Elizabeth A., Deckside Navigator (Travel Columnist)
Feb 24, 2026
How do you get a cruise ship through a canal? One giant door at a time. In this month's Exploring with Elizabeth, our Deckside Navigator takes us along on her family's 12-day Panama Canal cruise — with a history lesson, rising water levels, and some seriously tight fits.
Welcome back to my travel segment everyone! Today I am going to tell you about my trip to the Panama Canal.
To start off, I would like to share some of the history of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal is a man-built modern marvel that runs through the country of Panama. It was a very hard and challenging project that was started by the French in 1881. Unfortunately, it proved to be too challenging. One of the main reasons that is took very long to build was that too many workers were getting sick from tropical diseases. The cause of the illness was the water that attracted mosquitoes and then spread illnesses like Malaria and Yellow Fever. There were also several landslides that killed many workers.
Next, I want to share my experience with you. My family opted for a 12 day Panama Canal cruise. On the day of the Panama Canal visit, we had to wake up extra early. It took hours for the cruise ship to reach the Gatun lake in the Panama Canal because of all the doors that had to open and close. Whenever, a door closed, it increased the water level that aided the cruise ship to cruise the next part. It continued replicating this process multiple times. It was very fun to see how the mechanisms worked. It was incredible to see what a tight fit it was! I have attached pictures from my trip for you to see.
Overall, it was a great experience. I hope you liked learning about the Panama Canal.
Until next time!
About Elizabeth
My name is Elizabeth and I am nine years old. I attend Elementary School in Palm Beach. My hobbies are reading, playing the piano, ballet, swimming and playing the violin. I am currently learning how to bake and cook! I love to travel and I hope you can too!