Other ships waited their turns to enter the canal. Our cruise ship paid a premium to pass through during daylight.

The pilot ship arrived to put three pilots aboard the ship for the duration of transit. One for the first set of locks, one for the lake, and one for the last set of locks.

Our cruise ship passed by the city of Colon, Panama, but didn't stop.

The Port of Colon was a large container port. It could unload large ships and transfer cargo to smaller ships to service the coast cities.

The ferry was the only way across the canal for cars from Colon. A new bridge had just begun construction that would eventually span the canal on the Colon end.

To the left was the new entrance to the new Post-Panamax size canal being constructed. To the right was the current Panamax canal. That morning was really hazy.

Ferries came our and got ready to accompany out cruise ship through the canal.

A cut through the side of the current canal is all that remains of the navigable part of the original French canal. Notice the railroad bridge running over it.

New, huge lock gates for the new Post-Panamax canal under construction. These lock gates were hollow and would eventually float, making opening and closing them easier.

There were two sets of locks in the original Panamax sized canal. So ships could pass through in both directions simultaneously. We were approaching the locks on the eastern side. Notice the two men in a row boat. They were there to pass rope leads for cables from the shore up to the ship.