Panama Canal - Which side is best

[boogs]

And yes, the ships pass very close to one another in the lake. We passed a Princess ship going in the other direction and we could practically reach out and shake hands with them. Lots of waving and cheering was going on.

 

The whole thing is really an amazing experience.[/size][/font]

 

For a taste of this experience, watch this YouTube video as the Infinity and Millennium pass each other on April 20, 2010. It's hard not to get wrapped up in the excitement the passengers are having.

 

[BillB48]

Thanks BillB48 for the interesting pointers. One more interesting view on the port side are the passing ships going in the opposite direction, which you will see while in the Gatun Lake section where there are separate shipping lanes for each direction.

 

That is an excellent point and I completely forgot to mention it, your picture provides an wonderful example of what you can miss being anchored down in one spot on the "wrong" side of the ship. So much to see... don't miss any of it!!

 

Speaking of books, of course Path Between the Seas is pretty much the book of record about the Canal. There are a couple of worthwhile other books that you may wish to take a look at. Panama Fever by Mathew Parker is great book as well, in depth of the construction of the Canal. Parker provided a great deal of info in the recent PBS American Experience, The Panama Canal. I think you can watch it on line. Last but not least, is a book by Richard Detrich, Your Day in the Panama Canal. Originally it was two versions, one Northbound and one Southbound.... I think they now have been combined into one book. You can find it on Amazon. Richard posts on Cruise Critic when he is not lecturing on cruise ships with the screen name Richard in Panama. You can find him (along with me) frequently on the Panama Canal board here on Cruise Critic. Richard's book will give you an incremental description of the Canal as you are transiting.

[bigbenboys]

We're planning a Panama Canal cruise (east bound - San Diego to Miami). We'll select a veranda. Which side would provide the best view through the canal? We have not selected a cabin yet.

 

We picked the port side. This was based on the level of sun on the veranda. The port side being the north side you would get less sun. Richard

[Putterdude]

We did it from east to west in a starboard cabin and we were very happy with it and had a bit more shade then a port side cabin. However, when we do it next we would likely choose a port side cabin(south facing though the canal) to have a change of scenery. That all said, I did spend a lot of time walking around the decks in an attempt to take it all in.