Look Who's in the Canal Today (part 2)

[BillB48]

The research department was up pulling an all nighter,😉!  The official beam of the Explora is 107.5' and the limit for the original locks is 105.9.  As a result the Canal classed her as a NeoPanamax.

[Essiesmom]

Ahhh…so she’s a little chubby…EM

[Belgian cruiser1]

My DW and I were on Explora 1 when she passed through, and yes we were disappointed to go into the new locks. Nobody on the ship had told us anything, so what I've read about the ship's beam being 2 feet over the limit ... is the first bit of explanation we've got. And yes, the heat was oppressive. Every time I went out on the balcony I felt like I was turning into crispy bacon. 

[Essiesmom]

Thank you for coming here and relating your experience.  I have gone to the Explora roll calls and warned them about using the new locks.

Easter Sunday and we have Oosterdam eastbound

 

 

[Essiesmom]

April 5 and Viking Octantis is making her way eastbound.

 

[Essiesmom]

NCL Sun transiting westbound on Saturday 

it’s hard to resist a good bridgecam.

[CruiserBruce]

But they obviously don't allow anyone on their bow....

[dmwnc1959]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

But they obviously don't allow anyone on their bow....

I was wondering the same, and thought maybe it was because the prop blades and anchor aren’t railed-off that might present a safety issue with passengers. 

[dmwnc1959]

3 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

NCL Sun transiting westbound on Saturday 

it’s hard to resist a good bridgecam.

 
I totally forgot to check the bridge cam until it had already transited! 😫

[Essiesmom]

 Monday sees Silver Nova heading to the Caribbean 

 

[dmwnc1959]

Friday we had the Carnival Spirit pass through...

 

 

 

 

 

 

😁

Edited April 14 by dmwnc1959

[dmwnc1959]

But earlier Friday Fram from the Norway-based expedition group HX Hurtigruten came in from the Pacific side...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14 by dmwnc1959

[dmwnc1959]

Saturday late-afternoon Holland-America's NIEUW AMSTERDAM passed through the Miraflores Locks...

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14 by dmwnc1959

[dmwnc1959]

And very late Saturday RADIANCE OF THE SEAS was an absolute show-stopper as she transited the Miraflores Locks after sunset. How incredibly breathtaking that must've been!!! 🥰
 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14 by dmwnc1959

[dmwnc1959]

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14 by dmwnc1959

[Essiesmom]

Tuesday 4/16 was Volendam going easrbound

 

[Essiesmom]

The Gatun cam has been adjusted, or changed.  It appears to be indoors which dims the colors.  And a little different angle.

Today, We’d. 4/17 we had Eurodam going westbound.  This morning the had reversed the lane directions, although by afternoon they were back to ‘normal’.  I wonder if someone with influence made a special request…

 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

It's a lot later now, but I've just rolled through 8 pages of this interesting photo gallery (thanks!) and wondering if someone can try to help me with some questions.  I'll be on a cruise doing a daytime transit of the canal in Mid December.  Is there any place that shows a port schedule for Canal transits, or do you have to go to various cruise mapping sites to find if you'll be with other ships?  I'd like to look at ships going through the canal on Marine Traffic, and also see if we'll have much company in the canal in December.

 

All I know at this point is that we'll be on Oceania Marina (239 metres long and 32 wide, gross tonnage of 66,000) coming from the Caribbean and overnighting in Panama City, with an anticipated dock time of or by 8 PM.  We spend the next day in Panama City. Until I can get more info later, should I assume we'll start the transit around 6 AM? Is there any way to anticipate which canal (new or old) we'll go through?  And can someone tell me what the current status of the Fuerte Amador cruise location is, or might possibly be, come December? And of course, as mentioned earlier, I'd love to find an official port web site schedule if  it exists.

 

Thank you essiesmom, and BillB, for the
 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

It's a lot later now, but I've just rolled through 8 pages of this interesting photo gallery (thanks!) and wondering if someone can try to help me with some questions.  I'll be on a cruise doing a daytime transit of the canal in Mid December.  Is there any place that shows a port schedule for Canal transits, or do you have to go to various cruise mapping sites to find if you'll be with other ships?  I'd like to look at ships going through the canal on Marine Traffic, and also see if we'll have much company in the canal in December.

 

All I know at this point is that we'll be on Oceania Marina (239 metres long and 32 wide, gross tonnage of 66,000) coming from the Caribbean and overnighting in Panama City, with an anticipated dock time of or by 8 PM.  We spend the next day in Panama City. Until I can get more info later, should I assume we'll start the transit around 6 AM? Is there any way to anticipate which canal (new or old) we'll go through?  And can someone tell me what the current status of the Fuerte Amador cruise location is, or might possibly be, come December? And of course, as mentioned earlier, I'd love to find an official port web site schedule if  it exists.

 

Thank you essiesmom, and BillB, for the
 

I can't help you with  a schedule website for Panama Canal transits, but I have made a full transit on the Oceania Marina with an overnight at Fuerte Amador, but before the docking  facilities were built...we had to tender in .

You can assume your transit will begin in the early morning...5 or 6 am. There's 99.99% certainty of using the original locks, with the new locks only being used if there's some type of problem in the original locks or if they're somehow overbooked and Marina draws the short straw and has to move to the new locks.

