LIVE from Radiance Apr. 21, 2023 - The Panama Canal - Canal au Niveau de la Mer

[twangster]

Hypnotist in the theater. 

 

Not really my thing.  I'm just going to walk off dinner and head to bed early. 

 

My six CAS drinks consisted of 1 beer, 3 water and 2 Powerade. 

 

That Cartagena heat zapped me out. 

[njkruzer]

31 minutes ago, little britain said:

Because Colon lives up to its name ( think about it) we are also going on a ship’s tour- and we never do ship’s tours. 
We are off to see the indigenous Embera people with a trip in a dug out canoe 🛶 .

The cost to book on board is $114pp. 

It's a great trip. Felt sorry for the native people as it was January 2022 with covid restrictions so they had very few people to entertain. Served a great very fresh, i.e., caught while we watched the show, tilapia fish lunch. It was great per dh (I'm allergic but found other stuff to eat). Tour guide was great. Was from the village but had left and had gone to college.  Enjoy.

[little britain]

@twangster have you listened to the guy in the pub? He’s very good 

[Merion_Mom]

3 hours ago, CruiseMomTX said:

@Merion_Mom was the party boat tour a ship or independent tour?  Sounds fun if you have any more information on it.

 

It was a ship's excursion, but I haven't seen it since.  😞 

[twangster]

2 minutes ago, little britain said:

@twangster have you listened to the guy in the pub? He’s very good 

 

Yes, I like him.

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

Because Colon lives up to its name ( think about it) we are also going on a ship’s tour- and we never do ship’s tours. 
We are off to see the indigenous Embera people with a trip in a dug out canoe 🛶 .

The cost to book on board is $114pp. 

 

I did that as a private tour and enjoyed it very much.

[ONECRUISER]

On 4/25/2023 at 10:03 AM, lovesthebeach2 said:

I haven’t read all the posts here but I wanted to comment on something our cabin attendant told us on our last cruise and wanted to see if anyone on this thread else ever heard of this.

 

I asked for a paper copy of the compass even though I use the app too, and was told by him that they are all instructed that anyone 70 and older they should automatically put them in the cabins. Now I’m not 70 so I wasn’t sure if I should be insulted or not.  He said he has a list and showed me briefly without showing the names.  Has anyone else ever heard of this?? 
 

edit to add that he said he was already planning on putting one in our cabin!

Yes, the 70+ was brought up back when the Talk ending Paper. Sometime last year

[kernow]

11 hours ago, twangster said:

 

Ship tour - Amazing Cartagena Bay and Walled City

We're thinking of booking this for our Nov cruise, first time to Cartagena for us ( it's £35.57pp in my planner). Did you have any free time in the Old city to look around on your own. Thanks.

[twangster]

1 hour ago, kernow said:

We're thinking of booking this for our Nov cruise, first time to Cartagena for us ( it's £35.57pp in my planner). Did you have any free time in the Old city to look around on your own. Thanks.

 

30 minutes after the Emerald factory, or slightly longer if, like me, you escape the Emerald factory early and wander to the cheese bakery next door for a snack.  

[kernow]

41 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

30 minutes after the Emerald factory, or slightly longer if, like me, you escape the Emerald factory early and wander to the cheese bakery next door for a snack.  

Thanks, I think we'll book it.

[Cruiselyne]

12 hours ago, CruiseMomTX said:

Book a tour with Dora it was fantastic!

I will look into it, thank you.

[lovesthebeach2]

52 minutes ago, kernow said:

Thanks, I think we'll book it.

Be careful to not take any pictures of the people there. My DH took a photo of what he thought was a statue but it was a person who then said we had to pay him. We had no cash and he followed us and kept yelling we had to pay.  Our escort had told us to be careful taking pictures, but he thought it was a statue. Just something to remember. 

[Cruiselyne]

13 hours ago, twangster said:

 

There is more to Cartagena than just the old, walled city.  You could consider a tour that visits many attractions, the Hop On Hop Off bus that visits the same attractions minus a guide and admission fees where there are any, or it is easy to spend several hours in the walled city.

 

My first time I did an organized tour and learned a lot.  This time my plan was a taxi or HOHO bus, but the water tour of the bay drew me to this attraction.   

 

Many around the city have some english skills but a lot do not.  If navigating through a foreign language doesn't appeal to you then consider a tour.  If you are the type that can figure out a few language barriers then doing it on your own, with some research before, it very doable.   

This is my first time visiting Cartagena so might as well do a tour and find out more about the city before doing it on my own.  

Thank you

[little britain]

1 hour ago, kernow said:

Thanks, I think we'll book it.

I’ll send you details of how to DIY ?! 

[twangster]

For families with kids there is an arcade on board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Day 7 - Colon, Panama

 

Progress report

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2023 by twangster

[twangster]

Sunrise in the wake this morning given our Westbound course.

 

Early signs of the day forming in the sky.

 

 

 

Finally the sun made an appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

The mountains of Panama on our port side.

 

 

Who thinks digging a sea level canal is a good idea?

 

 

[Kathscof]

8 minutes ago, twangster said:

Sunrise in the wake this morning given our Westbound course.

 

Early signs of the day forming in the sky.

 

 

 

Finally the sun made an appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

beautiful!

[twangster]

As we approach Colon we begin to see dozens of ships at anchor waiting to transit the canal.  That's the more economical price to use the canal.  

 

Radiance will pay a reservation fee to go through tomorrow morning.  It would be hard for a cruise line to keep an itinerary if we saved money but had to wait at anchor for a day or two, or three. 

 

 

 

 

In the distance you can see the new Atlantic Bridge completed in 2019.    That's the path to the canal.  We'll pass under it tomorrow.  

 

 

 

[twangster]

Starlink report

 

[twangster]

A break wall was added as a defense from foreign submarines who would try to destroy the canal during WWII.

 

 

We'll go through the gap tomorrow morning.

 

Edited April 27, 2023 by twangster

[Sea Dog]

55 minutes ago, twangster said:

Sunrise in the wake this morning given our Westbound course.

 

Early signs of the day forming in the sky.

 

 

 

Finally the sun made an appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful photos as always. Did you tweak in Lightroom? I love your skills.

[twangster]

Colon

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

To give you an idea where we are relative to the locks, here is a screenshot from marinetraffic.com.

 

The NCL Sun is going through the locks right now.  Colon is in the upper right where we are. 

 

 

The old Gatun locks on the left, the new Agua Clara locks on the right.