A Documentary You Should Watch Before Your Cruise

Here is an excellent documentary about the history of the Panama Canal which everyone should watch before their cruise. It will make a lot of the history of Panama and the Canal, the Turnover, and what's happened since make sense. I wish that cruise ships would show this documentary on board instead of the outdated, now inaccurate David McCullough video "A Plan, A Man, A Canal." McCullough's video is now almost 30 years old, and although interesting for the first 2/3 of the Canal's life, no longer is helpful other than as an historical curiosity.

Thank you Richard. An interesting account of recent issues regarding the canal.

From a distance I would add that I have visited Panama four or five times since 1984 and have always enjoyed it.

My more recent visits have been on cruises and excursions and so I may not have a totally accurate picture of the present situation. However, I would comment that the Canal and surrounding area seems to be in better condition now than it was when the US was in full control during my early visits.

This may be a result of the upgrades made before control was given to Panama in 1999, but there are also the facts regarding the current expansion.

While I would like to think that the US would have gone ahead with an expansion...the political climate in the US since 1999 makes me wonder if we would not rather be in a quagmire of issues that would impede progress on this vital resource.

Kudos to Panama for making it happen.

Thank you, Richard, for posting this video. I shared it with fellow cruisers. We will transit the canal on May 7 on the Disney Wonder.