Photo Trip Report – Panama Canal Cruise plus 3 days in DLR

[lilpooh108]

Captain Fabian was our captain. The "regular" captain on the Wonder at the time was Captain Thor, but he reportedly took some time off for family reasons--I think it was to attend his son's graduation. We were told that Captain Fabian was gracious enough to fill in. It's nice to know that the captains are willing to help each other when needed.

Awwh. How sweet. The reason why I asked is because my DH is an absolute fan of Captain Thord (sp?). He is so welcoming and on our last 7-day cruise he and his officers really made an effort to get to know the passengers. We didn't experience that this time on the Magic and we missed Captain Thord (sp?) and his officers immensely.

 

[Rikersmom]

I am pretty sure your spelling of Thord is correct. Somehow my being a fan of "The Avengers" got me thinking of Thor, Ironman, the Hulk, etc.

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

Um, I would enjoy Thor as our captain.

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

DSis and I went up to our stateroom to shower/relax and sit out on our verandah for the rest of the afternoon.



At 2:51pm we entered the Miraflores Locks.





At each lock, the men would have to row out to the ship with the ropes to connect us to the locomotives/mules.








It was fun experiencing each of the locks from a different spot on the ship.



Here's Captain Fabian in action -



it was still raining

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

closer







Was so fun being eye level to these massive cargo ships. And so close! And how fun was it to see these tough cargo ship workers get so excited and even dance to our ship's horn "when you wish upon a star".





they are dancing





come on, smile!



another crazy view out our window!





so great for perspective



looking straight across from our verandah



It is so close to the walls of the canal - Panamax that we are - that we do infact "bump".



Think this was the - "uh, how bad is it" call

 

[lilpooh108]

Um, I would enjoy Thor as our captain.

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

We were out of the Miraflores lock at 3:51pm (took an hour to go through the last lock). And we began our Pacific sea voyage at 4:55pm.





funny, I don't feel any higher than I did in the Atlantic



our pilot boat finally leaves us

 

[KyCruisinSusan]

Um, I would enjoy Thor as our captain.

Ummhmm

I CANNOT wait to do this cruise in reverse. Only downside is no Castaway

 

[speedo]

bridge over the river kwai? Lol

 

[annichan]

I haven't been on the DIS much lately so it is only now that I finally have a chance to follow your wonderful trip report again! Also, this is the first time ever that I have spotted myself in someone's trip report - in the corner in the pool, enjoying those great Typhoon Lagoon-like waves!

Now on to catching up with the rest of your report ...

EDIT (later after reading the rest of the report): Thank you for posting all those great pictures of the Panama Canal crossing! We were a bit further back during Gatun Locks (didn't arrive on deck 10m until 5.15 ... which was definitely too late, as I know now! ).

After Gatun Locks, deck 10 really emptied out almost totally and we spent hours there, from the lake crossing up until the torrential rain started falling just before passing Culebra Cut.
I had actually intended to stay out in the rain, but had to change my mind and flee after 3 seconds of it because I almost drowned in the rain

Oh, and your pictures of Captain Fabian right after "the bump" are really priceless! (I loved how cruise director Jimmy kept giving him a hard time about that at every opportunity for the rest of the cruise)

 

[NYcruiser]

We cruised Panama Canal with Disney too and loved it!

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

I haven't been on the DIS much lately so it is only now that I finally have a chance to follow your wonderful trip report again! Also, this is the first time ever that I have spotted myself in someone's trip report - in the corner in the pool, enjoying those great Typhoon Lagoon-like waves!

Now on to catching up with the rest of your report ...

EDIT (later after reading the rest of the report): Thank you for posting all those great pictures of the Panama Canal crossing! We were a bit further back during Gatun Locks (didn't arrive on deck 10m until 5.15 ... which was definitely too late, as I know now! ).

