Partial Panama Transit ?

[cruisequeen4ever]

Does the ship actually go through the locks on the Partial Panama Canal Transit? Or do you have to book an excursion to take a boat through? It shows the ship as going to Colon, Panama, but it doesn't say anything about going through the Panama Canal despite it being called a Panama Canal cruise.

[Kamloops50]

It goes thru the locks and then anchors in Gatun Lake . Drops of people for tours then exits via the same locks and goes to Colon . Docking there is pick up passengers from the tours.

[chengkp75]

Does the ship actually go through the locks on the Partial Panama Canal Transit? Or do you have to book an excursion to take a boat through? It shows the ship as going to Colon, Panama, but it doesn't say anything about going through the Panama Canal despite it being called a Panama Canal cruise.

 

The ship will go through the Atlantic locks and then anchor in Gatun Lake before retracing its route out the Atlantic locks. You will not see the Gailliard Cut or the Pacific locks unless you take the excursion.

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes you will transit the locks. I would suggest you take a ships tour otherwise you will not be allowed to disembark while the ship is on Gatun Lake.

[BosoxI]

And we took the train to the west coast from the lake. Tour made a stop at the locks so we could see shops actually passing by. Nice train, two different classes, if you do it, just get the lower class. It's excellent and you'll see as much. I've never crossed the continent more quickly.

[skynight]

The Coral and Island Princess go through the locks. If you are on the Caribbean Princess cruise that stops at Colon that ship does not fit through the current locks.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Thank you, everyone. I really want to do the full transit but need to convince DH. [emoji6]

[Talisker92]

Having done both, I prefer the partial transit.The full transit made very few stops on the Pacific side.

Below is a link to our story of a partial transit on the Coral Princess.

http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/panamacana2010.pdf

We are happy to answer any questions.

[cb at sea]

The partial is a great "taste" of the canal...no need to do any excursion, as the transitting of the locks IS an excursion!!! What I like is you don't need to fly across country with the partial...it's a much easier trip! You go thru 3 sets of locks...spend most of the day in the lake (which is pleasant), and then go back out the way you came in!

 

DO make sure that it IS a "partial"...not all are, and you don't really want one that doesn't go to Lake Gatun.

[sawtooth]

We did the partial on the Island Princess and loved it.

We did do the excursion on a smaller boat through the rest of the locks and to Panama City and the Pacific Ocean.

I highly recommend it. It's interesting and fascinationg, although It can be a long day and get pretty hot.

[TW6cruiser]

We did the partial on the Coral last fall, as we could drive to FLL from our vacation home in Florida and did not have airfare to the west coast. On the canal day, we took the excursion to the expansion center to see the new lock construction and to the locks visitor center, which was cool as we got to see our ship go back out of the locks when we were there. One day I may want to do a full canal trip to see the bridge of the americas and ports on the west potion, but the partial was a good way to see the locks and the lake.

[NavyVeteran]

Thank you, everyone. I really want to do the full transit but need to convince DH. [emoji6]

 

Even if your ship does a partial transit, you can still do a full transit. Book the Princess excursion that takes you through the locks to the Pacific on a small boat.

[JimAOk1945]

We did the Partial Transit on the Island Princess last December during Christmas week. It was exciting and we were very happy with our experience.

 

We stayed aboard while the ship was on Gatun Lake and watched the "transit" from our balcony as well as different vantage points around the ship. Then, when the ship retraced its path and docked in Colon, we went ashore for some window shopping.

 

You might enjoy viewing the slide shows my wife made with pictures she took on our cruise. They include our shore excursions as well as pictures taken aboard the ship.

 

Here is a link that will take you directly to the section containing the slide shows on this cruise.

 

Christmas Partial Transit Panama Canal Cruise

 

Happy cruising!

Edited August 5, 2015 by JimAOk1945

[Colo Cruiser]

Great photos. I remember looking at them when you first posted them. :D

[JimAOk1945]

Great photos. I remember looking at them when you first posted them. :D

 

Thanks for the compliment on my wife's pictures.

Edited August 5, 2015 by JimAOk1945

[ChiefBoats]

We have done the full transit, Ft Lauderdale to LA, and really enjoyed it. We are scheduled for the partial in November 2016. Yes you go into Gatun Lake. It is a three lock transit and then back out the three later.

 

__________________________________________

Island Princess 2008 Alaska, Island Princess 2009 (B2B) Alaska, Royal Princess (Old) 2010 Alaska, Golden Princess 2011 Alaska, Coral Princess 2012 Panama Canal, Star Princess 2012 Alaska, Island Princess 2013 Alaska, Crown Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Caribbean Princess 2013 Western Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 Eastern Caribbean, Royal Princess 2014 New England, Emerald Princess 2014 Western Caribbean, Emerald Princess 2015 Western Caribbean, Ruby Princess 2015 Alaska

[BroncoLvrs]

DH and I did a full transit which we enjoyed. Next time we will just do a partial. We enjoyed the Atlantic side of the locks much more than the Pacific side. Enjoy your cruise!

[AE_Collector]

Tour made a stop at the locks so we could see shops actually passing by.

 

Well, I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. What were the Shops that passed by? Let me guess, Diamonds International, Tanzanite International, Cariloah.....

 

(Sorry, I couldn't resist)

 

Terry

[minniem]

Having done both, I prefer the partial transit.The full transit made very few stops on the Pacific side.

Below is a link to our story of a partial transit on the Coral Princess.

http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/panamacana2010.pdf

We are happy to answer any questions.

 

I am so glad I came across this post as yesterday DH and I were talking about doing a partial transit because he doesn't like to fly and we winter in FL. Leaving from and returning to FL is perfect for us. Your review was a big help. Thank you for posting it.

[BosoxI]

Well, I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. What were the Shops that passed by? Let me guess, Diamonds International, Tanzanite International, Cariloah.....

 

(Sorry, I couldn't resist)

 

Terry

 

You're forgiven. I'm pedantic, too