Question Panama Canal

[IrishLassie]

Reflection has a cruise that goes to Colon, Panama, does that mean they go half way into the canal & then back (not all the way thru)? Thanks for any info.

[LiveToCruise99]

There is a port called Colon just at the edge of the Panama Canal. Tours from that port would include several that highlight the canal in various ways. I would doubt that unless it actually says "partial transit" that you would enter the canal to the lake, turnaround, and come back out.

[Elusive_Cruiser]

LivetoCruise is correct - we've been to this port before. We did do a 'partial entry' with Holland America a few years ago. There, you go in to the first set of locks, and if you chose, get off in Gatun Lake. You rejoin the ship in Colon.

 

On Celebrity, you port directly to Colon. If you want to go through the locks, there are excursions you can take, but it's not quite the same as going through on the ship.

[IrishLassie]

Thanks so much for the info. Was hoping Celebrity did a partial transit, as we love their ships. Seems like only Holland Am. does that & we didn't want to sail with them. Not going until 2019 so maybe things will change.

[DENIE]

We did an interesting stop in Colon in 2014 on an MSC Divina cruise. That ship at the time was too large to go through the canal, so could only dock at Colon. We took a ship sponsored shore excursion where we boarded a bus at the port, traveled to the mid-point of the canal near the Chagres River/Lake Gatun. We boarded a 200-passenger ferry (lunch and full narration in English provided) and traveled the remaining 2 sets of locks and into the Pacific, exiting the ferry in Panama City. The buses met us there and took us back to Colon to board the Divina. It was unforgettable! No crowds to fight for viewing, the gates opening right in front of us, touching the side of the canal as we were lowered. There was an empty car-carrier vessel going through the locks with us. It was an amazing day...if anyone has a chance to see the canal in this manner, I highly advise they do it!

[RetiredCruiser2015]

I think if you look at the map of your itinerary you will see it does not go into the canal at all. That being said, there is probably and excursion on Colon that takes you to the canal by bus. If you are Interested in a canal crossing, I highly recommend one of the canal crossing cruises. Although long at 15 nights, we did it in 2016 and it was an amazing cruise. Even with the canal crossing, the stop in Colon n was great as we took a bus to the canal and got to see ships going through the canal from a land perspective.

[BillB48]

Thanks so much for the info. Was hoping Celebrity did a partial transit, as we love their ships. Seems like only Holland Am. does that & we didn't want to sail with them. Not going until 2019 so maybe things will change.

 

Princess and NCL also offer 10/11 day partial Canal cruises in addition to HAL.

[Essiesmom]

Carnival is also offering partial transit cruises. EM

[Hydrokitty]

Easy way to tell if it's partial or full transit: If you depart and return to the same port, it's a partial transit. If you depart from the east/west coast and return to the west/east coast it's a full transit.

[Gordoncruickshank]

We did a full transit a number of years ago in the Sea Princess which was wonderful.

[visibilityunlimited]

Have you booked the cruise? We were on a Holland America ship that went through the Gatun Locks and dropped anchor in Gatun Lake for several hours, then back trough the locks to the Atlantic for an early evening docking at Colón. We didn't get off the ship as the research we'd done indicated Colón, per se, isn't much. The ship docked at Colón only to permit those passengers that took a partial-day-tour (they disembarked when we were at anchor) to get back on the ship. Many reported the land tour was "okay, but not spellbinding".

 

If you haven't booked the tour, consider a cruise that goes through to the Pacific (assuming you're sailing from the Atlantic coast since you mentioned Colón). We went from the Atlantic to the Pacific and north to San Diego a number of years ago and felt that cruise was much more interesting that our more recent voyage to Gatun Lake and return.

[Carole2313]

We booked Reflection for March 12 that includes an excursion in Colon with full transit through the canal called “Wonders of Engineering; Canal Locks and Culebra Cut Cruise”

 

 

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[cvschmitt]

We booked Reflection for March 12 that includes an excursion in Colon with full transit through the canal called “Wonders of Engineering; Canal Locks and Culebra Cut Cruise”

 

 

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We are taking the same cruise and excursion. Looking forward to meeting you and seeing the canal.

 

Carol

[Carole2313]

We are taking the same cruise and excursion. Looking forward to meeting you and seeing the canal.

 

 

 

Carol

 

 

 

Hi Carol. We were on Reflection in December for an ABC cruise and loved the ship. Can’t wait to see her all spruced up after the dry dock. The canal transit was the reason we booked the cruise! Eagerly looking forward to it. Hope to meet you at sail away or the connections party!

 

 

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[Hydrokitty]

We booked Reflection for March 12 that includes an excursion in Colon with full transit through the canal called “Wonders of Engineering; Canal Locks and Culebra Cut Cruise”

 

 

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We did this excursion... (DH is a civil engineer and once was not enough for him)....it was outstanding......even going through the canal for the second time, the perspective is so different and you saw so much more from the smaller ship...plus the buffet they served of local foods was very good.

[phoenix_dream]

Easy way to tell if it's partial or full transit: If you depart and return to the same port, it's a partial transit. If you depart from the east/west coast and return to the west/east coast it's a full transit.

Not really true as respects the OP's question. On some cruises Celebrity stops at the port of Colon but does not do any transit. On other cruises Celebrity does full transits of the canal (which are WONDERFUL by the way). With Celebrity there is no other option at this time except with a shore excursion perhaps.