Panama Canal Cruise

Which side of the ship has the best view from your balcony as you transit the canal? About to book, but can't decide[emoji11]

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The public decks are where the best viewing is. Period. If you are lucky enough to transit the old locks on Coral Princess there are forward and aft viewing decks on Baja and Caribe. Otherwise I still say the best viewing is on the public decks. You can't see ahead or behind from a balcony.

As Thrak says, your balcony is not the place to be during a canal transit. You want to be all over the ship.

You want to be topside when approaching a lock. It is neat being on the Promenade deck when the ship is low in the lock.

That said, keep in mind that the actual direction of the canal (from east to west) is traveling NW to SE, so in that direction, the starboard side would have most of the (hot!) sun.

Like the others said, find a place on the open decks

If your ship is the Coral or Island and is using the old locks rather than the new one----------

If you are making the full transit from ocean to ocean you will get to go through 3 sets of locks and each set consists of two side-by-side locks.

If you insist on making the transit through the locks on your balcony, then you want to be on the side of the ship that allows you to view the lock adjacent to the one your ship is in. Since there is no way you can possibly know which lock your ship will be in prior to booking your cabin, it will be just a matter of luck.

If your ship is only making a partial transit, then the side of the ship doesn't matter as you will go through one lock, wait awhile, then turn around and go back out the way you came in.

It takes most of the day to make a full transit and you won't want to be in the same spot the whole time. At the beginning of the day, the area at the front of the ship will be packed. On our first Panama Canal cruise, we wandered about the ship during the day. I think that the only time we spent on our own balcony was when we grabbed lunch from the buffet back to our cabin for a quiet sit-down.

Agree with others. Have done two full and three partial transits. The open decks are the best place to be.

Agree with everyone about being on deck for the transit. Absolutely.

As for the sun, consider what Diane says. Ultimately you might want to choose based on whether you want morning or evening sun in your cabin for the bulk of your itinerary.

Thanks for this helpful info! We’ll be on the Coral December 22nd....so excited!!

Thanks for this helpful info! We’ll be on the Coral December 22nd....so excited!!

Excellent! Be sure to go to Baja or Caribe decks and then walk all the way forward (or aft) and then go through the door that sort of looks like you shouldn't go through it. These doors lead to the forward and aft viewing decks. The forward decks are awesome for the transit but will be full of people. Don't let it discourage you as the people will come and go so there is room for you The naturalist will probably be broadcasting to the ship from the forward Caribe deck. When not actually broadcasting the naturalist is usually quite happy to answer any questions you may have. The front viewing decks have no furniture but the aft viewing decks have loungers. Not that you will want to be lounging there during the transit but there are more days than transit day and those without a balcony can make good use of those decks and the loungers.

This will be our third time through the canal. We have a balcony on the Caribe deck forward. We like being on our balcony watching. We may go out to the forward deck on the Caribe now and then. We like watching the crocodiles sunbathing on the banks before entering and exiting the canal. We're not much into jockeying for a space on the public decks, and we're satisfied with viewing from our balcony.

Excellent! Be sure to go to Baja or Caribe decks and then walk all the way forward (or aft) and then go through the door that sort of looks like you shouldn't go through it. These doors lead to the forward and aft viewing decks. The forward decks are awesome for the transit but will be full of people. Don't let it discourage you as the people will come and go so there is room for you The naturalist will probably be broadcasting to the ship from the forward Caribe deck. When not actually broadcasting the naturalist is usually quite happy to answer any questions you may have. The front viewing decks have no furniture but the aft viewing decks have loungers. Not that you will want to be lounging there during the transit but there are more days than transit day and those without a balcony can make good use of those decks and the loungers.

Thanks, Thrak! Great info!

Wow, such great responses, thank you all so much[emoji106][emoji2]

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Full transit will be all day. We went to the forward viewing area as stated above early in the morning. Before the third lock we went to the aft area to see the locks close behind us.