Turtles06: my review of our 23 days aboard the Gem's B2B Panama Canal cruises, NY to Fuerte Amador and the return

[Turtles06]

Port of Call  -- Puerto Limón, Costa Rica x 2

 

Our first visit

 

Although we’ve been to the Pacific side of Costa Rica on prior Panama Canal cruises, our two visits to Puerto Limón on this B2B were our first to that country on the Atlantic side.  On leg 1 (Feb. 4), we took an NCL excursion called Tortuguero Canals and River Cruise.  Having really enjoyed a boat ride down the Tarcoles River on a tour out of Puntarenas, and seen amazing wildlife, we were hoping for something similar here.  

 

Unfortunately, with the Gem not arriving in Puerto Limón until 11am, the shore excursion did not leave until after lunch, in the heat of the day.  By that time in the tropics, most critters with half a brain are off somewhere taking a nap.  Still, thanks to our guide and boat driver, we managed to see a sloth (sleeping in a tree, I can’t recall how many toes 😂), a couple of small crocodiles, a cormorant, several yellow-crowned night herons, a tiny poison dart frog, and a huge iguana. The boat ride evoked Disney’s Jungle Cruise, except that our boat had tiny molded plastic bucket seats that were extremely uncomfortable and really diminished our enjoyment of the ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the boat ride, we made a stop at a big souvenir store.  By this point, I just wanted to get back on the ship.  But even that turned out to be a hassle, since the Gem had only one gangway open, and with numerous excursions returning at the same time, it was a bit of a wait in a single line to get back on board. 

 

We did have a beautiful evening sky and a full moon for our sailaway though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[OC_CruiseHopper]

On 2/23/2023 at 5:30 PM, Turtles06 said:

Puerto Plata: our second visit (Feb. 14)

 

On our second port call to Taino Bay, we had a private city tour of Puerto Plata that we’d booked with Marysol Tours.  They were an excellent company to deal with; all of my emails were answered promptly, they were ready to shift things around if we wound up at Amber Cove, and on the day of our visit, our guide was waiting outside the secure gate as had been planned.   

 

Our tour started with a visit to the local rum factory.  There was a mildly interesting video about the history of their rum production, but much of the time was taken up in the tasting room.  This was not really my thing (especially at 10am and especially not without Coke or the makings of a piña colada), but I could see that other folks who were there on a ship’s tour were getting pretty “happy,” since eight different rums were poured in order, and there were no dump buckets that we could see anywhere. Everyone got one cup to use, and if you wanted to taste another rum, you needed to finish the prior sample.  I’ll just say it got a little rowdy in there.  😂

 

 

After that, we visited a small Amber Museum, which was more about the Museum “guides” trying to sell us their amber products than anything else. But there were some interesting displays, including this one of a lizard trapped inside the amber:

 

 

At the Amber Museum, we also learned about a blue stone called Larimar, a rare blue variety of pectolite that is found only in the southern Dominican Republic.  I fell in love with the color, and on the way back to the ship, I bought a Larimar rock at the Blue Stone store in Taino Bay.   (There was of course ample  --- and pricey -- Larimar jewelry to be purchased for those so inclined.)

 

 

We also visited Puerto Plata’s small Central Park (really a plaza), and the cathedral, and walked through the colorful streets, including a paseo dedicated to Doña Blanca, who had been instrumental in the early development of tourism in Puerto Plata in the late 19th Century.  Everything in it is painted pink, her favorite color. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most interesting for me was visiting the Fortaleza de San Felipe, the small Spanish fort guarding the harbor, with beautiful views of the ocean.  Like other Spanish forts of the era, it has the iconic garitas.  Fortuitously, we were there during a temporary exhibit of some whimsical public art, which was sharing space with the cannons and fortifications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fort was just across the water from the ship, giving us a nice look at the Gem.

 

 

 

As we had after our first visit to Puerto Plata, we had a lovely sailaway, going right past the Fortaleza.

