Stay on the boat or take an excursion?

[beachbaby1218]

We are sailing on the NCL Pearl through the Panama Canal into Gatun Lake. This is our first Panama Canal cruise and I am wondering if we would enjoy staying on the boat or taking an excursion such as railroad or ferry.  Can anyone offer suggestions?  TIA

[CruiserBruce]

That would depend on your interests. If you read around the board, you will see people who have done both, but there is no one right answer.

 

Most people call them ships.

[BillB48]

Here's my two cents, who knows I might even get change😉!  While staying onboard for the return trip through Gatun Locks is interesting you are only seeing about 8 miles of a 50 mile Canal... twice.  If you have any interest in the Canal you might wish to consider the excursion that is a partial transit of the Pacific Locks and Gaillard Cut.  Cruise lines have several different names for the excursion, essentially you disembark when the ship arrives in Gatun Lake and are then transported to the Pacific side to board the "ferry" for the passage through The Cut and both Pacific Locks.  IMO this portion of the Canal has much more visual interest, sailing through the Cut where all the heavy excavation took place along with a great view of the Panama City skyline, seeing some of the countryside along with a drive through some old growth rain forest.  It is also good to experience going through the locks on your huge cruise ship and then on the smaller "ferry."  Two completely different points of view. 

 

In short, there are a lot of great excursions including those that are not directly related to the Canal.  As far as the railroad excursion, it is a relaxing ride on the worlds first and quickest transcontinental railroad.  However, if you are expecting to see a lot of the Canal from the train, that is not the case.  The train skirts the fringes of Gatun Lake and while it is possible to see a ship in the distance you are not very close to the Canal proper.  There are only two short sections where the Canal is near the train's route.

[TSUmom]

On 12/12/2021 at 4:56 AM, BillB48 said:

Here's my two cents, who knows I might even get change😉!  While staying onboard for the return trip through Gatun Locks is interesting you are only seeing about 8 miles of a 50 mile Canal... twice.  If you have any interest in the Canal you might wish to consider the excursion that is a partial transit of the Pacific Locks and Gaillard Cut.  Cruise lines have several different names for the excursion, essentially you disembark when the ship arrives in Gatun Lake and are then transported to the Pacific side to board the "ferry" for the passage through The Cut and both Pacific Locks.  IMO this portion of the Canal has much more visual interest, sailing through the Cut where all the heavy excavation took place along with a great view of the Panama City skyline, seeing some of the countryside along with a drive through some old growth rain forest.  It is also good to experience going through the locks on your huge cruise ship and then on the smaller "ferry."  Two completely different points of view. 

 

In short, there are a lot of great excursions including those that are not directly related to the Canal.  As far as the railroad excursion, it is a relaxing ride on the worlds first and quickest transcontinental railroad.  However, if you are expecting to see a lot of the Canal from the train, that is not the case.  The train skirts the fringes of Gatun Lake and while it is possible to see a ship in the distance you are not very close to the Canal proper.  There are only two short sections where the Canal is near the train's route.

Thank you - very informative and although I am not the one that asked this question here you have given me what I am looking for.

[shipgeeks]

We have stayed on the ship a couple of times when we did a partial transit.  We quite enjoyed watching the enormous cargo ships come and go, especially their locking process.

However, we are ship geeks; we understand that not everyone is.