Nov 6, 2017

PANAMA CANAL. The promised rain never arrived. It was bright with big puffy clouds, slightly windy and 80 degrees all day.

During the night, we pulled into Panama to await our turn through the canal. The fee for a cruise ship to use the canal is based on berths – in our case, the fee is $280,000.00. I’d imagine that includes a hefty concession fee to give us first access as we started into the canal by 7am. At one point, I counted 45 ships anchored around us but I think that was only a fraction, as there appeared to be many more ships outside the immediate bay. No wonder Panama wanted the canal back.

It took about 9 hours to go through. It didn’t seem fast moving but when we could see other boats next to us, we could tell the docks filled and drained rather quickly. Our boat was almost exactly the same width as the canal. It really did look like you could reach out and touch the walls. There are “mules”, little rail cars on tracks which pull/guide the boat from lock to lock. The first lock, the Miraflores, was 3 locks long, then we went through a second set, the Pedro Miguel, 2 locks long. We past under the Bridge of the Americas, (Highway 1, Alaska to the end of Chili), a soaring white single cable suspension bridge, similar to the Sundial Bridge in Redding. We then floated through the Culebra Cut, into the connecting Gatun Lake and out the Gatun Locks, under the Centennial Bridge and into the Caribbean Sea.

Panama City could be seen over the hills to the south or my shoulder.. The surrounding land was mostly cut steps, covered in scrub jungle. Lots of men and machinery lined each side of the canal and everyone waved. It was weird to see into the other ships as they passed us as they were so close.

It’s difficult to describe how impressive the Canal is. It seems fairly mundane on the surface, but one can’t help being impressed by the immense effort it took to create it and the equally immense effort it takes to keep it performing. Thousands of people died during construction; it took years to build, new and unknown diseases to fight, not to mention crocs, snakes and insects.  Millions of gallons of water for each ship is pumped and recycled, untold millions of tons of rock and concrete are visible, equipment and men are everywhere and it’s ongoing, constantly.  

While we passed through the lake, Jim napped and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Men Tell No Tales. Seemed appropriate. We met to watch the final exit and then went for cocktails with our favorite bartending team. They weren’t impressed with the canal as they’d seen it too many times.

Big boat in new lock

Honey said her contract is for 9 months and she stays with the Coral Princess. It took her 2 years of college and prior hospitality experience to get this job. There are lots of people waiting to get a job on a cruise ship and she says it’s better than being at home. In her case, the Philippines. Christian’s father still works cargo ships, has all his life, so it was natural for Christian to follow in dad’s footsteps. He goes home every nine months for a month or two, eats mom’s cooking and catches up with his friends.   

An uneventful dinner, another football game and to bed.