Panama Canal - experiences/opinions...

[Peggy Sue]

Cruises offer partial transits and full transit of the Panama Canal.

 

What's the differnece? Will we be missing out on something fantastic if we only opt for the partial transit?

 

Please share your experiences and opinions.

 

Thank you!

 

Peggy Sue

[elmorejj]

We have done both, My preference is the full transit. Not only for the extra locks that you go through, but the chance to see so much more, more countries, more cultures and definitely more scenery. We did the repo cruise on the Zaandam this spring from Port Canaveral to Vancouver Canada and it was awesome. I`m ready to do it again. Any particular questions you might have, I`ll be glad to try and answer some of them......jean

[Peggy Sue]

Jean, Thanks for your quick response. I noticed this cruise stops and several central america countries. We typically do not book shore excurisions, we like to strike out on our on with a taxi driver, or walking etc...but many of these places make me feel a bit uneasy about our personal safety.. what were your experiences? Were you warned in any port to not walk around on your own? These countires have had so much civil unrest over the past few years..just makes me wonder. Your experiences?

 

Thank you!!

 

Peggy Sue

[wwinfl91]

We did the full transit a couple of years ago on the Veendam and it was one of the most interesting cruises we have taken. Doing the full transit allows you to see both sets of locks, Atlantic and Pacific, as well as the whole of Gatun lake. We happened to be lucky in that the Westerdam was going through the canal at the same time as we were so we were able to get pictures of it in the locks as well as our pictures from our ship of the locks. If you have the time and are willing to spend the money I would definitely recommend taking the full transit version of the cruise.

 

Our cruise left SF and went down the Mexican coast. We walked around in several of the Mexican ports without feeling too threatened. Costa Rica is another country we visited and again we felt perfectly safe there as we did in Curacao.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[sail7seas]

Don't automatically reject the idea of a Partial Transit. While a full transit if wonderful, a partial is great, as well. We have done it three or four times and just this past March, had a great time doing it again on Rotterdam.

 

I especially like being able to fly roundtrip FLL rather than having to put up with the long flight home to the East Coast from the West Coast.

I'd do a partial transit again in the blink of an eye. Both have their up side and their down side.

 

[Navy_Chief]

I can only speak of my transit which was full and in both directions. Unfortunately, it was on a vessle painted haze gray and a big number on it's bow.

 

I must say this much for the trip. The Navy did have a guy come aboard with the pilot in Gatun Lake to give us a blow by blow of the canal and it's history over the ship's PA and work came to a minimum during the Atlantic to Pacific transit to take advantage of that.

 

The thing about that trip was the fact that USS Harry E. Yarnell was only 54 feet wide and the canal locks of course, are 110 feet. plenty of room to spare. However, the Rotterdam is 105 wide. I think it would be very interesting to go from an Ocean View cabin on Main Deck to a fully obstructed view as the ship desended the lock:D two and a half feet isn't alot of room.

 

Being docked at what used to be Rodman Naval Base at the time, it was realy interesting to see the tidal shift. It swings something like 16 feet from lowest to highest. So the gangway went from a 30 degree incline up to a 30 degree incline down.

 

At any rate, either way you go i guess would be fine. I think the Partial just enters Gatun Lake, does a turn around there and goes back out. Perhaps S7S can give you more info there.

 

I would love to do another full with my wife if I could talk her into it:)

 

-Bob

[cruisingrightalong]

We enjoyed the partial on the Brilliance (RCCL) last year and doing it again in 2005.....it let us experience the canals twice and we sat in the lake on the top deck and watched others line up to come thru and did. We didn't take an excursion because we wanted to experience the canal. Some did on a small boat that goes to "The Other Side."

 

Agree....like airfares to FLL or MIA rather than east and west coast...that is from our airport...not a major hub.

 

Lou

[jazzsea]

I have sailed the Panama Canal in both directions and have also done three partial transits.

 

Don't worry if you can only manage a partial transit. The canal experience is exciting regardless of how you do it. The important thing is to "do it".

 

Plan to awaken early on the day of your canal entry. You will notice ships from all over the world waiting their turn to enter the first lock.

 

The booking cost for a full transit is usually higher than a partial transit and a full transit requires more cruising time. Don't rule out the canal just because you can only take 10 days of vacation.

 

Be prepared, however. You'll probably want to book the full transit at a later date.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

 

We have done the full transit in both directions several times. And we have done the partial a couple of times.

Even if you decide to do just a partial the first time, you'll love it. Then you will want to do a full transit.

