10 Day Panama Canal

[EmmasNana]

So DH doesn't want to go on the longer Panama cruise that goes all the way through. These cruises that are offered round trip from Miami, you do get to go through at least one of the locks, right?

[Clay Clayton]

Yes, you will go up through the three locks on the Atlantic end and then turn around and come back down....and if Norwegian is like other cruiselines, there may be an excursion offered that takes you across the lake and through the locks on the Pacific before returning you to the ship via land transportation.

 

Having just done the full transit, I personally can't imagine just doing a portion....while the locks are impressive, it is the entire trip that makes it unbelievable what was accomplished over 100 years ago.

[EmmasNana]

Yes, you will go up through the three locks on the Atlantic end and then turn around and come back down....and if Norwegian is like other cruiselines, there may be an excursion offered that takes you across the lake and through the locks on the Pacific before returning you to the ship via land transportation.

 

Having just done the full transit, I personally can't imagine just doing a portion....while the locks are impressive, it is the entire trip that makes it unbelievable what was accomplished over 100 years ago.

 

Thank you! I totally agree with you. We had always planned on doing the full transit, but now he has change his mind. Hopefully I can change it back before booking.

[roger001]

Yes, you will go up through the three locks on the Atlantic end and then turn around and come back down....and if Norwegian is like other cruiselines, there may be an excursion offered that takes you across the lake and through the locks on the Pacific before returning you to the ship via land transportation.

 

Having just done the full transit, I personally can't imagine just doing a portion....while the locks are impressive, it is the entire trip that makes it unbelievable what was accomplished over 100 years ago.

 

I'm with you on all of that. We've done the complete twice. And...reading The Path Between the Seas...is a must if you want to totally experience it. My opinion.

[jb9991]

So DH doesn't want to go on the longer Panama cruise that goes all the way through. These cruises that are offered round trip from Miami, you do get to go through at least one of the locks, right?

 

We did the round trip from Ft. Lauderdale partial transit (10 days) and then took the excursion through the locks to the Pacific. It was great. You could reach out & touch the sides! We were on Holland America, but I'm sure NCL must have a similar excursion.

 

We want to do the full transit at some point, but still working & couldn't get that much time off.

[pambo]

We have also done the full transit and highly recommend it!

[hondorner]

We've also done the full transit, from Caribbean to Pacific, and recommend it -- if you have the time, want to see the Mexican Riviera and are willing to fly to or from LA. Of course, if you live in the middle of the country, flying won't make that much difference. But, for this Floridian who really doesn't care to fly, the round trip from Miami, into Gatun Lake and back to Miami makes perfect sense. In fact, we're doing it in November on Pearl.

 

The Pacific end of the canal is very industrial. Most of the transit is on Gatun Lake. What you miss on the round trip is the artificial Gaillard Cut (which is impressive only in the amount of work it took to dig it; the actual cut is rather boring) and the Pan American Highway Bridge, which is impressive.

 

If time is a problem, and round-tripping from Miami is convenient, the biggest thing you will miss is checking the full transit off your bucket list. You will get to see the new approach and larger locks under construction on the Caribbean side.

 

Some years ago we also sailed from Miami to Colon, did not enter the canal but took a land trip across the Isthmus and a walking tour of Panama City. We got to see the locks from the land side, and on the later cruise, from the ship point of view. We're scheduled to do the full transit from the Pacific to the Caribbean in late June, 2016, on our way home from a 6 month around-the-world cruise.

[SuiteTraveler]

So DH doesn't want to go on the longer Panama cruise that goes all the way through. These cruises that are offered round trip from Miami, you do get to go through at least one of the locks, right?

 

If you go along with this, you will both regret this decision. Going through the entire Panama Canal is an amazing experience. It takes the entire day, but it is well worth it. Get a cabin with a balcony - helpful in that you will have shade while making the transit. Otherwise, people go topside for the entire day and at dinner you will see dozens with bad sunburns because the transit is so interesting. The day we went, people had brought chairs from all over the ship - even their own staterooms so they could sit up there and listen to the narration and see the canal. It looked kind of like a rock concert! LOL! We were very glad to have our balcony and just turned the TV onto the narration.

