Friday, March 7, 2014 – Daylight Transit of the Panama Canal – Partly Cloudy – 88F

A beautiful day to sail the Panama Canal…

We watch the entry into the Canal from our cabin munching on our Room Service breakfast.

 

Entering the Canal (from our cabin)

After breakfast, we make our way up to Deck 5 to watch the rest of the transit which Jim narrates from the bridge.

 

Looking back toward Bridge of the Americas

Approaching Miraflores Locks I

 

Entering Miraflores Locks I

Miraflores Locks I (before)

 

Miraflores Locks I (after)

Another Ship in Miraflores Locks I 

Miraflores Locks

Miraflores Locks II (before)

Miraflores Locks II (after)

As the Quest passed into Miraflores Lake, we were able to see some of the construction activity related to the new locks due to open in 2015.  Apparently, the workers were on strike for a while but now they are back to work – the original 2014 date has already been missed and perhaps 2015 is also in Jeopardy.  On a positive note, 2014 marks 100 years of Panama Canal service, a milestone noted on just about every surface of equipment. 

 

New Locks in the Distance (ETA 2015)

Lake Miraflores

Entering Pedro Miguel Locks

Pedro Miguel Locks (before)

Pedro Miguel Locks (after)

Passing Under Centennial Bridge

Centennial Bridge Post

Gatun Lake

Approaching and Waiting for Gatun Locks

Entering Gatun Locks

Gatun Locks

Ellen at Gatun Locks

 

 

Gatun Locks Viewing Bleachers

Believe it or not, my phone ran out of power so I could not get any pictures of the ship entering the Atlantic Ocean.  We did get a very nice look at both Cristobal and Colon, Panama (interesting, no?)before we turned to the port side to head toward the Gulf of Mexico.

After taking in the Mexican Buffet up in the Window’s Cafe, we passed on Bruce Parker’s show and instead spent the evening reading in the public lounges.  I started “Jennie” by Donald Preston – while I normally like all of his stuff, I just couldn’t get into this story about a chimp.  Instead, I started another of his books, “Tyrannosaur Canyon”, and was immediately intrigued by the first few pages – something about a missing moon rock.