Panama Canal Ferry Question

[beachsands]

I am thinking about doing a partial Panama Canal trip, but I would like to go through the whole canal system, but the Cruise Ship doesn't do that. I

have been reading a little bit about a ferry that takes you through the remaining locks and into the Pacific Ocean.

I can only assume that the ferry returns through the locks back to the cruise ship. Or am I wrong about this, is this the end of the journey and you have to find another way back to the cruise ship? Or home for that matter.

 

Joel

[BillB48]

I'm guessing that you are stopping in Colon for the day. If that is correct if and you take the ferry excursion, what will happen is as follows..... After docking in Colon you will board buses that transport you to the Pacific side (near Panama City) where you will board the ferry. This excursion is a partial transit of the Canal which will take you through both Pacific Locks and Gaillard Cut. After the ferry portion is over you will board buses again for the ride back to Colon. The excursion runs close to 8 hours. If for by chance you are on a ship the is considered a partial transit cruise where your ship will enter Gatun Locks on the Atlantic side (near Colon) the procedure is a little different but basically the same excursion.

 

Hope that un-muddied the Canal waters a little for you:).

[beachsands]

I'm guessing that you are stopping in Colon for the day. If that is correct if and you take the ferry excursion, what will happen is as follows..... After docking in Colon you will board buses that transport you to the Pacific side (near Panama City) where you will board the ferry. This excursion is a partial transit of the Canal which will take you through both Pacific Locks and Gaillard Cut. After the ferry portion is over you will board buses again for the ride back to Colon. The excursion runs close to 8 hours. If for by chance you are on a ship the is considered a partial transit cruise where your ship will enter Gatun Locks on the Atlantic side (near Colon) the procedure is a little different but basically the same excursion.

 

Hope that un-muddied the Canal waters a little for you:).

 

 

 

Awwwwww....ok. Thanks BillB48, Now it makes it clearer, i was wondering how they managed to get you back to your ship.

Eight hours is a long time for an excursion, it sounds interesting to me, but then i like these kinds of things.

 

Thanks, I really appreciate it.

 

Joel :)

[Traveling Library]

Several years ago RCL offered a ferry/bus trip from Lake Gatun. We were bused to the ferry and took that thru the 2 sets of locks. While on board we were served lunch (chicken, rice, salad). After the ferry we were picked up and taken to the Miraflores locks for a tour and eventually back to Colon.

[GradUT]

We did the ferry excursion last year on our partial Panama Canal cruise on the Island Princess. The ship anchored in Gatun Lake and the passengers going on excursions were taken by small boats to shore. There we boarded a bus for the ride to our ferry (around a 30 minute trip as I recall). The ferry went through the remaining locks to the Pacific Ocean and we docked near Panama City and took the bus back to the cruise ship in Colon (about 2 hours, I believe).

 

Yes, it was a long day but since the purpose of our cruise in the first place was to see the Panama Canal, we could not pass on this excursion. It was a fascinating trip.

[tmitchell82]

We did the ferry excursion last year on our partial Panama Canal cruise on the Island Princess. The ship anchored in Gatun Lake and the passengers going on excursions were taken by small boats to shore. There we boarded a bus for the ride to our ferry (around a 30 minute trip as I recall). The ferry went through the remaining locks to the Pacific Ocean and we docked near Panama City and took the bus back to the cruise ship in Colon (about 2 hours, I believe).

 

Yes, it was a long day but since the purpose of our cruise in the first place was to see the Panama Canal, we could not pass on this excursion. It was a fascinating trip.

 

We did this excursion too when we went to the Panama Canal. It was a long day, but I agree that since we were there to see the canal, could not pass it up. The bus ride to and back is not that bad. They actually have a toll road, which is relatively new, that they drive on on the way back for most of the way. Good time to catch a nap.