Martin, we arrived at the entrance to the first lock, Pedro Miguel, at 6.40am, and left the last one, Gatun, at 5.10pm. That included about an hour's wait before entering the first Gatun lock, due to a "traffic jam". There were about 16 ships waiting to leave, and about 25 anchored on the Atlantic side waiting to cross in the opposite direction to us, i.e., to the Pacific.
Roger, I can't remember exactly, I have it somewhere but can't remember where at the moment, but the figure of US$200,000 springs to mind. It is based on a ship's capacity, not what it is actually carrying, in other words, it costs as much for a ship to transit empty, as it would if fully loaded. Costing is based on container carrying capacity, so passenger ships are charged as if they were container ships (I think). When we get back home to Australia, and have sorted out all our junk stuff, I will try and find the info and let you know.
Peter.