Live: Apr 20, 2024 Summit 14 Night Panama Canal Westbound Cruise!

[mahdnc]

We ended up not doing this partly because the weather didn’t look that great and partly because we had a great view from our aft balcony.  
 

[hcat]

7 hours ago, mahdnc said:

I forgot to mention that during Dora's tour, one of the passengers in our tour group (but not on the roll call, I think), slipped and fell.  She seemed to have hurt her forearm.  This occurred about 2/3 of the way through the tour.  They elected to quit the tour to go to a hospital to have an MRI done.  Dora accepted their cash payment but returned a portion of it back to them.   She also got them a taxi and negotiated the price to their selected destination so they didn't have to.

 

sorry someone fell but seems it was handled very well by Dora.  Hope person was okay.

 

the tour looked very comprehensive and your  photos were  outstanding.

truly brilliant..thanks for sharing.  How pushy were the vendors? The art/ artist in the pics looked interesting..I collect small orig art from our ports to display in our Fl place.

 

All in all, We probably would have opted for a shorter tour because after awhile we just tire out on long tours.

Edited April 24 by hcat

[hcat]

9 hours ago, mahdnc said:

Full moon tonight.  And supposedly a Full Moon Party to go with it.

 

 

Wow!  Did you use a camera or a cell phone?

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

 

sorry someone fell but seems it was handled very well by Dora.  Hope person was okay.

 

the tour looked very comprehensive and your  photos were  outstanding.

truly brilliant..thanks for sharing.  How pushy were the vendors? The art/ artist in the pics looked interesting..I collect small orig art from our ports to display in our Fl place.

 

All in all, We probably would have opted for a shorter tour because after awhile we just tire out on long tours.

 

 

The vendor pushiness was well above average, but no behavior that went over the line.  However there were a lot of them.

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

Wow!  Did you use a camera or a cell phone?

 

I used a DSLR camera (Nikon D780) with a 300 mm telephoto lens.  In contrast, the Apple 15 Pro telephoto lens has an equivalent focal length of only 77 mm.

 

I took a lot of photos of this month's total solar eclipse with the same camera (link).  We traveled to an area north of my parent's home town of Paducah, KY to watch it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PaulS]

Beautiful photos of the recent eclipse. We traveled about 50 miles west of Louisville to experience totality. Unfortunately, at the exact moment of totality a cloud partially obscured the view. 
Really enjoying your review.

[MikeMary4449]

On 4/22/2024 at 4:10 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

 Is that still on the everyday or children's menu?  I remember ordering it while in Luminae when nothing else appealed to me.  Always found it very good. 

 

FYI:  Someone earlier this month posted the current Kid's Menu and we can confirm that the Spaghetti Bolognese is indeed listed as an entrée.  Bon Appetit!

[mahdnc]

We are docked at Colon under cloudy skies.  We arrived around 9am and were cleared at 9:25am. 
 

We are at the Celebrity Theatre in Deck 4 waiting for our group number (27) to be called. 
 

You are required to bring your passport with you ashore. 
 

 

 

Edited April 24 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

While patiently waiting for our number to be called, we met the person who fell yesterday during our independent shore excursion. Fractured wrist….

[ORD1166]

12 hours ago, mahdnc said:

We did see from the outside, Castle San Felipe de Barajas, but we did not have time to tour the fort itself.  Just as well, as there was some decent elevation gain to get to it.  Why do builders make it so difficult to get to a fort?  

 

 

 

It is a long hot 🥵 climb to the top. And the incline is very steep. Was really sucking wind at the top. We did this tour last fall and it was hot 🥵 and humid. Hope you drank lots of water 💧 

[hcat]

2 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

I used a DSLR camera (Nikon D780) with a 300 mm telephoto lens.  In contrast, the Apple 15 Pro telephoto lens has an equivalent focal length of only 77 mm.

 

I took a lot of photos of this month's total solar eclipse with the same camera (link).  We traveled to an area north of my parent's home town of Paducah, KY to watch it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

great photos..My husb is a camera guy still... does great work with his settings lenses and filters etc .but really does not do well with the phone cameras!  But carrying all that stuff is cumbersome!

 

The pushiest vendors we have encountered were in Pisa on the walkway to the Leaning  Tower.. They are not locals and  hawk junk and get in your face.  One harassed  me and then touched me..He really picked the wrong woman..I protected my personal space......too bad for him!

