummer to be anchored in Cartagena but to not be able to go onshore. 🥵

I agree... they know this going in so they should sub out a port.  Frustrating.  

[iamaqt2]

7 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

Here’s the menu of what you can order directly from TV menu or App. If you want to customize you would need to call room service.

Wow those are some great Room Service pizza options!  Thanks for the menu!

[Shelly97060]

1 minute ago, LBBLovestoCruise said:

I agree... they know this going in so they should sub out a port.  Frustrating.  

The captain announced that though other options were considered they were too far away for us to visit and still be able to reach the Panama Canal at the time reserved for our passage. 

[Robbie555]

9 minutes ago, LBBLovestoCruise said:

I agree... they know this going in so they should sub out a port.  Frustrating.  

For the half-transite round trip from FLL on 1/18/22, Cartagena was replaced by a day at Princess Cays in the Bahamas. Too bad that neither Cartagena and Nicaragua have been replaced by sea days. 🤬

[skid1127]

On 1/28/2022 at 4:31 PM, jeno said:

San Juan del Sur has been cancelled for the 2/12 cruise for weeks.  Replaced by sea day.  They are not going to replace it with a port. 

Did Princess refund your port fees for these missed ports? If so, was it prior to embarkation since their cancellation was done in advance?

[weedpindle]

5 hours ago, LBBLovestoCruise said:

I agree... they know this going in so they should sub out a port.  Frustrating.  

There is no distant foreign port (necessary fo pvsa requirements) close enough to maintain schedule. No way to sub a port

[weedpindle]

8 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, is there plenty of space between occupied tables in the MDR?

3 feet max

[whitecap]

Can anyone onboard Emerald advise if there is Almond milk available?

[Shelly97060]

Just now, whitecap said:

Can anyone onboard Emerald advise if there is Almond milk available?

Yes there is. 

[whitecap]

20 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

Yes there is. 

Thanks so much.  DW really likes the unsweetened Almond milk.

[Essiesmom]

Transit time.  Unfortunately, the cam at Agua Clara locks has been stuck since 1/27.  But here is the view from the bridge:

 

 

 

[luv2cruisin]

If ya can and have a chance to ask the head waiter during dinner service in MDR...  are they currently selling (or sell on return leg to FLL) the '10/12 bottle wine package' (for those who did not purchase the beverage package)?  TIA 

[coo359a2]

8 hours ago, skid1127 said:

Did Princess refund your port fees for these missed ports? If so, was it prior to embarkation since their cancellation was done in advance?

Nothing has shown up on the medallion app section for account since we have been on the ship

[jeanandjim]

6 hours ago, luv2cruisin said:

If ya can and have a chance to ask the head waiter during dinner service in MDR...  are they currently selling (or sell on return leg to FLL) the '10/12 bottle wine package' (for those who did not purchase the beverage package)?  TIA 

This is a paste from my Jan.8 live from:

 

I checked with our head waiter tonight. He said no they are not because of all the inclusive drink packages being sold. He also said that they used to get a commission on drink related items like wines, after dinner drink glassware etc. But that has now gone away. There is no incentive for them. There is no hard sell by the dining staff, so guess, bad news/good news.

Jim😎

[luv2cruisin]

6 minutes ago, jeanandjim said:

This is a paste from my Jan.8 live from:

 

I checked with our head waiter tonight. He said no they are not because of all the inclusive drink packages being sold. He also said that they used to get a commission on drink related items like wines, after dinner drink glassware etc. But that has now gone away. There is no incentive for them. There is no hard sell by the dining staff, so guess, bad news/good news.

Jim😎

 

Thank you for the current update.  Our PVP said that Princess ships were doing the package.  I had hoped that between the Jan 8-18 posting to the now current 'live' leg, they would re-add the package.  Thanks for checking again this leg!  I'll let the PVP know as well 🙂

[gardenbunny]

We have March 13th RT FLL partial Panama Canal that we booked on our NYE cruise.  Our itinerary shows FLL, Grand Cayman, Cartagena, Passage, Limon, Ocho Rios, FLL

More variables than usual due to Cocid testing, passage time, etc.

Stay flexable 😀. 

[beg3yrs]

16 hours ago, Robbie555 said:

For the half-transite round trip from FLL on 1/18/22, Cartagena was replaced by a day at Princess Cays in the Bahamas. Too bad that neither Cartagena and Nicaragua have been replaced by sea days. 🤬

They needed a distant foreign port to satisfy the PVSA. Aruba, Bonaire and Dominica are too far and the rest of Central America and the Caribbean islands do not satisfy that requirement. Santa Marta, another Colombian port has been called at before but they've probably got the same restrictions as Cartagena.

[Essiesmom]

From the Cerro Luisa cam, passing Pedro Miguel Locks

 

 

 

 

 

[John99]

General information -- Tolls are set by the Panama Canal Authority. Tolls for the largest ships can run about $450,000 or more.   Plus, the ships must be measured – another fee.  Money must be deposited in a Panama bank before transit.   No credit is given.  All cash transaction.  Pre-approval to transit must be granted by the Authority which is after the money is deposited.  

 

The following information shall be ready for inspection to the Boarding Officer:

1. Arrival draft in salt and fresh water, forward and aft displacement

2. Last ten ports of call before arriving to Panama Canal

3. Crew List

4. Passenger List

5. Fuel on board

6. Voyage Number

 

There are numerous certificates (approx. 12) that must be presented to the Boarding Officer:  Certificate of Fitness, International Tonnage Certificate, etc. 

 

 

[Robbie555]

On 1/31/2022 at 10:32 AM, coo359a2 said:

Not so much for us as we have been several times but know others were looking forward to it.  The Captain just explained why we were anchored her.  To meet CBP requirements for far and distant ports only Aruba, Bonaire, Curcaco and Cartagena can be used.  Going to Panama the ABC islands are too far to be able to be used for Canal cruises.  Hope this makes sense

I hate to add insult to injury, but checking out other threads....sailings from other cruise lines such as Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America Line, and Regent Seven Seas all successfully stopped in Cartagena, Colombia today and passengers were able to get off and engage in their excursions.

 

How come these other cruise lines could make proper arrangements to anchor in Cartagena, but Princess could not! 😤😡

Edited February 2, 2022 by Robbie555

[Ken the cruiser]

39 minutes ago, Robbie555 said:

I hate to add insult to injury, but checking out other threads....sailings from other cruise lines such as Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America Line, and Regent Seven Seas all successfully stopped in Cartagena, Colombia today and passengers were able to get off and engage in their excursions.

 

How come these other cruise lines could make proper arrangements to anchor in Cartagena, but Princess could not! 😤😡

This might have something to do with the change today.

 

Cartagena, Colombia, Feb 1 (EFE).- An easing of Colombia’s Covid-19 restrictions on cruise ship passengers that took effect on Tuesday was welcome news for hard-hit tour operators, tour guides and local retailers.

Cruise passengers who had wanted to visit that colonial port city previously had to show a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours before boarding their ship.

 

https://www.laprensalatina.com/easing-of-covid-measures-for-cruises-offers-hope-for-colombian-tourist-city/

[gardenbunny]

Good job Ken the Cruiser!   Actually I remember reading about that on Enchanted in early January that a ship could not stop because of 7 cases.

We had just booked on board our March 13 Canal cruise.  I said well maybe it will be open again by March.

Guess they decided now it was too much economic impact since ships stopped coming.