Just back from 14 day Freedom Panama Canal cruise-any question

[Cruiserbarbie]

Also: Aruba, Curacoa, Grand Cayman, Cartegena, Colombia, Limon, Costa Rica is any questions. 

[Lottacruises]

Yeah, how about that ride from cayman to Aruba? Bumpy enough for you???

[N7786W Flyer]

 

9 hours ago, Lottacruises said:

Yeah, how about that ride from cayman to Aruba? Bumpy enough for you???

 

My wife and I were on this cruise...and unfortunately, we and another couple we were traveling with, had the forward-looking Scenic Oceanview rooms.  They were great for the Panama Canal transit, but no so great in seas between Grand Cayman and Aruba.

 

Everything else on the cruise was wonderful though.

 

Garnett

[Denise Betts]

We were on this cruise also. We had a good time in spite of rough seas. We saw many people with special tee shirts they had ordered though the cruise critic group on facebook. I am not on facebook but would love to order shirts if possible. If someone can let me know how to reach the creator of these shirts i would greatly appreciate it. I am sorry we missed catching up with the cruise critic group. I kept checking the daily paper but didn't see anything posted. Thank you to whom ever can help me.

[jake97]

Did you tour canal in Limon? We are thinking of that and then playa Bonita, just grabbing cab or van at pier. Also no excursion in Panama just thinking cab to locks observation center and back.  Comments on either welcome 

[leedm]

Can you tell us about the day when ship went through the panama canal. What to look for and did Carnival do anything special on that day

 

Thanks

[Lottacruises]

They brought a speaker onboard who narrated the trip through. They have some vendors come on also and sell things. In my opinion, not really special was done. 

 

The trip through was fun, takes about 15 minutes for each lock to fill or empty so you can go to the next one. The whole way through to the lake is a couple of hours. 

 

We went to a river in limon that was cool, and went around the city on a bus. It's recommended to do carnival excursions only there, so only go on your own after you have educated yourself as to what you may expect or encounter.

[dolfndreams]

Denise, I bought a couple of the shirts, not sure if the sizing is right for you. One is basic T shirt and one is the one with quarter length sleeves (sorry forgot what the type is called, actually like that one better but again I don't really wear cruise swag or T shirts in general, not sure why I bought the but I did like the pattern and bought on impulse. They haven't been worn.  If the sizes work for you I'll send them to you. 

 

I'll look at the sizes today. Not sure how we can connect though since no instant messenger. If you are comfortable putting email I'll email you the sizes.

 

The trip was amazing by the way. We had the grand scenic oceanview, perfect for the Panama Canal. Rough seas but since no seasickness actually enjoyed that. Ports were great and some of the most amazing sunrise, sunset's I've seen on a cruise.  Enjoyed the panama canal transit also. Always wondered why people recommend this cruise and now I know. Now we want to go back and try the old locks.

Edited February 18, 2019 by dolfndreams

[Roz]

Barbie, 

 

I'm doing a full transit on the Miracle next year.  It's 13 days.  Did your menus repeat, or were there 14 different ones?

 

Roz 

[Denise Betts]

On 2/18/2019 at 4:51 AM, dolfndreams said:

Denise, I bought a couple of the shirts, not sure if the sizing is right for you. One is basic T shirt and one is the one with quarter length sleeves (sorry forgot what the type is called, actually like that one better but again I don't really wear cruise swag or T shirts in general, not sure why I bought the but I did like the pattern and bought on impulse. They haven't been worn.  If the sizes work for you I'll send them to you. 

 

I'll look at the sizes today. Not sure how we can connect though since no instant messenger. If you are comfortable putting email I'll email you the sizes.

 

The trip was amazing by the way. We had the grand scenic oceanview, perfect for the Panama Canal. Rough seas but since no seasickness actually enjoyed that. Ports were great and some of the most amazing sunrise, sunset's I've seen on a cruise.  Enjoyed the panama canal transit also. Always wondered why people recommend this cruise and now I know. Now we want to go back and try the old locks.

Thank you for your reply. I was told by several passengers that one of the cruise critic passengers had taken orders and are shirts printed with all of the ports and dates of the ports on them. They were really nice. Those were the ones I was looking for.

