BillB48

I think the Colon Free Zone is either the largest or second largest free zone in the western hemisphere, however it is set up as a supply center, assembly area for trans shipment of of cargoes, merchandise and equipment. There are stores within the CFZ where merchandise is displayed and technically you can purchase it for shipment out of the country. Rules may have changed since I was last there, but if you had a non Panamanian passport you were free to enter. The procedure was to have the merchandise you purchased shipped to your departure airport or cruise ship where you will receive your goods at departure. The process is almost identical to the duty free shops found in international airports. Unofficially they would turn a blind eye to anything you could wear or carry on your person out of the Free Zone. At that time you could drive your car into the Free Zone and upon leaving you had to drive through the security area with your trunk open. The guards would politely turn their head as to not look in the trunk and close it for you. Much of it was a wink and nod making it look like security was taking place. Don't think I would try this today, things are different. In short it its not set up for the non commercial customer. There are shops at the pier in Colon that advertise duty free... who knows if it really is??? If you are knowledgeable on what you are looking and are a good negotiator then it is possible to get a good deal whether or not duty has been paid.

Many people opt to stay on the ship for the return passage and it can be a very enjoyable day. However if seeing the Canal was any significant part of choosing this cruise, it will be a missed opportunity. If you have happened to see any of my other posts about my feelings about staying on the ship in this forum, I usually say it's a 50 mile Canal, see more than 8 miles of it... and twice at that! Your ship will use the new locks, this means if you stay on the ship you will not have an opportunity to experience the flavor of the original locks. There are many more visual interests in the original locks, two parallel lanes to view, the unique use of the "mules" to help guide your ship... just more things to draw your attention. Both those are missing in the new locks, yes the locks are large and impressive, but from your vantage point you will barely see the two tugs that assist you through and sometimes it is not easy to see the rolling gates open and close. I don't mean to understate the process of lifting your ship from sea level to 85' above sea level to Gatun Lake, there just less to see in the process at the new locks. As far as duty free shops at the dock in Colon, I think at best you will be completely underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, a stroll through there might yield a little nugget (I don't mean in the precious metal/stone variety), but there is nothing there that can't be missed. Just for clarity, I hope you are not referring to the Colon Free Zone as this is really for commercial transactions. Instead of the location for viewing you described as being a spoiler, I have heard it referred to as the shopping cart handle!😉 In any case enjoy!!

While staying on the ship is not a waste of your time, it is a repeat of what you saw that morning. You will have seen about 8 miles of a Canal, twice!😁. If at all possible, a shore excursion at this stop is a good move. I think the excursion that takes you through Gaillard Cut and the Pacific Locks is well worth it as it will afford you an opportunity to see a large portion of the Canal. Seeing the Canal from the two different vessels gives you a different perspective of the Canal as Turtles pointed out. To me there is much more visual interest in the Pacific/Cut portion of the Canal as opposed the Atlantic side. Not only will you see more of the Canal, you'll get to see more of the country. The walk around the old and new sections are fine. They don't just turn you loose and leave you to your own devices, you are in a chaperoned group during the walk . The old section has had a very nice restoration over the years and there is ample protection in the area as the Presidential Palace is within the old section. Forgot to reply to the second part of the first question... It does provide some of the elements of a full transit cruise, but to me there is a certain "completeness" in going through the Canal on a full transit. If I were to choose between a full and partial transit I would opt for the full transit. If that is not feasible at this time the partial is still a great choice. I have done multiple cruise of both, all excellent.

Yes it can start at that early bird hour as the ship may enter the breakwater on the Atlantic side at that time for about the 1 hours time it takes to get to the first lock. Cruise ships generally pay extra for a day light transit, but the clock doesn't start ticking until sunrise at the first lock and sunset at the last lock. In Panama it is generally around the 6 o'clock hour year round. Now what could complicate the start and clearing times of your transit is the height of this class of ship usually requires passing under the Bridge of Americas on the Pacific side at low tide. As a result the times entering the first lock and clearing the last lock will be dependent on the tide on the Pacific side. In other words the 5AM may or may not be the actual time your transit starts, the ship won't know until the day before what time they will start. Even then, that time is not cast in concrete. The transit can easily take 10 hours. You can break up the transit in several sections, the locks, Gatun Lake and Gaillard Cut. As far as things to see, you sail under 3 neat bridges and the skyline of Panama City (port side) on exiting the Canal is impressive. See it all😃!

Supposed to be included in the post above...

Another foggy start to the day... This was the view around 7:30AM The view at 8:50AM, but still fog in the Cut...

