"Panama Canal Locks and Culebra Cut Cruise" Excursion

[cruisecookie]

Our January 29, 2024 Beyond cruise offers the  8 hour "Panama Canal Locks and Culebra Cut Cruise" Excursion starting at 9:30 am.  However, according to our itinerary our ship will be cruising the Panama Canal 6:00 am - 3:00 pm and we will dock in Colon, Panama from 5:00 - 9:00 pm.  So how can we do this excursion?  Has anyone done this excursion before?  How did it work?  Was this excursion worth the price?  Do you see more on this ferry ride excursion than you do just remaining on the ship and sailing through the locks?  Thank you.

[CruiserBruce]

You will tender ashore in Gatun Lake to meet your excursion.

[BillB48]

In taking the shore excursion what you will miss is the return trip back through whichever of the Atlantic Locks you used to reach Gatun Lake.  While the return trip through either the Gatun or Agua Clara Locks and the short sail to Colon, it basically is all grounds that you have already covered on your way into the Panama Canal and Gatun Lake.

 

It is an excellent opportunity to see a large part of the Canal and to see it from a smaller vessel gives a completely different perspective to the operation.

 

The primary reason for the short stop in Colon is to pick up passengers who have taken a shore excursion.

[Turtles06]

All good information above.  In addition, there's a very recent thread over in the Celebrity forum in which the poster, who will also be sailing on the Beyond, asked about this shore excursion. I think you will find the replies helpful.