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Panama Canal History
Panama Canal history stretches back centuries. Interest in a canal linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans goes all the way back to the Spanish explorers of the 16th Century, who were even then suggesting the possibility of a canal. (Obviously pleasure cruises were pretty far from their minds! A Panama Canal Cruise would have been unimaginable to these men.) Various attempts were made to organize a canal through the 1800s, but technical and political difficulties kept hampering the attempts.
Construction on the Panama Canal began in 1906, with a projected schedule of ten years. In fact, with over 75,000 men working on the project, the Panama Canal was finished in 1914.
The final cost for the Panama Canal was $336 million—a staggering amount in 1914.
Panama Canal History Facts
- 175 million cubic yards of earth had to be moved to create the Panama Canal.
- The entire Canal area was leased from Panama.
- Mosquitoes carrying malaria and yellow fever were such a problem that the entire Canal area had to be sanitized. The diseases were virtually eliminated in the area.
How the Canal Locks Work
Cruises are always exciting, but a Panama Canal cruise has the added advantage that you get to watch the Canal’s triple lock system in action. Basically, the locking system is like a big aquatic stairway. When you enter the first lock, the gate behind you closes. Water from the second lock is poured into the first lock, raising the water level and lifting your ship upwards. When the water in the first lock raises to the same level as the second, the second gate opens and you move into the second lock. Exactly the same thing happens between the second and third locks, and when the final gate opens, you’re sailing into the interior of Panama.
How many other cruises offer that kind of excitement?