 

 

For some reason, Cruise Critic insists on re-inserting the rum bottles again.  I can't delete them, so let's just end the day with them! 🙂 

 

I'll be in Puerto Plata next week, and this tour looks perfect. Can you share how much it cost?

 

[Turtles06]

3 hours ago, OC_CruiseHopper said:

I'll be in Puerto Plata next week, and this tour looks perfect. Can you share how much it cost?

 

Yes, it was $60pp. There were two of us. I think if you had more people, the cost might go down. 
 

Enjoy! 

[NayRN]

@Turtles06

Thanks so much for the review of Puerto Plata! I’ll be on the Escape in June and was hoping that I could simply hang around the port without booking an excursion. Fingers crossed 🤞that we will be able to get to Taino Bay….

[OC_CruiseHopper]

6 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Yes, it was $60pp. There were two of us. I think if you had more people, the cost might go down. 
 

Enjoy! 

Holy Cow! That's cheap. Thanks!

[Turtles06]

34 minutes ago, OC_CruiseHopper said:

Holy Cow! That's cheap. Thanks!

 

You're welcome.  If you haven't already seen it, the City Tour is on their web site, at the link below.  We customized it to exclude the beach.  They're very flexible, it's your tour.  🙂 

 

https://marysoltours.net/puerto-plata-city-beach-2/

[Turtles06]

The Gem installs a wave pool

 

I'm not sure why the pools weren't closed when this was going on, but at least no one was foolish enough to get in

 

 

 

[sailingships]

On 2/20/2023 at 2:47 PM, Turtles06 said:

23 days aboard the Gem doing B2B Panama Canal cruises, NY to Panama City/Fuerte Amador (Jan. 25-Feb. 6) and Panama City/Fuerte Amador to NY (Feb. 6-17). 

Yes It was great !!!  We did a Partial Panama Feb 2017 and had wanted to do the whole Canal since then. We got to do the Canal TWICE in the one week !!!  

[sailingships]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

The Gem installs a wave pool

LOL I remember seeing that. The waves were also rolling and spraying quite high towards the rear wall. I wondered if anyone would break out the surf boards !!!

[sailingships]

On 2/22/2023 at 4:04 PM, Turtles06 said:

San Juan – the second visit

 

 

In anticipation of visiting the fort, we’d brought our National Parks Senior Passes with us on the trip, which give us free entry to all NPS sites, including El Morro.  (Best 10 bucks ever spent!)  Oddly, the ranger at the entrance insisted that we show him not only our passes, but also a photo ID that had our respective signatures on it.  What?  We’ve never, ever, at any NPS site, been asked to show anything with our passes but a photo ID (and often not even that), never anything with a signature.  Indeed, the back of the NPS pass says “valid photo ID required,” it says nothing about a signature.  Nonetheless, the ranger would not accept our Global Entry Cards as proof of our identities – good enough to get us back into the U.S. from abroad but apparently not into El Morro!  Had it not been for the fact that we were carrying our passports with us because of the CBP inspection (we typically leave our passports in the cabin safe when we go ashore), neither of us would have had an ID with our signatures with us that day.   

 

Ive been using my NP card or my VA card to get into the forts for years and they have always asked for extra ID. I just use my DL. They dont look at any signature just the photo. I wave both cards in front of them and they wave me and my party (4 can get in using an NP or VA card) on in without looking closely. We went to the forts 3X this year so far 2x on the B2Bs and another time on the Sky in early Jan. Each time, no hassle. 

[Turtles06]

36 minutes ago, sailingships said:

We got to do the Canal TWICE in the one week !!! 

 

Yup, awesome, I'll be posting about those transits (with photos) very shortly!

 

16 minutes ago, sailingships said:

Ive been using my NP card or my VA card to get into the forts for years and they have always asked for extra ID. I just use my DL.

