Panama Canal Transit

Monday - December 11, 2018

Today we travel through the Panama Canal!  This to me (and my dad), was the highlight of the trip.  I mean, Colombia and Mexico and Costa Rica are nice and everything - but the entire purpose of this trip was to be able to do a full transit through the canal.  And it was amazing - especially if you've studied the history behind it and realize that this was carved out of land 100 years ago.  It's amazing!

I picked our cabin on the 10th floor specifically for the open deck at the front of the ship.  We were about 8(?) cabins down from the door leading out - so it was a fast and easy trip to the front deck.  My alarm went off at 6 am, and my dad and I stuffed some food in our mouths (we had snacks in our room) and I headed out first by 6:30.  By the time I hit the open deck, about half the railing space was taken, so I headed over to the left and grabbed a spot and took some photos.  My dad joined me after a short while.

here's the 3rd bridge being built - it's the Atlantic Bridge

We were told that our entrance into the locks was going to be delayed a bit - but I didn't want to give up my spot, so my dad and I stood there and waited.  My mom, Grace and Ed came by at various times to visit and we would take turns standing at the railing as it was all full and we had 2 spots that my dad and I had been saving - so mom and Grace would stand there and look, then one of them would step back so Ed could look.  

The Norwegian Jade was scheduled ahead of us to go through the Canal.

hello fancy suite people on deck 11!

and we're getting close to the entrance!  (this is unzoomed on my dinky camera phone)

This is what's left of the French attempt to build a sea level canal.  😔

zoomed in a tiny bit.  This is literally what's left after thousands of men died in the attempt

Mom was still sore everywhere and her arm hurt, but she gamely put on her hat and came out to view the canal for awhile.  Then she left to go and watch from our balcony - which was a side view, but she got to sit in the shade in her pajama pants 😁

And we're here!  We're here!

Something totally awesome I didn't know about?  When the doors to the lock closes - there's a little bridge cars can drive over to get from one side of the canal to another!!!!

see???

We come up right against it and see the water level rise in the lock.  You can see this on youtube - but it's literally awesome in real life.  Not in the sense that we use the word ("this burrito is awesome!"), but the original meaning.  You are literally FILLED WITH AWE.  

So, another side story to tell.  Dad and I had been standing there for a few hours now...about 2, since we didn't start going in until close to 9 am.  As we approach the canal, this European (?) guy comes up behind us and is literally glued to my ass.  GLUED TO MY ASS.  I had been standing next to this nice woman and her husband, and his dick is literally shoved up against my butt.  I told my dad this guy was all up in my business (literally) and he was making me really uncomfortable and I didn't want to make a scene.  My dad slid over and took my spot next to the nice woman while I slid to my dad's spot so he was glued against my dad.  I took a few selfies of this:

The douche in the straw hat behind my dad and I...I don't know which nationality he was.  He wasn't speaking English, Italian, Spanish or French, and I couldn't recognize the language.   But as we got closer and closer to the canal, he kept trying to shove his way forward to the railing despite coming an hour and a half AFTER everyone else did.  

My dad finally exploded.  He started yelling "stop pushing me!  Stop pushing me!" at the top of his lungs.  The lady next to my dad then told her husband this gross ass man was shoving her too.  So he started yelling at the guy to "stop shoving my wife!"   Dumbass perv started yelling back "you got a problem?" and my dad was screaming "yes, I have a problem!   You push my daughter, and you push me"  I thought my dad was going to fight.  So I was trying to figure out if I had to kick this guy in the balls or throat punch him.  Then another nice man who was standing behind us...an American, thus at an appropriate distance, told the guy he needed to just step back, because we clearly weren't going to give up our spots, and he could see just fine from behind us, and to stop shoving people.  The guys' wife was getting all stressed out pulling and tugging at him.  I never saw him for the rest of the trip - but honestly, I wouldn't be able to recognize him anyway.  But this guy, he was a dick.  

