DAY 16 - DAY 5 SERENITY

TRANSITING THE Panama Canal

We enjoyed another nice evening on-board Crystal Serenity.

We went for a pre-dinner drink (water for Anne Marie) at the Crystal Cove and listened to Pianist Richard Pucci play a variety of songs.   We very much enjoying his piano playing.  

We went to the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant  for the first time of this voyage and dined with friend and World Cruise Hostess Stacey.  We last saw Stacey for lunch on land a few months ago.

There are the restaurant menus from Prego.

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Dining with Stacey is always lots of fun.   She is so upbeat and positive and we always enjoy lots of good laughs with her and a wonderful conversation.

Stacey has an extensive career in the cruise industry.  For many  years she was a dancer.  She  has also served as Assistant Cruise Director.  She has also been World Cruise Hostess on ten of the twenty-five  World Cruises including  ten since 2009.  

Prego is very special for us. We think of it as dining at a small restaurant in a village in Italy between the charm of the dining venue and the familiarity with waitstaff and fellow guests.

The wait staff is superb, the cuisine delicious and we like the ambience of the dining venue including how the tables are set.  

We enjoyed appetizers, salad and entrees.   The special was calf liver which was the first time we experienced this being an addition.  We all passed on this.  LOL.  All in all a wonderful evening enjoying a leisurely dinner with a dear friend and at a lovely restaurant.

We passed on the evening entertainment since Anne Marie is under the weather.  Hopefully she will be better soon.  Keith slept very well.   Unfortunately, Anne Marie did not.  

Keith followed his regular routine with one change.   He worked out at the Fitness Center for part of the time and then walked Deck 6.   Deck 6  has many public areas and  we find it a  good area to walk inside the ship.  

He took advantage of the time of day to do laundry.

Breakfast in our room thanks to Butler Rao.  Then it was time to get ready for the Panama Canal Transit.

We didn't make our first transit until January of 2007 as part of World Cruise 2007.  In fact, prior to 2007 we were booked on two different cruises which included the canal but had to cancel each one.  Since 2007 we have transited the Canal several times.  This is a good time of year for the transit with very little chance for rain.  Temperature can range from warm to hot.

In preparation for todays' transit Keith watched the presentation given on the Canal by Destination Lecturesr Dick Mogran.   It contained some information he hadn't heard before.

Some facts about  the Panama Canal:


- Workers came from 97 countries to work on the Canal.

- The island of Barbados supplied the most workers.

- The maximum draft of the Panama Canal is 39.5 feet and the draft of the Serenity is 24.6 feet.

- The most common commodity moving through the Canal is grain.

- The United States is the biggest user of the Canal.

-It takes 52 millions gallons of water to transit a ship.

​There are many places to watch the transit from and we recommend watching it from the front (bow), back (stern) port and starboard (left 7 right) sides and from points on high, medium and low decks.  Each area provides a different perspective.

​The transit follows the same schedule when sailing East to West:

Serenity enters the Gatun  Locks, clears the Locks, passes Gamboa Station, enters and clears Pedro Miguel Locks and enters and clears Miraflores Locks.

Each time can offer a slightly different experience based on weather conditions such as temperature and whether it is sunny or overcast.

​Today was sunny and warm and a nice clear day.

 

The rest of the day  was spent enjoying the ship. This included visiting with fellow guests and members of the crew, lunch at Marketplace, and Paddle Tennis for Keith.   We arrived to Panama City ahead of schedule.\

This is today's Daily Reflections Program.

Cheers,

Anne Marie &  Keith