Discovery Princess mystery

[lstone19]

26 minutes ago, Fat Albert said:

When we cruised the canal in 2019 the ships that were north of us going from Caribbean to Pacific  that went through the new locks stayed north and diverted to the  new locks for the Pacific and I do not think they go under any bridge .  

 

Any ship going through the Panama Canal passes under three bridges. From the Caribbean side, the first bridge encountered is the Atlantic Bridge (opened in 2019) which has 246' of vertical clearance. Then comes the Caribbean side locks - old locks to the right and new locks to the left. Then you cross Gatun Lake and through the Culebra Cut (also known as the Gaillard Cut). Then you pass under the Centennial Bridge (opened in 2004) with 262' of vertical clinic. The canal then divides again - old locks to the left (both the Pedro Miguel lock and then the two Miraflores locks) and new locks to the right (a group of three successive locks). Finally, back together, as you pass Panama City, you pass under the Bridge of the Americas (opened in 1962) listed as having 201' of vertical clearance and therefore the critical bridge for clearance. All ships doing a full transit, whether old locks or new locks, pass under all three.

 

Saying north, south, east, or west regarding the canal can be confusing as many people don't realize that the canal runs from the northwest on the Caribbean side to southeast on the Pacific side (yes, the Caribbean end is west of the Pacific end).