 

We always used to carry our Driver's Licenses ashore as our photo IDs, but now take our Global Entry cards instead, since it would be worse to have something happen to our DLs. 

[pantinone]

Following

[Turtles06]

TWO FULL TRANSITS OF THE PANAMA CANAL

 

The gem (pun intended) of our 23-day B2B adventure was getting to make two full transits of the Panama Canal, one in each direction (not to mention within days of each other).  Prior to this trip, we’d done two full transits of the Canal, both north to south (the Atlantic to the Pacific).  We loved them, and we’ve been eager for years to do a transit from the south to the north; the second leg of this B2B would give us that opportunity. Also, despite having gone through the Canal twice, we’d never actually set foot in Panama, so we were very excited about having that turnaround day in Panama City on the Gem between the two legs of the B2B.

 

Even on these third and fourth transits, we still found it absolutely fascinating to go through the Canal.  Here we go  . . . 

Our first transit of the B2B  -- from the Atlantic to the Pacific (Feb. 5)

 

The Canal is 50 miles long, and a full transit takes the entire day.  From the Atlantic, using the original 1914 locks, as the Gem did, a ship proceeds through the three chambers of the Gatun Locks, which raise the ship a total of 85 feet, then sails across the human-made Gatun Lake and through the Culebra Cut, and is lowered back down a total of 85 feet via the single-chamber Pedro Miguel Locks and the two chambers of the Miraflores Locks, and exits into the Pacific Ocean.  During the transit, you see all manner of cargo and other commercial ships, some of them huge, and often other cruise ships.  It’s a fascinating day all around.

 

,As does any full transit, our day began early, with a sail under the new Atlantic Bridge.  The historic Gatun Locks are to the right; the new Agua Clara Locks (part of the 2016 expansion of the Canal) are off to the left:

 

 

To the right (off the starboard side) is the only remnant of the original French excavation. It looks like a little creek and is easily missed:

 

 

Approaching the Gatun Locks. Traffic coming from the Pacific is in the left lane.  That's the little Wind Star in front of us, waiting to enter the Gatun Locks: 

 

 

When we got to the Gatun Locks, we noticed that the Wind Star was not moving forward -- we could see that the left lock gate in front of her was stuck in the closed position.  That meant we weren't going anywhere either.  This was a first for us.  Meanwhile, we got a great, long look at the huge ships coming toward us from the Pacific.

 

 

It took close to an hour for the problem with the lock gate to be fixed.  After that, the rest of our transit proceeded without a hitch.  

 

The Wind Star about to exit the first chamber of the Gatun Locks, as we await our turn:

 

 

And now the lock gates are opening up for us:

 

 

Here's a different perspective in the Gatun Locks — from the stern of the Gem, looking back at the traffic behind us:

 

 

 

These are mules — electric locomotives that are tied to a ship (on both sides) to keep it centered in the lock chamber:

 

 

 

 

Back to the bow — the Gem is entering the third and final chamber of the Gatun Locks, will be raised up about 28 feet (note the level of the water in the lock in the left lane), and will then proceed into Gatun Lake:

 

 

 

To be continued . . . 

[Turtles06]

The first Panama Canal Transit of our B2B (continued)

 

Before continuing with the transit, let me mention that a Canal expert from the Panama Canal Authority comes on board cruise ships to "narrate" the transit, giving all sorts of information about where the ship is, what we are seeing, historical facts, etc.  On the Gem, the narration was broadcast into all public spaces and on stateroom TVs.  The narrator on the first transit of our B2B was terrific. 

 

Because we've been through the Canal before, I did not take many photographs as the Gem crossed Gatun Lake.  The crossing of the Lake is a good time (even on a first transit) to take a little break from the heat, have some lunch, get back inside the a/c.  But don't get me wrong, don't miss the crossing of the Lake.  Among other things, you never know what ships you'll see.

