Partial vs Full transit

[siren]

Any opinions on which is better?  Obviously one is longer.  Will I be missing out on a lot (FOMO) if I do the partial??

[CruiserBruce]

Discussed here many, many times. A full transit is always more desirable. You are missing, unless you take an excursion that completes the Canal on a ferry, about 3/4s of the distance of the Canal.

 

There can be logistical issues for some people in terms of one way flights to start of cruise, or home from ending. But, IMHO, not really that big an issue.

 

But if all you can do is a partial, go for it.

[njhorseman]

35 minutes ago, siren said:

Any opinions on which is better?  Obviously one is longer.  Will I be missing out on a lot (FOMO) if I do the partial??

Not only is a full transit preferable but you should also try to sail on what is called a Panamax ship...a ship that can use the original locks. A transit through the new locks is not nearly as interesting. 

[Cruise Suzy]

Just returned from a partial transit cruise with the excursion that went thru the Pacific locks. We were aboard the ship as it went thru the Atlantic locks, tendered to shore, rode a bus to the ferry, went thru the Pacific locks aboard the ferry and then boarded the bus back to Colon.

 

As noted above our decision was based on length of cruise and round trip from Florida. (DH does like flying or being away from home for more than 10-12 days)

 

While we did miss nearly all of Gatun Lake, we did experience going through the Pacific locks at water level rather than high above on the cruise ship. A much different perspective. Our excursion also included going over the new locks to get to the highway that leads to the ferry.

 

It fit our needs and provided some perspective not available on a full transit.

[hubofhockey]

I am thinking of booking an Azamara cruise that goes from Miami to Fuerte Amador, Panama.  I am assuming that this is a partial transit, but that we could easily do an excursion once in Panama that would do the locks on the other side.  Is this correct?  If not, maybe three is enough and we'd do something else in Panama before flying home to Florida.

[CruiserBruce]

32 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

I am thinking of booking an Azamara cruise that goes from Miami to Fuerte Amador, Panama.  I am assuming that this is a partial transit, but that we could easily do an excursion once in Panama that would do the locks on the other side.  Is this correct?  If not, maybe three is enough and we'd do something else in Panama before flying home to Florida.

No, full transit. Fuerte Amador is on the Pacific side of Panama.

[hubofhockey]

18 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

No, full transit. Fuerte Amador is on the Pacific side of Panama.

 

Thank you so much for that information.  Perfect.  

[CruiseMomTX]

On 2/5/2023 at 12:56 PM, njhorseman said:

Not only is a full transit preferable but you should also try to sail on what is called a Panamax ship...a ship that can use the original locks. A transit through the new locks is not nearly as interesting. 

Thank you everyone for the information.  What is a Panamax ship?

[CruiseMomTX]

I forgot to ask if any of the Royal Caribbean Ships do a full transit through the old locks?

[BillB48]

The Vision and Radiance class ships use the original locks.  To date Royal has not sent any of their larger ships through the Canal.  Many of their larger ships such as the Oasis class won't fit under the Bridge of Americas. 

 

At the top of this forum there is a pinned post Panamax Ships, the last post in that thread has a fairly complete list of ships from various cruise lines that can use the original locks.  Royal Carib is listed with all of their ships that can use the old locks.

[CruiseMomTX]

23 minutes ago, BillB48 said:

The Vision and Radiance class ships use the original locks.  To date Royal has not sent any of their larger ships through the Canal.  Many of their larger ships such as the Oasis class won't fit under the Bridge of Americas. 

 

At the top of this forum there is a pinned post Panamax Ships, the last post in that thread has a fairly complete list of ships from various cruise lines that can use the original locks.  Royal Carib is listed with all of their ships that can use the old locks.

Thank you!!  We are sailing on the Radiance for the first time on 2/27 and visiting Colon & Cartagena for the first time and are excited.  I think we finally decided on the Eco Cruise on Gatun Lake for our Colon excursion.  We wanted to do one that went through some of the locks but after reading how long of a day it is and then sometimes the tours get stuck behind canal traffic causing the excursion to last even longer we changed our minds for now.  Considering a cruise in the Fall on the Radiance that does the full transit.

[BillB48]

By all means go for the full transit and the Radiance is a great ship for the Canal, lots of topside, forward viewing areas as well as the bow is open for passengers to view the transit from there as well.  I know the tour that takes you through the Pacific Locks and Gaillard Cut can wind up being a long day,  but not every one of those tours end up being hopelessly delayed with late return to the ship.  Even though you are planning a full transit, this excursion provides a different experience being on a smaller vessel, very different from when you transit on a large ship.  Give the excursion another thought when you visit Colon.  Whatever you eventually wind up doing... enjoy!

[CruiseMomTX]

1 hour ago, BillB48 said:

By all means go for the full transit and the Radiance is a great ship for the Canal, lots of topside, forward viewing areas as well as the bow is open for passengers to view the transit from there as well.  I know the tour that takes you through the Pacific Locks and Gaillard Cut can wind up being a long day,  but not every one of those tours end up being hopelessly delayed with late return to the ship.  Even though you are planning a full transit, this excursion provides a different experience being on a smaller vessel, very different from when you transit on a large ship.  Give the excursion another thought when you visit Colon.  Whatever you eventually wind up doing... enjoy!

Thank you so much for your help!  We don't do a transit on the 2/27 sailing just a stop in Colon and will rethink the tour options.  But we are also looking at a Fall or later sailing that would do a full transit.

[son3cruisers]

On 2/7/2023 at 1:06 PM, CruiseMomTX said:

I forgot to ask if any of the Royal Caribbean Ships do a full transit through the old locks?

We booked a Royal ship for a Panama cruise in March 2024. 7 nights.

Rhapsody of the Sea.

Starts in Panama city ( which I've just recently learnt is  Fuerte Amador), visits Puntarenas and Quepos, Costa Rica then does a full transit through the locks to Cartagena and disembarks in Colon. This is all new to us so any advice is welcomed! Such great info on this forum.

Too soon to book flights, but looks like COPA airlines has some good flights ( times) out of Miami to PTY. Hoping there will be some information on transfers or how to get from the airport to the different cruise terminals posted by Royal soon.

Fun is in the planning!

 

[Ashland]

We did the full transit this past October on RCI Serenade from San Pedro Ca. to Tampa Florida and it was just amazing. So glad I booked this the minute the schedule came out and got an OS at a great price. Sailing from our home port meant only a one way flight home from Tampa.

[Travel Junkie Judy]

On 2/7/2023 at 12:05 PM, CruiseMomTX said:

Thank you everyone for the information.  What is a Panamax ship?

He is referring to smaller ships that go through the original locks.  The "mega" ships have to go through the newer locks, which are not as interesting.

Judy

[cfkm1]

Did a partial transit and 2 full transits (both direction) ..Still enjoy every experiences.

 

 

[lenquixote66]

We did a partial ,big mistake