Sunday 3 August 2014

Day 69 - Transit of the Panama Canal - August 1st.

Although technically another sea day, for many, this is one of the highlight days of the cruise.  We were fortunate in going through in 2011 but this is one of those cruise days that is always interesting and enjoyable.  Up to the Horizon Court for the usual breakfast.

The day started off extremely warm and bright but the whole Panama Canal system relies on the rainfall flowing into the massive Gatun lake, then through the three sets of locks and down into the Caribbean Sea at the north eastern end and the Pacific Ocean at the south western end.  With each lock operation, fresh water is flowing outwards from the top lake level and with the planned expansion of the canal, to cope with wider ships, a form of water reticulation is being incorporated.  Incidentally, the new roller lock gates have been built in Italy and weigh 3000 tons each.  I hope I got that right.

It was interesting to learn that the original plan was for a passage 150 feet wide at a time when ships were somewhat narrower than today.  The plans were then revised down to just 110 feet wide, as critics were (as usual) being rather short sighted, which has restricted the size of modern ships, cargo and passenger, ever since.

The Dawn Princess has just 30cm/1 foot clearance on each side when entering the current locks, so when the new locks on the expansion are completed, in 2015, they’ll have a capacity of 180 feet wide.  This will of course have a considerable impact on the shipping industry and will inevitably mean that the larger cruise ships heading through, may well see the Sun class Princess  ships not doing World Cruises, or, it may mean more options.  Who knows?  Up to now, the largest and therefore the most expensive ship (in terms of levies paid) to pass through, is a Disney cruise ship.  The cheapest levy of 37 cents was on a swimmer…

Anyway,  back to breakfast.  For some reason, the commentary from the bridge was deafening inside the buffet and also out on the open decks.  Even though the buffet staff complained, nothing much seemed to happen, yet we know the message did get through, but as passengers, at least we could escape to our cabins. 

I hung out the Union Jack from our balcony for the first set of locks, and Birdie waved to the kids, old and young.  The three section Gatun locks, raise the ship a total of 85 ft., but when we returned to the cabins later, flags and notices had been removed – by order of the captain, according to our steward.  They were back for the other two sets of locks though…

As expected, it tipped it down with rain for a while and it was extremely humid from then on and we lost the bright colours, as there was also a fair bit of haze or mist.

A light lunch (I am doing my best) of once again, some nice fish and a bowl of corn chowder.  After the Pedro Miguel lock, we headed the short distance to the last of the three lock sets, Miraflores, a double lock with a grandstand alongside.  As we entered, it looked as though they were filming a TV news show from the dockside and by the time we left, it was about 7pm and darkness had fallen, so we only saw the distant lights of Panama City.

Dinner was fish and chips, with, wait for it, malt vinegar!  Wow.  No mushy peas or even mashed peas this time.  Overall, we are still a little underwhelmed by the vegetables.  The roast beef two nights ago had steamed vegetables rather than the advertised roast veg – and no potatoes at all.  Most odd.   The waiters now bring a plate of green veg to the table every night.

After dinner, we went to the Vista  lounge for comedian Don Friesan.  So-so but only about a 7 out of 10.   Being a 40 year old, some of his material was a bit too modern (computer passwords etc.) for the older members of the audience, but at least his material was original, so that was worth a point.

Back at sea tomorrow and heading for South America - our first visit.

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