The docking facilities at Fuerte Amador have been in use for quite some time but exactly when the cruise terminal will be completed is anyone's guess. Construction has dragged on and on.

[Essiesmom]

My go to source for canal schedules is cruisetimetables.com.  But some companies do not list their transit…NCL in particular.  And there are some smaller lines not included.  If I see a ship coming down the Pacific side, or coming from Cartagena or Limon I check their schedule.  If they are in Cartagena one day and a couple days later in Puntarenas, you know they will be doing a transit.  I cross reference with cruisemapper.com as they cover many ships that cruisetimetables doesn’t.  And then there are the ships that spend a lot of time chartered and don’t have a published schedule.  
 Looking at the current schedule, it appears you will be sharing the canal on Dec. 14 with Azamara Journey, but going opposite directions.  If you keep an eye on Marine Traffic you might catch some pics as you pass.  EM

Edited May 29 by Essiesmom

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

11 hours ago, njhorseman said:

I can't help you with  a schedule website for Panama Canal transits, but I have made a full transit on the Oceania Marina with an overnight at Fuerte Amador, but before the docking  facilities were built...we had to tender in .

You can assume your transit will begin in the early morning...5 or 6 am. There's 99.99% certainty of using the original locks, with the new locks only being used if there's some type of problem in the original locks or if they're somehow overbooked and Marina draws the short straw and has to move to the new locks.

The docking facilities at Fuerte Amador have been in use for quite some time but exactly when the cruise terminal will be completed is anyone's guess. Construction has dragged on and on.

Thank you.  I read a little about the terminal business that's dragging on and on.  But I'm still a little confused as to exactly where the famous berths and terminal are located, and how close anything is to wherever we berth.  But I imagine in Panama City, it really doesn't matter much, as I'll likely just take an excursion there, or possibly some pre-arranged taxi tour of the city.  We'll see!

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

9 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

My go to source for canal schedules is cruisetimetables.com.  But some companies do not list their transit…NCL in particular.  And there are some smaller lines not included.  If I see a ship coming down the Pacific side, or coming from Cartagena or Limon I check their schedule.  If they are in Cartagena one day and a couple days later in Puntarenas, you know they will be doing a transit.  I cross reference with cruisemapper.com as they cover many ships that cruisetimetables doesn’t.  And then there are the ships that spend a lot of time chartered and don’t have a published schedule.  
 Looking at the current schedule, it appears you will be sharing the canal on Dec. 14 with Azamara Journey, but going opposite directions.  If you keep an eye on Marine Traffic you might catch some pics as you pass.  EM

Thank you; that's helpful.  And it might be fun to see Azamara Journey ship during our transit.  We seldom berth with an Az ship, but I know some of their ships are just like O's smaller ships, so it's fun to look for them.

[njhorseman]

33 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Thank you.  I read a little about the terminal business that's dragging on and on.  But I'm still a little confused as to exactly where the famous berths and terminal are located, and how close anything is to wherever we berth.  But I imagine in Panama City, it really doesn't matter much, as I'll likely just take an excursion there, or possibly some pre-arranged taxi tour of the city.  We'll see!

The cruise terminal isn't in Panama City, it's in Fuerte Amador on Perico island, about 8 or 9 miles from Panama City itself. You can see it in this photo from Google Maps.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Perico+Island/@8.9147146,-79.524513,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipM4h_HPP1FQ-P5dvEf-mZnRfbhesV0jwIQDspg0!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM4h_HPP1FQ-P5dvEf-mZnRfbhesV0jwIQDspg0%3Dw153-h86-k-no!7i5272!8i2962!4m7!3m6!1s0x8facaf05c3d2c61f:0xa2c79a3d5adcc04d!8m2!3d8.9147146!4d-79.524513!10e5!16s%2Fg%2F1ym_k2xpj?entry=ttu

Edited Wednesday at 01:28 PM by njhorseman

[Essiesmom]

1 hour ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Thank you; that's helpful.  And it might be fun to see Azamara Journey ship during our transit.  We seldom berth with an Az ship, but I know some of their ships are just like O's smaller ships, so it's fun to look for them.

All four of Azamara’s ships are sisters of Insignia, Nautica, Regatta and Sirena.  EM

[BillB48]

22 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Until I can get more info later, should I assume we'll start the transit around 6 AM? Is there any way to anticipate which canal (new or old) we'll go through?

 

Let me second njhorseman's 99.99% chance of using the original Panamax Locks, in fact I could raise that bet a decimal to 99.999% just for good measure.  Since 2016 when the new locks opened there has only been 1 passenger ship that could use the original locks been diverted to the new locks.  There were so many extenuating circumstances involved there isn't any way you could infer that occasion would have any influence in the future transits.

 

The 5AM-6AM is certainly a good guesstimate, just realize that time frame is very fluid, it could occur earlier or even later.  Since you are not due at Fort Amador until 8PM the later estimate would not be out of consideration.  Please don't use that as a reason to catch an extra 40 winks.  I am always up before those times just to claim a good vantage point.

 

Can't help with the website for Canal transits, the best one was one that EM was very active in, but that one has gone dark and now it is just hit and miss when I see ships.