Cruise vs Onshore Tour of Panama Canal

[szafran]

We are considering a tour of the Panama Canal and have been told we can view the Canal without going on a cruise. We fly to Panama, book a hotel and then tour the Canal on our own. Any recommendations, feedback or help is appreciated.

[Turtles06]

20 minutes ago, szafran said:

We are considering a tour of the Panama Canal and have been told we can view the Canal without going on a cruise. We fly to Panama, book a hotel and then tour the Canal on our own. Any recommendations, feedback or help is appreciated.

 

It would be helpful if you would be more specific.  You can certainly "view" the Canal without going on a cruise, but that's all it is, a view.  When you say "tour the Canal" on your own, do you mean taking a small, ferry-sized vessel through some of the locks, or do you just mean viewing the Canal (for example, from the Miraflores Visitor Center)?   Very different things, and I would not deem the latter an adequate substitute for the former.

[szafran]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

 

It would be helpful if you would be more specific.  You can certainly "view" the Canal without going on a cruise, but that's all it is, a view.  When you say "tour the Canal" on your own, do you mean taking a small, ferry-sized vessel through some of the locks, or do you just mean viewing the Canal (for example, from the Miraflores Visitor Center)?   Very different things, and I would not deem the latter an adequate substitute for the former.

Sorry for being so vague and I will be more specific. We are not at all opposed to a cruise. We would fly from LAX to Fort Lauderdale to board the ship and see the Canal that way. We found the shortest cruise to be ten days which may be too long and too expensive. Also, cruises are very seasonal. We were told by a family member we could skip the cruise, get to Panama and view the Canal from observation decks from the Miraflores Visitor Center. The whole point of this trip is to get the full experience of the Canal. Hope this help.

[njhorseman]

26 minutes ago, szafran said:

Sorry for being so vague and I will be more specific. We are not at all opposed to a cruise. We would fly from LAX to Fort Lauderdale to board the ship and see the Canal that way. We found the shortest cruise to be ten days which may be too long and too expensive. Also, cruises are very seasonal. We were told by a family member we could skip the cruise, get to Panama and view the Canal from observation decks from the Miraflores Visitor Center. The whole point of this trip is to get the full experience of the Canal. Hope this help.

Viewing the canal from the Miraflores Visitor Center doesn't even remotely give you the full experience of the canal. You have to actually sail through at least part of the canal and preferably the entire canal to get the full experience. We've done six full transits and have learned and seen something new on each one.

 

We've also visited the Miraflores Visitor Center and found the displays and exhibits to be more interesting than watch the canal traffic on the visitors deck. There's no guarantee that they'll even be a ship passing through the Miraflores locks at the time you're at the visitors center.

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by njhorseman

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, szafran said:

The whole point of this trip is to get the full experience of the Canal.

 

You have been given excellent advice above by @njhorseman . You cannot get "the full experience of the Canal" from land.  To get the full experience, you need to do a full transit.  Even a partial transit would be better than none at all.

 

Perhaps some visuals would help.  Below is a map of the Canal, which is approximately 50 miles long.  The Miraflores Locks are circled in black.  If you stood on the observation deck of the Miraflores Visitor Center (the yellow building on the left in the second photo below), and if you were fortunate to have a ship come through while you were there, you'd have a view of the operation of those lock chambers, but that's about it.  A small part of the Canal, and you would not have personally experienced even that.

 

If you cannot because of time/and or money do an actual Canal cruise, I believe you could still fly to Panama, get a hotel, and book a tour on a small vessel that would take you on a partial or full transit.  (Please do some research on what's available.)  But, to use the title of your thread, you can't really experience the Canal from "onshore." 

 

 

[szafran]

11 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Viewing the canal from the Miraflores Visitor Center doesn't even remotely give you the full experience of the canal. You have to actually sail through at least part of the canal and preferably the entire canal to get the full experience. We've done six full transits and have learned and seen something new on each one.

 

We've also visited the Miraflores Visitor Center and found the displays and exhibits to be more interesting than watch the canal traffic on the visitors deck. There's no guarantee that they'll even be a ship passing through the Miraflores locks at the time you're at the visitors center.

 

Thank you so much for your reply. It looks like we will be taking a cruise this time.

