Port Side or Starboard Side??

[BR47]

Which is best for a partial Panama Canal cruise, port or starboard side?

[CruiserBruce]

Doesn't matter. Scenary is 360 degrees. Many people try to be on the bow entering the locks.

[BillB48]

Do yourself a big favor and don't hold up on your balcony on transit day, you will only see one side of the picture, literally! There will be lots of things to pique your interests and there just is no way tell what you will want to see that may be of interest. Going up on the bow is a great spot to see the operations at the locks. If you are doing a full transit you may wish to save going up on the bow until the afternoon passage through the locks as it will be a lot less crowded. Leave your choice of sides to what your preferences are for the remainder of the cruise.

[Loonbeam]

You also won't know which side of the canal your ship will be using till the night before/morning of canal day....

[Keith1010]

The best way to view the canal is to be out on the open deck. Don't worry about what side your cabin is on.

 

Keith

[bugspost]

We had balcony cabin on starboard side.........SF-FL.........we saw plenty going through canal............BUT you do need to go to forward public decks at least going through one of the 3 locks to truly appreciate it. :)

[Keith1010]

I just want to highlight that to me it's really beneficial to get out and about and to view the canal from from not only the port or starboard side but also from the back and the forward area of the ship and also from various decks.

 

Keith

[marelind]

If sunsets are your thing and its a full transit, i.e., Florida to LA, then going east to west go for port side and starboard for the other way.

[Keith1010]

Good point about the sunsets.

 

Keith

[CruiserBruce]

I have only sailed the Canal 3 times. Sunrise was a problem two times, as they usually schedule the cruise ships as close to sunrise as possible to get them plenty of daylight. But everyone was out on deck, and the locks are pretty well light up.

 

Only once was sunset ever an issue, and it was still after we sailed into the Pacific at the major bridge (Bridge of the Americas??). Sunset in the Canal has not been a problem.