Which side of the ship?? for Panama Canal

[jobythebay]

Hi: we are sailing in January on the Summit through the Panama Canal from Los Angeles to San Juan. Is the port or starboard best? We have a balcony room?

 

Also I read that it's best to stay on the side where passengers board at the home port. Does anyone know which side is best? Thanks, jo

[carl_in_norfolk]

Saw your post and thought I'd reply.

 

Personally, I think you would miss a lot by staying in one place during the whole transit.

 

I don't know how your ship is configured. On the Spirit, the aft end was open. We pulled chairs up to the rail and sat there---but still there would be other things to look at on the other side. I roamed back and forth.--Or go forwrd so you can see where the ship is going.

 

That being said I would say the starboard side of the ship would have the most to look at if you were going to remain in one place.

 

Hope this helps

 

C

[cusyl]

Couldn't resist, both sides of the ship go through the locks LOL :D .

We started up on deck in the bow early in the morning as we started

to experience the whole thing.

When we got tired (It's an 8 hour transit all the way through) we

returned to our balcony which was on the starboard side of the ship.

(We were headed to Ft Lauderdale) From there we could see other ships going through the locks also beside us. There was a lot to see on that side of the ship between the locks.

[Sheik]

Don't stay at your balcony, even if you would have an AFT balcony. Wander around the ship and enjoy your transit. This is the best advice if you've never been through the Canal.

[phoenix1181]

The canal is one trip that which side you're on really doesn't matter. There's a lot to see everywhere and you really need to view it from other areas on the ship as well. It's a long day and having the ability to relax quietly on your balcony, and not miss anything, is great. But, you don't want to plan on being there all day.

[mii]

Like everyone said, it does not matter which side you are on. There is action on both sides and you do not know ahead of time which lane the ship will go through. I have done it twice and just roam around the ship. The back, the front, on the promenade decks, etc. You go so slow that you will have plenty of time to view the locks. Have a grerat time.

 

Marilyn

[jobythebay]

I appreciate the comments. jo

[Captain Cosmo]

Hi - We've never been through the canal but will be doing it in March of 2008. Do we want to stay onboard and watch the transit or should we also take a short shore excursion?

[cusyl]

Hi - We've never been through the canal but will be doing it in March of 2008. Do we want to stay onboard and watch the transit or should we also take a short shore excursion?

:eek: You let the ship leave without you? Maybe there's something I don't know about? I know some ships only make a partial transit.....

[Captain Cosmo]

Hi Cusyl - maybe I'm not stating my question correctly. I know that the ship will go all the way from the Pacific to the Carribean. My question is whether or not to stay on board for the transit or to take a shore excursion during it. Its not clear from the X website what happens once we reach the canal in terms of where the shore excursions start, and since they vary greatly in duration I'm wondering if the ship makes the transit and then stops so that people can go off on shore excursions or ???

[cusyl]

When we made the transit no one disembarked, perhaps that is for the ships that only make the partial transit...maybe someone that has done that will post for you. Do they offer excursions on your voyage?

[tn1728]

We did a full transit (San Juan to LA) a few months ago. The only shore excursions offered were after we had completed the full transit and at night. There was a choice of going to the Miraflores locks and the canal museum, going into Panama City, or just going to the shops at the pier.

 

Since you are going the opposite direction, I don't know if this would be same for you- but there were no shore excursions offered during the actual transit.

 

We were on the port side with a balcony, and while we spent some time there as we were going through one of the locks and Gatun Lake, we wandered around the ship to get all the views. The captain opened up the helipad, but it was really crowded by 7AM, but people were nice and let you up front for a few pictures. I thought the view from the 4th deck promenade was great, and it wasn't that crowded.

 

Theresa

[Nancyquilts]

As it isn't known very early - and probably not until the day of the tranasit - which side of the ship will get the view of neighbor ships rising and falling in the next lock, a balcony on either side would be "luck of the draw". Nancy

[kkid]

We did the LA to Ft Lauderdale transit through the canal in January. There is no way to determine which side has the best view. There are two sets of parallel locks. Watching what is going in the opposite lock is more interesting because you can see what is happening. So if summit runs through the left lock, the best view on the right/starboard side, and vice versa. In my transit we used the left set of locks on the Pacific side and the right set on the Atlantic side.

 

When we approached the Gatun Locks, the Summit anchored in Gatun Lake a short distance from shore. Those taking excursions left Summit by tender. Summit was supposed to raise anchor about 1 hour after the excursions departed. We were delayed for two extra hours, before transiting the Gatun locks.

 

My wife and I decided we wanted to be on rail of the helo pad for the Gatun lock transit, so we waited a few hours on the helo pad to keep our place. The wait wasn't fun, but view through the Gatun Locks was worth it.

[HeatherInFlorida]

If you've never been through the canal, stay on the ship ... it's a shore excursion in and of itself. And it's awesome!!!:)

 

We were on port side, but I was literally running all over the ship ... bow to stern, port to starboard, down to Promenade, up to the sports deck. You never know which side you'll be on going through (right or left). We went through right alongside an RCL ship and it was great fun to see her far below us as they were lowered first. We were looking down on her pool deck!

 

We'd met some CCers on our roll calls before we went so we were waving to each other across ships.

 

As everyone already said, it really doesn't matter which side you're on because you won't want to stay in one place. Enjoy it ... it's a wonderful day (and great exercise!)

[Captain Cosmo]

Thanks Heather - sounds like good advice to stay onboard!

[Desert Cruizers]

Hi, my husband & I went thru the Canal on a 17 day out of Ft Lauderdale back to Seattle, last April and during the transit, spent most of the time on the Bow. we were on the Sun Princess. During the times you go thru the Locks, that is probably the best time to be up front if you can get thru the crowd, then you actually see how they connect the ship to the trains and the mechanics of going thru the Locks. Most interesting.

 

Gwoodman

[cujosmom]

When we did the full transit Panama Canal we had an aft balcony and spent much of our time there but also did the "running around" thing, too. My husband ended up on Deck 4 (Promenade Deck) where it was shady and had a real close-up view of the workings of the canal. So be sure and check out that location, too.

[Texed]

When we did the full transit Panama Canal we had an aft balcony and spent much of our time there but also did the "running around" thing, too. My husband ended up on Deck 4 (Promenade Deck) where it was shady and had a real close-up view of the workings of the canal. So be sure and check out that location, too.

 

Off Topic!

I love your flag, and happy Texas Independence Day. :D

[raudacruise]

We found aft was definitely best at least in the locks. This was on Mercury (hello Sylvia!) a few years back. There was a public aft section that was not obvious.

 

We are going on Infinity in 3 weeks and I haven't been able to find a similair space on that class of ship, but we will have a few days to look around.

 

I think there are excursions where you get off either before or after the locks and take a train past Gatun lake and rejoin the ship at the other end.