Panama Canal transit?

[chpal]

We’re finally doing a full transit of the Panama Canal on the Marina, and were wondering about what is offered in the way of lectures, history, perhaps commentary on the transit day, etc?  And yes, we will read “The Path Between the Seas” prior to our trip 😃!

[njhorseman]

10 minutes ago, chpal said:

We’re finally doing a full transit of the Panama Canal on the Marina, and were wondering about what is offered in the way of lectures, history, perhaps commentary on the transit day, etc?  And yes, we will read “The Path Between the Seas” prior to our trip 😃!

When we did our first Panama Canal transit on Insignia a few years ago there was a lecturer on board who gave a series of talks in the theater on sea days prior to the transit. I can't say if Oceania is currently doing that.

On the day of the transit itself there will be a local guide on board providing a narrative throughout the day.

[basor]

We did a transit of the Panama Canal last NOV on Vista (our 3rd on Oceania).   We had 2 different lecturers that gave talks on the Canal prior to the transit and a day long narrative during the transit.  We enjoyed it very much...

[RPen63]

Sirena had a lecturer during the crossing we were on in January.  Her lectures were essentially a summary of The Path Between the Seas, and in my opinion missed the best bits.  That being said, she was an entertaining speaker and her lectures provided excellent information to those who hadn’t read the book.  She also provided a narrative through the crossing but was difficult to hear if not close to a speaker. 

[chpal]

Thanks for the information!

[ronrick1943]

They always bring on an expert on the canal, they have a pre lecture and once you start the canal they will speck thought out the crossing. 

[njhorseman]

8 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

They always bring on an expert on the canal, they have a pre lecture and once you start the canal they will speck thought out the crossing. 

In my experience (six full transits of the canal. two of which were on Oceania) the commentary provided during the transit is done by a local guide who boards the ship at the start of the transit, not by the ship's onboard lecturer.

[edgee]

12 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

In my experience (six full transits of the canal. two of which were on Oceania) the commentary provided during the transit is done by a local guide who boards the ship at the start of the transit, not by the ship's onboard lecturer.

Yes, we had a q and a session with our Panamanian local guide during our transit on Vista a few months ago. As I remember, he and a few other retired canal employees formed a company which contracts with the Canal Authority to provide guide narration services for cruise ships during their transits.