GLOBAL ODYSSEY 2010 BLOG #9: TRANSITTING THE PANAMA CANAL

There are plenty of ways to transit the Panama Canal. Richard Halliburton swam it in 1928 (and paid a toll of $.36, allegedly the lowest on record). One of the nicest ways has to be doing it on a cruise ship like the Amsterdam. Just like tailgating at a football game, there’s a whole ethos about how to do it properly. We’ve only transited once and are still tyros. But here’s what we have learned that could put you ahead.

First, read up. In advance! Probably the best general history is David McCulloch’s The Path Between the Seas, and yes, the Amsterdam does have a copy, but you can imagine how popular it has been before the transit (after is another matter …). For those with a slightly less voluminous interest who still want a good background, try Anne Vipond’s Panama Canal By Cruise Ship, which is a less complicated overview. But have some idea what you’re going to see before you see it!

Second, be up early. Not only because you don’t want to miss anything, but because there are a limited number of prime seats from which to enjoy the show. While the Lido Restaurant is nice, taking pictures through streaked glass may not be your thing. There are seats out by the pool, but only a few undercover, if a rainstorm blows up like one did for us.

“So the vessel will be transiting the Canal most of the day,” you say. “Why should I bother to get up early?” Because some things you don’t see twice (like the crocodile barely visible outside of Gatun Lock). Also, while you may not care about seeing the whole shebang, if you can’t respond appropriately when someone asks you about the Gatun Locks and Lake, Culebra Cut, or Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Lock, they are entitled to wonder if you slept through everything. Mind you, there will always be one-uppers. We talked to some Edmundtonians, who had transited three times. Earlier that morning, they had talked to a woman who had done it five, and whose immediate question was, “Have you done it both ways?”

We were quite happy starting off with breakfast outside the Lido Restaurant at Gatun Locks, Taking a breather and viewing the Lake from the Crow’s Nest, and Sports Deck where we had the option of inside or outside views going through the Cut and the final two locks. We anchored off Panama City. (Our next dispatch will be about Monkey Island ….) And be warned they are enlarging the Canal, so if you don’t see it quickly, someone is bound to say, “Oh, you should have seen it before ….”)

Mary wants to add that the transit will take about eight to ten hours, depending on the traffic. Suggestion to Holland America– a signed certificate of passage would have been nice.