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Going thru the locks on NCL?


Cruisin Patty
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We will be cruising to the Panama Canal in November 2018 on NCL's Pearl. Not going all the way through....just partial. We have an excursion planned on the Ferry. We are getting conflicting information on us going through the locks on the ship. I read somewhere that the Pearl does go through the locks in to Gatun Lake and then people with excursions will disembark. The ship will then go to Colon where we will embark after our excursion. But other people going with us have been told that we will disembark before going through the locks. I really hate to think we have spent all this money on this cruise and will not go through Gatun lock on the ship. Has anyone been on this cruise on the the Pearl and can share your experience? Would greatly appreciate any information out there!

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Since others travelling with us were told we do not go through the locks, I called our cruise consultant at NCL. She told me that we do NOT go through the locks on the ship. So glad we have booked the Canal by Ferry excursion, so we will go through 2 sets of locks. That is a disappointment, but just means we will have to do this cruise again and go all the way through!!!

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If it's a "partial", you should go into Lake Gatun... If you stay on the ship, rather than doing an excursion, you will have your choice of viewing places for the trip back out, when most of the passengers get off the ship!

 

If it's not a "partial", your ship simply docks at the entrance, and you take your excursions into the locks.

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Since others travelling with us were told we do not go through the locks, I called our cruise consultant at NCL. She told me that we do NOT go through the locks on the ship. So glad we have booked the Canal by Ferry excursion, so we will go through 2 sets of locks. That is a disappointment, but just means we will have to do this cruise again and go all the way through!!!

 

 

To repeat what has been said before on this thread, your cruise consultant has NO IDEA what she is talking about. Your ship WILL NOT stop to let people off before going through the Gatun Locks. Listen to the experts here, not to the NCL consultant who probably has never been on a cruise ship. EM

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I'm beginning to think you are right that my cruise consultant doesn't have a clue about this cruise. Why would then offer a cruise to the Panama Canal and not take you through the locks? I guess I will find out around November 11!

Thanks everyone for taking the time to answer my question!

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Allow me to be a little clearer....if possible. This is your itinerary, courtesy of www.cruisecal.com:

 

enhance

 

It is interesting that it does not list passage into the canal, but it does list GatunYacht Club as a 'port of call'

 

This is a picture of the Gatun Locks on the left and the newer Agua Clara Locks on the right: (Courtesy of Google Earth)

 

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Enlarging the picture, this is the Gatun Yacht Club, where the tenders take you to catch your tour buses:

 

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So you see, you have to go through the Gatun Locks to get to the Gatun Yacht Club. If this is the way your itinerary is listed on the NCL website, your NCL rep might be excused for thinking you are not going into the canal. But ignorance is no excuse. The call at Colon is after your ship has retraced it's path through the Gatun Locks in order to pick up the guests who took excursions. EM

Edited by Essiesmom
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You did a ton of research on this and I really appreciate what you did! I totally agree with you.....it sure looks like we are going through the locks in to Gatun Lake. Just seems that if you are going on a Panama Canal Cruise part of the cruise would be through the locks. So glad we have booked the Ferry because I do know for sure that it goes through them!! Thanks again!!!

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I think you will be glad you booked the ferry as well since it will allow you to see much more of the Canal... (you still will have to come back and do a full transit before you get the been there done that trophy;)) Kidding aside, the ferry excursion offers a unique opportunity to see the operation of going through the locks on your large Panamax cruise ship and then to experience it from the smaller ferry. Two completely different perspectives. Enjoy.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I hope OP won't mind me piggybacking on their thread but I also have some logistic questions regarding Joy's panama canal partial sailing.

 

I am looking at NCL Joy partial canal sailings and would like to know how a partial sailing works timeline wise with a ferry excursion? After reading threads, my idea is roughly:

 

First:

7am to 10am - going through Aqua Clara locks on the ship

 

If I stay on the ship

12 noon - 3pm - the ship will go back out through Aqua Clara locks

3 pm - 5 pm - the ship will sail at the sea to Colon

5 pm - 8 pm - the ship docks at Colon and we ferry excursion people reboard the ship

 

If I take a ferry excursion

10 am - arrive at Gatun lake and ferry excursion people leave the ship for the excursion

10 am -12 noon - ferry excursion folks leave the ship

12 noon - 5 pm - the ferry excursion go through old locks

5 pm -8 pm - ferry excursion folks reboard the ship in Colon

 

Does it sound right? So basically we will miss the backing out part if we take the ferry excursion and probably won't have time to visit Colon?