[TMLAalum]

4 hours ago, MikeMary4449 said:

FYI:  Someone earlier this month posted the current Kid's Menu and we can confirm that the Spaghetti Bolognese is indeed listed as an entrée.  Bon Appetit!

How about the kid's filet mignon? 

[MikeMary4449]

5 minutes ago, TMLAalum said:

How about the kid's filet mignon? 

No, sorry, the filet mignon has been replaced by a 4oz New York Sirloin.

[TMLAalum]

10 minutes ago, MikeMary4449 said:

No, sorry, the filet mignon has been replaced by a 4oz New York Sirloin.

Too bad! I will try the kid's sirloin, if not on next month's cruise, then perhaps on our longer August cruise.

[mahdnc]

Tonight’s dinner menu at the MDR along with photos of the pasta primavera and the braised beef short rib:

 

 

 

 

One of the kitchen’s chefs made an appearance at the dining room:

 

 

My wife and I had Cherries Jubilee for dessert. 
 

[mahdnc]

Here is blizzard of photos and some words on the Celebrity shore excursion that we took today.

 

The excursion was Destination Highlight: Expansion of the Panama Canal "The Present and The Future".  I purchased the excursion through the Cruise Planner for $176 for the two of us back on Aug 30--during a Flash Sale.

 

We were instructed to bring our passports but it was never examined by anyone.

 

I believe that there were 3 motor coach buses devoted to this specific tour.  The buses were fairly standard--clean, well air conditioned with 2 seats on either side of the aisle and an open shelf overhead for storage.  We were permitted to leave personal items on the bus as we got on and off the bus a couple times.  From a viewing standpoint, one side of the bus did not have a distinct advantage over the other side.  The bus was staffed with a driver and an English speaking guide.

 

We were instructed to meet at the Celebrity Theatre at 10:15 am.  By 10:30 am we were led off the ship to board our buses.  The buses took us back to the pier by 5:15 pm.  It was longer than I expected it to be--or to put it more accurately, it was longer than what I led my wife to believe.  There was a  small box lunch served consisting of a ham sandwich on a french roll and a corn muffin.  Cold bottled water was also handed out.  The bus ride itself was comfortable.  The roads were in excellent condition and did not wind around.

 

 

The tour consisted of two parts--visting the Agua Clara Visitor Center and then the Miraflores Visitor Center. 

 

First, the bus drove from the pier in Colon to the new Agua Clara Visitor Center which has a nice view of the new (larger) locks located on the Atlantic side of the canal.  When we arrived, a large red freighter was being escorted into the locks from the Gatun Lake side.   

 

 

However there were so passengers visiting the center (several bus loads from Summit) that I found it difficult to find a good unobstructed viewing area.  @julieawill was telling me that she and her husband did not have a problem so perhaps I didn't look hard enough at all the viewing venues that were available.

 

 

The doors to the new larger locks consist of double sliding doors:

 

 

 

 

I found the crowd of people to be a bit of a problem.  The small gift shop had a long line to check out at the single cashier station and we skipped the 10 minute film because of the long line:

 

 

We were strongly encouraged to use the restroom before we left the visitor center because of the very long bus ride to the second part of the tour.

 

 

Edited April 25 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

After we left the Agua Clara Visitor Center, our bus crossed over the Atlantic Bridge so we could see the Atlantic side locks from a distance (the bus ended up making a U-turn after crossing the bridge to re-cross it again which allowed passengers on the other side of the bus to see it as well.  The weather was raining at the time and so our view was compromised during the bridge crossings.

 

 

For the second part of the tour, the bus took us to the Miraflores Visitor Center.  This center was built in 2004.  To me, it seemed to be better than the Agua Clara Visitor Center.  It seemed to have a lot more covered viewing areas.

 

 

There was a Morgan Freeman narrated IMAX documentary (approx 20 minutes long) where you could buy popcorn, soda, hot dogs, etc like you were at a movie theater.  And yes, the theater was air conditioned.  The movie is a 3D requiring special glasses to wear.  I thought the 3D effects were pretty good.  The theater is very large.  When we arrived a few minutes after the start of the movie, we had difficulty in finding empty seats, but eventually we were directed towards the front where there were a couple of rows that were not occupied.  

