Our trip into the Panama Canal started later this time. The Pilot didn’t get on till 0630 and we arrived at the first lock (after passing the Continental Bridge which is obviously still under construction and probably has a couple of years to go till completion). The Observation Lounge was nowhere near as crowded this morning but the railings did fill up.
I had some lovely chats with various people from here and there: a couple from Chicago who have a daughter now in SF x 1 week, a couple from San Juan who are vacillating between warring about home (no damage but no electricity), and a fair number of retirees who are happily checking the Panama off their bucket list and already looking forward to the next item.
Our narrator this time was a gentlemen who has been doing this for decades. He was highly into all the technical specifications and rather light on the history. His grasp of geology and geography left a bit to be desired. Example: I don’t think it is accurate to say that the Hawaiian Islands rose out of the sea when the ocean levels dropped…. I think there just might have been something about a volcano or so (Pacific Ring of Fire) involved…..
My “Dinner with an Officer” was scheduled for this evening. This time there were three other couples along with the Hotel Director. Good food, excellent service and I wasn’t the only one not drinking this time. It was interesting to find out that the average passenger age on the last cruise was 67 while this time it is 63. The three of us (Jill, Graeme & I had noted that there seemed to be a few more younger couples +26 children as apposed to 5 on the previous cruise).
(Photos to follow, but maybe not till I get to Los Angeles….)