[BillB48]

You can certainly view the Canal from a shore side vantage point, but IMO, that is all you are really doing... viewing.  Experiencing the Canal is what you do when you are transiting the Canal.  When you visit the Visitor's Centers either at Miraflores (original locks) or at Agua Clara (new locks on Atlantic side) you are only seeing just one little piece of the Canal.  No doubt this part of the Canal has some of the most visible parts of the Canal and you can experience the operation of lifting ocean going ships up to Gatun Lake for the trip across the Isthmus.  Transiting the Canal ties all the parts of the Canal together.

 

You certainly could do a land trip to Panama and take in some of the highlights of the Canal in a shorter time period than it would take to do a cruise.  However as far as the expense of a land tour vs a cruise, I think when you add air fares, hotels, excursions, other taxis and meals I really don't think a cruise will be that much more.

 

If you do decide on a land tour, below is a link to a company that offers Canal transits on a smaller vessel.  Just be aware that most of the transits, both partial and a limited number of full transits are only available certain days in the week.  Even though they don't come right out and say it, they do cancel if they don't have enough passengers.

 

My vote is for a cruise, but whichever you choose enjoy!

 

https://www.pmatours.net/pacific-queen/panama-canal-tour-options.html

 

 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, szafran said:

Thank you so much for your reply. It looks like we will be taking a cruise this time.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[HiCCCs]

Question for folks who have taken the Panama Canal before and brought binoculars....or those who did not and wished that they had brought them. What are the pros and cons about bringing them?  If you are recommending to bring them, what would we be looking for that would get missed on not as appreciated with the naked eye?

 

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

[Turtles06]

4 hours ago, HiCCCs said:

Question for folks who have taken the Panama Canal before and brought binoculars....or those who did not and wished that they had brought them. What are the pros and cons about bringing them?  If you are recommending to bring them, what would we be looking for that would get missed on not as appreciated with the naked eye?

 

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

 

I'll start by saying that we bring binoculars (or, more recently, a monocular) whenever we cruise.  You never know what you'll see from a ship.  Birds, sea turtles, marine mammals.  The Canal itself is only a single day of the cruise.  But even in the Canal, we've used binoculars to identify other ships that were too far away for us to read the names, to look at birds flying over, to get a better view of places and things of interest we are passing by on shore and seeing in the Canal itself (e.g., the workers in the rowboats rowing the lines out to the ship that are tied to the mules, etc.).

 

To me, the only "con" that I can see from bringing binoculars is space/weight. 

 

I hope that's helpful.

[HiCCCs]

46 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I'll start by saying that we bring binoculars (or, more recently, a monocular) whenever we cruise.  You never know what you'll see from a ship.  Birds, sea turtles, marine mammals.  The Canal itself is only a single day of the cruise.  But even in the Canal, we've used binoculars to identify other ships that were too far away for us to read the names, to look at birds flying over, to get a better view of places and things of interest we are passing by on shore and seeing in the Canal itself (e.g., the workers in the rowboats rowing the lines out to the ship that are tied to the mules, etc.).

 

To me, the only "con" that I can see from bringing binoculars is space/weight. 

 

I hope that's helpful.

Indeed it is helpful .... so thank you so much Turtles for reminding us that you never know what you might appreciate seeing a little closer. We have an old clunky pair ... too big and too heavy which makes bringing them inconvenient. And on the 14 day cruise...we want all the luggage space we can get!!! It's probably time to invest in some updated binoculars. One of those collapsing telescope/monocular would even be fun, too!! 

[Roadybean]

We are doing a full transit of the canal in December. Will be learn enough and experience enough by just doing the transit? Or should we also visit the Miraflores visitors center and view the IMAX movie?

[Essiesmom]

Will your transit use the original locks, or the new locks?  

[grammyprf]

Panama Canal in a drought. Some cruise lines have cancelled. What port will be added if you can't go thru the canal? Can you take an excursion to visit from land?

[BillB48]

Yes, it is possible to visit the Canal from land.  Visitors are welcomed at Miraflores Locks (original) on the Pacific side and Agua Clara Locks (new) on the Atlantic side.  If your ship calls on Panama and does not transit the Canal, quite often one of the excursions offered is a partial transit of  the Canal which includes Gaillard Cut and the two original locks on the Pacific side.

[mpk]

On 3/12/2023 at 8:11 PM, Turtles06 said:

I'll start by saying that we bring binoculars (or, more recently, a monocular) whenever we cruise.

 

What brand/model monocular do you use?   There are many on that ginormous website, but critical reviews say the lens size and magnification is nowhere near as advertised.