Pearl-Panama Canal cruise-forward facing penthouse suite-tips

[bguppies]

My Parents (70's) and my Aunt and Uncle have gotten side by side forward facing penthouse balcony suites for the canal cruise on the Pearl next month.

 

Looking at the ship diagrams, it looks like the views from their front facing balconies during the transit of the canal should be amazing. (great advance planning on their parts)

 

Just curious from anybody who has done this cabin or the canal cruise in general would have any suggestions I could pass on to them, to make their cruise as easy and enjoyable as possible.

 

Couple of questions I know they have been asking about....

 

1) best way to get from LA port to LAX for their flight home.

(they have the departure port handled)

 

2) can they get extension cords from the ship to use with their heating pads for their various ailments?

 

Thanks in advance

[time2cruise1]

Having done it twice in forward penthouses bring plenty of sunscreen. No real shade. They should bring their own extension cords.

[Kamloops50]

They also should move around the ship to see the canal from different angles. If there is a promenade deck . It's nice to be that low and actually see walls close up. They should probably try and other some kind of car service . Taxi is expensive ($80) and they will need two or a van. Check that the cruise line doesn't have sell transferred to LAX. If in Long Beach add about $40 to the taxi .

Edited March 5, 2016 by Kamloops50

[Linda the Book Lover]

They can book Prime or Super Shuttle in advance. They can do a fake booking first and check the prices and also look for discounts online there are always alot. We have had better luck with Prime in LA.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Linda the Book Lover

[Freespir8]

My Parents (70's) and my Aunt and Uncle have gotten side by side forward facing penthouse balcony suites for the canal cruise on the Pearl next month.

 

Looking at the ship diagrams, it looks like the views from their front facing balconies during the transit of the canal should be amazing. (great advance planning on their parts)

 

Just curious from anybody who has done this cabin or the canal cruise in general would have any suggestions I could pass on to them, to make their cruise as easy and enjoyable as possible.

 

Couple of questions I know they have been asking about....

 

1) best way to get from LA port to LAX for their flight home.

(they have the departure port handled)

 

2) can they get extension cords from the ship to use with their heating pads for their various ailments?

 

Thanks in advance

 

We have used Super Shuttle each time we have flown into Lax for our cruises. It's the cheapest option and easy to do.

 

Agreed with another poster on bringing your own extension cord.

 

Panama Canal was one of our favorite cruises. We loved every minute. We have the forward facing penthouse for our next B2B cruise on the Dawn. I can't offer any personal experience yet but after October, I will.

 

I am sure they will have a wonderful time!

[bguppies]

Thanks for the responses so far.

It's much appreciated.

 

I've been trying to help them out with researching the shuttles.

Reviews on travel sites are all over the place for the same service.

Seemingly all 1 star or 5 star with little in between.

[Turtles06]

I've been trying to help them out with researching the shuttles.

Reviews on travel sites are all over the place for the same service.

Seemingly all 1 star or 5 star with little in between.

 

Have you researched or asked about this on the West Coast Departures Board?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=413

 

You'll get more folks there than just NCL cruisers, and I've generally found the port-specific boards to have helpful local experts as well. (I can't speak to that board as we haven't sailed from or to the West Coast [yet!].)

 

Have your parents/aunt/uncle read "The Path Between the Seas?"

 

You're wonderful to help out your family like this. I hope they have a great trip!

[cb at sea]

You do NOT want top plant yourselves on the balcony for the transit! You will miss 3/4 of the sights! Go to an upper deck...side to side, stem to stern....then head to a lower promenade deck...you get a totally different "feel" down low than up high!!

[bguppies]

They plan on starting on deck then winding up on their balcony.

They want to see the workings up close.

Edited March 5, 2016 by bguppies

[marelind]

We have done the PC cruise twice from forward facing cabins on deck 10, once on Pearl and once on Jewel. We loved it! The first cruise I got up before dawn as we sailed into the bay. I could see the lights of Gatun locks. As dawn broke we could easily see the locks. We were in the Owner's Suite so we had the front balcony and the side facing balcony. I didn't feel any need to see the canal from any other vantage point, so I would agree that if they are in the penthouse cabins they might want to go to the side of the ship for one of the sets of locks so they can see the view from there.

 

We live in LA and both Prime Time Shuttle and Super Shuttle run vans between the port and LAX. If you book a shared shuttle ahead of time all you have to do once you get out of the building is cross to the island, find the supervisor, check in with them and they will put you in the line. As new shuttles come in they fill them up and send them off.

 

We prefer to have a private van pick us up. We still check in with the supervisor, but there is a specific van that is reserved for us. They arrived within about 15-20 minutes. We are booked with Prime Time for a private van for our next cruise. We canceled with Go Sedan because they changed their booking site and it was too frustrating.

[put me on a ship]

We had a forward penthouse this past December, and it was the BEST view on the ship! My engineer husband felt no need to go to any other deck to view the locks, and actually, I went to one of the lower decks, and it was much better from our balcony.

 

We even brought binoculars, but really didn't use them.

 

We invited 2 other couples to watch the transit, and our butler brought lunch from the suite restaurant for all of us, and plenty of afternoon snacks to share!

 

Make sure you use sunscreen, there really isn't any shade on those balconies. Bug spray too, since you're going so slow.

 

One more thing, when you're sailing, make sure you close the heavy outer door to the balcony. We didn't the first night. The inner door is not airtight, so the room temperature was affected, not too mention the annoying whistling sound! LOL

[VideoTech]

............

One more thing, when you're sailing, make sure you close the heavy outer door to the balcony. We didn't the first night. The inner door is not airtight, so the room temperature was affected, not too mention the annoying whistling sound! LOL

 

Although we have not yet done the Canal on the Pearl, we have done many other cruises on her and the forward facing Penthouse suites are our favorite cabins.

 

Regarding the outer door: It's quite heavy, and you need to be careful closing it in any kind of wind. You wouldn't want to get a finger or hand caught in it if it slammed closed. I would definitely agree with closing it at night, but you might want to ask your cabin steward to take care of this for you.

[Cuizer2]

 

 

 

 

 

[toyotaford]

We did the PC on the Jewel last spring. As others have said get many different views. We had the GV but spent a bit of time traveling to other areas of the ship. It was an amazing cruise and we hope to do it again in the near future.

[kdzkatz]

We did the PC on the Jewel last spring. As others have said get many different views. We had the GV but spent a bit of time traveling to other areas of the ship. It was an amazing cruise and we hope to do it again in the near future.

 

You sure know how to do it up in style! I don't blame you for staying in the GV so often. You are super nice people too! You invited us to see your room on our honeymoon cruise to Alaska in 2014. We were at the Meet & Greet. Someday we hope to cruise in the GV. :D

Edited March 7, 2016 by kdzkatz