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what can i expect on transit day

Davechipp74

By Davechipp74,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Davechipp74

Davechipp74

Posted
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im doing my first full transit of the panama canal from east to west in early may, with no stops in or near the canal. it seams from reading the panama canal board that i would need to get up very early to get a good spot on the ship for an"ideal view." how long will the transit take? is there a lecture type course offered in a lounge as we transit? any suggestions or advice on what to do during or trip through the canal?

for me canal day is the big "get" of the entire 17 day cruise

any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

also im in a port side balcony if that makes any difference either way

any advice from people who have cruised the canal on NCL will be greatly apprenticed :D

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my_crib_too

my_crib_too

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On our cruise, we approached the entrance of the canal at 7am and was through the other side and out of sight of the canal by 3:30pm. We walked all over the ship all day. Plenty of good spots on the ship to see the action. You will have time for lunch along the way too.

 

We had a local person narrate the trip over the ship's PA system.

 

We read the book The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 prior to leaving so we knew what we were looking at.

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marelind

marelind

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Just before dawn, about 7 am we were approaching the breakwater; we were at the first lock at 8. Before the first lock there is an area to the starboard where you can see the beginning of the original French canal.

 

You can hear the narrator on the PA system or one of the TV channels on your cabin TV. The sad thing is that not all of the other passengers in the public areas were paying attention to the narrator and I missed some comments when I was out of the cabin due to loud talking. When in the cabin I wanted to be on the balcony and still hear what he said, which was impossible.

 

I was underwhelmed by what I could hear from the narrator. After reading the Path Between the Seas I felt there was more he could have pointed out, but then again, maybe I missed it.

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Cubechick

Cubechick

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As the transit takes all day, you certainly don't have to be up early to stake out a good spot. You'll find that you move around throughout the course of the day. We started out on our aft balcony (we did the west to east transit), then went forward for a bit (on the Star they opened the very forward part of the ship, where the crew hot tubs are to passengers for the transit). So we saw the locks opening and closing from the front and back. Only lasted about 45 minutes out front as it was hotter than heck!

 

You'll have plenty of time for lunch while you sail Gatun Lake. Although I have to admit that I found sailing the lake was more interesting than I expected. Having to keep to a very tight channel in the lake gave way to a lot of sharp turns during the transit...not to mention passing other Panamax ships in close proximity.

 

Really, just the coolest day ever that you aren't at a port! :D

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jame_g

jame_g

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By sunrise the public areas with a view were packed. Fortunately we had an aft balcony suite. I would have preferred the forward suite for this. I grabbed breakfast and took it back to my cabin. I turned on the of the view of the front of the ship and could hear the commentary. I may have missed what was coming at us, but could see everything on the TV or coming behind us. Great views actually, plus I could step inside to the cool air when it got too hot and still keep an eye on things.

 

Since this was essentially an all day experience, the aft balcony turned out to be a great way to see things. Plus we had the corner wrap. It was awesome for seeing the ships behind us and next to us, the trains pulling the ship, and I was able to reach out and touch the sides of the locks. Something I could not have done in most other places on the ship. We could also see the giant gates immediately behind us, and watch as the level raised or lowered, see the workers walk across the gates, and the CD team filming from the sides of the canal, really great experience. Get your own balcony cabin so you can sit down and relax and still have a view.

 

The crowds will go away after you get through the first set of locks, but will be back to some extent when you approach the next set of locks as you leave the canal. Plan to grab a spot very early and deal with lots of people competing for views and pictures.

 

It was a long hot day. It rained briefly a couple times in the middle, but overall we had great weather.

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travelnap

travelnap

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DaveChipp1974, When I went through the canal on the Star we entered the canal about 7 in the morning from the west and exited the east side about 3 in the afternoon. As far as viewing I was up high on the deck above the biergarten as we entered the locks and stayed there for the first set of locks. For the second set of locks, they had opened up the bow of the ship, so a lot of us were there while going through and cruising on Gatun Lake. For the final set of locks I went to the promenade deck and viewed from there. It was kind of neat watching the ship rise and lower going through the locks. Foir example when we were leaving the canal, with the first set of locks we were quite a bit above the locks from the promenade deck, but by the time we exited the last lock, we were almost even with the locks. Great viewing from all over the ship. Enjoy the trip

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NMLady

NMLady

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We didn't have balcony so I was up in the observation lounge by 6am and all the viewing spots outdoors (I was on the Sun which has viewing area outside the top deck lounge) were already taken, as well as all the indoor window seats, even though we wouldn't reach the first lock until 7am.

As others have said, it's an all day transit, so you'll probably be viewing it from different areas of the ship at different times.

We also had a narrator over the PA system, and as someone else mentioned, we also had the problem of people's loud conversations often drowning out the narration. But I'd done reading ahead of time so had a good idea of what I was seeing.

If you are in an outdoor area for the viewing, be sure you wear lots of sunscreen since that sun is hot. We didn't need any raingear, since it was a very sunny day.

I loved that transit day and would love to do it again.

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roger001

roger001

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As others said, you will want to wander the ship to see it all...which is an all day event. YOu don't know ahead of time whether a port or starboard side cabin would be bettter. The ship can be directed through either the left or right side lock depending on other traffic ahead at that time. Yes...do read A Path Between the Seas. It is long but very well written. Having read that will add so much more to the experience. We've already booked another PC cruise we enjoyed it so much.

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polySeraph

polySeraph

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We did a partial transit on another cruise line last November. Like previous posters, we also found that we wanted to go from place to place around the ship to get different perspectives on the transit.

 

To prepare for the cruise, DH listened to the audio version of The Path Between the Seas on his commute to work. I ordered a copy of Anne Vipond's Panama Canal by Cruise Ship. There was lots of useful information (photos, diagrams, etc) on the Canal in Vipond's book, but the best feature was a pull-out map of the Canal. When we got to the ship, we saw stacks of these books for sale in the gift shop, but we were glad we had ordered it in advance so that we could plan and prepare.

 

We also found 3 videos that helped give us a background for our Canal transit:

 

The American Experience: Building the Panama Canal - The PBS site is great because it gives so much background information. The video may also be available for streaming on Netflix. (1:22:11 in length)

 

A Man A Plan A Canal - This was produced in 1987 before the Canal was handed over to Panama and features author David McCullough. Even though it's 20+ years old, it's still interesting and relevant. (53:56 in length)

 

Modern Marvels: The Panama Canal - This video has many of the same photos and video clips as the other two. One thing I liked about this one was that it interviewed a 104-year-old man who had worked on the Canal. (Must have been produced a few years ago). It also discussed the more recent history and politics of the Canal and gave some interesting factoids about its maintenance. (43:41 in length)

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