Panama Canal

Last night we continued our voyage toward Panama and arrived at the break waters of the Caribbean Sea near the entrance to the Panama Canal at Cristobal, Panama around 8:30am.  We had a wait for our turn to traverse the canal.  Here is our schedule of transit times through the three different locks.

10:30am	Entrance to Gatun Locks
Noon	Clear Gatun Locks
2:40pm	Passing Gamboa
4:10pm	Entering Pedro Miguel Locks
4:45pm	Clearing Pedro Miguel Locks
5:10pm	Entering Miraflores Locks
6:25pm	Leaving Miraflores Locks

Today, there are 23 ships going through the canal southbound and 21 ships going northbound.  Our ship boarded two Panama Canal Commission Pilots who took control of the ship as we traverse the canal some 48 miles.  There are also numerous linehandlers from the Commission onboard who handle the lines that are connected to the electric mules in the locks to pull the ship forward. 

 Between the Gatun Locks and the Pedro Miguel Locks we cruise along Gatun Lake which was created by a dam and provides all the water to operate the locks without any electricity.

Tomorrow's The Big Day

The Big Day is just about here.  We will head over to the ship tomorrow at about noon for boarding.  The ship is expected to sailaway at around 5:00pm.  The weather is looking very good with small sea swells expected. Our first stop will be Grand Cayman and then on for the transit of the Panama Canal. We just do the transit with no stops in Panama and head on to Manta, Equador.  Manta is the disembarkation stop for passengers who will be going overland to Mauchu Picchu or the Galapagos Islands.

We will spend today getting last minute laundry done and packing up things here at the Palm-Aire.  Needless to say, the long wait for this cruise is finally over.