Might be a dumb question

[kmkasza]

We have booked a full transit with celebrity for 4/26/09. When i go to the celebrity website to check out excursions they have a bunch listed for panama canal(cruising). Does that mean you get off the ship before it goes into the canal and catch it when it leaves so you actually miss being on the ship when it goes through the canal? Just cannot figure out why you would want to miss out on staying on the ship when it goes thru. Are any of the excursions really worth getting off for?

 

This cruise costs so much don't want to do the wrong thing.

[BillB48]

I am assuming that this is a northbound transit, Pacific to Atlantic. We were on a similar full transit last year, passengers who had tours tendered off the ship before Gatun Locks. Those passengers then rejoined the ship when it docked in Cristobal. If this is the case, then you would miss the lockage at Gatun and the short trip from the locks, down the channel to Cristobal. You would see a great deal of the Canal.

 

Are any of the excursions worth it? That's really a tough one to answer. Panama has a lot of interesting and worthwhile things to see but my main interest is the Canal and we stayed on the ship. I really don't know how important making a complete transit is to you. Some people will say that they have seen a large portion of the Canal and wish to see more of the country. One solution might be for you to take a partial transit cruise or a cruise that stops in Panama at a later date and use that occasion to explore Panama.

 

Have a great cruise!

[born2cruize]

We have booked a full transit with celebrity for 4/26/09. When i go to the celebrity website to check out excursions they have a bunch listed for panama canal(cruising). Does that mean you get off the ship before it goes into the canal and catch it when it leaves so you actually miss being on the ship when it goes through the canal? Just cannot figure out why you would want to miss out on staying on the ship when it goes thru. Are any of the excursions really worth getting off for?

 

This cruise costs so much don't want to do the wrong thing.

 

If tours are offered I, personally would find a tour worthy of the expense. If you've already traversed the canal and are at Gatun Lake the only thing left is going through the last set of locks and then docking in Cristobal. There are many tours that would be rewarding and enrich the experience of going through the canal.

 

If on the other hand you catch your tour before you enter Miraflores locks, I'd pass for the experience of going through the canal.

[annh999]

We are on the same cruise. I don't believe you have an option to get off the ship. On April 30th we are in Cartagena and depart at 2:00 PM. On May 1st we cruise through the Canal and spend May 2nd at sea and then on May 3rd we are in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. I have reviewed the tours and I don't think we have an option to not be on the ship through the Panama Canal.

 

Let me also invite you to join the board for this cruise at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=547822. This will be our first trip through the Panama Canal, but a number of the other members on the Infinity 4/26/09 board have been on this cruise a number of times and would be happy to answer questions you might have. Please also sign up for the Connections Party!

 

Welcome to the group!

 

Ann

[cruznjan]

If I understand your question, when you do a full transit you stay on the ship for the entire time it's is going through the canal.

[born2cruize]

If I understand your question, when you do a full transit you stay on the ship for the entire time it's is going through the canal.

 

That is generally true. The exception can be a Pacific to Caribbean transit with an afternoon stop for 3-4 hours in Cristobal or Colon.

 

If you enter the Pacific side at 0600 you probably reach Gatun Lake around 1:00 to 2:00 PM. In theory they could off load passengers for tours once reaching Gatun Lake, the ship continues to Colon or Cristobal, docks for a few hours and the tour people re-board then the ships continues on.

 

But they are in the minority, probably only a handful. And the only ones entering from the Caribbean that drop off passengers are the ones that are round trips from Florida not the full transits.