Jump to content

Carnival partial transit Panama Canal


Recommended Posts

what is a partial transit? Has anyone done it? Is it worth the time?

 

Thanks!

 

A partial transit is where you go through the the first set of locks on the Atlantic side and the ship turns around in Gatun Lake and goes back through the same locks, you don’t go all the way through the canal. Partial transit is usually cheaper and shorter (10 Days v. 14/15 Days.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have not done it, but like stated above, you go through the first set of locks, and then turn around in Gatun Lake and go back out into the Gulf of Mexico. You can usually save time and money by going on a partial transit cruise because they're shorter and depart and arrive to the same place, saving money on expensive one way flights.

 

It is certainly worth it, I went on a land trip to Panama in November and I was pleasantly surprised, I absolutely loved it. The canal is such a cool thing to see!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im watching the 14 day partial out of Galveston. Last year they took off the solo supplement but I was already booked with a conflicting cruise, darn it.

 

So, this time I will leave those 2 weeks free.

 

Ive read on here you dont have that $350 excurstion to go see the locks up close that Ive read years past you get, just the ship goes near them. bring your binoculars imo.

 

Im watching the oct 27, 14 day partial panama cruise. Asking around to see if someone wants to go with me but everyone says too broke to go to 6 ports. the port fees and taxes run $450 ish or a bit over, less than $500, but expect double a 2 week cruise.

 

Nice ports many I sure would love to go to like Colon and Costa Rica.

 

Im up for it, anyone need a roomie?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The partial is an excursion unto itself...unless you feel a need to see ALL the locks! I found that going thru the 3 sets into Lake Gatun was plenty! If you roam about the ship, all sides and deck levels, you can get pretty 'up close and personal" with the locks. And, during the turn around in the lake, lots of folks leave the ship on all-day excursions, so the trip out in the afternoon is lovely and uncrowded! All the stuff you missed (because of crowding on the decks) is totally open with more than 1/2 of the passengers gone!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im watching the 14 day partial out of Galveston. Last year they took off the solo supplement but I was already booked with a conflicting cruise, darn it.

 

So, this time I will leave those 2 weeks free.

 

Ive read on here you dont have that $350 excurstion to go see the locks up close that Ive read years past you get, just the ship goes near them. bring your binoculars imo.

 

Im watching the oct 27, 14 day partial panama cruise. Asking around to see if someone wants to go with me but everyone says too broke to go to 6 ports. the port fees and taxes run $450 ish or a bit over, less than $500, but expect double a 2 week cruise.

 

Nice ports many I sure would love to go to like Colon and Costa Rica.

 

Im up for it, anyone need a roomie?

 

We did this cruise on the freedom last October, there were no excursions offered on the day we went through the locks.

 

It was, however, a great cruise!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The partial is an excursion unto itself...unless you feel a need to see ALL the locks! I found that going thru the 3 sets into Lake Gatun was plenty! If you roam about the ship, all sides and deck levels, you can get pretty 'up close and personal" with the locks. And, during the turn around in the lake, lots of folks leave the ship on all-day excursions, so the trip out in the afternoon is lovely and uncrowded! All the stuff you missed (because of crowding on the decks) is totally open with more than 1/2 of the passengers gone!

I was not aware that Carnival did any excursions while in the lake - I know HAL (and possibly Princess) do that but I did not think Carnival offered them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are going on the 8-day partial transit out of Tampa in Sept and there are no excursions offered on the transit day. We will stop in Colon and Grand Cayman. I liked it because it was just 8 day cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did this cruise on the freedom last October, there were no excursions offered on the day we went through the locks.

 

It was, however, a great cruise!

 

Yes, thats what i said in my post, there are no $350 excursions offered to see the locks up close. thats why i mention:halo:ed it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The partial is an excursion unto itself...unless you feel a need to see ALL the locks! I found that going thru the 3 sets into Lake Gatun was plenty! If you roam about the ship, all sides and deck levels, you can get pretty 'up close and personal" with the locks. And, during the turn around in the lake, lots of folks leave the ship on all-day excursions, so the trip out in the afternoon is lovely and uncrowded! All the stuff you missed (because of crowding on the decks) is totally open with more than 1/2 of the passengers gone!

