Panama Canal Partial Transit

[tiessa]

Has anyone taken the partial transit Panama Canal cruise? If so, what did you think of it? Which ship did you sail?

[Mom33]

We took the partial Canal cruise on the Coral. Fascinating itinerary and lovely ship!:D

[giselleacttwo]

We took the partial Canal cruise on the Coral. Fascinating itinerary and lovely ship!:D

 

Ditto. We've actually done it twice; once on the Coral; once on the Sun. It was a great cruise both times.

[blazerjan]

We took the partial Canal cruise on the Coral. Fascinating itinerary and lovely ship!:D

 

 

Ditto here too.....

[cruisingram1]

Ditto. We've actually done it twice; once on the Coral; once on the Sun. It was a great cruise both times.

 

We're doing this cruise in October. Are there any specific tours that we should not miss? Thinking of doing the tour through the remainder of the locks. Is it worth it?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Loonbeam]

I'll link mine in a second, but if you search partial transit review you should find more than a few..

 

Excursion Review:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1508966

 

Food Thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1555288

 

General Review:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1504733

[Potstech]

I took it on the Island and had a great time. Take the ferry ride through the rest of the Canal to get a different view of the canal. You will not forget this cruise. Enjoy your self

[OCruisers]

We're doing this cruise in October. Are there any specific tours that we should not miss? Thinking of doing the tour through the remainder of the locks. Is it worth it?

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

If you've never taken a full transit, it is worth it to do a tour through the remainder of the locks.

 

LuLu

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[tiessa]

Thanks to everyone for all of the information!

[sjmbruce]

We sailed on the island for our first cruise-a partial Panama canal. Our excursions were:

Aruba - private cab tour to the donkey sanctuary, arikok national park,the baby bridge, and ayo rocks

Colombia - fortress & old city tour with princess

Panama - full day authentic embera indian village trip

Costa Rica - private tour with cc members to the jaguar rescue center, banana plantation, tortuguero canal and playa bonita

jamaica- independently booked an all inclusive day at a resort

 

We loved every tour but especially loved meeting the emberas in Panama and the jaguar rescue center in costa rica

 

We loved the island a lot & chose to sail on her sister ship the coral on our upcoming Alaska cruise

[satxdiver]

We did a partial on the Island (Coral and Island are duplicates) and had a great time. We took the train over to the Pacific side and watched ships go through the Miraflores locks as well as a bus tour of Panama City. When we got back on the ship, we ran into a couple who had done the trip through the canal. They barely made it back to the ship (ship's tour so no problem as they would wait) and were not particularly happy. They had gotten behind a freighter and had to wait several times particularly at the Pedro Miguel locks making their trip much longer. So beware as it is the luck of the draw.

 

We are now about to board the Island again but this time for a west coast to east coast full transit of the canal.

[GradUT]

We did the partial Panama Canal cruise on the Island Princess. I loved that ship and we had a fabulous cruise.

 

The one excursion I would NOT miss is taking the ferry through the rest of the Canal. It was fascinating to see the Canal from the perspective of a small boat and the commentary we got on the boat from the local guide was interesting and informative.

[Go-Bucks!]

We did the full transit on the Coral (loved that ship), but frankly I'll do a partial transit if we go again. The locks are very interesting, but one was enough. The others were just the same.

 

If you do the partial transit, you'll go through them twice, right? Once to get into Gatun Lake and then back out again? That would be plenty for me.

[Pam in CA]

We did the full transit on the Coral (loved that ship), but frankly I'll do a partial transit if we go again. The locks are very interesting, but one was enough. The others were just the same.

 

If you do the partial transit, you'll go through them twice, right? Once to get into Gatun Lake and then back out again? That would be plenty for me.

I've transited the Panama Canal five times and it still doesn't get old for me. I'm as fascinated now as I was the first time on the Sun Princess many years ago. Each time, I do something different which gives me a different perspective. Last October, I loved seeing the changes and building of the new locks and waterways. A few months before, I stayed on the ship.

 

If you do a partial, you enter the locks very early in the morning, often when it's still dark outside so you don't see much. It'll depend on the time the ship enters the locks.

[BillB48]

 

If you do the partial transit, you'll go through them twice, right? Once to get into Gatun Lake and then back out again? That would be plenty for me.

