Don & Kully's World Cruise on Viking Neptune

Technically not a port of call, but one of the best excursions I’ve ever experienced while on a cruise. I can only describe today’s experience as breath taking! The Panama Canal, completed in 1914, stretches across the Isthmus of Panama is one of the world’s greatest engineering marvels. The official records say 22,000 workers perished while building the canal, but many historians believe the number is closer to 30,000 fatalities. At the Caribbean and Pacific ends, a vast series of Locks lifts and lowers ships 85 feet from sea level, guided by electric engines known as mules. Between the locks, this amazing waterway divides continents at the river-like Gaillard Cut and the enormous Gatun Lake. When most people think of the Panama Canal, they think of the massive lock chambers and the mechanics of moving ocean going vessels through the canal. However, the canal is surrounded by emerald-green forest stretching into the Soberania National Park to the south and Gatun Lake is dotted with lush islands.

We entered the canal at at 7:30 AM and approach the Gatun Locks under a beautiful sunny sky at 8:30 AM. However, by the time we crossed under the Bridge of the Americas and entered the Pacific Ocean at 5:30 PM it was raining, and visibility was limited.

Here are some of the photos we took today.

Cruising the Panama Canal was an amazing experience that we’ll never forget. Highly recommend taking a cruise that includes the canal. Tomorrow we will be celebrating New Years Eve at sea. Out next port of call is Puntarenas, Costa Rica on January 1, 2024.