Panama Canal Pt 2: Andrew 23 06 22

Well looking through old images and reprocessing them does lift my dampened spirits so I did a few more tonight to finish our trip through the locks on the 2009 trip. We did not go all the way through the canal on the ship getting off at the the Gatun locks. So for us, we transited through the Miraflores, the Pedro Miguel and the Gatun Locks. We missed out on the canal portion east of the locks from the Gatun locks.

Andrew

Approacing the Pedro Miguel locks

Along the route to the Gatun Locks from the Pacific side.

A mule ascending the climb at the Gatun Locks.

And a container ship at the Gatun Locks.

I like all of the pictures of of The Panama Canal, Andrew. They are very interesting to me. I just couldn't be on a ship for that long. Except, I would be interested in the river tour of Europe on The Danube. There would likely be lots of stops in the major cities along the river. Now I see there are also cruises on The Rhine and The Seine. I would do The Danube first. Best, I think, to see Eastern Europe before Russia gets back hold of it. Rich

All you missed was about 2km of canal, Limon Bay, and the longest breakwater I've ever seen.

Viking has a lovely looking, long cruise that does both the Danube and the Rhine in a two week trip. It's on my bucket list. Also on that list is a cruise through the Panama Canal. Definitely one that uses the old locks.

Lynne

Thanks Rich.

I do not enjoy days at sea. When we pick cruises I always look for ones with the fewest sea days possible. We have looked into the European river cruises. They are not inexpensive. A short one would set us back around $14000 CAD. A longer one, more! The river cruises are very appealing and include I think wine, meals, and excursions in ports. The excursions may or may not be ones you want to take. You can arrange your own at additional expense. Since the stops are in cities along the rivers I assume walking about on your own is also a possibility. A long airplane ride for you to get there!!! Back in the spring we could have booked Holland America cruises to Alaska for about $600 CAD each. Air fare to Vancouver on top of that. No excursions included. I think at that time there were extras like gratuities and an on board spending amount thrown in, plus a drink package. Honestly, we could not go away for a week and spend less than that, excluding the air fare. Two hundred a night for a hotel seems to the low end of things here now, no meals included!

Andrew

Thanks Glenn for that information. I had no idea we missed that little! I tried to look up maps of the canal but for the most part it seems to be getting more and more difficult to find what I want on the internet. Search engines now seem to have a mind of their own, heavily influenced by commerce!

Andrew

Lynne,
Unless you can get a better rate on the river cruises than we can, you could transit the canal three times for what a river cruise goes for! They do look very tempting and luxurious though!

Andrew

Oh, I know the European cruises are expensive, but bucket list stuff should be a bit extreme, in some way or another, don't you think? And I do want to do both. I'd also like to cruise to Hawaii, like my Mom did in 1950, but I don't think they do that any more.

Lynne

There are two types of Hawaiian cruises Lynne. One leaves a port on the main land, Seattle or Los Angles (Long Beach really) (there may be others) and cruises to the islands, around them with a few stops, then back. The other type you fly to the islands and cruise around them for about a week. I have not looked at them in a couple of years though. A couple we used to cruise with at times took one from the mainland. We did not go because there were too many at sea days for my liking. The ones were you fly to the islands and cruise about and get off to fly back home spent more time at the islands. That could have all changed though. We would like to go there still, but perhaps not on a cruise.

Andrew

We've done the Norwegian "around the islands" one two times, a good way to see the islands. Your hotel follows you around, and no intra-island airfares.

We've also done the Vancouver-Hawaii transit, 4 days at sea and then around-the-islands. I didn't mind the 4 days, they schedule extra activities and still too short to repeat the main dining menu... 😆

I'd love to do a European river cruise, Lynne, but both the Danube and the Rhine in one trip would mean too much sauerkraut. You'd have to wait until Belgrade to clean it out with Slivovitz. Rich

In 1950, a ship was how everybody got to Hawaii. Mom was going there to stay for a while with a good friend. At one point she came across a couple playing shuffleboard and asked if they wanted her to keep score for them. They seemed a little stand-offish, but accepted her offer. It wasn't until later she found out it was Mario Lanza and his new bride on their way to Hawaii for their honeymoon. No wonder they were distant!

The one thing that bothers me about modern cruise ships is how they all turn inward upon themselves. No outer deck to walk beside the sea, or if there is, it's so high up. It's like they're trying to pretend you're not at sea at all.

Lynne

The upper decks mostly have balcony staterooms now and thus no walking areas except the highest decks which really have only public areas and they do have some walkways. We chose lower decks, inside cabins located near mid ship. These have the least movement of a rocking or rolling type. I get sea sick and take gravol or other medication to control it. It works for me. Mario Lanza, now there is a name I have not heard in a long time!

We met some very nice people on board ships, all table guests in the dining room. We are still in contact with some from England and Sandy, Utah.

Andrew

Interesting photos.
I have a good book by Joseph Pennell of drawings that he made while the canal was being built. There's a scan here, unfortunately with a yellow background.

library.si.edu/digital-library/book/josephpennellsp00penn

Don Cox

Thanks Don.

There is a display of historic photos at the Gatun Locks in the building there. I took some images of those. They were under glass. I don't know if they would be of interest to anyone so I did not show any of those here. I will have a look through the book you linked to. It should prove an interesting read.

Andrew

I'll enjoy these cruises with you as I won't get on one of those ships ... I like walking along the rivers but not out on them. Haven't been on a boat in decades ... SO keep showing what I'm missing!!! ...

WhyNot