Normally the cruise line will hold back a portion the excursions for sale onboard the ship. Just have your choices in mind and then head to the excursion desk first thing as soon as they are open.

Tocumen International Airport (PTY) on the outskirts of Panama City is the airport you would use for either Ft. Amador or Colon. While the airport is physically closer to Panama City there is not a huge difference in travel time from either port.

Totally agree that there is not a preferable side except for perhaps outside. There are interesting things to take in from the various different vantage points. In addition to being on one of the upper decks for an overall view, being down on the promenade deck as Bruce mentioned, lets you see just how close your ship is maneuvering so near to the lock walls. Lots to see, take as much in as you can!

She will have to go through the new locks, too big for the original.

^^This is exactly the process. The ship will enter the Canal at the Breakwater and from there it is about 5 miles to the Agua Clara Locks. This part of the transit can take about an hour or so. Once the ship arrives at the Locks, the passage through the locks will take about 2 hours. After clearing the Locks, it is only a very short sail to where the tendering will begin. It really is a very short distance, perhaps only a half of a mile or so. The ship will wait in this area until it locks down and proceeds to Colon While the time the ship waits in the Lake for the down lockage is very flexible and is all dependent on other Canal traffic, I have not seen passengers return to the ship while it is still in the Lake. Cruise lines pay an extra fee for the transit to occur during daylight. A daylight transit for Canal purposes is arriving at the first lock and clearing the last lock in daylight. The Canal folks are real clock watchers in this respect! Daylight begins at dawn and ends at sunset. In Panama that time is real easy to figure out, since daylight is very close to 12 hours long year round and is always close to 6:AM and PM. I point this out mainly because it is possible for the ship to enter the Canal at the Breakwater while it is still dark, however the passage through the Locks would be in daylight. Precise execution of schedules at the Canal are more of a wish list😃.

None of the tours that are offered at the Canal will begin until the ship reaches Gatun Lake. The Edge will reach Gatun Lake after it passes through the locks on the Atlantic side, which is Agua Clara Locks. While you are on your tour the ship will lock back down Agua Clara Locks and dock in Colon where you will rejoin the ship. The Edge will largely retrace the same route back through the locks and to Colon that you traveled on the way in. None of the tours will offer the chance to disembark before the ship goes through Agua Clara Locks.

Maybe this will bring back a few memories... the Canberra just cleared Pedro Miguel entering the Gaillard Cut northbound. Don't have a date for the picture, but judging from her flags I say somewhere 1980ish. Also from her flags it looks like she was North 10Z that day. Remember the Oriana well, a frequent visitor, but no pictures of my own.

The best way is to look at the waterline dimensions, a cruise ship cannot exceed 965'x106' at the waterline to be able to use the original locks, the Viking Star almost certainly will use the original locks since she is 748'x95'. I always add a caveat that there could be some circumstance that would cause the a ship that could use the original locks could use the new locks. While this does happen occasionally other ships that transit the Canal it is extremely rare for a cruise ship that is able to use the original locks not to use the smaller, original locks. The problem with the method I mentioned above in determining which locks a ship will use, is many times web pages reporting on the size of a particular cruise ship will use a figure that will include an extreme figure such as a bridge wing or some other overhang that would not impact the waterline dimension. If anyone has any doubt you can always find someone to help on Cruise Critic.

While the Emerald Princess being a little longer and a bit wider, that won't be enough to provide any significant improvement to the stability. There is some thought that a lower cabin as close to the center of the ship possible will provide the best ride. Here again I think those gains can be pretty illusive and not all that noticeable to someone who is susceptible to motion sickness. For me, I have found that being outside and being able to view the horizon works better than anything else. If your group has not been through the Canal before, the original locks would get my vote.

The Serenade fits very snugly into the original locks. Although it is a very snug fit since she was built to the absolute maximum limits for the original locks. The locks out of Amsterdam are similar in they can compartmentalize different bodies of water in order to move a ship from the ocean to a river or tidal basin for example. The biggest difference between the locks in Amsterdam and the Panama Canal, is there are more steps up (or down) to get a vessel to the desired water elevation. In the case of the Panama Canal it is an 85' lift from sea level to the elevation of Gatun Lake. There will be 3 distinct steps to get up to that elevation and an another 3 distinct steps to bring you back down to sea level at the opposite side of the Canal. Another item unique to the PC is the use of "mules" which are the electric locomotives which assist in taking ships through the original locks. The Canal's "stable" has 100 such mules. Probably the last thing that is on the top of my head would be the original PC locks are twin sets of locks, in other words two identical sets of locks side by side. The old time standard was 8 to 9 hours to transit the Canal. With larger ships and a greater number of them that time standard is probably closer to 10 to 12 hours for a deep water to deep water transit. It is still possible for an 8 hour transit, but a lot of stars have to line up just right for that to happen. If you are talking about getting through the locks only, that answer is a bit more ... it depends. Since each of the sets of locks different amount of steps, the time can run anywhere between 45 minutes to 1.5 hours.