There is so much to see. Be up early. Usually coffee and "Panama" buns are brought out onto the open decks to munch as you go through the locks.

:)

[Sailboater]

We are currently booked on the Veendam for the April 2004 trip through the Canal. One item that you see on a full transit rather than a partial is the Gilliard (sp?) Cut where they blasted through the "continental divide" mountains to make the Canal possible. It is on the Pacific side of Gatun Lake so you only see that "marvel of man over nature" if you do the full transit. We live on the West Coast (Olympia, Wa) so it is kind of nice to do the transit East to West and get off the boat so close to home.

 

I wish they had a partial transit from the West side to Gatun Lake and back again to San Francisco. Wouldn't that be a trip -- go out the Golden Gate about Sunset, hit Cabo San Lucas or Mazatlan, somewhere in Costa Rica and/or Guatemala, do the partial transit and hit different towns on the way back to see the Golden Gate at Sunrise coming home. I think that would be a "Golden" opportunity for some cruise line. There are probably good reasons why none of them have done it but if someone does .... where do I sign up.

[rkacruiser]

There will be alot of differing opinions on this thread. I favor a full transit. To really gain a sense of what engineering had to be done and how much earth had to be moved when the Canal was built, I think one needs to experience sailing through the Gaillard Cut. A cruise from the Atlantic side that sails into and turns around in Gatun Lake allows one to experience (and see) the dense tropical jungle that had to be mastered in building the Canal and the huge locks and their operation. But, one misses the full scope of the completed project.

 

One word of advice, after two transits: Do not spend the entire day on the most upper decks of today's large vessels. I discovered after doing that on the Volendam that I had missed really noticing the changes in elevation that the ship experiences in being raised and lowered in the locks. If one stays up on the upper decks all day long, one will miss this interesting feature of the locking process.

 

A Panama Canal cruise is a truly wonderful and interesting cruise experience! I wish the cruise lines would offer more of the full transits than they do.

[Peggy Sue]

Thanks for all the replies. Lots of food for thought.

 

I agree, there aren't a lot of full transit cruises to pick from throughout the year.

 

Being from the east coast I would love to cruise from west to east, so our flight home wouldn't be that long..but most everything in the spring is heading east to west for the Alaska cruise season. Maybe I'll look into a fall sailing for next year instead of spring..

 

Thanks!

 

Peggy Sue

[MBeamTX]

I've enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts on Panama Canal cruises. Rkacruiser, could you elaborate on why you don't get the full effect of the transit on the upper decks?

 

We're doing a 14-day, full transit next year. It'll be our first non-HAL cruise, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. If you're interested in doing a full transit at a reasonable price next spring, you might want to look at the April 23 sailing of Serenade of the Seas. It seems to be booking up quickly. I was astonished that airfare wasn't outrageously expensive even though you're flying into San Juan and back out of San Diego. And if you've got air miles, you can use them for this kind of "open jaw" ticket, which I didn't realize before.

 

Half Moon Cay in December, Panama Canal next April. Oooh, I feel so lucky!

 

Happy cruising,

Susan

[ilovhywd]

Check out the great fares on the Crystal Harmony for November 7, 2004. They are trying to compete in the Panama Canal market.

 

The cruise does 11 days from Ft. Lauderdale to Costa Rica. Fly home from Costa Rica. Full transit of canal.

 

I am suffering through a book called "The Land Between the Oceans" or "The Land Between the Seas". It is tedious, but I think it will greatly enhance the Panama Canal experience. I hope I can finish it by November 7!

[localady]

We are doing a Partial Transit on Dec. 2nd on the Rotterdam. I noticed that most of the excursions leave from Gatun Lake meaning you miss 1/2 of the transit in the Canal. I'd appreciate any advice on whether we should stay on the ship both ways during the transit and hire a taxi to see a bit of Panama when getting to Colon??? Thanks in advance!:cool:

[elmorejj]

Peggy, the only port we felt we had to take a ships tour was Cartagena, Colombia. The other ports we generally walked around or took a taxi. We did do a catamaran sail in Cabo, and did the tour to the divers in Acapulco. All of them were great...jean :cool:

[Spender Nui]

We are doing a Partial Transit on Dec. 2nd on the Rotterdam. I noticed that most of the excursions leave from Gatun Lake meaning you miss 1/2 of the transit in the Canal. I'd appreciate any advice on whether we should stay on the ship both ways during the transit and hire a taxi to see a bit of Panama when getting to Colon??? Thanks in advance!:cool:

 

 

There's nothing to see in Colon. If they offer the ocean to ocean railroad trip from Colon I'd recommend that.

