Thoughts on sailing Bliss, Joy, or Encore through Panama Canal?

[CalTexCruiser]

We are considering a sailing through the Panama Canal, and like the Haven area on these ships.

 

Any downside to booking them for the Panama Canal due to their large size?

 

Also, would getting an aft Haven suite offer any advantages in viewing the canal as we pass through?

[Seany527]

The biggest down side you’re going to hear from people is that the Breakaway+ ships go through the new set of lock and you don’t get the true authentic canal experience.  I sailed on the Joy through the canal and that was the same feedback I received when I posed a similar question. 
While I had a wonderful time on the cruise and through the canal, I do agree with the comment in retrospect. I’ve just booked a cruise last night to go back through the canal on the Jewel. I don’t really like smaller, older ships, but I want that true canal experience. 
 

To touch on which ship, I personally really like the Bliss due to Los Lobos and Jersey Boys. It would be a hard pass on the Encore due to no H2O even if I was staying in the Haven. Overall though, I would choose the ship that had an itinerary I was most interested in since they are essentially the same. 
 

I would also highly recommend an aft Haven balcony. It provided shade and a different perspective. Ask your butler to bring you breakfast. 

 

 

Overall I would recommend staying in the Haven. The extra space in public decks is really worth the price. Below is the public viewing area vs the Haven area.  However, you should still move around the ship and get the different view points. 
 

 

 

Let us know which ship you choose. 

[ClevelandCruisin]

1 hour ago, CalTexCruiser said:

We are considering a sailing through the Panama Canal, and like the Haven area on these ships.

 

Any downside to booking them for the Panama Canal due to their large size?

 

Also, would getting an aft Haven suite offer any advantages in viewing the canal as we pass through?

The ships fit through the new locks. Being aft is the only way I'd want to see the full locks if staying on the ship. 

 

The only disadvantage to be aft is you wouldn't get photos of the locks opening. But it'll be packed with everyone in the front of the ship.

[nhtravels]

45 minutes ago, Seany527 said:

 

I would also highly recommend an aft Haven balcony. It provided shade and a different perspective. Ask your butler to bring you breakfast. 

 

 

Overall I would recommend staying in the Haven. The extra space in public decks is really worth the price. Below is the public viewing area vs the Haven area.  However, you should still move around the ship and get the different view points. 
 

 

 

Let us know which ship you choose. 

Thank you for sharing these pictures!  DH and I are booked in an HB for Feb 2022 for our first Panama Canal cruise.  I was almost wishing we were in the Haven proper, but seeing breakfast on your balcony confirmed we made the right choice last April when we booked it!   

[trivimp]

Jewel-class all the way!  The original locks are so redolent of history.  You also will see the remnants of the original French canal on the starboard side (coming east to west,) which you'll miss on ships diverted to the new locks. 

 

I'm a history nerd, so it mattered to me.  🙂  Of course, now I want to book another Panama cruise on a neopanamax ship just to get a new experience 🙂 

[ClevelandCruisin]

We went on the Pearl, but not through the canal. 

 

The first 2 photos are from our balcony.  The last 2 are from the excursion we did through the canal.

[BabsinTX]

I've gone through the Canal in forward and aft suites.  I prefer forward facing, but both have good points.  In the aft, you see things that are immediately receding from you.  Facing forward, things are visible in the distance and moving towards you.  

[tallnthensome]

We did the Bliss full transit a couple years ago and it was spectacular. There is great viewing all around the ship. The locks themselves, to me, is a slow boring process. The canal itself is beautiful. We had thermal spa passes and sat in the heated stone loungers in in the spa which face directly aft for spectacular and most comfortable viewing of the canal transit. I wouldn't want to to take any other ship through the canal than the Bliss. Perfect combo .....

[Shellbelle28]

16 hours ago, Seany527 said:

 I’ve just booked a cruise last night to go back through the canal on the Jewel. I don’t really like smaller, older ships, but I want that true canal experience. 
 

Seany527, the Jewel really is lovely (the Pearl too!). It doesn't feel old at all. We sailed her in early 2020 to Australia/NZ in an aft penthouse suite and it was a fantastic experience. The the Haven is small and doesn't have a separate restaurant, just a courtyard, so the aft suites don't have access, but the breakfast and lunch for Haven and suite guests is in Moderno and is a great alternative. We're the opposite to you, our preference is the small ships, but we are booked on the Bliss 10/24/21 Mexican Riviera and I'm looking at it with some trepidation! 

[Oakman58]

For a first time through the Panama Canal I would do a smaller Jewel Class ship that goes through the old locking system.  In the old locking system locomotives (mules) are used to keep the ship centered within the locks.  The new canal uses tugboats.  Also the old locks have two transit lanes.  I think a transit through the old locks is fascinating.  Here are a few pics from our transit on the star from Miami to LA.

