Live! Radiance of the Seas - Panama Canal cruise - April 8, 2024

[Teeara]

11 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Lunch Break ?  🤣🤣

 

Wow Rob we are thinking alike...... Union break !! Must not work until I eat !!

 

What's the humidity like? Can't have a Panama Canal crossing without a thunder storm and a down pour and watch the people on the bow scatter !!

Humidity wasn’t too bad considering it was 90 today.  We had a few drops, but no downpour.  Best weather was going under the Pan American bridge at 8 pm.  It was gorgeous outside.

[Teeara]

11 hours ago, Jimbo said:

@RobInMN Make sure after you go through the last lock, run to the back of the ship and try to get  a shot of the sea level you left behind after getting dumped into the Pacific.

 

It should be a real cool picture if you get just the right angle from the right deck.

Missed it due to dessert in Chops.  😉😁😢

[RobInMN]

2 hours ago, Jimbo said:

What time was this picture taken?

 

Should take 8 to 10 hours for the full transit....

7:08 PM

 

From my picture timestamps:

9:31 AM - Went under the Atlantic Bridge

9:59 AM - Reached the end of the pier at Gatun Locks

11:08 AM - Lower lock doors open

11:52 AM - Doors to second lock open

(went to lunch)

12:25 PM - Still in second lock

1:12 PM - in third lock 

1:20 PM - Leaving the third lock

1:36 PM - Cleared the Gatun Lake pier of the Gatun Locks

 

4:44 PM - Row boat brings guide lines to ship at the end of the Pedro Miguel Locks pier
4:49 PM - Lock doors open

(went to dinner)

6:03 PM - Lock doors close

 

6:27 PM - reach end of Miraflores Lock pier

6:36 PM - Lock doors open

7:15 PM - Fully inside lock

7:35 PM - Lock doors open to lower lock

7:58 PM - Fully in the lower lock

8:10 PM - Lower lock doors open to the Pacific side

 

9:05 PM  - Went under the Bridge of the Americas

 

 

So yeah, if you count from the time we entered the harbor area between the sea walls, pretty much 12 hours. for something that should take 8-10

 

 

 

Edited April 14 by RobInMN

[RobInMN]

11 hours ago, Jimbo said:

@RobInMN Make sure after you go through the last lock, run to the back of the ship and try to get  a shot of the sea level you left behind after getting dumped into the Pacific.

 

It should be a real cool picture if you get just the right angle from the right deck.

 

13 minutes ago, Teeara said:

Missed it due to dessert in Chops.  😉😁😢

 

Not to mention, way too dark for anything descent. I honestly forgot about trying to do that. Pretty exhausted and got too much sun today. Went back to the room for a bit and then went out to get the Bridge of the Americas pictures.

 

[perfect match]

Great pictures @Teeara and @RobInMN! Thank you! Guess you had some “bonus” time in the canal. I hope you were able to enjoy your canal transit in spite of all of the delays.

[ONECRUISER]

4 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Like a 13 hour transit................amazing !!

Agree. Did one in 7.5 hrs, this one was long beautiful day inc low Sun and Temps

[island lady]

9 hours ago, Teeara said:

Actually we only had one dead fish. 😉😁😂

 

LOL...must really be lacking the Gators!   Any dead fish around would have brought them in....Mmmm...tasty and marinated!  😄 🐊

 

Hope you had a fun transit!

[Teeara]

9 hours ago, RobInMN said:

7:08 PM

 

From my picture timestamps:

9:31 AM - Went under the Atlantic Bridge

9:59 AM - Reached the end of the pier at Gatun Locks

11:08 AM - Lower lock doors open

11:52 AM - Doors to second lock open

(went to lunch)

12:25 PM - Still in second lock

1:12 PM - in third lock 

1:20 PM - Leaving the third lock

1:36 PM - Cleared the Gatun Lake pier of the Gatun Locks

 

4:44 PM - Row boat brings guide lines to ship at the end of the Pedro Miguel Locks pier
4:49 PM - Lock doors open

(went to dinner)

6:03 PM - Lock doors close

 

6:27 PM - reach end of Miraflores Lock pier

6:36 PM - Lock doors open

7:15 PM - Fully inside lock

7:35 PM - Lock doors open to lower lock

7:58 PM - Fully in the lower lock

8:10 PM - Lower lock doors open to the Pacific side

 

9:05 PM  - Went under the Bridge of the Americas

 

 

So yeah, if you count from the time we entered the harbor area between the sea walls, pretty much 12 hours. for something that should take 8-10

 

 

 

Thank you!  Can I share that information when I get around to doing my Panamá Canal video for my YouTube channel?