After Gatun Locks, deck 10 really emptied out almost totally and we spent hours there, from the lake crossing up until the torrential rain started falling just before passing Culebra Cut.
I had actually intended to stay out in the rain, but had to change my mind and flee after 3 seconds of it because I almost drowned in the rain

Oh, and your pictures of Captain Fabian right after "the bump" are really priceless! (I loved how cruise director Jimmy kept giving him a hard time about that at every opportunity for the rest of the cruise)

Thanks for posting! So funny that I caught you in the pool. Last year my trip report from the Fantasy caught another DIS board reader by surprise. I had taken a photo in the concierge lounge of an adorable baby that was interacting with Minnie Mouse all by herself - her parents were nearby, but not looking at the baby, instead handling their toddler and older children. I posted that I probably shouldn't take photos of a stranger's baby, but I couldn't resist not capturing this adorable moment. And the mom was just reading along on my trip report some months later and was so surprised she posted "that's my baby"! She loved the photo and I sent it to her in a larger format. I think it's so funny that I caught another reader this year! Thanks for following and for sharing your memories as well.

We cruised Panama Canal with Disney too and loved it!

Nice

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

Before dinner, DSis and I went to the main theater to see Iron Man 3 in 3D, which was the stage performance that night. I have to share a little story from that... The cruise staff stand at the entrances to the theater passing out 3D glasses to guests as they enter the theater. The family behind us start to talk just as the movie begins and everyone is told to put on their 3D glasses. One of the older men in the group starts yelling to the others that he doesn't have glasses and says "where'd ya get them there glasses?". The family member next to him, behind me, yells back "yah old coot, you're sittin' on 'em." Then the woman the clan behind us called "Maw maw" announces to everyone she doesn't need the 3D glasses - "it looks the same with them on and with them off!" DSis and I could NOT stop giggling!

Now on to dinner -



Panama Canal menu in Parrot Cay





"Steamed Crab Royale" the lunch version was better



Baked Lobster Tail



Lobster Tail de-shelled by Patryk



Prime Rib








Butter Pecan Sundae

Tonight for dinner, it was just DSis and me since our parents were exhausted from getting up at 3am. They had dinner earlier at Beach Blanket where it is a menu and table service for dinner.

 

[speedo]

 

[speedo]

Throughout the cruise in the stores they sold a special panama canal cruise t-shirt. I think we said before on the first night there was a bit of panic to buy these shirts since there were not many out but they definitely had more than enough as we saw them in the store through the last night.

On the actual day we went through the Panama they sold another t-shirt that was only available that day. This was done at a booth by the Goofy Pool. This was the only time I saw this t-shirt for sale - it was special for the panama canal crossing also but a different design than the one they sold throughout the cruise.

We got suckered into buying both t-shirts. I do like the first t-shirt but the second one that they sold only on the panama canal day is not as nice. The material is thinner and I don't like the design as much. Personally it seems like they knew it wasn't such a great t-shirt but created buzz for it by making it available only on the canal crossing day.

 

[NHshorty]

Thank you for the detailed and picture-blessed trip report! I just booked the Castaway Cay double dip cruise and this is helping to refresh my memory of "our" original Disney ship. Gonna be a long wait, but this type of trip report helps.

We also just booked the double dip for next October!

 

[NHshorty]

Thanks so much for your amazing trip report!!!!! Now I know I have to do this cruise!!!!!

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

Day 7's Panama Canal experience was definitely the highlight of the trip and exceeded our expectations. So you can't expect too much excitement the next morning, but... I woke up about 6 am (sleeping in compared to yesterday!) and stepped out on the verandah.



It was a beautiful morning - and peaceful as the rest of my family were all still in bed. I noticed in the distance what I thought was dolphins and I yelled in to DSis to wake up and then went over to my parent's windows and nocked on theirs until I finally heard rumbling. I also grabbed my camera, which initially kept fogging up on me - going from the air conditioned state room to the more humid outside. The room next door to my parents also came out to take photos of the dolphins.





At first they were a ways off, but there seemed to be such a large number of them.



After a while they started to come right next to the ship

















DSis got some great shots - this is when we started to really tease her about being a wildlife photographer

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

Thanks so much for your amazing trip report!!!!! Now I know I have to do this cruise!!!!!

Excited for your upcoming cruise! Thanks for posting.

 

[jegsnakkernorsk]

So how do you break away from dolphins and a beautiful morning on your verandah? You send Dad to forage for baked goods. And you have him pop open a bottle of champagne they brought onboard for a special occasion.

Here's our breakfast: