Panama Canal Cruise Recap: Day Eight

Today was our last sea day before the big event – the Panama Canal. We spent most of the day prepping for our transit beginning early tomorrow.

Our day began as it has each sea day with another great lecture from Captain Ken Puckett. Today he focused on what a pilot does and some of the perils of the occupation. When we transit the canal in the morning, we will bring several pilots onboard to help us through the various locks. This ship was the first passenger vessel to use the new locks and we will use them again in less than 24 hours. None of us may sleep tonight.

Our approximate schedule for tomorrow is:

6:50am – Arrive Cocoli Locks
9:20am – Depart Cocoli Locks
10:55am – Passing Gamboa
11:35am – Clearing Gamboa
1:00pm – Arrive Agua Clara Locks
3:20pm – Depart Agua Clara Locks

We also get to pass under the Bridge of the Americas and the Centennial Bridge, plus we sail through “The Cut” and the continental divide. I spent some of today scouting out good locations from which to view the locks, the canal and the various scenery. The plan is to move about the ship to get the canal from various angles.

After the lecture, I went to a cooking demo at the D Lounge, the family entertainment venue off the main atrium. The guest chef, Jim Phillips from Walt Disney World’s Tusker House restaurant, taught us all how to make a delicious chicken curry dish. They’ve done several of these cooking demos during the cruise and we have a few more to come. I also got to chat with the chef after the demo for a bit and he shared some additional tips and secrets with those of us who stuck around.

Lunch was next, followed by some time in the spa. Late in the afternoon, we arrived outside Panama City. We could see the impressive skyline in the distance and also the first bridge over the passage that leads to the canal – so very close! In the harbor with us are literally dozens of ships of various sizes. We are the only cruise ship that I could see with the others being tankers or shipping vessels, all awaiting their turn to enter the canal. All ships pay a toll to go through the canal based on their size and volume. Cruise ships are charged by the passenger, plus there are assorted miscellaneous fees like tug boat and line handler fees. Our transit will cost Disney Cruise Line approximately $470,000.

This evening as we were playing 80’s music trivia a fuel barge came alongside the Disney Wonder and will spend most of the night refueling us. The bunkering will end around 3am and shortly thereafter we will raise anchor and begin our journey towards the canal. As a result, this post will be a bit shorter than the others.

Good night from just outside the Panama Canal. Our internet continues to be a bit challenging so we will add photos and more later. But we do plan to post as much as possible during our transit. Stay tuned!