Panama was the next country on our cruise itinerary after Colombia. This stop was so important, we, together with our fellow passengers, were actually up and out of our cabins by 6 am. Marc for one was awake by 5 am and couldn't wait to see the canal as well as the locks.

Despite the unholy hour we woke up, it was hard to get a good spot at the decks from where we could watch ships go by. Every free space for good viewing was taken. Some passengers were very territorial and protective of their space. Fortunately we stood behind a family who were so, so kind and invited us every so often as well as other passengers to stand on the spot they were standing on so we could take good pictures. The images in this entry were all taken at the very first lock our ship, the NCL Pearl, went through during its partial transit of the canal.

Marc and I signed up for a ferry ride to cross the entire stretch of the Panama Canal later that morning and that trip gave us an even closer look of the man made wonder for 12 long hours. Oh yes, we crossed the entire canal from the Caribbean side all the way to the Pacific from morning til night time. More about that ferry ride in the next blog entry.

Meanwhile, the images herein were all taken at the Gatun Locks.