The Panama Canal

Our entrance into the Panama Canal occurred at 7:10 AM at Gatun locks and we exited the canal at Miraflores locks at 3:20 PM.  Our course was southeasterly from the Caribbean Sea on the Atlantic side to the Gulf of Panama on the Pacific side.  The cost of passage for our ship was $127,000.  The canal is 80 km long and it was completed in 1914.  During its construction, over 200 million cubic meters was removed.  More than 20,000 people lost their lives in the construction of the canal.  On September 4, 2010, the millionth ship transited the canal.  Annually, 14,000 ships take the shortcut rather than go round Cape Horn.  Currently, expansion of the canal is underway to accommodate ships that exceed the Panamax standard.  This expansion project was started in 2007 and is scheduled to be complete by 2014, the centennial of the original canal.  The canal is the primary driver of the Panamanian economy and judging by the skyline of Panama City, business is booming.  During our transit of the canal, our companion ships were two container ships.  As usual, the trip through the canal was fascinating and watching the building of the new locks is a delight for all boys who like to watch giant dump trucks and graders and who want desperately to be at the controls of the enormous diggers.

Thanks to everyone who sent emails providing Calgary weather updates.  We did a little winter celebration dance in the 28 degree Celsius (notice there is no preceding minus sign) weather. 

We have met many friendly people aboard.  The group of six at the table beside us in the dining room are very pleasant and, since our table for two is separated from theirs by only about eight inches, they have insisted in including us in their generally amusing dinner conversations.  For instance, some of you may not be aware of this, but the Cel frequently likes to use aliases when introducing himself to strangers and also prefers to fabricate his occupation when asked.  For example, last April, while on a river cruise on the Danube River, the Cel’s name was Eugene and, when pressed, he would admit to being a mortician.  One of our almost tablemates however, had a story that surpasses any fabrication the Cel has ever dreamed up (but which he is liable to plagiarize at the first opportunity).  Apparently, someone once asked a tablemate on a cruise ship what he did for a living.  The fellow said he worked at San Quentin penitentiary.  Unwilling to leave it at that, the questioner followed up with, “And what do you do there?”  The answer silenced all further conversation, “I’m the state executioner!”  Conversation did not resume until the fellow admitted he was joking. 

Of course, the dinner conversation is not always light and amusing.  It is sometimes educational as well.  As an example, we learned that one can have eye makeup such as eyeliner, permanently tattooed into the skin.  Apparently, however, if you choose to undergo this time-saving procedure, it can adversely affect any MRI examination you may require afterwards.  And then there is the inevitable (given the average age of our ship mates) jolly discussion of health ailments.  So, instead of a palate-cleansing sorbet between courses, we were treated to a lively dissertation on wet and dry macular degeneration, the delight of the requisite needle stick in the eye for administering appropriate treatment, and the subsequent eyeball full of blood that eventually resolved after several days.  I tell you, the main course could not have arrived at a more appropriate time! 

When we find our fellow cruisers simply too delightful and amusing, we escape to the solitude of our balcony.  Alas, even there we need to beware of “da stink.”  Our neighbour two doors down also likes to spend reclusive blocks of time on the verandah.  Unfortunately, he suffers from a nasty cough that apparently affects his ability to keep from venting other gases so that as his coughing fit subsides, a vile effluent leaps effortlessly from balcony to balcony.  More than once we have been driven back into our stateroom to avoid “da stink.”

CRUISE TIP: Looking for a cheap watch or do you need an evening bag for formal night?  Wait until you are aboard the ship and take advantage of the $10 sale in the shops.