Panama Canal Obsession Day 2

The Big Day Is Here!

It did require getting up at 6:30 a.m. on a vacation day, but so worth it.

We were out on the bow at 7:00 a.m.- I was out there through the 2nd lock (about 2 hours), which was way longer than most people (breakfast called!). Ironman Andy stayed through the 3rd lock when the ship entered the open lake.

At a presentation from a couple of days ago, we had this graphic with suggested places to stand for each segment of the transit. Not sure how many of these suggestions we actually followed. (Note: "P" is for "Port", "S" is for "Starboard", and "U" is for Upperdeck".

Our view at 7:00 a.m. as we approached the slip:

Ships enter the lake in the morning from both directions, pass each other and exit in the late afternoon. Our first partner ship was the Seven Seas:

During the afternoon transit of the lake, I hung out in a chair by a big window:

For the transit under the Centennial Bridge and the Pedro Miguel locks I stayed up on the 12th deck:

This is a view from the back of the ship as we entered the Pedro Miguel lock. Andy was on Deck 4.

By that time, The Island Princess ship had caught up with us and was our companion in the snail-pace race to the Pacific. I pushed the limits of the "PANO" setting on my phone. I guess the Island Princess was a little too close:

Here's a better photo taken when we pulled further away:

For the Miraflores locks, I cam down to deck 4. The two ships were so close, it felt like we could reach out and touch hands. There were a couple of people displaying signs from their balconies. One guy seemed to really really want somebody to notice him, so I took his photo. This seemed to make him very happy.

This is how close we came to the sidewalk:

The ship entered the Pacific a little after 5:00. An amazing experience.

Fifth night  of Hanukkah - at sea included the ship's Holiday Show. The big ship menorah, normally down on deck 3 by the concierge desk, was on stage. The stage crew took several attempts to get the right number of candles and the right candles lit - all while the performers continued undaunted. The selection of Hanukkah songs was actually not cringe-worthy!

Friday is a day at sea, followed by Manta, Ecuador!