Our return to the Panama Canal was a cool one. On our first trip we went through the whole canal. On this trip, out ship entered the Gatun locks on the Caribbean side, dropped off passengers for excursions, and then turned around and went right back out the locks. We got up at 4:30 to ensure we got the spot we wanted to watch from. As the morning progresses the crowds grow and so does the pushiness. We entered the locks about 7:30 a.m. On our left was Holland Americas smallest ship, the Prisendam, and we followed the freighter Solome through the locks to Gatun Lake. Going through the locks, our ship is pulled by mules, which are small trains. Our ship has only a few inches on each side between the wall of the canal and the ship. It took about 90 minutes to get through the locks. We then got off the ship to view the expansion project due to open next year that will allow modern supertankers to traverse the canal. Our first stop was the Gatun viewing station where we were surprised to see our ship already coming back through. We then went to the new canal expansion that will allow ships 40% longer and 60% wider to traverse the canal. These super massive tankers are likely to pay $1 million a trip for the shortcut. The current record was just less than $500,000 by the Norwegian Pearl. The lowest price was 32 cents for a swimmer in 1928. Our ship paid $300,000 to enter and exit the locks. The expansion project is impressive and we saw the giant gates a few times and then got to see the construction site with some of the doors in place and ready to be connected. Finally, we drove though Colòn, Panama. The city appears to have had much better days in its past. There, we reboarded the ship, enjoyed some great crab for dinner, and saw a beautiful evening from the deck of the ship. We wrapped up with a show by a singer named Brett Cave that was more entertaining than any show we have seen on a ship. We stayed and caught his second high-energy show. Unfortunately our last stop in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica was canceled due to rough seas. We suffered along with the masses during an extra day at sea. However, five hours after leaving, a passenger took extremely ill and we had to steam five hours back to drop her off and then head full-power to Fort Lauderdale to ensure we get back on time.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 15:14:49 +0000
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