 

This first picture was taken while waiting to enter the Gatun Locks.  Notice how much higher the ships in the background are.

 

Once in the lock we wait as the water rises to the level of the next lock.

 

When the correct water level is achieved the lock opens. Notice how much higher the ship is, also one of the locomotive helping guide the ship can be seen on the lower left.

 

As we approached the Pedro Miguel Locks you can see the new canal channel for the bigger ships breaking off to the right.

 

If you're only going to go through the Panama Canal once in your life, the old locks are the way to go.  That's just my opinion of course.

[ImADaneFan]

I have to agree that if this is going to be a bucket list trip and you don’t expect to go through the Canal again, definitely do it on a smaller ship so you can go through the old locks.  I’ve been through the Canal 3 times so far.  The 1st was on the Star, going through the original locks and it was amazing.  I did the inaugural PC on the Bliss and a 21 day on the Bliss Nov of 2019.  The trips on the Bliss were also great, but it doesn’t have the same history of the original locks.

Also, the larger ships have an issue going under the Bridge of the Americas.  The ship has to wait until low tide so they can pass under the bridge.  On our inaugural (west bound) trip we had to wait in the locks for several hours before we were allowed to exit. On our trip in November ‘19 (east bound) we had to go under the bridge at midnight, so our canal transit wasn’t actually a “full daylight transit”. There were a lot of passengers that were angry because so much of the transit was while it was dark.

I will say that on our November transit we had a front facing balcony and it was Amazing!  Here’s a video from our balcony entering the lock at 1am. Here’s the ship photographer taking pics of us taking pics of him.  😂

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We have done one full transit on the Jewel and two partial transits on Jewel class ships but I forget exactly which one.   We had an aft balcony on the full transit and it was wonderful.  We did have soot on the balcony two mornings, but otherwise it was fine.  Two out of 16 days was not too bad.

 

I agree that the old locks provide a superior experience to the newer ones.  And I have always enjoyed the more personal feel of the smaller ships, which NCL has done a good job of keeping them fresh.

 

we have booked the Jewel for another trip in February of 23.

 

and before you go, you MUST read “A Path Between the Sea” by David McCallum.  You will understand the history and challenges of building the Canal and be able to appreciate what you are seeing so much better.  It’s a great read. 

[Seany527]

15 hours ago, ImADaneFan said:

On our trip in November ‘19 (east bound) we had to go under the bridge at midnight, so our canal transit wasn’t actually a “full daylight transit”. There were a lot of passengers that were angry because so much of the transit was while it was dark.

I will say that on our November transit we had a front facing balcony and it was Amazing!  Here’s a video from our balcony entering the lock at 1am. Here’s the ship photographer taking pics of us taking pics of him.  😂

Seriously...they went through the locks at night? I’m not at all surprised by NCL 🙄

[ImADaneFan]

We only went through the Cocoli Locks at night, but we were in Lake Gatun before it was light out.  So we went under the Centennial Bridge while it was still dark.  Unfortunately, that’s what happens when they have to wait to schedule their time slot for the locks for low tide.

Linda

[delaware32]

We did our first full transit on the Pearl ( Jewel class) so it went through the "old" canal . Fascinating . In February we are doing a full transit on the Bliss from Miami so this time we'll sail the new locks . Looking forward to it .

 

[CalTexCruiser]

Thanks all for your great insights

 

i did not realize there were old locks and new locks

 

This is a bucket list trip we ll do just once so going through the old locks will be important to us

[rebeccatp]

On 7/14/2021 at 12:44 AM, tallnthensome said:

We did the Bliss full transit a couple years ago and it was spectacular. There is great viewing all around the ship. The locks themselves, to me, is a slow boring process. The canal itself is beautiful. We had thermal spa passes and sat in the heated stone loungers in in the spa which face directly aft for spectacular and most comfortable viewing of the canal transit. I wouldn't want to to take any other ship through the canal than the Bliss. Perfect combo .....

We did the same. Watched some from our balcony, some on the in room tv, but most from the heated loungers in the thermal spa on the Bliss, giving us the perfect aft view. We had originally booked the Haven on that cruise, but downgraded ourselves to Spa Balcony at final payment (after having spent way too much on our wedding). For us, it was great. We did tour the Haven with some guests who we made friends with and were staying there. Looked nice, if that's the vibe you're going for. Maybe we'll give the Haven a try one of these days.

[STARFISH*4]

Did the Canal both times thru the old locks-you have to experience that-it’s so cool.   Star first time and then the Jewel-Star was the best everything about that cruise-my favorite to date!

Next time we do the PC I think we will try a larger ship just to get both of the Canal experiences!

Enjoy the PC it definitely will be memorable!

 

[SouthLyonCruiser]

If the history of the canal is your reason for going on this cruise, take the smaller ships. If it doesn't matter to you go for the bigger ship if all the amenities is what your cruise is about, it doesn't matter.