Panama Canal Transit - April 30th

Locomotive

Visitor's Center

Low-tech signage

Since its opening in 1914, more than one million ships from all over the world have transited the Canal.  The historic millionth mark was reached on September 4, 2010 with the transit of the bulk carrier, Fortune Plum.

The waterway uses a system of locks with two lanes that operates as water elevators and raises the ships from sea level to the level of Gatun Lake, 85 feet above sea level, to allow the crossing through the Continental Divide, and then lowers the ships to sea level on the other side of the Isthmus. 

In honor of our transit and thanks to my cousin, Marco, who reminded me of the significance of the Panama Canal in the movie, Arsenic and OId Lace, we watched the movie Friday night – just one of 200 movies Michael has on his cell phone and easily accessible on the stateroom’s television through one of the many cables he brought onboard.

Arrivals and departures on a cruise ship are always estimates because there are so many variables.  Not wanting to be up at the crack of dawn, or even earlier, we decided to leave the tv on all night on the channel which shows the live webcam.  As soon as we were lined-up for the day’s transit, the narration would begin and we’d wake up.  This worked out perfectly for us.  By the way, I chronicled the entire transit on Facebook. 

It’s my understanding that cruise ships have priority – probably because they pay a small fortune for going through – and we were first in line on Saturday morning.  Awakening with the voice of our navigator, Antonio Grenald, from the Panama Canal Commission, he provided commentary throughout the day from the ship’s navigational bridge. 

From our balcony, in our bathrobes, we were able to watch as the ship approached the Gatun Locks and lifted the ship up in two steps to reach Gatun Lake.   Probably one of the most interesting things about the transit was the system used to guide the ship through the actual locks.  In order to pull the ship through the Canal locks, a steel cable must be attached from the locomotives on the locks to the ship.  This “high tech connection” begins with a small rowboat, one man rowing, one man holding the cables, who tosses the cables to the ship, they’re caught by a crew member, the cables are pulled taut, the rowboat returns to the locks and the locomotive slowly pulls the ship through the locks.  This same row boat repeats the procedure at the back of the ship so that we are connected in the forward and aft to the locomotives.  Once the ship is through the locks, it will disconnect the cables and they’re pulled onto the locks. 

Once through the Gatun locks, we were told that until around noon, we would be anchored in Gatun Lake so our 10:00 a.m. cycling class didn’t interfere with our enjoyment of the passage.  I was so hot and sweaty from cycling class that I didn’t feel the outside heat and humidity as I sat on our balcony enjoying the views. 

We continued to enjoy the transit with lunch in our room as we proceeded below the Centenario Bridge to the Pedro Miguel Locks and finally to the Miraflores Locks. 

The Miraflores Locks area were especially wonderful because across the way was a Visitors’ Center where hundreds of people arrived – many by bus – to wave and welcome us to their country.  It was amazing to see all those people standing on three levels of the building to watch as this cruise ship slowly moved through the locks.  We were encouraged to prepare posters and signs either for the benefit of those welcoming faces or for our own photos taken by the ship’s photographer and videographer who were actually standing on the locks.  If we decide to go through the Panama Canal again, we are going to prepare a really huge sign printed on a bedsheet and hang it over our balcony. 

This was the fastest transit our cruise director ever experienced and we arrived in the Pacific Ocean soon afterwards after transiting below the Bridge of Americas, on our way to Puerto Quepos, Costa Rica. 

Michael’s Observations:   In order to save money, cargo ships, which are either empty or have a light load, will wait for days outside the Gatun locks because it’s cheaper for them.  Our ship was the first to go through and I recall ten years ago the cost to Princess was about $100K to transit the Canal.  I spoke to our port lecturer who indicated it’s probably closer to $200K now – what a ride!