The Carnival Legend has the dimensions to be able to use the original locks. So barring some out of the ordinary circumstance you will use the original locks. Cruise ships are still using the original locks on a regular basis. What the addition of the new locks has provided is cruise lines larger classes of ships such as Carnival's Conquest class and Princess' Grand class can now transit the Canal. To give you a little idea on how much the original locks are still used, last month over 800 ships used the original while 300 ships used the new locks.

When I stayed there it was fairly easy to hire a cab at the hotel as there were a number of them waiting for a fare. If you are planning some other stops I would try and negotiate a price for where you want to go and for how long. IMO that is much easier than trying to get another cab at each stop.

Most partial transit cruises offer shore excursions after locking through the Atlantic Locks that include the ferry excursion. Once your ship reaches the Gatun Lake anchorage after locking up, you will tender ashore to be transported to the Pacific side to board the ferry. The ferry will take you through the Pacific Locks and Gaillard Cut and afterwards you will be bused back to your ship which will be waiting in Colon. If you opt for a cruise that just stops in Colon rather than the partial transit the ferry excursion would operate in a similar manner, that is bus to the Pacific side, board the ferry for the excursion and then return to ship in Colon by bus. IMO the partial transit cruise offers a unique opportunity to see the locks from a large vessel and then experience it from the smaller ferry. You get two completely different perspectives when you combine your transit through the Atlantic Locks on your ship and then through the Pacific Locks on the excursion ferry. When you combine the partial transit on your ship and the ferry excursion you will have seen a great deal of the Canal. The best part is there will still be some of the Canal for you to see for the first time when you decide to do a full transit cruise. If your primary goal is to see the Canal, a partial transit cruise combined with the ferry excursion is the better choice.

Not now, but I did live there and work at the locks for a long time. I keep a check on the place via their web cams🙂.

I have not had any experience with RIU, I did look at their website briefly but that did not provide my any info on the hotels. There is nothing inherently unsafe about getting transportation to a well known hotel brand and then using a shuttle to get to the ship. Just normal precautions would be in order and allow plenty of time to get to the ship in Colon. Time to allow sufficient travel time and time to make secondary transportation plans in case the first plans fall through. In all honestly, in these situations it sometimes more convenient to deal with a known entity even though you can get a better "deal" on your own.

Don't have anything I can add whether the Pacific Cruise Terminal at Ft. Amador will be fully open when this years cruise season gets underway. My contact down there has been quiet regarding the cruise terminal at Amador. Perhaps they are still in the process of firming everything up and will have a selection of shore excursions closer to sailing or onboard. It has been close to a year since one of the Viking ships disembarked and embarked passengers at the Cruise Terminal and the NCL Sun used the pier frequently during the layup. If you are wanting to visit the popular ex-pat hangouts, that would be really stretching the limits of a port call. While the nearest beach communities west of the Canal like Gorgona and Coronado would be theoretically possible to visit in that time period, don't think it would be a good decision. Depending on the time of day, day of the week or perhaps a holiday, the traffic around the Bridge of Americas or the Centennial Bridge is legendary. Other destinations in western Panama such as the beaches in the Azuero Peninsula or the mountains near Boquete really need a couple of days for a meaningful visit.

Deja vu all over again! 7 ships at Pedro Miguel.

The fog was always a little tricky, it would often come in as a high fog (just not down on the water) and as long as they could see the lower range lights they would take a deep breath and let the ships pass. The pilots on the other hand are ready to "park it" at the first hint of fog, as it can close in a nano second. Today was really a banner day for holding up ships for fog, normally there can be four or five held at Pedro Miguel. However today there were 7 at Pedro Miguel and another 5 were either tied up or slow walked at Miraflores. There is a risk of fog anytime during the Rainy Season (May-December), but Aug, Sept, Oct are the months most prone for fog.

Thought this was an interesting screen shot of Pedro Miguel Locks this morning. The ships are being held because of fog in Gaillard Cut. Fog frequently disrupts traffic in the Cut during the overnight hours this time of year. While the fog is off the water at the Locks in this picture, in the Cut it can be a pea-souper all the way down to the water. Normally the fog will burn off a couple of hours after sunrise.