How far into the Panama Canal?

[Lady Reeler]

I am thinking about doing a 10 day Panama Canal cruise on the Coral Princess. I would like to know how far through the canal does the ship go. Does it go through all three sets of locks or does it just go through the Gatun locks into the Gatun Lake and then turn around?

Has anyone else taken this cruise?

[crusdiva]

I am thinking about doing a 10 day Panama Canal cruise on the Coral Princess. I would like to know how far through the canal does the ship go. Does it go through all three sets of locks or does it just go through the Gatun locks into the Gatun Lake and then turn around? Has anyone else taken this cruise?

Yes, the Coral transits the locks at Gatun into Gatun Lake where they disembark passengers on ship sponsored tours before re-entering the Gatun locks again. She'll dock at Colon for a few hours shopping to await tour groups. There is shopping at the pier - excellent local crafts - while there go through the main shopping area out to the back and have a local brew while watching the ships come and go.

[mii]

Exactly what crusdiva said. I took this cruise last year and that is exactly what the ship did. Go through the Gatun Locks and then you are tendered off for shore excursions. No private excursions just ship sponsored. Have a great cruise and the Coral is worth every penny. It is my favorite ship.

 

Marilyn

[katisdale]

If you want to go through the other locks there is a shore excursion (ship sponsored not private) you can purchase. I read the book "The Path Between the Seas" before we sailed and highly recommend this. The book is fascinating.

[TrentS]

I've done both the partial and the full transits... Do yourself a favor and do a FULL transit! With the partial you go through one set of locks, into the lake and turn around. You do NOT get to see much of the canal! The full transit is so much more fun, and so much more spectacular going through all 3 sets of locks. With the partial you don't get to see the rugged parts of the canal, it's very disapointing once you've seen the full canal.

[chasetf]

I've done both the partial and the full transits... Do yourself a favor and do a FULL transit! With the partial you go through one set of locks, into the lake and turn around. You do NOT get to see much of the canal! The full transit is so much more fun, and so much more spectacular going through all 3 sets of locks. With the partial you don't get to see the rugged parts of the canal, it's very disapointing once you've seen the full canal.

We have done both too and would recommend the full transit. The part you miss on the partial is the trip through Gaillard Cut. The disadvantage to some is the have less options for the full transit because it is usually a repositioning cruise.

[dan40]

We also have done both the full and partial transits. And would do either again. Sure the full trip is better but it requires a repo cruise in either spring or fall. The partial trips have many more choices plus take less time. Any trip thru a lock that is about 4 feet wider than the ship is spectacular and if you've never done the full trip you don't know what you're missing anyway. Do the Gatun lock trip, then when time and finances permit even if its years from now, do the full transit.

I've even read some saying they prefer the west-east trip over the east-west direction. They are either being silly or bragging. Either way or partial, 100% awesome IS 100% awesome.

 

Enjoy.

 

Dan

[fnewman]

We have done the full transit and can agree that it should probably be done once as a part of a 'complete' list of cruise destinations. However, I would not do it again as, IMHO, the locks are really the only impressive part of the canal. The rest of the transit is really just a cruise through a big ditch and lake! Didn't even see any wildlife! As for the locks, being an engineer, I would have much preferred a shore trip that allowed a tour of the detaiols fop the locks operations.

[smoothdancer]

I also did the full transit only on the Dawn Princess. I found the whole trip amazing. In addition the whole trip, aside from the canal, has great port stops.

 

If you can swing it, I would highly recommend booking an aft mini suite. There is just wall to wall people on the main decks as you go through the canal and can take away from the experience. On a aft balcony you have a great view without tons of people.

 

Here are some picutres from our trip.

http://community.webshots.com/myphotos

[TrentS]

The rest of the transit is really just a cruise through a big ditch and lake! Didn't even see any wildlife! As for the locks, being an engineer, I would have much preferred a shore trip that allowed a tour of the detaiols fop the locks operations.

You CAN take a land based shorex and see how the locks work, at least you could when we went through the whole canal... But somehow I don't think you "get it". It may look like a "big ditch", but when you consider the amount of work it took to dig that "big ditch" and at the time it was done, it's pretty damn impressive!

[regnig]

You CAN take a land based shorex and see how the locks work, at least you could when we went through the whole canal... But somehow I don't think you "get it". It may look like a "big ditch", but when you consider the amount of work it took to dig that "big ditch" and at the time it was done, it's pretty damn impressive!

 

Oh how I agree with you Trent. We have done both and I'd do the full canal again in a heart beat. To see all that rock that had to be blasted away to make the canal was awesome. And, sailing under the Bridge of the Americas at sun rise gave me goose bumps. Maybe we were just lucky but we saw lots of wildlife. As so much of it was hidden in the trees or marsh it required we really spend time looking, but it was worth it.

 

Princess used to run on a regular basis an 11 day cruise from Acapulco to San Juan (and the reverse) all through the typical Caribbean sailing season that was great. We took it in 2000 on the Sun and I believe that was the last year they scheduled it. I think with the addition of the Coral, a beautiful ship, in 2002 they stopped the full sailing except for repositioning.

[regnig]

sorry - darn boards again! :eek:

[ccrain]

Since the full transits are few, far between and expensive, the 10day on the Coral is a good deal. We did the Island in 2004 and had the time of our life.

 

Even though it is a partial transit and you don't see the Guillard Cut, it is a worthwhile trip.

 

Just remember, you don't get off in Gatun Lake unless you have an excursion. But that's not a bad thing since you get to go back through the locks with almost nobody on board.

[Lady Reeler]

Thanks for all the info. Is there an excursion that would show you the Miraflores Locks or just a land view of the Gatun locks?

[mii]

Thanks for all the info. Is there an excursion that would show you the Miraflores Locks or just a land view of the Gatun locks?

 

Lady there is a excursion called "Ocean to Ocean". We took that it went all the way through the other sets of locks and to the Pacific Ocean. A little pricey but worth every single penny.

 

Marilyn

[fnewman]

You CAN take a land based shorex and see how the locks work, at least you could when we went through the whole canal... But somehow I don't think you "get it". It may look like a "big ditch", but when you consider the amount of work it took to dig that "big ditch" and at the time it was done, it's pretty damn impressive!

To each his own, I suppose. Our cruise was not offered an excursion to see the locks (Celebrity? - I can't remember). In any event, as an engineer, I have a great appreciation for the effort that was undertaken to complete the project, expecially when you consider how many years ago it was. It is similar to the type of effort required to complete Hoover dam. But once you have seen part of the ditch through the jungle....

With respect to the rest of the cruise, I did indeed enjoy the various ports and excursions that were associated with the trip on both ends of the canal. However, having taken quite a number of cruises, I would not rate this one at the top of my list.