[sail7seas]

You may want to verify this but I seem to remember that when we did the partial transit this past March on Rotterdam, the only way you could leave the ship at Colon was if you were on a ship's sponsored tour. I do not think anyone could leave on their own.

[localady]

There's nothing to see in Colon. If they offer the ocean to ocean railroad trip from Colon I'd recommend that.

Spender Nui- thanks for your response!

I understand that there is nothing in Colon to see, I was just wondering if anyone had done the partial transit both ways vs. one way and then getting off in Gatun Lake for an excursion and missing the transit back. We are going on the cruise to see the Canal, yet it appears if you take HAL's excursions you miss more than half of the transit.

The schedule says we dock in Colon at 1:00pm and do not leave until 7:00pm, possibly we could hire a taxi to take us to see a bit of Panama. Any and all suggestions appreciated!!!

[saltydog28]

Yes s7s, I remember it the same way. You couldn't get off the ship, without being on a ship sponsored tour. I vaguly recall something about not having a visa. But the ship had one for a group. I also recall the cheapest tour was to a boat club where you had a drink, some fruit, and watched some dancers, and some of the women dancers were bare-breasted. there was also a vendor.

I only went because I wanted to go into the Panama Canal. I wouldn't do it again.

I think the excurion was about $40

I thought the history of the canal and going through the locks was fantastic.

Pat.

[localady]

Wow:/ What a disappointment. We are happy to get visas for Panama if they are needed but we would much prefer to see the entire Canal then leave the Ship at Colon.

A question, when you left the ship for the Gatun excursion, did you get back on the ship before they left for Colon???

No where in the Panama Canal cruise information does it state that we can't get off the ship in Colon without a ship sponsored excursion, seems like it would be something important to let people know right off. Seems HAL has ensured you use their excursions this way, which seems just wrong:/:confused:

Thanks for the info!

[mountainmare]

We did the 10 day partial transit last Feb on the Rotterdam. DH and I decided to stay on the ship and I really enjoyed stepping down the locks on the way back to Colon. Our traveling companions took the regular rail trip (not the doamed train) to the Pacific. They were also pleased. The only problem was that you go through most of the canal before daybreak so they didn't get to see the old French canal etc. There is nothing to see in Colon and we got back to Colon too late to go on a tour. You are really trapped into a ship tour at this port. A word of warning!!! You could easily get hooked by the canal. We have booked a full transit for Jan 9 on the big O. Even though I swore that I would stay away from the Vistas the canal sucked me in. Have a great time and enjoy the Panama buns.

[ryansmemom]

.

 

I must say this much for the trip. The Navy did have a guy come aboard with the pilot in Gatun Lake to give us a blow by blow of the canal and it's history over the ship's PA and work came to a minimum during the Atlantic to Pacific transit to take advantage of that.

 

-Bob

 

On our full transit, HAL provided a speaker who presented 3 programs giving passengers the history of the canal and an explaination of the engineering principles. He also acted as "tour guide" during our 9 hour transit of the canal. We took this cruise at the Millenium right at the time that control of the canal was transfered to the Panamanian government. The speaker had been a member of the Panama Canal Commission and was able to provide a great deal of information on the politics of the situation. The man had impresive credentials.

 

I don't remember if there were speakers on our partial transits. Perhaps someone else will recall that information.

 

Linda

[localady]

Mountainmare-

 

Thanks for your post!!! My DH and I are a bit stumped as to what to do that day in the Panama Canal! The reason we are taking the cruise was, in a large part, to experience the process of the locks in the Canal. The Rotterdam cruises thru the locks initially while it's dark and we are all asleep. If we don't get off the boat in Gatun Lake, then we get to see the ships in the locks, but are restricted to not getting off the boat in Colon:/ If we get off the ship in Gatun, then we miss the daytime portion of the transit of the Canal, which was the point of this trip!! :eek:

Additionally, it doesn't appear that HAL offers any excursion that actually transits the Canal, I understand some of the other lines do offer a ferry trip like this as part of their excursions!:cool:

[rkacruiser]

MBeamTx,

 

To respond to your question: I spent most of the day in the Crow's Nest and Lido Restuarant area during the transit. It was only later that I realized that I just hadn't noticed the "rise and fall" that the ship experiences as she is raised and lowered in the locks. The decks on which I was on are so high that they extend well above the level of the locks and I just didn't notice the change in elevation as the ship was locked through.