Live from the Caribbean Princess: Panama Canal - Apr 26 to May 14 - SF to FTL

[GonzoWCS]

13 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We stopped by Vines last night after dinner just to see if they offered Moscato by the glass, and you all were right! They do!! So my DW has surmised that it just takes too much time for our assistant waiter to keep going down to Vines to get me 2-3 glasses during dinner when it’s not on the MDR wine list That wine is probably stored in a more localized area to the Coral MDR where we dine. So after I finish off my 5 bottles I have put on reserve (with extra OBC we have), we’ll start stopping by Vines before coming to dinner to pick up a couple of “free” glasses. 
 

Thanks everyone for telling us about the true value of Vines! 😁

One of our favorite spots, alas the Enchanted does not have a Vines...  We will be on the CB next Saturday and will be having a flight or 2 there.  

 

Cheers

[Ken the cruiser]

I have to admit these one or two days at sea followed by a day in port then another sea day can get addicting if one isn’t careful. 😂 Right now we’re just sitting on the balcony waiting to head down to the theater to watch another one of Fred’s astronomy lectures.

 

 

 

[GonzoWCS]

18 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I have to admit these one or two days at sea followed by a day in port then another sea day can get addicting if one isn’t careful. 😂 Right now we’re just sitting on the balcony waiting to head down to the theater to watch another one of Fred’s astronomy lectures.

 

 

 

When we did the Panama Canal from LA - FLL back when on the Island we were blown away how calm the massive Pacific Ocean was.  Looks like smooth sailing.  

 

Cheers

[Ken the cruiser]

Just now, GonzoWCS said:

When we did the Panama Canal from LA - FLL back when on the Island we were blown away how calm the massive Pacific Ocean was.  Looks like smooth sailing.  

 

Cheers

So far it’s been pretty calm. A few minor swales at times, but mostly the weather has been great and the seas calm.

[Ken the cruiser]

Just got back from Fred’s Cruising to the Ringed Planet lecture. As always it was very interesting and he had some cool pictures!

 

 

Rocket that took the camera and associated equipment to Saturn which took all these cool pictures and subsequently sent them back to earth. 

 

 

 

 

North Pole of Saturn

 

Gaseous atmosphere of Titan, the largest moon circling Saturn

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Fun time this afternoon listening to Kerry tell us about the origins of chocolate and how it has evolved to a worldwide treasure. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[c-boy]

10 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Fun time this afternoon listening to Kerry tell us about the origins of chocolate and how it has evolved to a worldwide treasure. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

geeez  now I'm hungry 🙄

[Tak8]

A talk on chocolate, I'm in.

[phabric]

Something interesting to listening to instead of hearing all about which store to buying in.

[Ken the cruiser]

After dinner we did a little exploring and headed to the top decks to find The Sanctuary and the putt-putt course. I must say we were a little underwhelmed by the golf course. The Sanctuary looks like a nice place, but there is a charge even if you’re in a full suite. 
 

 

 

But we also discovered a beautiful sunset. But as with all sunsets, it all depends on timing. 😂

 

 

 

 

Then there was this view that was a little to the left. 

[Ken the cruiser]

The evening show in the theater was performed by comedian Gary Delena who was quite funny! 
 

 

But as is usually the case the highlight of the evening was the premier of the brand new game show in Explorers Lounge called Read My Lips which involved lip syncing to a song and, of course, basically making the audience laugh.
 

I apologize for the quality of the pictures, but the only seats we could find were behind the judges. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 13, Sunday, May 8, Fuerte Amador (Panama City), Panama

 

 

[Kiran]

Ken

 

have you tried the peach muscato carried by Trader Joes?

 

i have a bottle in fridge i could leave at guest services desk if you havent had yet but like to try

 

thank you for your posting

 

tried Fred lecture after reading here and was hooked

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Kiran said:

Ken

 

have you tried the peach muscato carried by Trader Joes?

 

i have a bottle in fridge i could leave at guest services desk if you havent had yet but like to try

 

thank you for your posting

 

tried Fred lecture after reading here and was hooked

 

 

No, and thank you for the offer, but we’re good. I’m glad my thread helped to guide you towards Fred’s lectures. He does give some good ones. At home I drink blueberry and blackberry wine from a local winery. 

