Sea Day 10 - Panama Canal Crossing

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Last night during dinner Clay suggested that I do laundry after dinner rather than during the Panama Canal. I agreed and we hastened downstairs to find the laundry room completely and miraculously empty about 8pm. It closes at 10pm and they have posted asking no loads be started after 9pm. We got our last load of onboard laundry done with little fuss. The signs say a token will buy 45 minutes of dryer time and last time it did, but tonight it only bought 30 minutes. That meant we had to hang clothes all over the cabin overnight to finish drying. It was better than all day today.

I was up first at 6:15am. We had a detailed schedule and map delivered last night and I didn't want to miss anything. The schedule said the pilot would board at 5:45am, but it was almost an hour later when the boat pulled up beside us. The Currents also said the pilot boat would be delivering locally produced Panamanian souvenirs for sale onboard. About 18 people came on and got back off midway through. A new pilot came on then. The rest of the schedule was pretty accurate. We went through Miraflores locks beside Island Princess. They got held there as we continued on alone through Pedro Miguel locks. We watched as we approached from Terrace during breakfast. Then we moved to Horizons where they were serving breakfast pastries as well as holding the souvenirs sale. Since we never go to tea, it was the most crowded we've seen Horizons. We had seats by the window on the port side. That meant we got to watch an alligator swimming along the shore as we approached the first Miraflores lock. It wasn't huge so I am assuming an alligator but I guess it could have been a crocodile. No photos as Clay didn't carry a camera most of the day. I think I woke him badly or something. He was having an off day before he broke a lower front tooth in the first set of locks. He said it doesn't hurt and he thinks he can wait to go to the dentist at home. Another trip, another broken tooth. He hasn't fallen yet. Knock wood. Later with binoculars from the cabin I watched a sloth as it crossed from one side of the crotch of a tree to the shady side. On a tree top on an island in Gatun Lake with binoculars, I saw a toucan! We're expected to arrive in Colon about 2 hurs ahead of schedule. We have an independent shore excursion booked there for tomorrow as Oceania was very late adding excursions for Colon. We didn't see a list that had anything of interest until we got the booklet onboard on the 19th of September. That was far too late for us to change plans or expect to make plans. So we have the last of our Shore Excursions Group excursions here. Again, I still cannot recommend them. The tour description said the tour departed from the port area. When we got the emailed tickets they said to meet at Arrecifes Restaurant in the port area without any directions other than to ask any port employee so Clay Googled it. On the map, it shows the cruise dock on one side of a peninsula and a mile across on the other edge of the peninsula is an Arrecifes Restaurant. I hope there is more than one and nearer, but I expect that is where we are expected to make our way by 9am tomorrow. If we do arrive early, Clay has proposed a reconnaisance scouting trip before dinner at 6:30pm in Toscana. We'll see.

We are now in the center of the Gatun Locks and near the end of the canal crossing. The canal is much changed since our last visit of 2008 and first of 12/31/2005. The canal expansion happened between 2007 and 2016. There are now addition larger locks at either end. We saw both ends in use though we used to original locks. That got Clay thinking about all the locks in the world and how many we'd used. We came up with Rhine/Main/Danube canal, Seine, Loire, Mississippi, Columbia, St. Lawrence Seaway, Great Lakes, Caledonian canal and Panama canal. It seems like we've been through hundreds of locks. When I Googled it, it seems there are hundreds more we've missed!

So, when I printed the original itinerary we were supposed to be docked in Colon today at 4 pm. When the Captain announced yesterday and this morning that he expected to be 2 hours early, he meant 4 pm since the ship's onboard published itinerary was 6 pm. All day the onboard Panamanian commentator has been talking about passing the breakwater outside Gatun Locks at 4pm. We did. It is 4:30pm and we have been sitting just in sight of said breakwater bobbing and swiveling for a half hour. We passed a huge container port on our way out of the breakwater. We think now that to get to the cruise terminal/dock, we have to go back to the port peninsula and dock on the "outside" so to speak. Clay has phone service for I believe only the 2nd time this trip and he now thinks that the Arrecifes Restaurant where we have to meet out tour tomorrow is only a 6 minute walk. That will make us both happier with Shore Excursions Group. The name of the local provider is Safarick's. We'll see tomorrow. The excursion we picked was a compromise anyway since it had to fit the time allowed and be of interest. It includes ruins, rescue animals and lastly an hour at a beach (weather permitting). I'll let. you know tomorrow. Anyway our arrival time will preclude a trip ashore today as we have a 6:30pm dinner reservation. Speaking of which right now between 4 and 5pm they are having a crepes tea in Terrace. I love crepes but how do people eat this much? We have still never attended a tea but as I just told Clay that would explain the 8pm dinner reservations. I still couldn't eat dinner tonight if I ate crepes between 4 and 5pm.

We are entering a different breakwater so that must protect the cruise port side of the port peninsula. This breakwater was not shown on Clay's phone GPS map but here it is. Good. Now that I've medicated and banded up! It looks like we should be docked and cleared by the 6pm target time. Too late for us to go ashore today.

Julie James, our CD, made the ship's clearance announcement at 5:45pm. She followed with a stern warning that no one should go into Colon as it is an unsafe port town. You have to wonder why it is the sole overnight port Oceania docked at during a 28 day cruise then. Anyway. It opened up and poured as soon as we arrived so she announced that the music and dancing scheduled as the evening entertainment on the top deck was canceled and replaced with a showing of Wonder Woman in Regatta Lounge. Tonight on our bed we each got a certificate of Panama Canal Transit. This is our 3rd time and we can't recall getting one of these before. Nice touch.

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