 

As we entered Gatun Lake, the narrator told us that we'd be passing the NCL Jewel, which was coming north from the Pacific.  Wow, what a great surprise!   The Jewel was the ship on which my wife and I had first transited the Canal, back in 2017.  Oddly, the Captains of the two sister ships did not toot their horns in greeting.  At first I thought that might be prohibited in the Canal, but it's my understanding that it's not, at least not in places where it won't cause any confusion.  In any event, it was terrific fun to see the Jewel right there in the Canal with us:

 

 

 

Here are a couple of big ships we passed in the Lake: the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Oberon (a vehicle carrier) and the OOCL Singapore (a container ship):

 

 

 

After leaving Gatun Lake, the Gem reached Gamboa, headquarters of the Canal's Dredging Division.  The Canal must be dredged constantly, to keep it open:

 

 

Before reaching the locks on the Pacific side of the Canal, the Gem first had to go through the Culebra Cut  -- where the Canal was cut through the Continental Divide, an almost impossible undertaking.  We followed the Emerald Princess through the Cut and then under the Centennial Bridge.   

 

 

 

 

Here we are approaching the single-chambered Pedro Miguel Locks, on the Pacific side. This Lock and the two chambers of the Miraflores Locks will lower the Gem a total of 85 feet, back to sea level, and allow her to sail into the Pacific.  Note that the Wind Star has been lowered in the lock chamber:

 

The Emerald Princess, heading off to the new Cocoli Locks on the Pacific side:

 

 

The two chambers of the Miraflores Locks, which will lower us to the Pacific; the Wind Star is in the left lane.  (On the far left in the first photo is the Miraflores Visitor Center.)

 

 

 

And finally, the Bridge of the Americas, at the Pacific end of the Canal.  What a day!

 

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by Turtles06

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

These are mules — electric locomotives

Now you've gone and spoiled the surprise for the Panama Canal newbs. 😁 

 

Your pictures are so much nicer than the ones I've taken on our transits.

[Turtles06]

56 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Your pictures are so much nicer than the ones I've taken on our transits.

Paul, thank you, you are too kind. 

[KBMILA]

On 2/25/2023 at 6:27 PM, Turtles06 said:

Port of Call  -- Puerto Limón, Costa Rica x 2

 

Our first visit

 

Although we’ve been to the Pacific side of Costa Rica on prior Panama Canal cruises, our two visits to Puerto Limón on this B2B were our first to that country on the Atlantic side.  On leg 1 (Feb. 4), we took an NCL excursion called Tortuguero Canals and River Cruise.  Having really enjoyed a boat ride down the Tarcoles River on a tour out of Puntarenas, and seen amazing wildlife, we were hoping for something similar here.  

 

Unfortunately, with the Gem not arriving in Puerto Limón until 11am, the shore excursion did not leave until after lunch, in the heat of the day.  By that time in the tropics, most critters with half a brain are off somewhere taking a nap.  Still, thanks to our guide and boat driver, we managed to see a sloth (sleeping in a tree, I can’t recall how many toes 😂), a couple of small crocodiles, a cormorant, several yellow-crowned night herons, a tiny poison dart frog, and a huge iguana. The boat ride evoked Disney’s Jungle Cruise, except that our boat had tiny molded plastic bucket seats that were extremely uncomfortable and really diminished our enjoyment of the ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the boat ride, we made a stop at a big souvenir store.  By this point, I just wanted to get back on the ship.  But even that turned out to be a hassle, since the Gem had only one gangway open, and with numerous excursions returning at the same time, it was a bit of a wait in a single line to get back on board. 

