Even though I have transited the Panama Canal many, many times, it never ceases to draw me in… My first transit was 30 years ago on the Costa Allegra, my how time just flies by... I was up at daybreak to be ready for our transit. The 10-year construction build of the Panama Canal is a feat of engineering and determination started by the French, which they abandoned. The Americans persevered and created a route allowing ships to travel across a continent. The 1914 opening of the canal changed how the way the shipping world operates today and is a crucial component to the world’s maritime traffic. In 2016 a third shipping lane on the Pacific side opened allowing the world largest container ships to pass through. An experience on the waterways of the Panama Canal is an unforgettable one, marked with marvels of human achievement alongside the natural reserves and biodiversity. Having a Cabana is an added bonus to transiting the Canal although I have to admit I spent very little time there… Something about 900+ photos... Our journey today took us past Balboa and the city scape of Panama City. Passing under the Bridge of Americas, we could see the entrance to the newest locks, Cocoli Locks, before entering the Miraflores Locks. Next were the Pedro Miguel Locks and under the Centennial Bridge which opened in 2004 to lesson traffic on the Bridge of Americas. Making our way past the excavated gorge across the Continental Divide known as the Culebra Cut, we passed the Gamboa dredging maintenance area as we headed for Gatun Lake. Gatun Lake is a man-made lake formed by damming the Chagres River. To finish our canal transit, we headed for Gatun Locks, the last set of three locks before the Caribbean Sea. Once through the locks we went under the latest canal build completed in 2019, the Atlantic Bridge. Great transit of the Panama Canal… We had a day of great weather and wonderful sights along the way. A big thank you to Ian Page, the Cruise and Travel Director for his excellent narration of our Panama Canal transit…great job my friend! Off to Pinnacle Grill tonight for a farewell dinner with our friends Pauline and Mike Hall. Our Captain also just advised of another itinerary change, we will not be stopping at Puerto Limon, Costa Rica tomorrow and will instead make a stop at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas on Saturday…. You have to remain nimble in this COVID world! This blog, once again, is in two (very large) parts…. Need slow down on the photos…. Post note: Took forever to get this first part loaded, finally had to get up in the wee hours to try and get it done. When I first got on the Zuiderdam, I raved about the internet. I want to officially retract that, it has been a downhill ride ever since with numerous outages, slow or intermittent connections which is not good. They may have a lot of bandwidth but, it's not effectively usable a great deal of the time. Part 2 went a bit faster, now if I can go back to sleep... Disappointing...
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