Year 2 Day 364 Part 1 – “Living the Dream”. Friday, 4/28/2023. Day 14 (Passing through the Panama Canal) of 21-night Radiance of the Seas Galveston TX to Los Angeles, CA cruise. Today is why we are on this cruise.
We are up early and in the Windjammer. Everyone is up early this morning.
We are the last cruise ship to pass south through the Panama Canal. We passed a Fred Olson Cruise ship which is the last ship to go north. This is due to the rainy season approaching. The Panama Canal is one of the 7 wonders of the modern world. It is a short cut between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. Workers poured a record-setting 1.82 million cubic meters of concrete to construct the Gatún Locks. The concrete was brought from a giant mixing plant to the construction site by railroad cars that ran on a circular track. The Gatun locks are built into a cut made in a hill bordering the lake, which required the excavation of 5,000,000 cubic yards. Since its inauguration in 1914, around 1.1 million transits have been made through the Panama Canal route. About forty ships go through the canal each day. On August 10, 2020, 10,000 transits were reached through the expanded Canal since its opening in June 2016. Today there are 101 Vessels in Port and another 80 Expected Arrivals. Last night our ship went out to the open sea and floated around. Of course, you know why. To open the casino and shops. In the morning we headed back into Limon Bay to get into position to go through the locks. The decks are packed with people trying to get pictures and see the views. We will be traveling through three locks today from Limon Bay on the Atlantic side to the Bay of Panama on the Pacific side. We picked up Panamanian pilots at 6 30. These pilots just give orders and assistance. The ship’s crew does do the actual maneuvering under their orders. Actually about 22 people got off the pilot boat and onto our ship. We then proceeded under The Atlantic Bridge which is a road bridge in Colón, Panama spanning the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. There were three boats on each side of the ship escorting us at 7am after the bridge.
Gatun locks first. We will pass through three locks consisting of 6 chambers today.
Three in the first locks, two in the second and one in the last. There was a speaker located in the bridge telling everyone on the ship about going through the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal lies at a latitude of 9° N, at a point where the North American Continental Divide dips to one of its lowest points. At the Gatun Locks we are lifted 85 feet up, 28 feet at a time to Gatun Lake. At 7:45am we are creeping up to the Gatun Locks. Computerized Mules are attached on both sides of the ship. These mules keep our ship centered in the canal and guide us through the locks. We travel under our own power.
The Vega Sea is traveling the other way this morning as we enter the first chamber It is sitting high in the water which means it does not have any ballast and is empty of cargo. Look at the sides of the ship in the pictures. Wow how close.
We enter the first chamber at 8 am. Nine million gallons of water are put in our chamber. The water pours from the lake through the large culverts into the cross culverts and up through the holes in the chamber floor. 54 million gallons will be used today to move our ship. Royal paid a basic fee of $415,000 to go through the locks. There are other charges that are associated with passing through the Canal. Additional charges are upwards of 100,000 and more. $2 billion in Tolls are Collected Annually. It is hot hot hot here today. The sweat is pouring off of me and I don’t sweat easy. Maximum width a ship can be is 106 feet and the maximum length is 965 feet to go through this old/original canal. Our ship just makes it. The locks are 110 feet wide. In 2000 85 percent of all ships could fit through the old locks. In 2011 only 60 percent could fit through. In 2016 only 40 percent could fit through. Ships are getting bigger and bigger. We are lucky to be able to go through these original locks. The vegetation around the canal is beautiful.
The MSC Mirella is traveling in the opposite direction. Some of the MSC crew are outside waving at us. Everyone is excited. Many employees are outside taking pictures. They all want pictures of them taken so they can send them home. I took a few for them. Hope they bring joy to their families. The MSC Mirella is loaded with refrigerated cars. The MSC MIRELLA is a Container Ship that was built in 2005 and is sailing under the flag of Liberia. Her carrying capacity is 4,922 TEU. One 20-foot container equals one TEU.
In the last chamber before Lake Gatun there is some building going on. We think it is a construction of a new visitor observation site. The Gatún Locks are about a mile long and we entered the first chamber at 8am and are in Gatun Lake at 9:50am. As we enter Gatun Lake we are sitting on our balcony. We watch the mules switch tracks and head back to hook to more ships. The first thing we pass in Gatun Lake is the Gatun Dam which sits on the starboard side of our ship. This large earthen dam was constructed between 1907 and 1913. A hydro-electric generating station at the dam generates electricity which is used to operate the locks and other equipment in the canal. Gatun Lake covers about 180 sq miles and is a vast tropical ecological zone which is part of the Atlantic Forest Corridor. There is 1,100 miles of shoreline. Gatun Lake is full of brackish water. Ecotourism on the lake has become an industry for Panamanians. Gatun Lake also provides drinking water for Panama City and Colón. We are sitting on our balcony at 10:20am in the shade and the sweat is rolling off of me. It is so humid. The lake has a lot of ships going the other way on our side of the ship. The ZIM WILMINGTON Container Ship built in 2014 and currently sailing under the flag of Marshall Islands is slowly moving towards the Gatum Locks. In the twenty miles we traveled in Gatun Lake we only saw one place of residence on the starboard side of the ship and one small speed boat.
The second locks were Pedro Miguel Locks. These locks lowered our ship 30 feet to Miraflores Lake, at an elevation of 52 feet above sea level. It was after 2pm before we went into this set of Locks. From our balcony stateroom we could see a ship going through the wider newer canal. It started to rain about 4pm which was felt so nice.
One of the couples at our dinner table had an anniversary celebration today. Pretty cool to pass through the Panama Canal Locks on your Anniversary.
The Quilters are working away.
More stairway art.
Today’s product recommendations are for keeping your skin looking its best at sea and in the sun. My favorite skin care products are made by Elemis. Although I do sometimes try a new product here and there. I actually find myself going back to Elemis. 1) I start my morning in the shower with a face wash. Currently I am using ELEMIS Dynamic Resurfacing Facial Wash https://amzn.to/3qZkwqC 2) After showering I am currently using ELEMIS Superfood Facial Oil https://amzn.to/3XvfUVu 3) Then the Elemis Pro-Collagen Maine Cream with spf30 gets applied. It is the best. It costs a little more than the drug store creams but wow it works. Whenever I decide I want to buy another less expensive brand I am sorry and head right back to this cream. https://amzn.to/46sJZsH 4) Steve also uses an Elemis product. He tends to break out when he uses sunscreen often. He finds the ELEMIS Dynamic Resurfacing Facial Pads excellent to use. It cleans that sunscreen out of his pores. When he uses these pads to cleanse his face he does not break out. https://amzn.to/3px1oQn
To see more about Radiance of the Seas, click here: Radiance of the Seas – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count
To view the complete daily diary, click here: Living the Dream – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count