Day 4 - Saturday Dec 31

Panama Canal photos

position: 9:25:44 N latitude x 79:54:54 W longitude
(~10 miles N of the entrance to the panama canal)
speed: 9 knots with a with a 300 degree head wind at about 18mph.
tempature: 80F and 90% humidity at 7:30 am - partly cloudy

We got up early to be in the Observation Lounge forward on deck 11. We made it by about 6am and were there first ones present. There was supposed to be a coffee bar there from 6am on for the entry into the locks. But it was not ready, and the manager was not pleased. Debbie wanted a latte from the coffee bar anyway so she went downstairs to get one. The action started about 6:30 with the ship approaching the lock gates. They hooked 3 locomotives to each side to pull the ship into the lock chambers. There were two chambers to raise the ship up 85 ft which is the height of Gatun Lake. The lake is the 3rd largest man-made lake behind Lake Meade and Lake Nasser. By 7am, the ship was in the locks. We then moved our location to the deck behind La Veranda and ate breakfast while going through the locks. About 9:30 we were out of the locks, and anchored in Gatun Lake off the Gatun Yacht Club. Did not see any yachts there but it was a pleasant 3-4 hours on land. Clay swam in the Panama Canal and got a T-shirt to prove it (his first t-shirt purchase of the cruise). Debbie only got in up to her knees, backing out after the life guard told her what wild life was present. (Alligators were on the list.) We then ate from a ship-provided barbeque lunch. Laurens saw Debbie in line and yelled at her to ask for the alligator steak when she got to the grill. The only problem was keeping the wind from blowing your plate away, but the wind kept it very nice weather-wise, helping with the humidity. Debbie purchased some handicraft work made by the local tribal artisans. She got a basket to hold her jewelry at night on the ship, a mola oven mitt for home, a mola T-shirt for Clay and a "I swam in the Panama Canal" T-shirt for Clay. There was lots of live local entertainment with musicians and dancers.

The last tender was at 2:30 and we lifted anchor around 3. For the next 3 and half hours, we cruise Lake Gatun, meandering through the little islands until we approached the locks on the Pacific side aroud 6:30. Dinner started a half hour later this evening at 7 instead of 6:30 because of New Years. The dress code for the evening was Black and White Formal. We opened our sail away bottle of champagne for a New Years toast. We set our clocks back this evening for the first time (23 more to go). What a good way to start a new year with an extra hour.

No Blackberry signal all day long and the ship's internet was very spotty. Clay tried to go online about 6-8 times during the day when he noticed people in the club.com typing away. The signal was only available for about 10 minutes total and everytime Clay lost his work.

Panama Canal photos