[Markanddonna]

I just finished the full transit and while it was wonderful, the partial transit will give you the lock experience and some sailing on Gatun Lake. I would have been happy with the partial transit, but we have the time to do a full transit and I realize not everyone does. It is wonderful to say that you went from one ocean to the other, but hopefully you will have another opportunity to do the full transit. The canal will still be there!

 

It is sort of like telling someone who only go to see half of the Vatican Museum that they had an inferior experience because they didn't see every room. Someone who is really into engineering or the history of the region may feel differently about a full transit vs partial.

 

Also, while we had a balcony, we spent most of our time walking around the ship to get different perspectives. I'm one of those who don't really use a balcony that much and am convinced I could be happy in an interior or OV cabin. Others consider it a must have.

 

I also recommend reading the "Path Between the Seas" as it gave me a greater appreciation.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Markanddonna

[mugtech]

I'm with you on all of that. We've done the complete twice. And...reading The Path Between the Seas...is a must if you want to totally experience it. My opinion.

 

And my opinion, great book

[drvalo]

We are planning to take the excursion for the remaining portion to the Pacific. I hear the tour guide on the ferry is fantastic. Of course, not sure if we would have the same one, but it seems like it is a good option for going all the way through, and because there is ground transportation back to the ship, we will seem part of the country. Seems like a win-win-win (round trip and full transit and countryside). It's not cheap, but it is far cheaper than the longer cruise and/or the added cost of the additional transportation costs of a one-way transit cruise.

[roger001]

We are planning to take the excursion for the remaining portion to the Pacific. I hear the tour guide on the ferry is fantastic. Of course, not sure if we would have the same one, but it seems like it is a good option for going all the way through, and because there is ground transportation back to the ship, we will seem part of the country. Seems like a win-win-win (round trip and full transit and countryside). It's not cheap, but it is far cheaper than the longer cruise and/or the added cost of the additional transportation costs of a one-way transit cruise.

 

Although as I previously posted I do love the full transit, nothing at all wrong with the partial. It is indeed considerably cheaper and 4 or 5 days quicker. That is a real plus for many folks. I would certainly take the ferry to the Pacific side though. We're just liking longer cruises lately. But you will be delighted with the partial I'm sure. And if it's the Pearl, she's great! (Actually, so is any ship I'm on at the moment). The Panama Canal ever being completed, and remaining so successful 100 years later, I consider to be mankinds near greatest technical accomplishment. I consider it right up there with going to the moon successfully using 1969 rocket and computer technology. Read the book! And I think you'll agree.

[SandyAtSea]

We are planning to take the excursion for the remaining portion to the Pacific. I hear the tour guide on the ferry is fantastic. Of course, not sure if we would have the same one, but it seems like it is a good option for going all the way through, and because there is ground transportation back to the ship, we will seem part of the country. Seems like a win-win-win (round trip and full transit and countryside). It's not cheap, but it is far cheaper than the longer cruise and/or the added cost of the additional transportation costs of a one-way transit cruise.

 

That’s what I did (on Princess.) Was not interested in the ports on the Pacific side of Mexico plus on this trip I was traveling solo and the price for a full transit solo was prohibitive. Once through the Gatun Locks into the lake, we tendered to where the ferry excursion started and went the rest of the way to the Pacific by boat, so we did go through all six locks (three on the cruise ship, three on the ferry), under both spectacular bridges and got to see the Cut close up. I don’t feel like I missed anything. We had a wonderful guest lecturer leading up to Canal Day – and a great narrator on the ferry excursion. We returned to Colon by bus (about an hour and a half ride through some beautiful country) and arrived at the pier just as the ship was docking to pick us up.

