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The highlight of the cruise was going through the panama canal.

Here we are entering the first lock, with the gates closing behind us.

When the lock closes, the fill it with water, raising the level of the ship.

Once the lock is filled, the gate on the other side and we move into the next lock.

It takes two locks on the Pacific side (three on the Atlantic) to reach the level of the inland canal.

Here's a shot up ahead. You can see it's a tight fit. Our ship (the Sea Princess) is the largest ship that can fit through the canal.

These little trains on the side actually pulls the ships through the locks.

There are two sets of locks to relieve traffic. One inbound and one outbound.

Another ship was coming though the canal at the same time we were.

The area around the canal was much more rural than I expected. I guess since ships don't stop in the canal, there is no need to build up around it.

Here is a better shot of the trains that were towing us. I think it took eight in all.

Until recently, General Electric had the contract for these trains. Now they are built by a Japanese manufacturer.

I still can't get over how tight of a squeeze it is to get through these locks.

Once out of the locks, we are helped out by tug boats until we can start our own engines.

We went through the canal just after the U.S. turned control of the canal to the Panama government. During our trip, the president of panama boarded our ship. These guys are her armed escort.

It was a little unnerving seeing a gun boat circling our cruise ship.

This is the Bridge of the Americas. Due to the canal, this it the only point where you can drive from North America to South America.

Another surprise was that most of the canal was actually a large inland lake. Here is a sunken ship off to the side.

Here are my Mom and Dad posing for a picture. It takes almost eight hours to travel from end to end.

Here we are entering the Atlantic locks, the final leg of the journey.

By now, this is old hat, so I didn't take as many pictures.

Here we are in the final lock, being lowered back down to sea level. The Atlantic Ocean is ahead of us.