Panama Canal cruise reveals history, future
{thenewsstar.com} Spain founded its first settlement in the New World in Panama and made this tiny country its shipping center for all the riches it acquired in South America.
In 1851, the California gold rushers needed a way to transport their fortunes to the East Coast, so that's why the United States was given permission to build the first intercontinental railway between the two oceans.
In 1904, the French convinced the Panamanian people a canal would be better than a railroad. Unfortunately, their attempt at this gigantic construction task was so thwarted by climate, disease and bad management that the United States had to step in and rescue the project.
To build the 50-mile-long Panama Canal connecting two oceans took 10 years, $400 million and the lives of more than 27,000 men, but its completion saved seamen 8,000 miles of travel time on a journey from New York City to California.
The average cost of a toll to transit the canal is $54,000; the most expensive toll to date was $331,200 paid by the Disney Magic cruise liner; the cheapest toll was 36 cents paid by Richard Halliburton who swam the canal — in 10 days.
On Dec. 31, 1999, the U.S. officially transferred Canal ownership and full responsibility to the government of Panama.
This strategic crossroad of the world seems to be faring well under Panamanian leadership. Today's canal ushers through some 14,000 vessels — an astounding 4 percent of the world's maritime commerce. The ingenious system put in place still works well.
However, change is coming. Plans to turn the present "two-lane canal" into a "three-lane water highway" have already begun. The new locks are a sign of the times; they are being added to ensure the U.S. fleet unobstructed passage between the oceans in case of emergency.
Designed to comfortably accommodate the largest battleships in the Navy's fleet, the locks will be equipped with every anti-sabotage safeguard known. The idea is to keep the zone open and safe at all times. The goal is to prevent another Pearl Harbor from happening .
As a travel agent, I think our military masterminds have a great plan. I figure if the canal locks are widened to accommodate our biggest men-of-war battleships, then that means every cruise ship — from the Queen Mary to the Freedom of the Seas — will one day be able to transit the canal, too.
The world of cruising just gets bigger and better! That's sort of hard to envision if you have never done a canal crossing because, from the moment your ship enters "the zone," you stand in awe at the American ingenuity and sheer guts that devised this workable plan to get from one ocean to another.
Let me very briefly describe what makes a trans-canal cruise so amazing:
An Atlantic to Pacific crossing begins when three pairs of concrete chambers lift your cruise ship about 85 feet from sea level to Gatun Lake. Small electric locomotives called "mules" run on tracks along both sides of these locks and then pull your ship up an incline through the locks. When they arrive at the end of each chamber, you have reached the next higher level. Depending on the size of your cruise ship, anywhere from four to 12 locomotives, or mules, will be utilized.
As your cruise ship approaches the first chambers, engines are shut off while canal workers quickly fasten the ends of the locomotives' towing cables to the vessel. Your ship is then pulled into the first lock. Huge steel gates close behind the ship. Valves that allow water from Gatun Lake to flow into the chamber through openings in the bottom of the lock are suddenly opened.
The rising water lifts your ship. When the level of the water is the same as that in the second chamber, the gates in front of your ship swing open and the mules pull you into the next chamber where the process is repeated again.
By the time your ship completes the third chamber, the process has raised your ship to the level of Gatun Lake. The canal workers then release the cables, and your cruise ship sails out of the locks under its own power, heading for an 8-mile, 500-foot-wide channel called Gaillard's Cut, the next stepping stone to the Pacific Ocean.
After steaming out of Gaillard's Cut, which is said to be a minimum of 42 feet deep, the mules swing into action again. Now they must pull the ship into the Pedro Miguel Locks. In one very efficient move, our huge luxury ship was lowered 31 feet until, suddenly, we found ourselves cruising into a man-made lake called Miraflores.
Miraflores was the home of the last two chambers that lowered our ship before spitting us into the Pacific. At this point, I became very aware of just how amazing our world really is because at this point I learned oceans are not created equally.
For example, the Pacific Ocean is entirely different from the Atlantic. At any time during the day, the height of her tides can rise and fall about 12 feet whereas tides on the Atlantic side change only about 2 feet daily. Therefore, on any given day, the distance these chambers must lower a ship depends strictly on the height of the tide in the Pacific.
How amazing is that: Mother Nature is always there to remind us that she — not man nor machinery—is ultimately in control. She gives each trans-canal voyager that one last little reminder before allowing you to cruise off into the open waters of the Pacific.
Trans-canal cruising season has just started. Cruise ships will depart weekly until mid-April, and, depending on your point of embarkation and choice of ports, sailings will be anywhere from 10 to 14 days.
Let me give you a point of reference for pricing: last week, an outside cabin on a 14-day sailing from San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale on Jan. 31 aboard Celebrity's beautiful Mercury ran $1,750 per person.
This 8-hour, 50-mile-long journey has made a world of difference in the lives of seamen for years, and it can do the same for you. Call your travel agent for a free brochure. Let us help you find the best price and best way to get in "the zone."
Some say the Panama Canal is the eighth wonder of the world. Go, see for yourself.
