Best Night for Balcony Dinner - Ft Lauderdale - Los Angeles Panama Cruise?

[ALB0711]

Wondering if anybody has experience with balcony dinners on a full Panama transit? I had heard that some Panama cruises anchor just outside the canal the night before the transit, but that doesn't appear to be the case with our cruise departing 12/5 on the Island Princess because we'll be in Cartagena the day before the transit and suspect the ship will be traveling as fast as it can to make the 6:30AM canal entry time.

 

Hoping we can find a night where the ship is traveling slow to avoid the wind and motion.

 

Any advice appreciated!

[Colo Cruiser]

Wondering if anybody has experience with balcony dinners on a full Panama transit? I had heard that some Panama cruises anchor just outside the canal the night before the transit, but that doesn't appear to be the case with our cruise departing 12/5 on the Island Princess because we'll be in Cartagena the day before the transit and suspect the ship will be traveling as fast as it can to make the 6:30AM canal entry time.

 

Hoping we can find a night where the ship is traveling slow to avoid the wind and motion.

 

Any advice appreciated!

 

We always do ours to coincide with a port departure.

I believe the anchoring you are thinking about is only on select cruises that do a 2 day canal experience on the Pacific side (Panama City).

[Nancyquilts]

In March on the Island we had the balcony dinner on the Panama Canal day. It was perfect as the ship was late and we could see the new locks being constructed during dinner.

[ALB0711]

That's a good idea Nancy - I suppose even if we exit the canal at 5:30 as planned, we'll still be moving slowly through the canal traffic as we make our way to open sea. Thx!

[ceilie1]

We have done and enjoyed our Balcony dinner twice leaving Aruba at sunset.

I know you will enjoy it when ever you choose to do your Balcony dinner:).

[Loonbeam]

We did ours Cartagena night. It was a bit windy but not too bad. Aruba night was our backup plan because it was a short port day on our itinerary. Inside the Canal might not be a bad idea as well.. Could make for a nice photo op.