Panama Canal lecture?

[Joby]

We're going on the Summit's west to east Panama Canal cruise in January.

 

I did a search for previous Celebrity Panama Canal cruises looking to see if the ship usually had a lecturer onboard during the Canal crossing. I didn't see any recent comments (did see a couple from '05 and '06).

 

Does anyone know if there is usually someone onboard to talk about the Canal and crossing?

[evoni]

We had Dr. Penelope Schwiebert (Panama Canal Historian) on the 15 night Infinity, September 29th Panama Canal trip out of SF. I would guess that the Summit will also have a Panama Canal Historian. Unfortunately for me, all the talks were scheduled for around 9am and we sleep in except on port days. I did catch the end of one of her 3 lectures and it was very informative. In addition on the day you cross the Canal there will be a local Historian on board who gives commentary as you enter each lock and lake.

 

Diana

[Luxuriate]

I know there was a program on the television that played round and round non-stop when we did our Panama canal Western cruise back in 2003. I don't remember if there was an actual expert though.

 

I do know that there will be people camped out all over the ship in order to get the best views while going through the locks. My advice, just be cool and move about and see what you can see.

 

Cheryl

[Joby]

Thanks for the info!

 

Hopefully, we will have someone onboard who is knowledgable. I would love to hear talks on the Canal.

[SailAway78]

We had Dr. Penelope Schwiebert (Panama Canal Historian) on the 15 night Infinity, September 29th Panama Canal trip out of SF. I would guess that the Summit will also have a Panama Canal Historian. Unfortunately for me, all the talks were scheduled for around 9am and we sleep in except on port days. I did catch the end of one of her 3 lectures and it was very informative. In addition on the day you cross the Canal there will be a local Historian on board who gives commentary as you enter each lock and lake.

 

Diana

 

I was on the same cruise with Diana and missed the first lecture as it was scheduled early one morning after we turned the clocks ahead and I had neglected to read the "Celebrity Today" carefully the night before. I did catch part of the other two lectures which included various pictures of the building of the Canal and the key people involved.

 

Several people on the boards suggested reading Path Between The Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 by David McCullough. It's available in hardback, paperback and on tape. I got the paperback and brought it with me as it has great maps to refer to as we traveled the Canal.

 

BTW, the documentary that plays on the stateroom TV at various time was excellent because David McCullough was a part of it. It aired continually the day before we entered the Canal.

 

We also traveled west to east. We were up early (4:30 AM) and saw the approaching lights of Panama, the arrival of the pilot boat (5:00-5:15 AM) and the amazing ships all awaiting to enter the locks. The onboard narrator did a good job informing us about all we were seeing the entire day.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Bonnie

 

P.S. Two great sites to watch the ship:

 

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

 

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[PescadoAmarillo]

We were lucky; John Maxtone-Graham was on board the Summit last April for several Panama Canal cruises. He lectures primarily on transatlantic crossings of the past, but did do one complete lecture on the Panama Canal.

 

I also recommend Ann Vipond's "Panama Canal by Cruise Ship" which has a wonderful chapter on the history of the canal, a chapter on the operation of the canal, and a great pull-out map.

[Joby]

Thanks for the additional comments. I hope we have someone good onboard.

 

I've heard about both the book and the movie. I would like to get the movie and watch pre-cruise.

 

Anyway to find out for sure if anyone will be onboard to lecture on the Canal? We cruise in January. Does Celebrity know that far in advance who might be onboard?