 

We did have a beautiful evening sky and a full moon for our sailaway though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turtles06,

Its seem we’ve been on the same excursion in Puerto Limon 🙂:

Edited February 26, 2023 by KBMILA
Add

[Turtles06]

14 minutes ago, KBMILA said:

Its seem we’ve been on the same excursion in Puerto Limon 🙂

 

Yup, small world!  🙂

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by Turtles06

[Turtles06]

Turnaround Day: Fuerte Amador, Panama City

 

After our southbound transit of the Panama Canal on February 5, the Gem sailed into the Pacific.  At some point during the night, we docked at Fuerte Amador, at the end of the Amador Causeway, where all but the approximately 300 of us doing the B2B were disembarking on February 6. 

 

From the ship, we had a great view of Panama City: 

 

 

As some of you reading this may know, the cruise terminal being built by Panama at Fuerte Amador  -- formerly a tender port – is well behind schedule and still has not been completed.  The entire area is a construction zone mess, and the road around it is unpaved.  Thus, while ships can and do dock there now, passengers are not allowed off the pier, and no taxis or other forms of private transportation are allowed in.  Rather, passengers must take shuttle buses to a drop off location and proceed to their destinations from there.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In our case, since the Gem was not having a mere port call but rather a turnaround day – with current passengers disembarking and new passengers arriving and needing to be checked in for their cruise – shuttle buses were taking everyone to and from the Panama Convention Center, a few miles away, which was being used as a temporary cruise terminal.  (The exception was for disembarking guests who had NCL transfers to the airport; they went directly there.) 

 

Those of us on the B2B who were going to do any sightseeing in Panama City also had to be bused to the Convention Center to get a taxi or meet our private guides there.  (Despite the number of B2Bers, NCL did not offer any shore excursions for us, which was a disappointment.)  We noticed plenty of police patrolling the facility.  And we had to return to the Convention Center in order to get on a shuttle bus back to the ship.  B2Bers had already been given sea pass cards for the new cruise, along with "In-transit" stickers that we were told to put on our clothing.  As it turned out, the stickers meant absolutely nothing to the Panamanians in the Convention Center, who kept trying to herd us into a check-in line for new cruisers, not understanding that we were already “checked in" (and, as the stickers said "Still on Vacation" 🙂).  Finally, it was only by repeatedly pointing to our sea pass cards that we were allowed to go directly to a bus in order to return to the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

I think using the Convention Center as a substitute cruise terminal was the best option under the circumstances, but it was a PITA to have to sit on shuttle buses waiting for them to fill, especially on the return to the ship.  Much time was wasted (and opportunities to catch covid enhanced) sitting on buses at the Convention Center, as well as back at Fuerte Amador, when our bus just sat the end of the pier for about 20 minutes before it could drive down to the Gem.

 

Not the fault of Panama City

 

 

As I’ve mentioned, because my wife and I had never set foot in Panama before, we were really looking forward to having a day there.  We’d booked a private tour of Panama City for the two of us with a well-recommended guide, and were excited about what we planned to see.  Unfortunately, this day did not pan out as we’d expected.  Late in the day prior (while we were transiting the Canal), the guide contacted me to say he had a problem concerning his “tourism plate” that he needed to take care of in the morning, but that he had a substitute guide for us.  

 

Given the last minute notice, we really had no choice but to go with the unvetted substitute.  Without getting into specifics, let me just say that this guide turned out to be a disaster.  So much so that part way through the tour, we decided we’d had enough and had him take us back to the Convention Center.  I can’t think of any tour we’ve ever taken – private or otherwise – where we felt the need to abandon it in the middle.  The guide with whom we’d booked refunded our money without our even asking, but this did not change the fact that we’d just had a very upsetting experience, and that we’d largely lost our opportunity to enjoy Panama City.

 

Before the day went totally off the rails, we did at least manage to see a few things, as well as drive over the Bridge of the Americas. Having just taken a ship through the Canal, it was particularly interesting to drive over it, and to get a view of the Pacific entrance to the Canal from above.

 

 

 

 

We also got a glimpse of the massive Canal Administration Building and the Goethals Monument in front of it:

 

 

 

And we saw a bit of Casco Viejo:

 

 

 

 

 

At some point during the night, the Gem sailed away from Fuerte Amador, ready to begin the northbound transit of the Canal early on the morning of February 7.

