Today was definitely one of the highlights of our trip, the crossing of the Panama Canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean! Wifi is still painfully slow, making it impossible to post photos. Unless things improve, I’m going to have to continue to just share my commentary and add photos later. However, I was able to add a map which you might like to refer to as I briefly explain the day. Update March 21, 2020. We are home from the trip and I have added photos from the canal crossing.
The entire transit takes about eleven hours and we still in process; currently waiting to go through the Parisco locks.
We got up early this morning and many of the passengers congregated at the front of the ship in the observation lounge. Transit begins on the Atlantic side, in the Caribbean Sea, and the ship first travels through the Gatun locks. Going through the locks is fascinating. The ship rises a total of eighty five feet as it travels through three locks. Then it reaches Gatun Lake which is very beautiful.
After five hours crossing the lake we reached our current position and will go through two more sets of locks which will take us back to sea level before we reach the Gulf of Panama on the Pacific side.
We are sitting on our balcony watching all of the activity this afternoon. A new branch of the canal has been built parallel to ours and we are probably sixty or seventy feet from another ship going through right next to us. Of course there are lots of workers along the sides and we wave to them as we pass. It is a full day’s adventure.
The ships are guided through the locks by what look like little railroad engines and there is only about three feet of clearance on either side. Our captain is not in command of the ship in the canal. A highly trained captain boards the ship at the onset of the transit and stays in command until the transit is complete. Tug boats also accompany us, I guess incase we run into any trouble and to keep the ships a safe distance apart. A lecturer has also boarded and he explains what is happening throughout the day.
Last night our tour director, John, put on a wonderful one man show. He was a singer before he transitioned to his current job and it was terrific entertainment. Tonight we are going to the Pacific Rim restaurant.
Tomorrow is another sea day as we sail to Costa Rica. We’ll most likely just relax and there won’t be much to post about. I’m excited will be excited to spend a full day in Costa Rica and we have a busy excursion planned, which I’ll share, hopefully by the next day.
