Panama Canal Convince me!

We have cruised lots of Caribbean cruises,now the wife and I are looking for a change and its a short flight to Miami from home so we are thinking Panama canal but not so sure the locks and all that interest us. Convince us why we should try a Panama canal cruise?

In the attached photo you can see a ship sailing through the canal. The decks are lined with wall to wall people enjoying the view. Where else do you see this many people on deck looking at the view? If there was nothing interesting to see, they would not be there.

Convince??? Sorry no. The locks are interesting, but I find little that I'm interested in, in most of these ports. (some what I consider pretty crappy, my opinion only) I only sail on the full transits, since that single day, sometimes makes up for the rest of the cruise, which I only get when it's late booked and rock bottom pricing.

Looking to branch out, I can think of a lot better places to go- which I do.

Why limit your choices, to a "short flight"?

I am about to head out for my 3rd Full Panama Canal crossing and can not wait. just the marvel of how they were built and at what cost in time, money and lives.

The Jewel class ships (Jewel and Pearl) are very tight fits. If I remember correctly, it is 18 inches or so from the side of the ship to the Canal wall and 36 inches from the bow of the ship to the gate and 36 inches from the stern of the ship to the gate.

Today is of historical interest to Panama and The Panama Canal. Today the 2nd Canal official opens. It is deeper, wider and longer for each of the locks allowing larger ships to pass safely.

We did a partial....not so much because of the canal itself (although, once there, I did find it fascinating), but because it went much further south than we'd been! We had a great time, and I can now say we've "been there, done that"!

So...while real canal buffs might want a full transit, we found the partial to be great!...and got to see lots of other places, too! Plus, we left out of Miami, so I didn't have to deal with San Juan, or flying to or from the West Coast!

We have cruised lots of Caribbean cruises,now the wife and I are looking for a change and its a short flight to Miami from home so we are thinking Panama canal but not so sure the locks and all that interest us. Convince us why we should try a Panama canal cruise?

We did the Full; Panama Canal from Miami to LA on the Star in January 2015. The Cruise is wonderful...But the Canal...I was disappointed. The story goes that the Panama Canal has worked so well since it open in the early 1900's that there have been very little change. I watch the entire traverse from the Atlantic to the Pacific...However once you have seen one lock and gone through it you have seen it all...If you want a full set of pictures so you can decide...send me your email and I will forward them to you...Loved the Cruise...Been to the Panama Canal and was not impressed.

In the attached photo you can see a ship sailing through the canal. The decks are lined with wall to wall people enjoying the view. Where else do you see this many people on deck looking at the view? If there was nothing interesting to see, they would not be there.

Apparently you haven't sailed Alaska. :)

Apparently you haven't sailed Alaska. :)

I have sailed NCL to Alaska twice and the Panama Canal doesn't even compare to the Beauty and Majesty of the Scenery in Alaska!!! Want to go a third time as we speak!!!

We were booked on Jewel for 2/19 next year. I cancelled a while ago, the Pacific side small ports right after the canal did not appeal to us, two friends who had already done it said the same. It's still on the list but Pacific side itinerary will be important.

So we cancelled in favour of 14 Dy Alaska:)

We have cruised lots of Caribbean cruises,now the wife and I are looking for a change and its a short flight to Miami from home so we are thinking Panama canal but not so sure the locks and all that interest us. Convince us why we should try a Panama canal cruise?

I am concerned that if you need someone to "convince you" to do a Canal transit, you quite possibly don't have enough inherent interest in the Canal -- the history, the construction, the operation -- to make the trip worth your while. I would suggest you look at photos, videos, read up on the Canal, read reviews of Canal transits, and decide whether you would find the experience interesting. The fact that someone else found it fascinating doesn't mean you will. By the same token, the fact that someone else didn't doesn't mean you won't.

We did a full transit around 18 months ago in the Star and it was fabulous. There are two quite distinct parts to the full transit, the locks and the actual trip through the Panama rain forests.

The locks are amazing. To be able to feel a ship the size of the Star being lifted up just by water is unbelievable and totally unique. We read the book about how it was built that made it much more impressive.

Once you are in the canal proper you are effectively on a sea-day where the coast is on both sides of the ship. You pass-by large and small islands and are in the rain-forests for the whole trip.

As well as the full transit, we had a port stop in Costa Rica and spent a great day in a macaw sanctuary where as well as the birds we saw and heard howler and squirrel monkeys and a wild sloth in the canopy. With stops in Acapulco and arriving with a humpback whale in Cabo San Lucas it was undoubtedly our favourite cruise of all time - no contest.

I am concerned that if you need someone to "convince you" to do a Canal transit, you quite possibly don't have enough inherent interest in the Canal -- the history, the construction, the operation -- to make the trip worth your while. I would suggest you look at photos, videos, read up on the Canal, read reviews of Canal transits, and decide whether you would find the experience interesting. The fact that someone else found it fascinating doesn't mean you will. By the same token, the fact that someone else didn't doesn't mean you won't.

Amen!

