Panama - partial transit

[Italian Nancy]

Hello.. we have just returned from a non cruise vacation to Panama City and loved visiting the canal. Question.. when the intinery states it is a partial transit.. what does that mean, do they do through the first couple of locks and turn around in the big lake in the middle and return to the Atlantic side ?? I think it would be such a rush to go through at least one or two of the locks. any info would be appreciated, including which ships include this itinerary

[sail7seas]

A partial transit is as you describe. We have done about 4 or 5 partial transits and love that itinerary. We have always sailed from FLL, round trip, ten or eleven days for the cruise and the most recent one we did was on Rotterdam March 2004.

 

[lougee1043]

Hello.. . Question.. when the intinery states it is a partial transit.. what does that mean, do they do through the first couple of locks and turn around in the big lake in the middle and return to the Atlantic side ?? would be appreciated, including which ships include this itinerary

 

its a slow day - you have to line up generally early in the am to enter the locks from the atlantic-----you go to the lake and there all excursions are tendered ashore---------the ship turns around and goes back thru the same set of locks and then goes to cristobal pier where the pax can get off for a while to do some shopping --and to wait for the excursions to come back to the ship--we went this past march on celebrity galaxy out of galveston for 12 nites

[Krazy Kruizers]

There was a time when HAL went through the first set of locks on the Caribbean side, the ship anchored in Gatum Lake for most of the day, passengers took tours and returned to the ship. You are to experience the lock as you entered and left.

Now with HAL just dropping off passengers and going to Cristobol to meet them after their tours, you only experince the lock once.

[cruznon]

Lougee,

 

Thanks for the info. We're doing the Galaxy during the holidays and wondered what the proceedure was.

[gizmo]

We did not get off for any tour. We stayed on the ship and enjoyed going back through.

[sail7seas]

We did not get off for any tour. We stayed on the ship and enjoyed going back through.

 

Each time we have done a partial transit, we have stayed aboard the ship. Some of the tours are not really wonderful and I've seen disappointed pax return and wish they had stayed aboard. I think one or two tours are pretty decent though.

[Randyk47]

We were on the same cruise as Lougee and stayed on the Galaxy the whole day. Of course, we got up at "0 dark hundred" (something like 5 AM) to stake out a table on the stern. The ship started through fairly early as the sun was barely up when we reach the entrance to the first lock. It was a fantastic experience and well worth it. We went back to our cabin once we were in the lake and slept for a few hours. Got up and when foreward this time and watched the exit. Highly recommend even a partial transit and, depending on the ship layout, a stern view works just great. We were able to get a table and chairs and still have quick and easy access to the buffet for coffee and breakfast. You can see some of our pictures from the transit at www.geocities.com/theklugspage/

[lougee1043]

our cabin on the galaxy was on the correct side of the ship because the other lock was visible from our verandah --so we sat out there and watched the transit of a container ship about 150 ft away from us

[peaches from georgia]

The Train excursion is supposed to be great. Lots of wonderful reviews. We had made reservations for it when we did the partial, but for some reason it was cancelled just for our week. Next time we do this cruise we will try again. We did do the Yacht Club excursion which is right there on the shore of Gatun Lake- you can stay as long or short as you like. It was fun for an hour or so- Indian crafts, dancing, and refreshments. Tenders go back and forth to the ship which was about a 5 minute ride away.

[Bodger]

We did the train trip in March '04. The Celebrity Zenith docked at Colon, but did not enter the locks.

 

The train is really very nice. The coaches have been refurbished back to there glory days, plush leather seats and mahogany panelling. Nicely air conditioned which was pleasant. Across the continent in about 45 minutes and paralleling Gatun Lake and the canal

 

The rest of our tour by bus was not too exiting. The original tour was to have gone to the Miraflores locks, but for what ever reason that part was cancelled. We spent way too much time driving through the old 'canal zone'. We came back by the same train again, this time I stood out on the platform and took photos.

 

Watch carefully to see what the rest of the tour offers, the train was wonderful, the bus tour was rather a let down.

 

Bodger

[Krazy Kruizers]

In 2003 we did the train trip -loved it!