Panama Canal Trip Report: Day 7 Part 2 Going Through the Canal

Day 7 Part 2:  Sailing Through the Panama Canal

 If you would like to start this trip report from the beginning, click here.

Note: I do not feel right posting pictures of fellow cruisers who have not given me permission to use them on the blog, so I will blur out the faces of people in the background of my photos. I’m sorry if it looks funny, but I want to respect their privacy.

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You can see this day’s Navigator by clicking here: Navigator Day 7

 The second half of our day sailing through the Panama Canal involves a change of weather, a second set of locks, and a very important visitor onboard the Wonder.  When I left off on Part 1, we had just “swam” through the Panama Canal and then gone back to the room to check on the girls and charge my camera.  While we were there I checked out the view from our window.

At this same time, the sky began to unload.  We were wearing our swim suits, and the girls were perfectly happy in the room, so we decided to head back outside despite the rain because we were about to pass under the Centennial Bridge which I wanted to see.  I had discovered that my Jackery would charge my camera, so I tucked them both in my bag and off we went.

We passed a very wet Quiet Cove Pool:

Here we are approaching the bridge:

And here it is behind us:

It was pouring rain and deck 10 was practically deserted:

There was lots of thunder and lightening as well, but it didn’t stop us from walking around and enjoying the sights.  At least it wasn’t hot, right?  It had actually cooled off considerably.  I would guess it was in the upper 60’s/lower 70’s.  There were crew members walking around passing out ponchos and frozen fruit bars which was a nice touch.

They had closed the pool:

We were just beginning to see the top of the Panama City skyline in the distance:

We were also approaching the second set of locks, which you can barely see in this picture:

To get a better view of the locks, we went to the front of the ship.  There were still a lot of people up there, but not as many as there had been earlier.

More skyline was visible now.

The snack & drink station was still up and running, and now there were cookies too:

This picture gives you an idea of just how wet and rainy it was.  We were now inside the Cocoli locks:

We went to the back of the ship to watch the first gate close behind us and Santa was there too:

The fog on the mountains was a beautiful sight:

Here is the first gate sliding closed behind us:

At 3:45 the narrator announced that some Panamanian dignitaries would be boarding the ship for a ceremony in honor of us being the first passenger ship through the new locks.  We ran over to the starboard side of the ship, looked down and saw them waiting for us.  Luckily the rain had turned into a light drizzle by this time.

We were curious to see who was down there, so we ran down to deck 4 to get a closer look.  It turns out there was a very important American amongst the group as well.  Can you see him in this picture?

It’s Karl Holz, President of Disney Cruise Line!  He had flown to Panama to meet the Wonder just for this ceremony!  Here are 2 pictures that I found online afterwards.  The first picture below was taken on the ground at the exact same time as my picture above.  In my picture, you can see the photographer who took the picture below:

In the picture above, you can actually see my husband raising my camera to take a picture.  He is right in the middle of the people on deck 4 with his arms raised up, holding the camera. Here is Mr. Holz with the Panama Canal’s Deputy Administrator, Manuel Benitez:

I guess it took quite a while for the ship to get into the correct position for the visitors to come onboard because they all stood there for a while while all of us onboard watched them.

I love how Mr. Holz is wearing his name badge.

Finally the guys in the life jackets began trying to attach the ramp to the ship.  It took them several attempts because of how much the ship was moving.

They got it attached and everyone came onboard into the atrium so we rushed down to watch.

Mr. Holz came in and shook hands and posed for photographs.  He was very gracious.

After a few minutes, the whole group started walking towards Palo, where the ceremony took place.  We followed them as far as the side entrance to Triton’s and then decided that we felt a bit stalker-ish so we stopped.

Here is an article I found online after we returned home that shows some pictures and gives some information about the ceremony.  This photo is from the article:

We had no idea how long they were going to be in Palo, so we went back to the rooms to check on the girls.  I also needed to do a load of laundry, and it wasn’t too long until dinner.  We were still not all the way through the Cocoli locks at this point which meant that we were behind schedule.  We were supposed to clear them at 4:40 pm but it was now 5:00.  While in the room, I looked out the window and saw Mr. Holz leaving the ship.  He got into the silver minivan.

Here he is waving goodbye:

The Panamanians began walking towards the building as Mr. Holz kept waving.

The Panamanians took lots of photos of the ship.

And then Mr. Holz drove away.  The whole thing was so neat to watch and one of the highlights of the day.