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived at our tendering spot near Panama City and it does appear there are ships in the queue waiting to go through the canal. 
 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

BTW if anyone was curious, maybe 5-10% of passengers on Princess excursions sitting in the theater waiting to go on a tender have their mask on. 
 

[Denali2003]

My husband just read that a Carnival ship that just did the Panama Canal (FL - CA) is ORANGE status with Covid Cases.  @KenTheCruiser have you heard of any cases on board or people being quarantined?  I am curious about the testing between the B2B cruises.  I personally hope they do test.  As we are on the May 14th & 21st sailings.  We will be wearing our masks both on & off the ship.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, Denali2003 said:

My husband just read that a Carnival ship that just did the Panama Canal (FL - CA) is ORANGE status with Covid Cases.  @KenTheCruiser have you heard of any cases on board or people being quarantined?  I am curious about the testing between the B2B cruises.  I personally hope they do test.  As we are on the May 14th & 21st sailings.  We will be wearing our masks both on & off the ship.

There have been no announcements of C19 on the ship. I also just checked and CB is still coded as Yellow. 

[GonzoWCS]

13 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

There have been no announcements of C19 on the ship. I also just checked and CB is still coded as Yellow. 

Ken just wondering if the ship is announcing to folks to take extra precautions going ashore with C19 about.  They announced those types of things earlier in the year, but wondering if they are a bit more relaxed or maintaining awareness?

 

Cheers

[cltnccruisers]

We were on CP for a family cruise in March and will be back onboard June 4 sans family.   We're not expecting anything in the way of cosmetic changes and will be content with mechanical fixes.  The engines ran a little rough in March.  That may have been in part to some pretty rough seas.  The main mechanical issue was that the toilets on a few decks, including ours, stopped working a couple of times.  At home you usually just grab a plunger.  On board I expect it's a bit more complicated.

 

Also, how are they handling MDR seating?  Still changing tables and staff every night or have they come to their senses? 

 

Thanks.

[Ken the cruiser]

56 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said:

Ken just wondering if the ship is announcing to folks to take extra precautions going ashore with C19 about.  They announced those types of things earlier in the year, but wondering if they are a bit more relaxed or maintaining awareness?

 

Cheers

Not a peep. Although a lady sitting in front of us, as we wait for clearance to tender ashore, got her name called to report to the theater entrance. She came back 20 minutes later and said she got tested as she was traced, and said she has to test again, probably tomorrow.
 

Then after she got back a man’s name in another part of the theater was called. So obviously there is at least one person on the ship that has reported positive to the medical office.

 

Then there is a guy two rows in front of us that said his DW is sick back in the cabin, but she tested negative. 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

16 minutes ago, cltnccruisers said:

We were on CP for a family cruise in March and will be back onboard June 4 sans family.   We're not expecting anything in the way of cosmetic changes and will be content with mechanical fixes.  The engines ran a little rough in March.  That may have been in part to some pretty rough seas.  The main mechanical issue was that the toilets on a few decks, including ours, stopped working a couple of times.  At home you usually just grab a plunger.  On board I expect it's a bit more complicated.

 

Also, how are they handling MDR seating?  Still changing tables and staff every night or have they come to their senses? 

 

Thanks.

We’re in CC dining and we’re at the same table with the same waiters every night. However, we did go check out the Palm DR last night and were told folks can ask the manager if they can sit at the same table with the same waiters without any problem. 

[cltnccruisers]

Just now, Ken the cruiser said:

We’re in CC dining and we’re at the same table with the same waiters every night. However, we did go check out the Palm DR last night and were told folks can ask the manager if they can sit at the same table with the same waiters without any problem. 

That is what we did in March on CP and November in Sky.  It took about 1/2 the cruise each time to get it done.  Hopefully that's been ironed out.  It's not just the point of convenience for us but I believe it costs the staff tips.  We always tip above and beyond standard for good service.  But we do so at cruise end not every night.

[Ken the cruiser]

We’re next!! Yay!! Just a little over a 2 hour delay. Tender ports are always so much fun! 😂
 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[GonzoWCS]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We’re next!! Yay!! Just a little over a 2 hour delay. Tender ports are always so much fun! 😂

It is amazing that over 100 years later the old locks work and are maintained as engineered.  A absolute feat!  Can't wait to go through the new locks in the future

 

Cheers