Day 6: We Transit the Panama Canal

…which certainly lives up to its hype!

The Captain had told us the day before that we would be picking up our pilot at 5 am. Picking up the pilot typically takes place an hour or so before anything actually begins so I set our alarm for 5:30. As usual, I was up well before then and as it turns out I was one of the slackers! The ship was already abuzz by then as it seems a fair amount of our fellow passengers got up at that time to score front row seats in the Horizon Court buffet for the day, allowing them an unobstructed view of the front of the ship. Above them on Deck 15, others (mostly the really tall people from what I heard about the ship) had staked a claim on the standing room at the front of the ship to see the day’s proceedings.

From our balcony I could see lights directly off our port indicating another ship not too far away. Then in the distance ahead were many more lights and I thought perhaps that was Panama. Turns out it was really a flotilla of ships, either waiting their turn to proceed to the locks or just exiting the locks from the west. Again, there is a pecking order here: anybody who doesn’t want to pay what I’m sure is a rather exorbitant fee to bump them up in line goes whenever they get around to taking you, cargo ships that will pay the “upgrade” fee, cruise ships have reservations and priority (but I’m pretty sure they don’t get it for free) and of course, the US Navy probably trumps anybody.

Around 7 am we were apparently “green-lighted” to queue up to begin the process. Ships move under their own power into position and thru the locks but they are guided by tugboats and extremely powerful electric locomotives during the holding process to ensure that they maintain their exact position…there is no margin for error here. Coming from the east, we approach the first lock and we will transverse Panama from the Caribbean Sea on the northwest to the Pacific Ocean on the southeast. The canal comprises 6 locks in total: there are 3 chambers at the Gatun Locks, the Pedro Miguel Lock, and 2 chambers at the Miraflores Locks near the Pacific. Each lock chamber can only accommodate ships no larger than 965 ft. in length and 106 ft. in width, coincidentally the exact size of the Island Princess.

Once gated in position, each lock of the Gatun Locks will raise the boat approximately 10 meters before allowing passage to the next chamber or finally the Gatun “Lake”. This amazingly takes mere minutes - the chamber fills in something like 15 minutes - and that’s a lot of water! It is all done by gravity and has experienced very little change in the technology since it first opened in 1914. They did add lights for traveling thru the Gatun Lake or the rather narrow Galliard Cut in 1963, allowing the Canal to be used 24/7.

Knowing Gerry as you do, I’m sure you can imagine how he didn’t want anything to do with the mobs and crowds forming there so we decided instead to take the opportunity to have room service deliver our champagne breakfast. When it arrived (but not of course until after we had dismissed our server) we realized that it was only half there, so Gerry trekked up to the HC and was surprised to find nobody in line (they didn’t want to give up there seat…even for food!) and then we began to enjoy the process from the viewpoint of our balcony. Other than the Canal itself, there does not appear to be much activity at the Caribbean side of the locks but the workers wave and shout “Adios” as we pass by.

After breakfast we ventured out to see what the others were seeing, heading instead to the rear of the ship to watch the next ship follow us in. There are two lanes currently in operation thru the Canal and our understanding is that the US has plans to begin construction on a third lane (however, this is not a particularly new rumor - there is leftover building materials that evidence previous attempts by the US to begin a third lane thru the Canal).

Now that we’ve completed all three of the Gatun Locks, we proceed into the Gatun Lake. This lake was created by damning the small river here and those small “islands” that seem awfully close to our ship are in fact the remaining mountaintops. The entire Canal length is only 80 kilometers and it was take us 9 hours to transit completely. We arrive in the narrow channel of the Galliard Cut where we will cross the Continental Divide and approach the Pedro Miguel Lock and begin the process of being lowered back to sea level. Soon after we are at the Miraflores Locks and off our port-side we can see the large Panama Canal Visitors Center Building. There are many visitors waving to us and we exit the canal - shouting out to those who made signs (probably in a Princess Crafts@Sea class) “Adios Alabama!” or “Goodbye Alaska!”

Once we are back at sea level, it is not long until we can see Balboa to our left and behind it Panama City with all its skyscrapers. We pass under the “Bridge of the Americas” which connects North and South America and we believe is a connection of Hwy 93 which we have traveled often in Montana. As soon as we clear the “no wake zone” of the bay it is time to get the ship back up to speed and hit the open water.

From Terri's "What the Heck is Going On?" File: a) Jeff and An have a new address; b) Jenny & Travis will soon have a new address; c) the Mariners are still winning; d) Swine flu may force us to cancel our port call in Mexico; and e) ARLEN SPECTER IS A DEMOCRAT?!?!?

Tomorrow a relaxing day at sea and the Weilers try the mud-room.