The Panama Canal

We arrived when it was dark. The captains voice boomed through the tannoy telling us we were here. or as he said If I am up you are up !! A real character. There were people who complained about being woken. I thought this was the reason for being on the cruise , the main event so to speak so to want to lay in bed seemed pointless but then as I realised  there are some wealthy people in the world
and hearing them speak it was all rather trying and they had done it all before . One benefit of not being rich is that you can appreciate a once in a lifetime opportunity and be glad you got it.

 As the night gave way to day the entrance to the canal was revealed , we had seen as we waited hundreds of lights , as dawn broke we saw the sea was littered with waiting ships and the lights were there masthead lights. We as a cruise ship got priority. I assume we paid more.

Panama

we enter the locks

If you wonder what this is its the gap between the boat and the dock ! Thats right there isnt one. Ours was the biggest boat able to navigate the canal and as you can see only just

Superlatives run out when you start to talk about the canal . It was an unimaginable feet of engineering. All the water used in these locks is used ONCE , then its gone !!

Just a reminder this is in the middle of the Jungle.

and this is what they had to dig through and  how far they had to dig to find a level. There is lots of information on the canal and how it was built . I cant cover it here but I do recommend you read up on it , impossible is a good description . A second canal has been built , sort of , because of modern technology we hardly heard of it. It unlike the canal we saw reuses 80% of the water.



and a train passes by

The trains (called Tugs) that pull the boats through go up this incline ,and down it .

Jungle and commerce , its like trader Jim. It could be 1900 .

The mountain endlessly falls into the canal and the canal endlessly needs maintenance.

 Below picture from the balcony of the lock keepers building , its close, I could have shared his sandwiches..

This is a picture from our balcony of the lock keepers control room you can see how close it was.

another chance to see the non existent gap , its a miracle to get a boat through like this . Well not a miracle but certainly you need to concentrate.

Cruising the joys of a balcony

Your own balcony is a place to sit and chill out , or just watch the world go by. Its surprising how alone you can be on a ship if you want. The other thing that surprised me was the service , you did not need to leave your room if you didn't want to they bring everything to you.

including drinks !!

another tip here , this is a cashless society. Don't think this means they have dispensed with money , there comes a time to pay , but onboard you sign for everything . it can come as a shock when you do get the bill so pay attention.



 You get to see things like this

and this

Cruising

 The idea of the cruise was my wifes.  I had thought booking a cruise entitled you to end to end bum licking. Didnt work out that way . Nobody met us at the airport . There was  a general drift towards the exit where we congregated. We found a line of black people carriers which being the only possible mass transport we assumed was ours. Unfortunately the mexican with the clipboard seemed to be in dispute with the drivers and was quite put out when we asked if this was the transport for the cruise line. He waved his clipboard at us and told us to get back until called . He then resumed his shouting match with the drivers. I think in the end we just got in and ignored him when he shouted at us. When we did finally set off our driver asked us which hotel we were going to and then said he had never heard off it. He spent some of the drive reading the  joining instructions and letting the  traffic take care of it self

This cruise was through the Panama Canal. More on cruising later for the moment jet lag is setting in ,but I couldn't sleep.Next day still disorientated and jet lagged we wandered the sea front - 

and found this.

 I mean the boat behind us Selfies are never a good idea , particularly when you are Jet lagged.

 We guessed it was our ship. It took 20 minutes to walk here stopping to look at various things on the way. In the taxis that collected later in the day it took 40 minutes and I don't know where they went .

Finally on board we explored . Note the bridge. We came in over that . You need oxygen for these bridges where cruise ships are . They have to be high enough to let the ship pass and that is really high.

Cruise ships everywhere

The accommodation or cabin if you will is fine, as good as any hotel , more like a caravan really with space being optimised but comfy enough. DONT get a cabin without a balcony unless you really have no option and like metal boxes that vibrate. If you do, you need to be the sociable type, because you will spend your time elsewhere. We were lucky we got traded up and it was really a boon

San Diego from the boat

we couldn't sleep so we roamed the ship at three o'clock in the morning. It was deserted . I had a jacuzzi all to myself.

In our wanderings we found this , there was art and stuff like this all over the ship.

Food was everywhere , be warned , food, drink and  gyms.I didn't go in the gym you needed a headband and a leotard. BUT the ship had restuarents everywhere and all mostly open , if it wasn't there was another one that was and it was easy to eat and eat. I thought I was fat by the time I took this cruise , looking at the pictures now I am not as bad as I had thought but I am now and it all started here with the endless grazing.

it can get breezy at sea

wide range of people on board , never seen so many portable respirators , at the other end of the scale was the fitness fanatics who did laps of the deck , this man wasn't one of them

Another tip about eating on board , food is FREE , or at least included in the price except for some restaurants where it is extra and boy can it be extra so just be sure you know what's included in the ticket.



Ever morning our beds were made and the towels were left in a different animal shape.

The sea