szafran

11 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Viewing the canal from the Miraflores Visitor Center doesn't even remotely give you the full experience of the canal. You have to actually sail through at least part of the canal and preferably the entire canal to get the full experience. We've done six full transits and have learned and seen something new on each one.

 

We've also visited the Miraflores Visitor Center and found the displays and exhibits to be more interesting than watch the canal traffic on the visitors deck. There's no guarantee that they'll even be a ship passing through the Miraflores locks at the time you're at the visitors center.

 

Thank you so much for your reply. It looks like we will be taking a cruise this time.

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

 

It would be helpful if you would be more specific.  You can certainly "view" the Canal without going on a cruise, but that's all it is, a view.  When you say "tour the Canal" on your own, do you mean taking a small, ferry-sized vessel through some of the locks, or do you just mean viewing the Canal (for example, from the Miraflores Visitor Center)?   Very different things, and I would not deem the latter an adequate substitute for the former.

Sorry for being so vague and I will be more specific. We are not at all opposed to a cruise. We would fly from LAX to Fort Lauderdale to board the ship and see the Canal that way. We found the shortest cruise to be ten days which may be too long and too expensive. Also, cruises are very seasonal. We were told by a family member we could skip the cruise, get to Panama and view the Canal from observation decks from the Miraflores Visitor Center. The whole point of this trip is to get the full experience of the Canal. Hope this help.

We are considering a tour of the Panama Canal and have been told we can view the Canal without going on a cruise. We fly to Panama, book a hotel and then tour the Canal on our own. Any recommendations, feedback or help is appreciated.

18 minutes ago, CM1984 said:

 

 

And the day we disembark, DH says, "I think I'd like to do another, but full transit next time."  We will see.  

 

Whenever you go, it will be a wonderful experience!

Thank you for your reply. I would hate to miss out and make a mistake because this will probably be our only trip there.

Heidi, thank you for your suggestions. It looks like we should do a full transit first and go from there. Thanks again.

Thank you all so much for your replies. I have printed all replies and we will talk about it and see what we come up with. Bottom line, my husband is very interested in the mechanics of the Canal and has talked about it for years. He wants to see it all, from all sides and get the full experience of how it works. We haven't even planned a trip yet and already has a ton of questions. Thanks again and I will continue to use this site for help and suggestions.

We are considering a cruise to the Panama Canal and have gotten many different opinions and suggestions on the long vs the half trip through the Canal. To those of you who have been on both, what do you think? We will probably never do this again and I don't want to make a mistake. Thanks for any input.