Transit The Panama Canal

Our ship was due to enter the canal early in the morning so after leaving Colon we just sort of floated around during the night.  The pilot came on about 6:15 am and we picked up the crew of workers about a half hour later.  Once the ship enters the canal area it is completely under the control of the canal authority.  The canal workers handle all the aspects of the movement of the ship, mostly handling the cables that tie the ship to the "mules".  This first group of about 20 workers stayed on our ship until we reached the San Miguel lock where we picked up a new group of workers to stay on until we left the canal zone.

The ship had set up rows of chairs on the top deck so people could sit there to watch all the events.  Unfortunately just about the time we began to enter the first lock there was a heavy downpour that drove everyone inside.  We were still eating breakfast and had a window table so were were able to view everything and stay dry!

It turned out to be a smooth transit but we ended up being almost two hours longer than originally scheduled. Since we had been through the canal several times on past cruises we did not need to watch all day and just took it easy (including naps) until we exited to the pacific side.

A small boat brings the canal workers

Our ship is in the first lock with a tug boat in behind us

The visitor center at Gatun lock where we were yesterday

The Centennial Bridge for the Pan Am Highway that crosses the canal at the continental divide.