Mary and I went on a 10 day cruise through the Panama Canal on the Crystal
Symphony -- a couple of classes higher than the Princess Line that we have
cruised on before. We had a large Penthouse with a generous private veranda
and our own butler who wore tails twenty-four hours a day. It was great!
| Day | Port | Arrive | Depart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri | Alcapulco | 10PM | |
| Sat | At Sea | ||
| Sun | At Sea | ||
| Mon | At Sea | ||
| Tue | Canal Transit | 6AM | 6 PM |
| Wed | At Sea | ||
| Thur | Aruba | 8 AM | 5 PM |
| Fri | At Sea | ||
| Sat | St. Marteen | 8 AM | 4 PM |
| Sun | St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. | 7 AM | 5 PM |
| Mon | San Juan | AM |
Click on any Photo to see it better.
Here we are entering the first lock.
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| Here we enter the canal | This is the Galliard Cut where most of the hard digging was done. The hills on both sides are gradually being cut down to widen the canal so that ships can pass in this region. | Galliard Cut |
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| Notice the two locmotive "mules" on both sides of the lock. Cables from thes mules keep the ship aligned in the canal. | This is a one-year-old Japanese cargo ship. | The ship had a least three female working crew members that we saw. |
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| There were about 10 ships (in the background) waiting their turns to enter the locks to exit the canal. We had a reservation so went to the head of the line. | Meanwhile the ship's photographer went ashore to catch us watching. Note the width of our state room. | And here he got us up close. |
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| The last lock. Note how steep the mule track is. The drive of the mule is not to its wheels but to a cog track in the middle between the tracks | Everyone gets a chance to stear. | |
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Move on to the inside pictures and the end of the cruise. |
| Aruba | Aruba |