 

Does the ferry excursion go through Pacific side of locks too? Or only just backing out the Caribbean side? And I assume the little ferry will use the old locks, is that right?

Edited by molole
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I hope OP won't mind me piggybacking on their thread but I also have some logistic questions regarding Joy's panama canal partial sailing.

 

I am looking at NCL Joy partial canal sailings and would like to know how a partial sailing works timeline wise with a ferry excursion? After reading threads, my idea is roughly:

 

First:

7am to 10am - going through Aqua Clara locks on the ship

 

If I stay on the ship

12 noon - 3pm - the ship will go back out through Aqua Clara locks

3 pm - 5 pm - the ship will sail at the sea to Colon

5 pm - 8 pm - the ship docks at Colon and we ferry excursion people reboard the ship

 

If I take a ferry excursion

10 am - arrive at Gatun lake and ferry excursion people leave the ship for the excursion

10 am -12 noon - ferry excursion folks leave the ship also bus trip to meet ferry in this time frame

12 noon - 5 pm - the ferry excursion go through old locks

5 pm -8 pm - ferry excursion folks reboard the ship in Colon also bus trip back to Colon to meet ship after disembarking ferry

 

Does it sound right? So basically we will miss the backing out part if we take the ferry excursion (the Joy will retrace the route that you experienced that morning) and probably won't have time to visit Colon? I think you summed it up correctly. Don't worry about Colon, really there is nothing there that is noteworthy, it is just where the ship must dock.

 

Does the ferry excursion go through Pacific side of locks too? Or only just backing out the Caribbean side? And I assume the little ferry will use the old locks, is that right?

 

Let me start with what the "ferry" entails... When you tender off the ship to start the excursion, you will board a bus that will take you towards the Pacific side to board the ferry. It is about a hour or so ride, I say or so because it will depend on where you board the ferry. The ferry can either go from Gamboa or to the Pacific or the other way around. The Ferry will take you through Gaillard Cut, the two Pacific Locks of Pedro Miguel and Miraflores. After clearing Miraflores the ferry will sail down the Pacific entrance and terminate at one of the islands that is connected to the mainland by a causeway. As I mentioned the excursion can operate in either direction, starting at Gamboa or starting in the Pacific. The ferry does not go through Gatun Locks (old locks) on the Atlantic side, it only traverses the old Pacific Locks .

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Bill, thank you!

 

A couple more questions if you could be so kind:

 

If I go with Joy, a big NCL mega ship, will I be able to see the old locks from the top deck? If might influence my balcony choice between a port side high deck vs an aft. :D

 

And by any chance I can choose whether to go on the ferry northbound or southbound? If so, which one would you recommend? Is the bus ride somewhat more scenic one way vs the other?

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Bill, thank you!

 

A couple more questions if you could be so kind:

 

If I go with Joy, a big NCL mega ship, will I be able to see the old locks from the top deck? If might influence my balcony choice between a port side high deck vs an aft. :D

 

And by any chance I can choose whether to go on the ferry northbound or southbound? If so, which one would you recommend? Is the bus ride somewhat more scenic one way vs the other?

 

Be glad to:D... You really won't be able to see a great deal of the Gatun Locks (original locks) structure from the Joy while you are actually in the Agua Clara Locks (new locks). You will however, easily be able to see ships in the Gatun Locks. Your best bet to get a peek at the Gatun Locks will be as your ship is in the main channel approaching the junction of the channel to the new locks and original channel to Gatun Locks. On the left channel you will clearly see the new locks with 3 large steps to Gatun Lake and then on the channel to the right will be the dual flight locks of Gatun with its 3 steps up to the Lake.

 

You don't have the ability to choose the direction of the ferry, really a north or a south trip on the ferry is equally rewarding. In which direction the ferry goes on the excursion is totally dependent upon where the previous excursion ended. The bus ride on the other hand will have some repeat scenery but part of the trip will be different, since you take a different route to get to Gamboa and then a different route returning from the Pacific terminus

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molole, Of course it will be easier to see when there is more daylight and you get a little closer. The left channel is towards the Agua Clara Locks and the right channel is towards Gatun Locks. Should give you an idea of what you will able to see.

 

 

2z5n9cm.jpg

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molole, Of course it will be easier to see when there is more daylight and you get a little closer. The left channel is towards the Agua Clara Locks and the right channel is towards Gatun Locks. Should give you an idea of what you will able to see.

 

 

2z5n9cm.jpg

 

Bill, thank you so much! That's an awesome picture! :hearteyes:

 

Now maybe I should consider a forward facing cabin! :D

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