Panama Canal Adventure from Fuerte Amador (Panama City), Panama to Fort Lauderdale, Florida Interesting start...American Airlines that was to leave San Diego at 10:30 and get unto Miami in the morning was delayed for 7 hours... After the airlines and the Viking Cruise emergency line personnel worked for 30 minutes, we finally got booked on a flight to Chicago and then will connect with Copa Airlines to Panama City. (Copa Airlines?? Supposedly a partner to AA. After doing some research it is a reputable airline which flies to 85 destinations and has been around 77 years). The upside to this is that we arrive in Panama City almost the exact same time. Traversing the Panama Canal: So why locks throught the canal? It's not that one ocean is higher than the other... Locks were necessary on the Panama Canal because the terrain of Panama includes a significant elevation change between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, meaning ships ne...