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I have sailed NCL to Alaska twice and the Panama Canal doesn't even compare to the Beauty and Majesty of the Scenery in Alaska!!! Want to go a third time as we speak!!!

Two totally different cruises not to be compared. We've sailed the Panama Canal three consecutive years and we're now finished with it...off to Alaska in August for a brand new experience.

Don't underestimate the Pacific itinerary of the Panama Canal.

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We loved our Panama Canal cruise back in 2011. It is an amazing engineering marvel, especially since it was built over 100 years ago.

Read the book, "Path Between the Seas" about the history of the building of the canal, including the failed French canal (part of which is still visible today).

Watching how the locks work and going through the canal, knowing the history, it is special.

We did a full transit around 18 months ago in the Star and it was fabulous. There are two quite distinct parts to the full transit, the locks and the actual trip through the Panama rain forests.

 

The locks are amazing. To be able to feel a ship the size of the Star being lifted up just by water is unbelievable and totally unique. We read the book about how it was built that made it much more impressive.

 

Once you are in the canal proper you are effectively on a sea-day where the coast is on both sides of the ship. You pass-by large and small islands and are in the rain-forests for the whole trip.

 

As well as the full transit, we had a port stop in Costa Rica and spent a great day in a macaw sanctuary where as well as the birds we saw and heard howler and squirrel monkeys and a wild sloth in the canopy. With stops in Acapulco and arriving with a humpback whale in Cabo San Lucas it was undoubtedly our favourite cruise of all time - no contest.

Your comments have me even more excited now! We are going on our first Panama Canal cruise coming up in October. We are doing a full transit, Miami to San Diego.

I have enjoyed learning about the history of the canal, the ingenuity of building it and just the uniqueness of it all. The videos and photos I've seen of the ships going through with what appears to be just mere inches on each side, we are really excited to experience all of it!

We are going to the Pura Vida Botanical Gardens as our shore excursion in Costa Rica and are really hoping to see macaws, toucans and parrots in the wild. It will be beautiful flora and fauna regardless. We are also looking forward to visiting Antigua for our shore excursion in Guatemala and viewing all of the Spanish colonial architecture. October can't get here soon enough! :D

Read the book, "Path Between the Seas" about the history of the building of the canal, including the failed French canal (part of which is still visible today).

 

We have our first transit booked in January (on the Jewel). I love David McCullough, but I waited to read this particular book until I knew we were actually going to the Canal. I'm in the middle of reading it now and it's definitely making me even more excited.

Apparently you haven't sailed Alaska. :)

Yes, I've sailed Alaska 3 times and Alaska and Hawaii have been my 2 favorite cruises but the people on decks watching during the Panama Canal crossing rivaled the number of people on deck watching while cruising Glacier Bay.

I also loved the ports of Cabo and Puerto Vallarta on our Panama cruise.

I have been to practically every island in the Caribbean but while sailing nothing beats the scenery that you see from the ship in Alaska, Hawaii or the Panama Canal.

When I sailed the Canal it was sentimental to me because it was the 100th anniversary of the Canal and also marked 100 years since my grandfather who was in the US Army was killed while serving there. :(

I can't convince you, I can only tell you my process. I never had an interest in seeing the Panama Canal until about 2008 or 2009. We started cruising in 2007 and that may have been what began to pique my interest. Once we booked the PC cruise I began to read The Path Between the Seas. It really opened my eyes to what an amazing feat it was to build the Canal. Putting it in the historical perspective of the medical, technological and political landscape really brought the story to life. By the time we got to the Canal I was so excited to see the lock doors, the opening to the abandoned French Canal, the "mules", and the "Cut". It even gave us a torrential rainstorm in the Cut that demonstrated the potential problems they had in building the Canal.

Once we took the first cruise we realized we loved the cruise itself apart from the Canal because it was 14 days with almost equal parts of port days and sea days, providing days to see ports we wouldn't see otherwise and days of relaxation at sea. DH loves the westbound transit because you get to gain an hour of sleep every few days and because we get to sail home to Los Angeles.

Since then we have done the PC cruise twice more and I'm starting to get the urge to book it again.

I would agree that if you need convincing, it may not be the cruise for you. We are doing a partial transit at Christmas this year, and I am looking forward to the journey - both the cruise and the Canal. I have always wanted to go through the locks in a big ship, even since going through the locks in a riverboat on a evening cruise in Prague years ago. There's something magical about standing still and going up in a ship.

From our itinerary, and from looking at the full-transit options, I would say that if you don't like the Canal for all of its mechanical accomplishments, it's only one day out of a ten-day to two-week cruise, so you haven't wasted much time. I prefer longer cruises to the one-week Caribbean jaunts.

HI all!

I've done a partial on HAL & one Thomson cruise called Pride of Panama & wasn't that interested in the canal per se. It turned out to be quite interesting & I'd do it again. What I really like about the cruise is the ports, can't beat Panama, Costa Rica & Cartagena! We loved the latter so much we hope to go back as there's always something else to see in any port you've visited before. I will say the ferry excursion through the 2 Pacific locks makes for a long hot day.

Hope this helps.

~ Jo ~ :)