Panama Canal, 2024
In January 2024, I took a partial transit Panama Canal cruise round trip from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was a 10 day cruise, and every alternate day was a sea day.
The first port was Montego Bay, Jamaica. I took a shore excursion to see the Rose Hall Great House. Photos Jamaica-001 to Jamaica-009 The next port was Cartagena, Colombia. I took a shore excursion to the Castillo San Felipe Fortress. Photos Colombia-001 to Colombia-004. From there we visited the down town area, where we saw two churches and a museum. Photos Colombia-005 to Colombia-013
The next day we did a partial transit of the Panama Canal. We sailed through the three Aqua Clara locks to Gatun Lake, and then sailed back the way we came in. There are gates between each lock. At each lock, the ship waits for the water to be raised or lowered to be the same level, then the gate opens and the ship sails in. Then the gate is closed and the process is repeated and the ship sails into the next lock. Photos Panama Canal-001 to Panama Canal-007
The last port was Limon, Costa Rica. I took a shore excursion that took us to a National Park. We had a short walk through the jungle, then a short sail in a boat along the river. We saw an iguana, a well camouflaged heron, a blue heron, two sloths, a couple of birds and howler monkeys. Photos Costa Rica-001 to Costa Rica-007. The port also had a small free zoo with brightly colored birds, peacocks, monkeys and herons. Photos Cartagena-001 to Cartagena-005
We were also supposed to stop at Grand Cayman, but that was a tender port and we had to skip it because of high winds and swells.