[Teeara]

9 hours ago, RobInMN said:

 

 

Not to mention, way too dark for anything descent. I honestly forgot about trying to do that. Pretty exhausted and got too much sun today. Went back to the room for a bit and then went out to get the Bridge of the Americas pictures.

 

Same here.  It was an exhausting day and I got less than 3,000 steps!  

[Teeara]

8 hours ago, perfect match said:

Great pictures @Teeara and @RobInMN! Thank you! Guess you had some “bonus” time in the canal. I hope you were able to enjoy your canal transit in spite of all of the delays.

I did, but wish we hadn’t been so delayed.  All that standing is bad for my back.  I’ve already had 4 leg cramps due to it.  

[BillB48]

That is the Crane barge Titan moored at the Canal's Dredging Division headquarters.  It has a rather interesting history, it started its career in 1941 as Schwimmkran No. 1 for Germany's Kriegsmarine.  After WW2 in 1946 it was partially disassembled and brought to Long Beach Navy Shipyard in California via the Panama Canal.  While in Long Beach it was widely known as Herman the German (YD-171) and remained there until the mid 90s when it was transferred to the Canal as a replacement for the Canal's original heavy lift crane, the Hercules which had also been built built in Germany  in 1914.

 

The future of the Titan is not certain as the Canal has just acquired to new heavy lift crane barge with a greater lifting capacity.  Even though the Titan can lift 350 tons, that is not enough capacity to completely lift any of the miter gates at the Locks.  The "lightest" miter gate weighs over 400 tons and the heaviest (tallest) comes in at over 700 tons. 

 

[Teeara]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

LOL...must really be lacking the Gators!   Any dead fish around would have brought them in....Mmmm...tasty and marinated!  😄 🐊

 

Hope you had a fun transit!

We had one guy who kept saying “The Windjammer is now open for breakfast!” trying to get those of us in the front to leave.  When we saw the fish we told him if he’s so hungry there’s his fish breakfast.  😉😁😂🐟

[Teeara]

2 minutes ago, BillB48 said:

That is the Crane barge Titan moored at the Canal's Dredging Division headquarters.  It has a rather interesting history, it started its career in 1941 as Schwimmkran No. 1 for Germany's Kriegsmarine.  After WW2 in 1946 it was partially disassembled and brought to Long Beach Navy Shipyard in California via the Panama Canal.  While in Long Beach it was widely known as Herman the German (YD-171) and remained there until the mid 90s when it was transferred to the Canal as a replacement for the Canal's original heavy lift crane, the Hercules which had also been built built in Germany  in 1914.

 

The future of the Titan is not certain as the Canal has just acquired to new heavy lift crane barge with a greater lifting capacity.  Even though the Titan can lift 350 tons, that is not enough capacity to completely lift any of the miter gates at the Locks.  The "lightest" miter gate weighs over 400 tons and the heaviest (tallest) comes in at over 700 tons. 

 

Thanks!!!  That’s very interesting.  I like that kind of information.

[ONECRUISER]

49 minutes ago, Teeara said:

We had one guy who kept saying “The Windjammer is now open for breakfast!” trying to get those of us in the front to leave.  When we saw the fish we told him if he’s so hungry there’s his fish breakfast.  😉😁😂🐟

Every other time I've gone threw the Canal WJ was open early at 6am, but was interesting watching hundreds getting there Helipad spot early too have such a long wait. Different being after Lunch by time we got threw first set Locks. 

[Another_Critic]

26 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Every other time I've gone threw the Canal WJ was open early at 6am, but was interesting watching hundreds getting there Helipad spot early too have such a long wait. Different being after Lunch by time we got threw first set Locks. 

On my Panama Canal transit, the prime viewing spots were packed.  A quick rain shower and they cleared out.   I had an umbrella and rain jacket, so I moved in to secure a prime spot.  🙂 

[RobInMN]

2 hours ago, Teeara said:

Thank you!  Can I share that information when I get around to doing my Panamá Canal video for my YouTube channel?

Sure!