 

Thanks for your response. I've wanted to do this as well, but wasn't sure if the Partial Transit would be "worth" doing. Your description sounds great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was not aware that Carnival did any excursions while in the lake - I know HAL (and possibly Princess) do that but I did not think Carnival offered them.

 

 

 

They used to offer one for ships that stopped in Colon, we did it, very interesting. They bussed us over to the pacific side and then we boarded a much smaller vessel that piggy backed along a bigger ship to the lake, dropped us off and turned around. Def worth it.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are going on the 8-day partial transit out of Tampa in Sept and there are no excursions offered on the transit day. We will stop in Colon and Grand Cayman. I liked it because it was just 8 day cruise.
We just did the 8 day cruise on the Miracle out of Tampa on April 14th. There were no excursions planned earlier for us either. During muster drill he heard other guests talking about added excursions. We went to the shore excursion desk to inquire. They were offering 4 different excursions that were not posted earlier. We signed up for an 8 hour excursion that would have picked us up from the ship to a smaller boat and cruised thru the locks and would have visited some of the villages. Two days later we had a note in our cabin that all of those excursions would be cancelled. There was too much traffic going thru the canal that day to make it work. This possibility was mentioned to us when we signed up for it. It was disappointing, but we knew it might happen. We did enjoy watching it from different parts of the ship throughout the day.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They used to offer one for ships that stopped in Colon, we did it, very interesting. They bussed us over to the pacific side and then we boarded a much smaller vessel that piggy backed along a bigger ship to the lake, dropped us off and turned around. Def worth it.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

The 14 day freedom does stop in Colon as i remember. Oct 27 partial transit. and costa rica which i want to visit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just did the 8 day cruise on the Miracle out of Tampa on April 14th. There were no excursions planned earlier for us either. During muster drill he heard other guests talking about added excursions. We went to the shore excursion desk to inquire. They were offering 4 different excursions that were not posted earlier. We signed up for an 8 hour excursion that would have picked us up from the ship to a smaller boat and cruised thru the locks and would have visited some of the villages. Two days later we had a note in our cabin that all of those excursions would be cancelled. There was too much traffic going thru the canal that day to make it work. This possibility was mentioned to us when we signed up for it. It was disappointing, but we knew it might happen. We did enjoy watching it from different parts of the ship throughout the day.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

 

 

good info, very interesting. maybe explains why some say yes and some say no about excursions to gt up and close.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 14 day freedom does stop in Colon as i remember. Oct 27 partial transit. and costa rica which i want to visit.

 

 

 

Costa Rica was impressive as well. We did a zip line that was spectacular (better than any others we had done).

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did the 14 day partial panama canal Journey's cruise out of Galveston last fall. It was the most wonderful vacation I've ever had. Such a nice mix of sea days for relaxation, with ports for adventure and exploration.

 

A couple of interesting tid-bits though....

 

We (wife and I are both early 40's) were pretty much the youngest ones on the ship. This didn't bother us, because it made for a more relaxing cruise.

 

Cartagena was the biggest surprise - a really beautiful city with nice people.

 

14 days went by really, really quick.

 

All in all, it was amazing and has led us to book another Journey's - this time to Hawaii

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did the 8-day partial transit on the Miracle out of Tampa in April. It was awesome. We went through the Atlantic side if the locks and into Gatun lake where we sat for a while and then went back through the same locks. They had a narrator onboard to describe what we were seeing. It was a fantastic cruise.

 

There was a mostly older crowd onboard (including us). We enjoyed the cruise a lot. We had an aft cabin so we were on a deck up top while going through the first time and sat on our balcony when going through the second time. This cruise took us through the canal early in the morning so get up on deck like at 6 am if you want a good viewing spot at the front of the ship.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks! The problem is my kids want Alaska too. Lol, so that would be 5 people, 2 cabins plus air.

 

Panama Canal would be just DH and me with no air.

Oh well, in that case I'd go for PC, likely be cheaper too:)

 

Sent from my Lenovo TAB 2 A8-50F using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks! The problem is my kids want Alaska too. Lol, so that would be 5 people, 2 cabins plus air.

Panama Canal would be just DH and me with no air.

 

I would go with the kids included trip first.. make memories for the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...