Have you done the Panama Canal on a Carnival Spirit Class ship?

[Tapi]

4 minutes ago, Nevada Jen said:

It might be worth also checking other cruise lines.  The partial on carnival you can't get off at the canal.  I didn't think twice about it at the time, but when we were there, I was dying to get off and learn about the canal and see the area.

Thank you. That’s something that I definitely don’t like about this itinerary. But because I have small children, I’m limited to school breaks and summer, which unfortunately don’t coincide with most Panama Canal cruises, so it’s slim pickings for me.
 

The most “doable” I’ve seen is a 10 night itinerary on Princess that we could squeeze into Spring Break, but the kids would be missing 2-3 days of school. I did see a wonderful 11 night itinerary on Celebrity Edge over Christmas and New Year’s, but it’s considerably more than I want to spend (literally, I can book 2 Ocean Suites on the Carnival Pride for the price of one standard ocean view stateroom on the Celebrity Edge), but most importantly, I don’t necessarily want to spend that time of year away from the rest of the family which gets together during the holidays. 
 

So the 8 night Carnival Pride it is! The itinerary is definitely not the best (2 ports in addition to the Panama Canal transit) but it’s what works for my family right now. It sails from Saturday to Sunday during the kids spring break week from Tampa, which is an easy drive from where we live. But most likely we will do a longer and more comprehensive itinerary once the kids are older and we aren’t so limited. 
 

Thanks for the tip about the big porthole windows. I’ll check them out! 😀

[cocoaloco]

Was on the Legend thru the canal in October.... only diamonds on the bow.....

 

 

[jimbo5544]

On 12/13/2019 at 3:09 PM, Tapi said:

Darn, I should’ve zoomed in on that photo. It does look like crew members now that I look closely. 😂

 

Thanks for all the feedback everybody! 

It is a great cruise on a wonderful ship, my advice is do it.

Edited December 19, 2019 by jimbo5544

[Tapi]

17 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

It is a great cruise on a wonderful ship, my advice is do it.

I have my deposit down 🎉 

[flwinejunkie]

Hello!  Yesterday I just booked an inside cabin on the Jan 10 2020 partial transit cruise on Pride out of Baltimore, so was excited to see this post.  Just beginning to do some research now.

 

Any suggestions on the best location on the ship to experience going through the canal?  We have an inside cabin and will only reach gold status during this cruise.

 

Also - any suggestions for excurisons in Limon?

 

Appreciate any insight you can provide.

[lazydayz]

16 hours ago, flwinejunkie said:

Hello!  Yesterday I just booked an inside cabin on the Jan 10 2020 partial transit cruise on Pride out of Baltimore, so was excited to see this post.  Just beginning to do some research now.

 

Any suggestions on the best location on the ship to experience going through the canal?  We have an inside cabin and will only reach gold status during this cruise.

 

Also - any suggestions for excurisons in Limon?

 

Appreciate any insight you can provide.

We recently did the full transit on the Miracle.  My advice is to move around. We spend some time up top, all the way forward, some on the wrap around deck on 4 (I think), watched some from the dining room and a lot from our balcony.  It is a long day and for us, it was hot (and I am from Florida) and then rainy.  So keep moving and just find some comfortable spaces.  Well worth it to see the Canal and its workings. 

[quickrate]

We took the Spirit thru the Panama Canal in 2001. First Carnival ship of that size thru the canal. Was an awesome experience. the President of Panama got on the ship and went thru the canal with us, after going thru the canal the people were lining the banks with flowers etc waving at their President who at that time was a woman. It was an unforgettable experience.

Pat

[Organized Chaos]

On 12/13/2019 at 11:14 AM, Tapi said:

Hello:

 

I’m researching a Panama Canal cruise aboard the Carnival Pride. I came across a photo that shows passengers allowed all the way forward on the bow of the ship (I think that the photo was taken on the Carnival Miracle). 
 

Has anybody transited the Panama Canal on a Spirit class ship, and if so, did you have access to the front of the ship? Is it something available to all passengers, or to a select few? (Platinum/Diamond/Suites, etc)

Thanks for any input that you may provide! 

 

According to the website I'll reference below, the four Spirit class ships are the only Carnival ships that don't have the forward observation decks that are open to passengers. They're sometimes called "secret decks" since not too many people know about them. For the Panama Canal, I see that others have said they might let Diamond passengers on the bow deck on the Spirit class ships that's normally for crew only.

 

I'm pretty sure CC will block the link if I try to post it, so you can do a google search for "Carnival secret decks" and it should be the first site in the results (cruisin .me). It'll show you the location of all the forward observation decks.

Edited December 24, 2019 by Organized Chaos

[MT_Sea_Cruisers]

I recall seeing a you tube video where there was a Captain's invitation to that area for only a select few diamond members