Panama Canal report:

Yesterday, January 20th we spent transiting the Panama canal. It was very hot and humid so we chose to view the crossing from an air-conditioned glassed-in lounge rather than on deck. We were sitting right in front so we had a good view. For the transit the ship opened some deck area that is normally only accessible to the crew. Actually there were so many people looking out you would think the ship would have tipped over. We had to be up really early so we could see the entrance into the canal. We arrived at the first lock about 0630 but didn't enter until about 0800. In front of us was the Norwegian Star so we got a picture of what we must have looked like entering the canal. There was about two feet clearance on each side of the ship but it looked to us like we were scraping the sides. It was amazing and also amazing to see locks fill up and raise the ship. There were three chambers together on the Atlantic side and then one chamber on the Pacific at first and then later two more. We saw the mules and how they guided the ship through the locks. The ship moved under her own propulsion: the mules were just there to make sure the ship did not scrape the sides and bump the end of the chamber. There were steel cables attached to the mules and the ship to keep us straight and from going too far to either side. It is a tremendous feat of engineering and we were amazed at how the workers were able to survive under those conditions of high heat and humidity. We were also unaware that the Panama Canal is actually slightly east of Florida and runs north to south instead of east to west. It was a beautiful sail because we got to see some of the rain forest and little islands in the canal lakes. It was basically a very nice day but it took us almost twelve hours to get through the canal. We are now in the Pacific Ocean west of Costa Rica. We don't remember the exact amount but it cost over 390 thousand dollars in toll to transit the canal.

While sitting up in the lounge there were lots of people and we got to talk to each other. It was a very pleasant day. We will be at sea until Saturday, so we will write another blog after we have been to Acapulco.