We woke up early with the excitement for today’s big event, Virgin Voyage’s (and our) first ever Panama Canal crossing.
First view from our balcony was sailing under the Atlantic Bridge on our way to the locks.
We had a very early room service breakfast on our deck, then threw on some clothes to head for Richard’s Rooftop - the suites only outdoor lounge at the front of the ship. One of the reasons we booked a suite for this cruise was to have access to this space for the crossing, as we knew it would have the best possible views. When we walked in though, there was a huge crowd there, and no where for us to see the forward view. We quickly realized that the majority of people there were not suite guests (red wristbands vs black.) They had been able to come in due to a malfunctioning door lock. Security had to get them to leave, it wasn’t pretty, some were pretty rude about it, and I felt bad for everyone involved.
Once that was resolved, this was our view coming into the first lock.
All throughout the day, the captain would make announcements about each point we passed. The bridge camera was projected in the public areas of the ship as well.
You can see how tight the fit is for our ship in this view from our balcony, and how many officers are in the bridge.
We had a few tugboats helping us along the way.
A port camera captured this picture of our ship coming into the locks.
This was the view from the back of the ship as we left the first set of locks and sailed into Gaton Lake.
Shawn passed some time in his favorite spot on the ship while I took a million pictures of the gorgeous lake.
Then we had some relaxing time at the Dock as we continued our journey across the lake.
At about 3 in the afternoon we headed into the second set of locks, on the Pacific side of the lake.
The vibes were festive all over the ship, and when we entered the first lock, champagne was passed out all around.
We had a little crocodile friend traversing the locks with us.
Coming into the final lock of the journey.
Once we passed through the final lock, the whole ship celebrated.🎉
We even had a celebratory escort!
Our first view on the Pacific side was the impressive skyline of Panama City.
Goodbye little tugboat!
Passing under the Bridge of the Americas to the Pacific Ocean.
Another view of Panama City as we sailed away.
When we returned to our cabin, we found these. Such a nice touch from Virgin. What an incredibly special day. So thrilled we got to experience this together. 💕🥰💕
Today we have a sea day, then our next port stop is Costa Rica!
Bonus pic - someone from our tour in Colon managed to get a better sloth photo…
Day 5: Colon, Panama
After docking in Colon, we had a leisurely morning of breakfast and getting ready for our excursion. It started with an hour and a half bus ride, which sounds rough, but our guide, Nydia, kept us entertained with facts about Colon, Panama, and the Canal. She was easily the best guide we’ve had on any tour.
Absolutely incredible. Looks like a trip of a lifetime.