Have you been through the Panama Canal?

[Indyjaybird]

If so, what would you recommend as the best cabin location to observe the most going through the Panama Canal? Front cabin with balcony, back cabin with balcony, or midship with balcony or observation area? We are going from LA to Miami on the NCL Star on Nov. 23 and trying to decide where exactly we'd like to end up.....Presently booked in a front corner cabin with front balcony that also has a smaller side balcony. Thanks so much for your assistance!

[LHT28]

Sound like you have a good location.

I would say front cabin or Aft cabin for the BEST view.

[Gonzo70]

I wouldn't worry to much about cabin location. The best way to experience the canal is to view it from as many perspectives as possible. You will want to wander around the ship and view from front, back, starboard, port and high and low decks from all four of these vantage points. If you largely stay on your own balcony, you will miss a lot. It is amazing how much different the perspective is from different areas of the ship.

[linkerbink]

I agree with Gonzo70...it's best to move around the ship as you go through. There's so much to see, one perspective really limits the effect of the transit. We started out forward to watch the gates open. Later we moved to the side to see how close the ship comes to the sides of the canal (it's REALLY, REALLY close!!). Then we went aft to watch the process from that vantage point. It was a fascinating experience.

[LHT28]

If you are doing a full transit ...it take about 8 hrs so lots of time to wander around the ship. ;)

[cb at sea]

Do NOT stay on your balcony for the transit...you will miss too much! You have to wander about the ship and see this engineering feat from all sides and levels of the ship! It takes quite awhile, so you won't miss a thing by wandering!

And make sure your balcony door is closed---bugs!!!!

[Grandpaul]

You will find yourself wandering around the ship taking all kinds of photos but I have found the most interesting view is from an aft facing cabin when the ship is being raised or lowered. Where else can you get that view?

[Indyjaybird]

Thank you all so much! It helps so much to hear from people who have already been there. (Bugs?! I never thought about that!)

[LHT28]

I never saw any bugs...we went Jan/Feb.

 

Maybe it is the time of year you go that there are more bugs

 

Lyn

[jst4fun715]

I agree with the others that you need to get out and see different "views". That being said, we had an aft balcony and spent a great deal of time there. If we did that cruise again, I would certainly try to get an aft balcony again.:)

[Grannycb]

Take insect spray or wipes. There were black flies when we were going through the canal. They had a nasty bite. We also ran into mosquitoes in Mexico. Like everyone else, I'd say you will not want to be on your balcony the whole day. You'll bake if it's on the sunny side. You'll want to see the scenery from all view points. We did find a nice shady spot on an aft portion of the ship (going from Atlantic to Pacific) that was nice for a while when sailing down the cut.

[glgolfer]

I agree with wandering around the ship for different views. I also suggest getting room service lunch to eat on your balcony so you don't miss anything.

[Krazy Kruizers]

When we go from the west coast to the east coast we choose a cabin on the starboard side -- depending on the ship -- either front od midship.

 

When we go from east coast to west coast -- we pick the port side.

[Sekhmet]

I don't know about NCL, but on our recent transit with Celebrity, there was someone aboard from the Canal Authority who broadcast from the bridge pointing out particular items of interest. As the ship is moving slowly, there is plenty of time to walk from wherever you might be to wherever he was suggesting you look.

[cruznjan]

Do NOT stay on your balcony for the transit...you will miss too much! You have to wander about the ship and see this engineering feat from all sides and levels of the ship! It takes quite awhile, so you won't miss a thing by wandering!

And make sure your balcony door is closed---bugs!!!!

 

I agree. I moved around the ship quite a bit for different points of view (don't know what DH was doing). One thing I did see from our balcony: when the ship was being lowered into the Gatun Locks, it was going down and sides of the canal were rising. It was an interesting perspective.