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Published: January 12th 2011
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Dec20 Panama Canal
Sleeping with our curtains open helped wake me up at 5AM, there was a sea full of boats and lights everywhere in the Cristobal breakwater. Small panic to get in our housecoats and we watched for a few minutes from our deck. It is still dark and at the front of the ship it looks like a runway to guide us into the first set of locks, we have small boats on each side of us lighting the way.
I could not stand staying in our room so within 5 minutes; I was dressed and we went to the front of the ship to catch the entrance into the Gatun Lock which has a total of 3 chambers. It is still dark but there are already people out, but coffee stations were setup everywhere so we got a good spot at that front and we both tried to capture this manmade wonder on camera.
In 1534 Charles 1 of Spain ordered the 1st survey of the proposed canal route through the Isthmus of Panama. The French began in 1880 and after laboring for 20 years diseases, finances and engineering problems defeated them. A total of
80000 laborers worked on these locks and 30000 died doing it. In 1903 Panama gained its independence from Columbia. Shortly after Panama signed a treaty with the United States, who guaranteed independence and paid her 10 million dollars. In 1904 the US purchased the French Canal Rights for $40million and began construction. The Canal was completed in 1914 and cost approximately $387 million. The SS Ancon made the first official voyage on August 15, 1914. At noon on Dec 31, 1999, Panama assumed full responsibility for the administration, operation, and maintenance of the Panama Canal. Since September 3,2007 an expansion began which will add a third lane of traffic: this third lane will allow the transit of longer, wider ships.
We were in a prime location to see them move the bridge open for us to enter Gatun lock. The bridge is for vehicles to cross from one side to another. Farm workers patiently waited for us to enter on both sides until we can clear the lock and they can cross over to go to work.
It costs our ship $330000 which is one of the highest tolls paid b a cruise ship. The average toll for
ocean-going commercial vessels is $35000. It takes 8 locomotives called “Mules” attached to our side by cables to align and tow the ship in position within the lock chambers. The locks raise us 85 feet to the lake beyond.
Once we entered the 1st Chamber we went down the side to watch a big container ship coming up in the lock right beside us .It was interesting to see from that prospective, we were twice the size of this ship and it did not look like it would fit.
We decided this would be a good time to grab something to eat so we went to the buffet on the 14th floor. One of the head waiters made sure we had a window seat for two while we enjoyed our Eggs Benedict and watch the view as we proceeded through the Gatun lock. Back on deck to watch as we went through the last two chambers into Gatun Lake, this took about 2 hours. This time we went to the back of the ship to see us move away from the locks and into the lake. This lake was created by a dam built to control water levels
and supply power to operate the canal. When they flooded this area they destroyed 3 villages which gave the names to the 3 sets of locks Gatun, Pedro Miguel and Mira Flores.
In order to enjoy the view we returned to our deck in our room to watch the many islands and the shoreline of the rainforest. Apparently we are supposed to see tropical birds and crocodiles if we look close enough but being on the 12th floor we did not see anything (binoculars would have been a great thing to have) We have been blessed with a sunny day, the temperature is 30c, apparently this is rare for this area as it usually rains most of the time. The great thing is we are on the shady side of the ship so the heat and humidity is bearable. While here we went through Gamboa, which is the base for all dredging operations in the canal zone to guarantee safe and efficient operations in the waterway.
After Gamboa we went through the famous Gaillard Cut, which is the narrowest section of the canal and was carved out of bare rock.
When we went back up on the top
deck it was very hot, so we returned to our room and put on bathing suits. Back on the deck and sat in the splash pool as we watched our ship as it started its decent into the Pacific Ocean. We entered the single lock at Pedro Miguel
And later the Miraflores Locks, where we were lowered down in two stages.
By 3 PM it is now too hot to continue sitting up here and we were getting sun burnt so we moved down to the 7th floor promenade where we were level with Miraflores Lock. It was amazing to watch the giant ship sink lower and lower, you could almost touch the side of the lock, it looked like we only had a couple of inches between us and the lock. At times you could hear scraping along the sides of this huge ship as it was pulled through.
As we moved out of the final lock into the Pacific there was people watching from shore and they all cheered and waved to us as we made our way into the Ocean. It gave you chills as you see people celebrating our successful 9 hour passage
Mule
We needed 8 of these locomotives to get us through through the locks.
We returned to our room tired and sun burnt. We toasted our day on our deck and because of the heat we came in side and watched Twilight Eclipse on our TV while we dressed for another dining adventure.
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