So...the Panama Canal. Commonly referred to by Christiaan the Cruise Director as "one of the Eighth Wonder of the World." It's the reason this journey is 2 weeks, instead of 2 months.
We are told that we are scheduled to pass under the Bridge of the Americas at 0700. It actually ends up taking about an 30-60 minutes longer than that. Our plan is to sleep as long as possible, while watching on the front-of-the-ship cam to see when we're actually approaching, then race out all disheveled and race back to sleep after we pass under it. It is, unfortunately, a plan doomed to failure as everyone else apparently got up and staked out spaces at around 0500. After wandering around aimlessly trying to find a decent spot in the scorching heat, we watch the bridge pass over us and retreat back to our cabin until the next lock.
We get to the Miraflores Locks around 0930.
I am finally able to get something of a view by balancing on the top of a waist-high box with about 6 other people. I watch the ship enter the lock, and then decide the better part of valor might be to just assume we get out ok. As the heat becomes ever more oppressive, we have lunch in Topsider Buffet and watch the next lock, the Pedro Miguel, from inside.
Finally, for the last lock, the Gatun Locks, we are determined to watch the whole thing from a good spot. By this time, most people's interest had waned, so we got a relatively clear spot in front. The weather had also turned cooler and we congratulated ourselves on a pleasant viewing experience...until we noticed the flashes of lightning in the distance. The lightning that got progressively closer, until it began pouring down rain on us.
After a considerable time of getting rained on, CMs came by and handed out ponchos. Finally, roughly 12 hours after our initial approach to the Bridge of the Americas, we completed our journey through the canal, and reached the Atlantic Ocean.
We celebrated by going inside and toweling off, although not with the towels from our new cabinmate:
Dinner tonight is a special menu entitled "West Meets East" with the date printed on it that we are allowed to keep as a memento.
This is my favorite dinner by far on the trip. The crab legs and lobster are terrific, and cooked just right.
Our day in the Panama Canal came to a close with the delivery of a lithograph by "Ducky" Williams to commemorate our voyage. Heat and rain nowithstanding, it was a great experience to see such a marvel of engineering and historical significance. The only downside is that there is no longer any way to deny that the majority of our trip lies behind us, with the Pacific Ocean.
Tomorrow: Cartegena.
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