diffence between panama canal cruises

[CruiseGrL06]

Can Anyone Please Tell Me What In The World Is A "partial Panama Canal" And A "full Transit" Panama Canal?? I Have Also Seen Words Like Transitional On This Website.. What Does It All Meannn>?????

[LARGIN]

A partial leaves from Ft Lauderdale, goes through one lock, a few ports and returns to Ft Lauderdale, usually in 10 days. A full transit goes through the whole canal east to west or west to east. These cruises are at least 15 days. Last May we took a full transit that started in Ft Lauderdale and ended in San Francisco.

[AlaskaGolden]

Princess also offers a Full Transit called Panama Explorer going to/from Ft Lauderdale from/to Acapulco - it's only 10 days. I think this cruise is the best for those of us that can't take 2 weeks off!

[barbarah33]

They above answer is correct. I have done both but to really appreciate the Canal and how amazing it is you need to take the full transit cruise. It is really fascinating to go through. Some of the ships are so large that in the locks there are only about 7 inches on each side. You can literally lean right over and touch the side of the Canal.

[bhopal21]

There is also a 10 day "Canal Adventure" full transit from San Juan to Acapulco and the reverse route.

 

We are planning to trying this since 2 weeks away from work is too much for us also.

 

Mike:)

[Globaliser]

I have done both but to really appreciate the Canal and how amazing it is you need to take the full transit cruise. It is really fascinating to go through.

I agree. If you can do either a full transit or a partial transit and you're trying to choose between them, do the full transit.

[Pam in CA]

A partial leaves from Ft Lauderdale, goes through one lock, a few ports and returns to Ft Lauderdale, usually in 10 days. A full transit goes through the whole canal east to west or west to east. These cruises are at least 15 days. Last May we took a full transit that started in Ft Lauderdale and ended in San Francisco.

To clarify a little, the partial transit goes through a lock, sometimes stops for part of the day, then turns around and goes back out -- it doesn't go all the way from East to West or West to East. My full transit on the Sun was a 12-day from San Juan to Acapulco. It doesn't necessarily take 15 days to make a full transit. I agree with Globaliser. If you have a choice, make the full transit.

[joeinsb]

Our Panama Canal cruise from LA to San Juan, Puerto Rico was 14 days, with a full day spent transiting the canal. We arrived before dawn and had to wait because there were other ships in line--even though I'm told passenger ships have priority. Because we were late getting in, several shore excursions were cancelled. We sailed out about midnight.

 

As stated, the partial cruises, which start in the Caribbean, go through one set of locks, cruise around Gatun Lake and perhaps make a stop, and sail out. DW and I decided that wouldn't be too bad if you couldn't do the full Monty (full Panny?).

 

Barbarah, I don't know if you are the same poster whose comment I read on CC before we cruised, but I question whether you can almost touch the walls in a lock. On Celebrity Summit, which is a Panamax ship (964-eet long, 105-feet wide and 12 or 13 decks high) the lowest outdoor deck closest to the water is deck four (promenade), which is perhaps 30 to 40 feet above the water. Contrary to what I was led to believe after reading that post, our ship did not sink into the lock, nor did it enter the lock as if it was sailing into a canyon or something. I watched, and at best those of us standing on deck four were level with the ground where the little locomotives that pull the ships travel. Still, it was fascinating to watch the ground drop as you rode up in the lock--even if we couldn't touch the sides.:)