[RobInMN]

Taste of the Caribbean Tasting Experience

Pre floater

post floater

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, RobInMN said:

Taste of the Caribbean Tasting Experience

Taste of the Caribbean ... in the Pacific.  😄

[Teeara]

2 hours ago, RobInMN said:

Taste of the Caribbean Tasting Experience

Pre floater

post floater

Did they roll you onto the ship? 😉😁

 

If that had been me, I’d just be waking up now. 😉😁

[Teeara]

Today is our 3rd sea day.  Here are the maps.  Looks like we’ve spent most of the day off the coast of Panama.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We slept in this morning until 8:00.  Had breakfast in the WJ then went to the top tier event in the Aurora Theater.

 

 

We gained 2 new Pinnacles on our sailing.

 

 

Then they had the top 3 Pinnies:

 

 

 

 

Afterwards we went to the Colony Club for some quiet time.

 

 

Then back to the WJ for a light lunch before Pam went to the movie theater and I went back to the cabin to do a cabin tour video.  Pam came back right after I started saying the movie theater was already packed and no seat were available.  There’s only 30 seats in there so not surprising.  It was for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”.

 

I finished my video then did some reading on our balcony before taking a nap outside.

 

 

Tonight was formal night.  We each started with the Scallop Gratin and I then had the Mediterranean Spinach Pie.  Pam had an alien baby bread tonight.

 

 

I had the Vegetable Fried Rice for dinner and it was incredibly filling (I didn’t finish it).

 

 

We both had the Pecan Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert.

 

 

We returned to the cabin in time for the sunset.

 

 

We’re back to the Centrum for the rest of the evening.  We might take a walk later.  Nothing is really tripping our trigger tonight.

 

Here is today’s Cruise Compass:

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for today.  We gain an hour tonight.  Another sea day tomorrow.  We’re supposed to have our FB cabin crawl tomorrow.

 

 

[Teeara]

On 4/13/2024 at 10:08 AM, Jimbo said:

If you get a chance, in the Windjammer, can you get a few pictures of the stir fry setup they have? Should have both meat and veggies. See if each passenger gets to put on their own raw meat on a plate with the veggies and then hand it over to the chef to cook. Just wondering how Radiance currently is doing it.

Here’s the full experience for you.  Let me know if it posts okay.

 

Otherwise, to answer your questions, there was only chicken.  You point at what you want - carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, peppers, onions, mushrooms and garlic.  He puts it in his pan.  You don’t touch the food.  You can choose between thick and thin noodles.  He puts soy sauce and another sauce in the pan and then he asks if you want it in a bowl or on a plate.

Edited April 15 by Teeara

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, Teeara said:

 

IMG_5006.mov 871.43 MB · 1 download

Here’s the full experience for you.  Let me know if it posts okay.

 

Otherwise, to answer your questions, there was only chicken.  You point at what you want - carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, peppers, onions, mushrooms and garlic.  He puts it in his pan.  You don’t touch the food.  You can choose between thick and thin noodles.  He puts soy sauce and another sauce in the pan and then he asks if you want it in a bowl or on a plate.

Video worked great, thank you very much.

 

Wonder why no beef option. Cost more then Chicken I guess? Had the chicken been pre cooked before he put everything in the pan?

 

I guess between Covid and Cruising coming back, The days of yourself loading your own plate as to what you want  stir fried are over.

[Teeara]

33 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Video worked great, thank you very much.

 

Wonder why no beef option. Cost more then Chicken I guess? Had the chicken been pre cooked before he put everything in the pan?

 

I guess between Covid and Cruising coming back, The days of yourself loading your own plate as to what you want  stir fried are over.

No, I don’t think the chicken was cooked.  Not sure if they offer beef at other times.  This was at lunch today.

 

I think they prefer to control the portion sizes with the chef handling the food.

 

I will say it was very salty.  Probably due to the soy sauce.  

Edited April 15 by Teeara

[perfect match]

14 hours ago, Teeara said:

I did, but wish we hadn’t been so delayed.  All that standing is bad for my back.  I’ve already had 4 leg cramps due to it.  

 

My surgically repaired legs wouldn’t have done very well with all of that standing either. I will have to keep that in mind if I manage to get a Panama Canal cruise planned.I know those leg cramps all too well.

[Jimbo]

7 hours ago, perfect match said:

 

My surgically repaired legs wouldn’t have done very well with all of that standing either. I will have to keep that in mind if I manage to get a Panama Canal cruise planned.I know those leg cramps all too well.

After the first set of locks are done, go for the 2nd or 3rd sets where the crowds thin out significantly  because of  the heat etc. Plus you can sleep in somewhat.

Edited April 15 by Jimbo