Panama Canal on Infinity - Questions on Lectures and Commentary

I am hoping that some of you who have travelled recently on Celebrity through the Panama Canal can help me with this. Most of the folks on the Roll Call are Canal novices as we are.

Question 1: Are there informative lectures about the canal given on board in the days prior to arrival?

Question 2: Is there commentary about the canal while the ship is making passage?

If so, is it over the ships speakers or on the in-room TV or both?

Thanks in advance for your help.

George

We took this cruise on Infinity in April/May last year. Celebrity has excellent guest lecturers on board on both the canal and on the ports. The lectures were all well attended. In addition, on the canal passage day- the entire passage is narrated by an expert and broadcast over the ship and on your cabin TV.

We took this cruise on Infinity in April/May last year. Celebrity has excellent guest lecturers on board on both the canal and on the ports. The lectures were all well attended. In addition, on the canal passage day- the entire passage is narrated by an expert and broadcast over the ship and on your cabin TV.

Thank you so much!

Just what I was looking for.

Can Celebrity new ships sail thru the Canal?

Can Celebrity new ships sail thru the Canal?

Yes but... the dimensions won't provide any issue with the new locks, there was an issue with a mast on the Solstice that prevented it from clearing the Lions Gate Bridge which has a similar clearance to the Bridge of Americas on the Pacific entrance of the Canal. Modifications were made to the Solstice so it could clear the Bridge, I would assume her sisters would need the same modification.

I am hoping that some of you who have travelled recently on Celebrity through the Panama Canal can help me with this. Most of the folks on the Roll Call are Canal novices as we are.

 

Question 1: Are there informative lectures about the canal given on board in the days prior to arrival?

 

Question 2: Is there commentary about the canal while the ship is making passage?

If so, is it over the ships speakers or on the in-room TV or both?

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

George

Hi George....other posters have answered the questions you asked, but I would like to add a suggestion since we also did Panama Canal on Infinity in April 3 years ago and DH is a civil engineer! The best shore excursion we took was the one that went BACK through the canal on a smaller boat. I booked it through X. You got close enough to the walls that you could touch them...they served a lovely buffet brunch of local recipes...the seats were comfortable..there were facilities ...you could sit in shade or sun and the narrative was fascinating enough to keep DH interested....Even I was excited because the perspective is completely different....The in room narrative was excellent and if you have a balcony, it was nice to watch from the privacy and quiet of your room. The narrative came through the TV and as you might imagine the bow was packed with people.

bookitdanno: We have done six full transits of the canal on Celebrity ships and each one had a speaker on board to provide some history of the canal and its construction. Also each time there has been someone doing live narration from the bridge during the actual transit. The narration has at times been done by a Panama Canal Authority licensed lecturer but most frequently by Celebrity hired staff who will be on the ship for its "canal season."

We were on the Infinity last spring for thirty days on a B2B through the canal from Miami to San Diego back through to Ft. Lauderdale. The background lectures and actual narration were done by Bill Fall (sp?). His father worked for the canal authority and Bill spent his first twenty or so years living in the canal zone. Bill is a retired teacher, and presented his lectures and narration in an organized fashion. Bill's lectures were in the theatre, and it was always packed. My husband spent several years in the canal zone during his childhood (my father-in-law was a US Air Force officer stationed at Albrook AFB) so my husband and Bill had several great conversations about their schools and so forth.

Celebrity will most likely also show the PBS video based on David McCullough's book "The Path Between the Seas." Look for it both on your stateroom TV programing and shown in the theatre.

If there is no rain during your transit, the hell-pad may be opened. People often ask about the "best side" for the transit, but since views are interesting on both sides we are prepared to be out on one of the upper decks walking from one side to the other. Depending on the canal traffic the transit can take between 8 to 10 hours.

Look forward to it...we will B2B from Vancouver Sept 2018

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In addition to the small boat tour you can also tour Panama City and see the headquarters used during the building of the Canal. The Path Between The Seas is a wonderful book and the perfect start to understanding the complexities, science, engineering and politics of the Canal.

While sailing from coast to coast viewing from the front of the ship is nice, head to the aft on deck 10 where you can actually touch the walls of the canal. You will be that close. It's also a great place to see the Mules and stations.

Yes but... the dimensions won't provide any issue with the new locks, there was an issue with a mast on the Solstice that prevented it from clearing the Lions Gate Bridge which has a similar clearance to the Bridge of Americas on the Pacific entrance of the Canal. Modifications were made to the Solstice so it could clear the Bridge, I would assume her sisters would need the same modification.

Celebrity M-Class such as Infinity fit (tightly) through the old locks. For taller ships the Bridge of the Americas is the real issue. I would not expect Celebrity ships to use the new locks as the large cargo ships have priority and they are more expensive in fees I believe. However you can tour the new locks from Colon if you stop there.

 

We were on the Infinity last spring for thirty days on a B2B through the canal from Miami to San Diego back through to Ft. Lauderdale. The background lectures and actual narration were done by Bill Fall (sp?). His father worked for the canal authority and Bill spent his first twenty or so years living in the canal zone. Bill is a retired teacher, and presented his lectures and narration in an organized fashion. Bill's lectures were in the theatre, and it was always packed. My husband spent several years in the canal zone during his childhood (my father-in-law was a US Air Force officer stationed at Albrook AFB) so my husband and Bill had several great conversations about their schools and so forth.

 

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I don't think there is anyone out there doing lectures on the Canal that is better than Bill F. Truly a subject matter expert!

Martin Harrington was our lecturer in 2013 on Infinity. Uncle Marty was very good, a resident of Panama. EM

We're doing this cruise in November so I'm interested in following along. Appreciate any and all comments and recommendations for this itinerary.

OP and others taking this cruise:

If you would like to read about the canal I suggest you get a hold of a copy of " The Path Between The Seas" by David McCullough.

Agree about reading this book in advance. Also Bill Fall was our on-board expert on Infinity last year and I agree he was very good. Another tip is to go to youtube and watch a few videos on the canal. Everything is there from new locks to shows on PBS describing the building of the original canal that have similar info to the book.

OP and others taking this cruise:

 

If you would like to read about the canal I suggest you get a hold of a copy of " The Path Between The Seas" by David McCullough.

Absolutely....but then everything McCullough writes is worth reading, isn't it?

Hi George....other posters have answered the questions you asked, but I would like to add a suggestion since we also did Panama Canal on Infinity in April 3 years ago and DH is a civil engineer! The best shore excursion we took was the one that went BACK through the canal on a smaller boat. I booked it through X. You got close enough to the walls that you could touch them...they served a lovely buffet brunch of local recipes...the seats were comfortable..there were facilities ...you could sit in shade or sun and the narrative was fascinating enough to keep DH interested....Even I was excited because the perspective is completely different....The in room narrative was excellent and if you have a balcony, it was nice to watch from the privacy and quiet of your room. The narrative came through the TV and as you might imagine the bow was packed with people.

Thanks.

Sounds like the best excursion possible.

We have a corner Family Veranda, so very excited.

Absolutely....but then everything McCullough writes is worth reading, isn't it?

The book is really great. I bought the audio version before we left on our canal cruise back in Sept of 2015. Edward Herman narrated it and I listed to it twice before we went.

The book is really great. I bought the audio version before we left on our canal cruise back in Sept of 2015. Edward Herman narrated it and I listed to it twice before we went.

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That must have been lovely...Hermann has that deeeeeep voice....but I'm old fashioned, I need to hold a book in my hand....I use my kindle for all kinds of things but never for reading..:D