 

 

 

 

 

I am not sure what you have to do to get on this tour that allowed you past the fence line and onto the locks themselves.  The tour guide had a Panama Canal Authority shirt on.

 

 

Edited April 25 by mahdnc

[90scruzer]

do you know if you are doing the new or old locks?  I talked to one of the celebrity reps at a travel expo and didn't like his answer regarding which locks are used :   he said, "The captain calls in the morning and gets told which of the two, and the probability was 50-50 as to which the ship received."    Not sure about the veracity, but this was disappointing enough that for my first time through the canal I am going to have to use one of the other cruise lines that at least seem to have better chances for old locks.   

[mahdnc]

Just now, 90scruzer said:

do you know if you are doing the new or old locks?  I talked to one of the celebrity reps at a travel expo and didn't like his answer regarding which locks are used :   he said, "The captain calls in the morning and gets told which of the two, and the probability was 50-50 as to which the ship received."    Not sure about the veracity, but this was disappointing enough that for my first time through the canal I am going to have to use one of the other cruise lines that at least seem to have better chances for old locks.   

 

This is what was issued in our Celebrity Today (for tomorrow):

 

 

[mahdnc]

A couple more photos of Summit docked at Colon: 

 

 

 

[mahdnc]

14 hours ago, PaulS said:

Beautiful photos of the recent eclipse. We traveled about 50 miles west of Louisville to experience totality. Unfortunately, at the exact moment of totality a cloud partially obscured the view. 
Really enjoying your review.

 

I am sorry that happened to you.  Really bad luck.  April weather is very unpredictable.  General history says that Texas is best and Maine is worst.  The actual weather turned out to be the exact opposite: Maine had the best conditions and much of Texas was fighting clouds with varying degrees of success.  

 

 

When we arrived at our viewing spot in Vienna, IL, it was extremely foggy.  It took the whole morning for the fog to burn off and skies to clear.  We still had very thin cirrus clouds to contend with when totality arrived but fortunately it was inconsequential.

 

[hcat]

Your posts about the locks and the eclipse are excellent.. Thank you again for your work in putting these posts together..Many of us no longer cruise as often as we did before, and look forward to these blogs.

 

As I  mentioned,  we are trending toward booking  shorter excursions ..other than to a resort  for a day of relaxation,   or something like our recent  trip over to NEVIS..from our ASCENT cruise.. Sal always asks how long an excursion will be before we book and prefers going early in the day !

 

We are okay just picking one thing or getting an overview and then have time to shop or get a late lunch .. Helps that we have been to most of the Carib ports more than once! But we always find something of interest.

 

Of course, the Canal excursion would be an exception to a short excursion day...since  it is an engineerjng marvel that is not quite close to home...Still looking at a full transit east to west...expensive!.

 

When we did a partial transit on Royal C, we  had a long tour leaving  from  Gatun Lake via tender to a small pier. We travelled by bus into the Gamboa area  and made quite a few stops including an aerial tram into the jungle and climbing up stairs to  an elevated viewing platform with  ..amazing views . Stopped at a Butterfly conservatory and then to a resort for refreshments.  Memorable day!

[DaKahuna]

5 hours ago, hcat said:

Sal always asks how long an excursion will be before we book and prefers going early in the day !

 

 

 My DW also prefers shorter excursions but likes later departures.  She, unlike me, is not a morning person.  We are signed up for one 10 hour excursion on our upcoming cruise, which involved a hour and 45 minute bus ride each way (from Kobe to Kyoto and back).  The rest or 4.5 hours or less, the way we like them.  

 

[hcat]

on our next short cruise on Silhouette we have excursions starting around 11:30 am.. kind of cuts into  lunch time and lunch is not included.. I am type 2 diabetic and will carry a  wrapped snack...plus water of course

[Essiesmom]

Canal day, weather is liquid sunshine.  You may not like it, but I’m sure the canal people are very happy.

Some captures of you in the Gatun Locks.  First view you are in the first lock, waiting for the cargo ship to come alongside to help raise you up.  Second shows you in the second lock, waiting for the red bunker to move alongside, again to move you up as he goes down.  And lastly, moving from middle to third lock.  Looks like some folks are braving the rain to be on the helipad.

Sorry, CC is slightly ill today and as well as being slow, my upload failed.  I will try again in a little while.

Edited April 25 by Essiesmom