Where to watch from going through the Panama Canal

[Copenhagen, Denmark]

We are going on a Cruise with Norwegian Emerald on December 4 through the Panama Canal. We are in a balcony cabin. Could anyone advice  us from where we get the best views going through the canal -  the balcony or on deck? And in case of it being the decks, should we head for the front, aft or midship?

[hallux]

1 hour ago, Copenhagen, Denmark said:

We are going on a Cruise with Norwegian Emerald on December 4

First - are you SURE you're on Norwegian?  NCL does not have a ship named 'Emerald', the only ship in the fleet on the schedule for any kind of Panama Canal cruise departing December 4 is the Norwegian Joy.

[davencl]

Whatever cruise line or ship you're on my advice is move around.  There is not one good location.

[MeHeartCruising]

I believe the OP is on the Jewel, which departs Panama City on Dec. 3, but passes thru the canal on Dec. 4th.   
 

OP, the passing thru the canal takes almost all day.  I would expect you will spend the day looking at the view from ALL the places you mention.  I walked around a lot during the process.  If your ship opens up the front area, be sure to check it out for a while.  

[Turtles06]

Whatever ship you are on, you want to view the transit of the Canal, and especially the locks, from all different perspectives on the ship — forward, aft, mid ships, high, low …

 

And I strongly suggest you read David McCullough’s “The Path Between the Seas” before you go (if you haven’t already).  You’ll appreciate the Canal so much more. 

[Elsammo46]

Norwegian has a little over two months to build and name a ship the "Emerald." Thats quite the turnaround, frankly I'm impressed 

[alwalaska]

We had a back corner balcony on Princess when we went through the canal and could see the side and some of the back of the ship at the same time, which was great.  

 

I second what the others said about moving around.  If you are doing a full transit (I guess even with the half) you go through 2 sets of locks.  For us, we got up super early and found a railing spot at the front of the ship, up high.  We watched from there as we moved into the lock and while they started getting everything ready.  Once we were closed in, we went to our cabin to sit and enjoy the next part of the process from that view.

 

For the 2nd set of locks, we went to the front again as entering, but on a lower deck, we then spend some time both at the sides and went all the way to the back of the ship to see it from that angle.  It was amazing and it was easily my favorite part of any ship time on any cruise.   It is in the top 5 of all cruise vacation activities. 

[MoCruiseFan]

2 hours ago, Copenhagen, Denmark said:

We are going on a Cruise with Norwegian Emerald on December 4 through the Panama Canal. We are in a balcony cabin. Could anyone advice  us from where we get the best views going through the canal -  the balcony or on deck? And in case of it being the decks, should we head for the front, aft or midship?

 

I cannot ADVICE you but I can ADVISE you that your balcony is just fine.  he thing that might be better up on a deck is that you can go to the other side of the ship if you want to see there as well.

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, alwalaska said:

If you are doing a full transit (I guess even with the half) you go through 2 sets of locks

 

If you are doing a full transit through the original locks, you go through three sets of locks: Gatun on the Atlantic side, and Pedro Miguel and Miraflores on the Pacific side.  If your ship goes through the new locks, there are two sets of locks:  Agua Clara on the Atlantic side, and Cocoli on the Pacific side.

[Ken the cruiser]

We have been through the Panama Canal 3 times so far, always in an aft-facing cabin. Most folks work their way to get to the bow of the ship to watch the ship entering the lock. Once cool thing, if you find a place to view your passage from the aft while going through a lock, is to see what ship is entering next. Sometimes it could be a huge car carrier or tall ship. In May while on the Caribbean Princess, it happened to be a huge cargo ship that just kept getting bigger and bigger the closer it got!

 

 

[Cruise5life]

I’m very excited for my Panama cruise in Jan on the joy through the new locks.    
15 day. LA to Mia.     
 

I need a cool excursion for Panama.    Was thinking getting on a-smaller boat to do the locks.   

Edited October 23, 2022 by Cruise5life

[MeHeartCruising]

7 minutes ago, Cruise5life said:

I’m very excited for my Panama cruise in Jan on the joy through the new locks.    
15 day. LA to Mia.     
 

I need a cool excursion for Panama.    Was thinking getting on a-smaller boat to do the locks.   

I did a partial transit on the cruise ship and the rest of it on a small boat excursion.  I loved it.  To be right down in water was very cool.  Just be reminded that there can be a lot of idle time doing the full transit.  We sat for 30-45 minutes or more multiple times as locks opened and closed and while we waited for other boats to load/unload into the locks with us.  On the small boat, there wasn’t much to do except sit and watch it happen.  Or sit and watch nothing happen.  For a long time.  But I still enjoyed it and would do it again given the opportunity. 

[bonvoyagie]

We were in a deck 10 penthouse and stayed in the cabin for most of the passage. 

[Copenhagen, Denmark]

14 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

 

I cannot ADVICE you but I can ADVISE you that your balcony is just fine.  he thing that might be better up on a deck is that you can go to the other side of the ship if you want to see there as well.

Thank you for ADVISING me. I’m sorry,  being Danish, my English is not perfect. Even the best can make a mistake, like you for example who spelled the word “the” wrong. 😜

[Copenhagen, Denmark]

16 hours ago, hallux said:

First - are you SURE you're on Norwegian?  NCL does not have a ship named 'Emerald', the only ship in the fleet on the schedule for any kind of Panama Canal cruise departing December 4 is the Norwegian Joy.

You are absolutely correct, the name of the ship is Joy 😊

[shof515]

Not sure if they do it on the joy, i read some things in past that during the panama canal crossings they provide access to the bow/helipad area in front of the ship.

[Peachypooh]

When we were on the Pearl going through the Panama Canal we booked a forward facing cabin. We did not feel the need to move around. However on other ships the view might not be as expansive. 

[roger001]

It's an all  day experience.  Get out and see it from all over the ship, different sides, different views.  

[www3traveler]

Enjoy your cruise no matter whether you roam or not.  The Joy will be using the "New Canal".  The "Orignial" has gates that fold against the walls as show in several pictures in the threads above.  The picture with the huge freighter approaching is in the "New Canal".  It is an all day adventure.