 

Quite true, you go up to Gatun Lake through Gatun Locks and the lock down Gatun Locks latter in the day. Once the ship has reached Gatun Lake, this is the perfect time for an excursion! You will have only been through 7 or 8 miles of Canal at this point, you have left about another 40 miles completely undiscovered. Not selling Gatun Locks short, but that portion of the Canal doesn't have the eye candy. Besides the Canal there is so much to see in Panama... a tour to the Pacific side to see Panama City, such a contrast there from the ruins of Old Panama, to the Casco Viejo and this is all blended in a skyline of a very modern City. Or how about a trip to see the Embera Indians, one of Panama's indigenous peoples, old Spanish forts, a trip on the world's fastest transcontinental railroad? OK, not the fastest... but the quickest! If going up in the locks is enough, there still lots of choices... all good!

[tml1230]

as my wife and i prepare for our first partial transit in december on the island, all of your comments and ideas have been very helpful...thanks again

[Wineart]

I'm booked on the partial canal transit in January, and would appreciate any feedback regarding what to do in Costa Rica.

[Loonbeam]

Post on the Costa Rica forum to get the current recommended tours and providers...

 

I'm booked on the partial canal transit in January, and would appreciate any feedback regarding what to do in Costa Rica.

[tngeebee]

Have done the partial cruise on the Island Princess and now waiting for the new canal to open and go again. Great trip.

[Go-Bucks!]

I've transited the Panama Canal five times and it still doesn't get old for me.

 

Glad you liked it enough to do it 5 times, but not all of us did and that's OK. Different strokes for different folks.

 

If you do a partial, you enter the locks very early in the morning, often when it's still dark outside so you don't see much. It'll depend on the time the ship enters the locks.

 

But it will be the afternoon when going back thru, so people can enjoy them at that time.

[Go-Bucks!]

Not selling Gatun Locks short, but that portion of the Canal doesn't have the eye candy.

 

I realize this - I've done the full transit! ;) I just said that I wouldn't do the full transit again, but would choose the partial transit.

 

Besides the Canal there is so much to see in Panama... a tour to the Pacific side to see Panama City, such a contrast there from the ruins of Old Panama, to the Casco Viejo and this is all blended in a skyline of a very modern City. Or how about a trip to see the Embera Indians, one of Panama's indigenous peoples, old Spanish forts, a trip on the world's fastest transcontinental railroad? OK, not the fastest... but the quickest! If going up in the locks is enough, there still lots of choices... all good!

 

Actually, you'd need a land trip to do all those things! I'll be doing that soon since one of my sons-in-law is from Panama City and we're going to go visit his family.

[AZbeachboy]

My first time was in a partial on an RCI ship. It was daylight and we did experience the locks, then took a cultural tour of a native island and took a bus back to the ship that pat the locks and visited some different sites. Then I was sent to work in Panama and had the opportunity to take a ferry through the rest of the locks. When we visited down there to find an place to live, my boss took us on a road tour. The road follow the canal very closely. We were able to stay once at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort where the Rio Charges feeds the canal. If you had an excursion that took you there it is a terrific place to eat and see the natural terrain (at least outside the compound).

 

I am sure you will enjoy your cruise what ever you decide to too. You cannot do it all at one time. I spent a lot of time there and never saw it all.

[Times Prince]

We did the full transit on the Coral (loved that ship), but frankly I'll do a partial transit if we go again. The locks are very interesting, but one was enough. The others were just the same.

 

If you do the partial transit, you'll go through them twice, right? Once to get into Gatun Lake and then back out again? That would be plenty for me.

You may not go through the locks twice, but the ship does. There is the possibility (probability really) that your ship will traverse back out the locks while you are away on a tour.

 

One time I saw my own ship, the Sun Princess (with my wife onboard) go out through the locks and sail away. I got one of those photos you normally never want to have - your own ship sailing away without you :eek:.

 

Other times we've seen freighters go through the locks from the viewing stands. I've only seen my ship go out from Gatun Lake that once.

 

The Panama canal is an engineering marvel, but is also such a beautiful and relaxing trip when doing the full transit. But I would suggest that be a separate trip, there is so much to see and experience around the one end. We've seen folk shows and native crafts, monkeys and rivers, and taken a walk in the jungle - and every day was a full day.