Anyway, getting back to the important part...the ship in front of us (and the two little boats) had passed through!  So we had to wait for the water level to go back down before the gates could open for us. 

Then it did!  Tada!

and we enter

My dad, who up until now refused to pose for a photo, all of sudden turned to me and said, "let's take a picture of us with the Panama Canal!", so we turned around with our backs to the railing and snapped a selfie.

We head into the first lock and are approaching the next gate.

And we can see the big ship in front of us go into the 3rd lock.  Pay attention to where the top of the gate relative to the ship is.  

And see it sinking...

And sinking...

And now we're above it...

And now the gate opens to the second lock and we start going in. 

Once we're in the 3rd locks (and it started to rain), I was done with the front deck.  I saw us enter 3 locks, I can start watching from the sides now.  Besides, I heard that for the canal, you want to be walking all around the ship because it's different from every angle.  So I head to our room first to get the view from our balcony.

hi mom and dad!

lopsided selfie!  With hat hair!

looking ahead towards Gatun Lake

look, it's Grace!

entry into Gatun Lake

leaving the Gatun locks

At this point, I was pooped!  I grabbed some food, then fell asleep on the couch.  And woke up to this: 

the Centennial Bridge

Actually, I did wake up in time to see the Culebra Cut (the continental divide), but like a dumbass, I didn't take any photos of it 😢

As we approached the Pedro Miguel locks, I leave our cabin and wander around the ship to see it from different places.

from the front (I was in the 3rd row, I just lifted my phone and took photos without being able to see)

from the Starboard side - and you can see the post-Panamax expanded lane/locks

from the very top deck, above the buffet.  But they're viewing everything through tinted glass!

at the pool area - you can see the view from the bridge if you wanna just hang in the jacuzzi

which a few people are

Where did I end up?  Where the rest of my people were.  In the buffet 😑

And I don't mean "my people" as just my traveling group.  But I literally mean MY PEOPLE.  As in ALL the Chinese people onboard.  There was a mahjong table set up in the buffet!

Because we got there late, we got 2nd row tables, which was fine.  We drank ice coffees and ate some snacks that were put out.

After we were through the Pedro Miguel locks, the tables all cleared!  So we moved up!  Score!

I sat IN FRONT of the table to watch the rest of the transit.

And we approach the Mira Flores locks, the last set before we reach the Pacific.

Night falls as we literally leave the last set of locks. And with it, a BUNCH of rain!

We head back to our cabin because I was to see the Bridge of the Americas from our balcony.

And there it is, in bad lighting with my camera phone!

We had a later reservation to the dining room that night, so we had been snacking in the buffet.  Then we went back to our cabin to change for dinner.

calamari...with very little batter.  That's okay.  Still tasty.

my mama got the roasted pineapple.  I don't think this was what she was expecting though

the vegetable hot pot...not like any hot pot I'd ever seen before, but it came with an empanada!

Szechuan shrimp, which ended up being a big hit because it was very Asiany

snapper

pork belly!  Yes, I got this.  My mom was horrified.

I was really full, but I still wanted dessert.  So I ordered creme brulee.  Because you know, creamy custard encased in burnt sugar is SOOOOO light.  😄

After dinner, as dad went to the cigar lounge, we took some photos out in the atrium.

There was this Filipino singer on every night at the Crooners bar who was incredible, so we stood there and listened for a while.  He could sing just about every genre, and he could play just about every song.  I actually really enjoyed him, and the Crooners bar was packed every night.  

I had food coma, and was tired from the long day despite my nap.  Also, Monday Night Football was on, so I headed back to the cabin to yell and scream at a TV before it was time to go to sleep.  The next day is a sea day, which I was super thankful for because my mama needed the time to rest.  We got lucky that after she got hurt, we had 2 days aboard the ship for her to take it easy.  Even though one of the days was the canal transit, she was still able to enjoy the sights from our balcony and from the buffet without exerting herself.