Panama Canal

Tuesday, March 23rd Panama Canal

We got up early and planted ourselves in a good viewing spot on the 11th deck. We watched our approach to the Mirafores Locks and we were guided into the lock with a few mild bumps, like threading a string in a needle! The gates were closed and we began our first of three climbs, for a total of 85 feet, to Lake Gatun. Then we sailed across the lake to the next set of locks that took us down the 85 feet into the Caribbean Sea. We stayed onboard to watch the activities as we cruised between seas, but some people got off to go on shore excursions. We were amazed at how smooth the process went, although there were very few other boats in the Canal. The crew were surprised that there were so few other boats about! We stopped at Cristobal Pier to pick up the returning passengers, but we decided to stay onboard because it looked like there were just a lot of trinkets and we were not going to go shopping! Dinner was again with a table of Cannucks!

Wednesday, March 24th At sea

We slept lake and Jack missed his seminar today. There are more swells here in the Caribbean and there is a wind which we haven't seen since we left Dallas. The ship is swaying a little today, but it is certainly not bad!