Up at 6 am to experience our transit through the three Gatum locks that will take us from the Caribbean to the third largest man-made body of water in the world, Gatum Lake. The locks raise the ship 86 feet. At 7:30 we went up for breakfast just as the ship entered the first lock.  We exited the third lock just after 8:30.

Along with digging through the Continental Divide, building the canal also involved constructing the largest earth dam ever built, as well as the most massive canal locks and gates. And through the efforts of over 80,000 workers and the loss of more than 30,000 lives, the greatest single construction project ever undertaken was completed in 1914.

The massive locks control the level of water in the Panama Canal enabling ships to pass through this 51-mile "water bridge" saving about 8000 miles (12,875 km) and a journey around the southern tip of South America, Cape Horn. This entire trip takes about nine hours. Ships are lifted and lowered a total of 172 feet as they pass from the Caribbean to the Pacific, crossing over the Isthmus of Panama and straight through the Continental Divide.

      
      
      
      
    
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Once into Gatum Lake, the ship anchored off the Colon Yacht Club and we rode the tender to the pier. On shore, we boarded our bus with our tour guide for the day, Alex, for the short transfer to the Colon railway station.

      
      
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We then boarded our dome car with full-length observation windows and booth seating on the upper deck. Built in 1855, this was the first transcontinental railway operating in the Americas. During the 75 minute, 45 mile trip we followed the canal for its entire length right through to the Pacific coast.

      
      
      
      
    
  
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From the station on the Pacific side we again boarded a bus that took us out to the Amador Causeway where we stopped for a brief leg stretch and a bit of a shopping opportunity. Along the way we passed one of the World War I fortifications of the Panama Canal, the Buell Battery. And while stretching our legs, we had a panoramic view of downtown Panama City with its spectacular high rises and skyscrapers. The 68-floor Trump Tower and the spiral-shaped 52-floor Revolution Tower were the most unique.

      
      
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Our final stop was the Mireflores Visitors Center observation deck which overlooked the Mireflores Locks on the Pacific side of the canal. After a 25 minute stop we again boarded our bus which took us back to the train station.

      
      
    
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Reboarding the train, it was an uneventful ride back to Colon.  The tour concluded with a short bus ride to the Colon Cruise Ship Terminal where our ship was docked. There was a bit of shopping in the terminal before we boarded the ship at 4:30.

  
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Arriving aboard we had time for a cocktail in our rooms then it was right down for dinner at 5:30. The ship left Panama at 8 o'clock sharp. We again turned our clocks back one hour and off to bed at 10.