Transiting The Panama Canal

Today has been an amazing day for us as we transited the Panama Canal.

This morning we got up extra early so that we could work out in the fitness center and have breakfast before we began to transit the Panama Canal.

With all the cruises that we have been on over the years, this is the first time we have been on a ship that has transited the Panama Canal. Clearly, the canal is an engineering wonder particularly when one considers that the canal was designed over one hundred years ago. In an era where technology seems obsolete by the time it is operational, it is a credit to those who were involved in the design, engineering and implementation of this canal that it is still in operation today with so many ships moving through the canal on a daily basis.

While it was windy in the morning, (you can see that the wind made it a bad hair day in some of our pictures), it did clear up later in the day and we were fortunate to have wonderful weather as we viewed the canal from different locations from the ship. For those of you who have not had the opportunity to transit the canal on a cruise ship, we highly recommend it. And, what better way to view the canal, but on a Crystal cruise ship either on board the Crystal Serenity or the Crystal Symphony.

As we entered the series of locks we stood at the forward area of the ship on deck 12 and had a wonderful view of the water rising from the sea level in the Atlantic Ocean to eighty-five feet above sea level in Lake Gatun. As we observed our surroundings we also met a very nice couple that are on the first segment of the World Cruise. They cruise Crystal often and love to travel. Before lunch, we walked several times around the promenade deck to take in the beautiful scenery all around us. While on our walk, Anne Marie conversed with one passenger on the first segment and Keith conversed with a fellow passenger who is on her sixth full World Cruise. We have met so many delightful people on this cruise.

In the early afternoon we had a nice quiet lunch in the main dining room. Our routine for lunch is to order a salad entrée and Crystal serves the most interesting salad entrees of any ship on the high seas that we have had the pleasure of sailing on. Today’s salad included a great assortment of vegetables and seafood.

After lunch we enjoyed the next several hours viewing our surroundings from the Promenade Deck and from the Verandah of our stateroom. We listened closely throughout the day to all of the wonderful narrative information that was provided about the Panama Canal. We feel so very fortunate to be able to see this magnificent canal.

This evening we had dinner in the main dining room and reflected on our wonderful day. Tomorrow we have a full day at sea and look forward to the various activities that are in store for all of us throughout the day.

Keith & Anne Marie