A
Panama Canal Cruise tour is amongst the most spectactular cruise available worldwide.
Panama is home to the Panama Canal, which is a man made waterway joining the
Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The canal is known as one of the greatest feats
of engineering in the 20th Century, due to the fact it physically severs the
land mass of North and South America for a total distance of 80 kilometers.
Whether you have
never yet been on a cruise before, or whether you are cruise junkie, you
need to take a cruise to Panama. There are few people on this planet who
would not enjoy a Panama Canal cruise tour.
Situated in the country of Panama in Central America is the
Panama Canal - a manmade waterway connecting the great oceans of the Pacific
and the Atlantic together. It is 80 kilometers in length and is wide enough
to accommodate a whole host of ocean-going vessels, including Panama cruise
ships. The Panama canal marks the only point at which the landmass of the
North American continent and South American continent are physically
separated from each other - a fact that distinguishes the canal as a true
wonder of the 20th century engineering world.
It has been called "the big ditch", "the bridge between two continents" and "the greatest shortcut in the world". One look at the immensity of the Canal, and you will understand why a French company with a labor force of 10,000 men went bankrupt trying to excavate it. The project, while conceived in 1534 by Charles I of Spain, began in 1882 and ended seven years later in disaster with over 22,000 people dead from disease and pestilence. The United States took over the assets of a French company in 1902 and began the process of finishing the canal.