I checked out the bridge channel to see if we had cleared the locks yet.  The final gate was opening.

 It was time to go to dinner in Tiana’s Place, but we were also getting ready to pass under the Bridge of the Americas which I really wanted to see.  So, I dropped the family off at our table, glanced at the menu and told them what to order for me, and ran back up to deck 10 to take more pictures.  Thankfully the rain had totally stopped.  We were almost to the bridge:

This was a very industrial area.

They were driving cars out of this carrier:

These guys were waving and taking pictures:

Almost there!

It seemed like the ship barely cleared the bridge.  I’m sure there was lots of space to spare, but from my perspective it didn’t look like there was.

Once we cleared the bridge, we were treated to the most gorgeous views of the Panama City skyline.  I couldn’t stop taking pictures.

The sunset was barely peeking through the clouds.

I really needed to get back inside to dinner, but I couldn’t resist walking to the back of the ship to get a few final shots.  Good bye Panama Canal!

This view of the city was just breathtaking.

I knew my food was waiting for me, so I finally went back to Tiana’s Place.  It was the Panama Canal menu:

For the appetizer, we both got the Steamed Crab Royal which was amazing!  It was so, so good.

For the next course I got the Cedar Lock Radicchio and Cucumber Salad.  I love cucumber and dill, but despite that this was just okay.

My husband ordered the Cream of Cauliflower Soup:

For his entree, he got the Baked Lobster Tail “Gatun” which he said was good.

Our head server Englebert came over to take it out of the shell for him.

I got “Palo’s Grilled Salmon” which was delicious.

For dessert, we ordered the Coconut Tres Leches and the Churros.  The Coconut Tres Leches was amazing!  Definitely one of the best desserts of the cruise.

The Churros, however, were another story.  I don’t know what was going on, but they were awful.  We wanted to like them, but they were so tough that we could barely chew them.  I kept taking another bite thinking that they would get better, but they didn’t.  I tried more sauce, and that didn’t work either.  I guess I was in disbelief that they were so bad.  I really hope that it was just a bad batch and that they aren’t always like this.

There are 2 things that I want to share with you before I forget.  First, I was blown away by our head server Englebert.  He was amazing.  We have had the whole range of head servers before, from very good ones to ones that we never saw until the last night when they came around for their tip.  Englebert has been the best one yet.  He stopped by our table every night, asked us about our day and if there was anything he could do for us.  He was also very funny and always kept us laughing.  He would see us around the ship and always stop to say hi.  We just loved him.

Second, during dinner something strange happened.  Three separate times, there was a VERY loud noise accompanied by a VERY strong vibration.  The chandeliers were violently shaking it was so bad.  I looked around to see if any of the servers seemed alarmed.  That is always the first thing I do on a ship when I am wondering if something is wrong.  I figure if the crew members don’t seem alarmed, then I shouldn’t either.  Well, none of them seemed to be reacting which surprised me because it was SO loud.  The captain had announced earlier in the day that as soon as we got through the canal, we would be stationary most of the night in order to refuel.  Perhaps it had something to do with that?  I don’t know, but I do know that something was definitely going on below us.

After dinner, we headed to the D Lounge for family karaoke which thankfully was at 7:30 tonight.  Our 12 year old didn’t want to watch and decided to walk through the shops and then go back to the room.  This was by far the most crowded karaoke session yet.  Our 2 youngest sang a duet:

After karaoke, we decided that we were not going to go to the evening show, which was “International Violin Sensation Gary Lovini”.  We almost never skip a show, but none of us were in the mood that night.  The girls were happy to go watch TV in the room, so we dropped them off there about 8:15 and decided to enjoy some kid-free time.  We ended up in the Cadillac Lounge, which was practically deserted, although Live Music with Ed Harvey started at 9:30.  We ordered some drinks and just enjoyed hanging out and listening to music for about 2 hours.  We were seated right next to a window and could tell that the ship was not moving, so we must have been refueling.  I took some pictures, although it was very dark in there so they aren’t the greatest.

While there, we discovered that there is a secret passageway between the lower level of the Walt Disney Theater and the Cadillac Lounge.  We saw cruise director Darren go in and out to introduce the 8:30 show, and we also saw several people in wheelchairs go through the door for the show.  Here is someone getting ready to go in:

Once Ed Harvey finished playing about 10:15, we decided to call it a night.  These were our towel animals for the night:

We also each received a certificate for our voyage through the Canal:

Up Next:  Day 8 – At Sea

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