 

[N7786W Flyer]

On 2/18/2019 at 8:19 AM, Roz said:

Barbie, 

 

I'm doing a full transit on the Miracle next year.  It's 13 days.  Did your menus repeat, or were there 14 different ones?

 

Roz 

 

Best that I remember, the menus did not repeat throughout the cruise...a different menu for each of the 14 days.

 

Garnett

[Roz]

7 hours ago, N7786W Flyer said:

 

Best that I remember, the menus did not repeat throughout the cruise...a different menu for each of the 14 days.

 

Garnett

Thank you, Garnett. That's what I was hoping for.  Were some of the menu items representative of the countries you visited?

 

Roz 

[N7786W Flyer]

24 minutes ago, Roz said:

Thank you, Garnett. That's what I was hoping for.  Were some of the menu items representative of the countries you visited?

 

Roz 

 

Yes, each night there was a section of the menu inspired by the ship's location.

 

Garnett

[Anyislandwilldo]

On 2/17/2019 at 12:53 PM, Lottacruises said:

They brought a speaker onboard who narrated the trip through. They have some vendors come on also and sell things. In my opinion, not really special was done. 

 

The trip through was fun, takes about 15 minutes for each lock to fill or empty so you can go to the next one. The whole way through to the lake is a couple of hours. 

 

We went to a river in limon that was cool, and went around the city on a bus. It's recommended to do carnival excursions only there, so only go on your own after you have educated yourself as to what you may expect or encounter.

I would like to know what time you are arrive in the canal and after you get through, what do you do?  Then how long does it take to go back through and out to the sea.  Thanks.

[ricew001]

Are the seas normally rough on this itinerary? and for how many nights?

[TrqoisWtrs]

12 hours ago, Denise Betts said:

Thank you for your reply. I was told by several passengers that one of the cruise critic passengers had taken orders and are shirts printed with all of the ports and dates of the ports on them. They were really nice. Those were the ones I was looking for.

 

Hi Denise, a lot of cruise groups order here.  Maybe you can find the shirt you are interested in?

 

https://customcruisewear.com/cruise-shirts/

[N7786W Flyer]

3 hours ago, Anyislandwilldo said:

I would like to know what time you are arrive in the canal and after you get through, what do you do?  Then how long does it take to go back through and out to the sea.  Thanks.

 

For our cruise, we arrived at the Canal around 8am.  It took about 2.5 hours or so to transit through the locks to Gatun Lake.  Once in Gatun Lake, we dropped anchor just outside the canal and awaited our turn (there were ships already there lined up to go from Gatun Lake to the Atlantic Side) to make the return trip through the Canal.  Best that I remember, we had to wait about 3 hours to begin our return transit.

 

While at anchor, all we did was basically wait...there were no shore excursions offered.

 

All-in-all, the transit from start to finish took all day.  We arrived around 8am, but didn't actually exit the Canal until after dark...around 6:30 or so I'd estimate.

 

Garnett

Edited March 8, 2019 by N7786W Flyer

[Anyislandwilldo]

1 hour ago, N7786W Flyer said:

 

For our cruise, we arrived at the Canal around 8am.  It took about 2.5 hours or so to transit through the locks to Gatun Lake.  Once in Gatun Lake, we dropped anchor just outside the canal and awaited our turn (there were ships already there lined up to go from Gatun Lake to the Atlantic Side) to make the return trip through the Canal.  Best that I remember, we had to wait about 3 hours to begin our return transit.

 

While at anchor, all we did was basically wait...there were no shore excursions offered.

 

All-in-all, the transit from start to finish took all day.  We arrived around 8am, but didn't actually exit the Canal until after dark...around 6:30 or so I'd estimate.

 

Garnett

Thank you so much for the details.  Appreciate it!!

[Cruiserbarbie]

Interesting fact: in noting the transit time that it took virtually all day and in daylight hours was that cruise ships (of at least Carnival Freedom) pay $660,000 to transit during daylight hours for pax enjoyment.  Otherwise ships wait their turn as the Canal is open 24/7. Certainly would not benefit cruisers to sail through in the middle of the night!