From the Atlantic to the Pacific

Another successful transit of the Panama Canal has now been notched into our belts — our fourth full crossing … plus a partial R/T through the Gatun Locks and back.

All but the first transit — back in 2002 — have been from the Atlantic to the Pacific. On the partial transit in 2007, we had the chance to disembark Coral Princess in Gatun to check out some land-side sites, do a wildlife cruise on Gatun Lake, and watch our ship cross back through the Gatun Locks … without us. No worries … we picked up the ship in Colon, Panamá where it was waiting for us excursionists.

We love Insignia … love the size of the ship for our cruising adventures.

But, unless you are OK with watching from behind glass, there are no great spots with forward-facing views of the Canal transit. No worries. We’ve enjoyed those views from forward decks and helipads on other ships. And have the photos to prove it. (Here’s a link to a blog post from 2014: http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2015/04/panama-ca….)

We’ve also enjoyed the views from aft-facing spaces … high up from the Terrace Café on deck 9 and down low from our aft-facing deck 6 cabin … on RTW2017. And we have the photos to prove it. (I linked to those images in my first footprint for today https://findpenguins.com/8pccjefaitoru/footprin….)

Thus, today we settled ourselves in the chaise lounges in the shade on the deck 5 promenade to enjoy the side views, leaning over the railing to see what was ahead. While I did wander a bit, I mostly kept the promise I made to myself to not run around looking for all the different angles to document the experience. Rather, to have the experiences come to me.

The added bonus of this spot? We were protected from the sudden heavy downpours — there were two rain events, I believe — that soaked those on the open decks and had them scurrying for shelter. You want rain in the Panama Canal, so no complaints. For, without the liquid sunshine, there would be no water to operate this great engineering marvel.

We had a great commentator — Jaime — from the Panama Canal Authority to regale us with all kinds of tidbits throughout the transit. He also gave a formal presentation while we were cruising Gatun Lake on our way to the Pacific … Mui went … I skipped the presentation this time.

I note that the first photo I took was at 8:37:22a … soon after we crossed under the Atlantic Bridge. To me, this bridge — the most recent one to be built — marks the beginning of the Panama Canal experience. The last photo I took was at 6:00:08p … soon after we left the Bridge of the Americas behind. To me, this bridge — the first one to be built — marks the end of the Panama Canal Experience. Today, that experience took us 9½ hours … give or take a few minutes.

We wrapped up our great Panama Canal Day by having dinner with CD Ray in the Grand Dining Room. Then, we went to a fabulous performance headlining Lauren Jelencovich. From what I understand, she is a last minute addition to the ship’s entertainment schedule … made possible because she is currently on a break from the tour she is on with Yanni. The woman can sing … that’s all I will say since you have to hear her to get the full experience.

Now we have a couple of days at sea en route to our next port of call.

Bonus: time lapse of our 2014 crossing of the Panama Canal … http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2015/04/video-pan….Baca lagi