 

 

 

[Turtles06]

Our second Panama Canal transit of the B2B 

 

My wife and I set a very early alarm on February 7, so as not to miss the Gem sailing under the Bridge of the Americas  -- the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.  At last, we would be making our first northbound transit!  We passed under the Bridge at 5:35am.  I think many folks may have missed it (no thanks to the Freestyle Daily, which omitted the expected arrival at the Bridge from its Canal Day schedule).

 

 

Having completed three southbound transits, we were just as fascinated going through the Canal in the opposite direction.  It was much more than seeing things in reverse order, we were seeing them from different angles and different perspectives.  It was an absolutely fantastic day.

 

One thing we hadn’t realized from our southbound transits is what a good look you can get of the entrance to the new Cocoli Locks before your own ship approaches the Miraflores Locks.  Perhaps the view was enhanced because it was still dark and everything was illuminated.  In any event, here’s a Liquified Petroleum Gas carrier entering the Cocoli Locks.  (Note the green arrow telling the ship which lane to use.):

 

 

We also got a good look at container ships being loaded and unloaded:

 

 

With day breaking, we're now approaching the two chambers of the Miraflores Locks, which will begin lifting the Gem up from the level of the Pacific.

 

 

Beginning our entrance into the Miraflores Locks:

 

 

The lines that are tied from the mules to a ship are rowed out to the ship by people in little rowboats.  This is how it’s been done since 1914, and no better way has been found to do it in all the years since.  🙂 

 

 

Going through the Miraflores Locks:

 

 

 

 

 

One thing I did on this transit that I did not do southbound was to go down to the open bow area on Deck 8.   I’m pretty short, and when it’s crowded out there, as it mostly is during a transit, there’s not much I can see.  That’s true even if I’m able to stand at the rail, because of its height.  But I noticed that after we’d passed through the Miraflores Locks on our northbound transit, the crowds for some reason had really thinned out, and so down to the bow I went to watch us approach and pass through the Pedro Miguel Locks, and then sail under the Centennial Bridge and into the Culebra Cut.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Approaching Gamboa, we got a good look at El Renacer Prison, where Manuel Noriega had been incarcerated for some years before his death:

 

 

Once in Gatun Lake, all sorts of ships passed us coming from the Atlantic. Here are a few:

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, the Gatun Locks and the Atlantic Bridge were in sight:

 

 

As we approached the Locks, we could see that we were following a big ship that had already begun the step-down:

 

 

And now, our final set of locks of the B2B:

 

 

 

 

We had a great view of the bulk carrier Nefeli, entering the locks from the Atlantic.  As you can see, there is very little distance between a Panamax ship and the lock walls.  It’s a really tight, precise fit, and it’s thanks to the skills of the Canal pilot and the mule drivers that a ship does not scrape up against those walls.

 

 

And away we go, the final chamber of the Gatun Locks:

 

 

 

 

The Atlantic Bridge, our third and final bridge of the day.  Another fabulous transit of the Panama Canal!

 

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Turtles06

[cruiseny4life]

Love this! I feel like I'm right there with you thanks to your photos and narrative. 

[NikiPinkston]

Ah-MA-zing photos! Thank you so much for sharing!

[Turtles06]

3 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Love this! I feel like I'm right there with you thanks to your photos and narrative. 

 

31 minutes ago, NikiPinkston said:

Ah-MA-zing photos! Thank you so much for sharing!

Thank you both for your very kind words! 

[Longstockingpippi1]

Turtles06

thank you so much for a great and detailed cruise description, I too felt like I was there. And I will be there, boarding the Jewel in Colon on Saturday 😀. You provided a great introduction for me👏🏻👏🏻

[Maleficent's Dad]

Wow, your review is great, and those pictures are amazing!  Thank you for sharing such details!