[polySeraph]

DH and I completed both a full transit (in March of this year) and a partial transit in 2011. We loved them both for different reasons. For the partial transit, we took the shore excursion that transited the Culebra Cut and the three locks on the Pacific side. It was fascinating to transit the first three locks in our Panamax cruise ship and then transit the remaining three locks in a much smaller vessel. During our full transit, we enjoyed seeing the entire process by which our ship was lifted over a continent using 100-year-old technology.

 

 

 

I've posted a photo review of my 2015 cruise on the South America forum which goes into much more detail. To read the portion of the review that relates to the Panama Canal crossing, click here and navigate to post #39. In addition to the photos and commentary on our 2015 full transit, I included some photos from our 2011 partial transit (post #54) as a comparison.

Edited May 28, 2015 by polySeraph

[spookyfudge]

Sandy, we too tendered off on the lake and continued through o. A smaller boat. We fought up with the island princess later on in the day. Great trip.

 

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[toyotaford]

We just returned earlier this month from the 19 day full transit and loved it. Something that can be done is to book the full transit and fly home a day or two after going through. My parents were supposed to have gone with us but my mom got sick a couple of months before we left. At the last minute her doctors decided she should not go but they had already decided to fly home from the first port after we had gone through the canal. And sometimes the longer ones are as cheap as the shorter ones. At one point the 19 day had gotten down to $899 for a balcony room.

[Markanddonna]

We were on the sailing with you and agree that people who think the PC full transit is horribly expensive need to look around. The price on our sailing (which was WONDERFUL) did indeed go way down after final payment was due and some folks got the bargain of the century. That said, I think the prices are going up since NCL is only sending the Pearl through in 2016 for the full transit.

 

BTW- I think going partial on the big ship and tendering through to the Pacific and back sounds like maybe you had an equally wonderful full experience and saw things we didn't. Gives me a great idea for next time!

[NMLady]

Yes, you will go up through the three locks on the Atlantic end and then turn around and come back down....and if Norwegian is like other cruiselines, there may be an excursion offered that takes you across the lake and through the locks on the Pacific before returning you to the ship via land transportation.

 

Having just done the full transit, I personally can't imagine just doing a portion....while the locks are impressive, it is the entire trip that makes it unbelievable what was accomplished over 100 years ago.

 

Hi, Clay. :). Having done the full transit twice, that is the way I feel too -- that the partial transit does not give the complete experience.

 

Mary Kay in NM

[Va. Plumber]

I am booked for next March for the 10-day partial transit. The excursions are pricey, but how many times will we be there?

 

Anyone have opinions regarding either the train or ferry options?

[SandyAtSea]

I am booked for next March for the 10-day partial transit. The excursions are pricey, but how many times will we be there?

 

Anyone have opinions regarding either the train or ferry options?

 

My understanding is you will not see much of the Canal itself from the train, just glimpses here and there. You definitely will not be going through the locks! Check the Panama Canal board - there is a lot of info there about various excursions.

[sfaaa]

I

 

Also, while we had a balcony, we spent most of our time walking around the ship to get different perspectives. I'm one of those who don't really use a balcony that much and am convinced I could be happy in an interior or OV cabin. Others consider it a must have.

 

.

 

Totally agree. Balcony only gives you one side of the view through the canal. You definitely want to go up to the observation deck to see both sides. Plus Interior or OV would save you tons of money to spend on excursions or booze.

[NMLady]

Totally agree. Balcony only gives you one side of the view through the canal. You definitely want to go up to the observation deck to see both sides. Plus Interior or OV would save you tons of money to spend on excursions or booze.

 

I agree that balcony would only give one side view.

Our first transit we had an obstructed oceanview cabin. Our second transit we had inside cabin. Both times we spent most of our time alternating sides of ship, sometimes on promenade, sometimes higher. We also alternated aft and bow views. We also sometimes cooled off in cabin, watching the ship's bow camera channel.