There is an order and rhythm to passing through locks.
But first – for the history of the original locks – please see your favorite reference or a quick but thorough overview courtesy of Wikipedia which covers both the original attempts by the French and the follow on construction by the Americans. This account is also fairly objective and avoids pointing [too many] fingers.
This journey is through the original locks – as you can see by the less than stellar pictures of the locks wall. Think about it – the construction is well past 100 years old with dozens of ships transiting the locks on a daily basis.
wall seen through my port hole
The Celebrity Summit is old enough (constructed in 2001) and “small” enough to transit the original locks from the Atlantic side through to Lake Gatun, then reversing the elevation to return to sea level on the Pacific side. It goes without saying that the locks are necessary because the central portion of Panama in this region is higher than sea level. Enough so that Lake Gatun in that center provides the water flowing out and through the locks making the passage feasible.
The first set of locks is a series of three. The ship enters the first lock at sea level and is hitched to the mules which pull it into the lock then the gate swings closed behind it. Water enters the lock and the ship is raised to the level of the second lock where the procedures is repeated again. There is a huge amount of water lost for every ship’s passage. It is referenced in the Wiki article gallons.. ” The “original” or old locks through which we are passing are paired with the ability to sustain two way traffic with one side having ships heading north (east to the Atlantic) and the other side south (west) to the Pacific. You will need to look at a map to recognize that the east-west connection happens because of the geography providing a narrow section of land that could be turned into the Canal. (see map above)
We exited the first set of locks around 1015 this morning. I left the 11th floor lounge seriously before this time. The place, unlike most mornings, had been packed by 0545.. The downside of sitting along the side was the overhang protecting Deck 10 directly below us which completely obscured our view of the lock workings along our side. Plus, being on starboard meant that since the ship was passing through the right side of the locks- we really couldn’t see much of actual lock operations. From there it was cruise through Lake Gatun, pass under bridges
[But what I could see from my cabin porthole was wall – cement placed early in the 20th century and still fully solid after more than 100 years. I can’t tell you if these are the original doors on the end of the locks – but they look old.]
passing the open gate
I went to the helicopter area for the Pedro Miguel lock and the passage to the Miraflores Locks.
one of the cuts made during the canal creation
Partway through that last set of locks I decided I was wet enough from the rain and headed to the outside area on Deck 4 Port side which was much better sheltered.
Looking down the Miraflores locks
By the time we cleared that final lock, I was tired and decided that my cabin was calling me.
And, in case you missed my earlier posts about traversing the Canal – there was the NCL Encore a year ago , the NCL Joy this past fall both of which were through the new locks.
Going back in time:
There is 2011 – when I took the Grandeur of the Seas from Florida to Panama.
Then Oct 2012 – Which I am remembering as Vision of the Seas as a back to back cruise with the Transatlantic crossing.
I had only intermittent wifi access in March 2014 on Celebrity Infinity when sailing from Lima to Florida so you are spared commentary on that canal transit.
Then in Oct 2017 there was the NCL Sun starting in San Francisco sailing to Florida, obviously thru the Canal and the return trip as well…
So counting them all – unless I have missed one – this is my eighth transit of the Panama Canal. Might see like a lot, but I am not going to discuss how many transAtlantic sailings I have done…
