Panama canal;stay on ship or an excursion?

[ddean52]

need help with this one from cruisers with exp.!!

is it more fun and intresting to stay on ship as it enters the panama canal (this is not a total crossing of the canal cruise) or do excursion( the $154.00 boat trip through the canal).

truely intrested in info. from those who have done this.

thanks in advance,

:confused: dean & :) alice

[skydad]

sailed the brillance this past april

had a wonderful aft balcony room and were able to see the front of the ship passing through the first three locks on the room tv and experience the rear first hand from the balcony - seeing those massive locks close behind us and fill with water was a marvel

instead of returning through the locks, we chose the train ride to the pacific

travelling the entire length of the canal - this excursion also included a bus tour of old and new panama city - it did last all day and we got back to the ship just in time for dinner at 8 - guides were great and train an old charmer

we are doing this cruise again in feb '06

[ddean52]

sailed the brillance this past april

had a wonderful aft balcony room and were able to see the front of the ship passing through the first three locks on the room tv and experience the rear first hand from the balcony - seeing those massive locks close behind us and fill with water was a marvel

instead of returning through the locks, we chose the train ride to the pacific

travelling the entire length of the canal - this excursion also included a bus tour of old and new panama city - it did last all day and we got back to the ship just in time for dinner at 8 - guides were great and train an old charmer

we are doing this cruise again in feb '06

thanks.just so i understand, the ships passes through a series of locks...at which point you can walk off the ship aand take advantage of a shore excursion?

dean & alice

[isujim]

Dean:

 

The ship will go through the first set of locks at Gatun and then drop anchor in Gatun Lake.........only those with excursion tickets will be allowed off the ship......you will tender to a collection point on the other side of the lake and then busses will take you to your particular drop off point to begin your excursion...........

 

We were also on the Brilliance in April and chose to stay on the ship..........IT IS a tough decision........we agonized over what to do right up to sailing but chose to stay on the ship and watch the workings of the canal.........glad we did.......a great engineering marvel.

 

Jim

[cruisingrightalong]

We opted to stay on the Brilliance....we came for the canal...and did enjoy sitting in the lake and watching the others pass thru...we parked our bodies on the top deck so we could watch the pool too. Next time we might take an excursion in 2005 December but doubt it...we came for the canal.

 

Lou:)

[Coralc]

We decided that the Canal both ways through, was an excursion in and of itself. Only those with shore excursions are allowed to disembark in the lake. They miss the return voyage back through the locks and are bussed back to the Cristobal terminal. Many of those folks also arrived quite late and missed the fun shopping at Cristobal. We had a difficult time deciding, but we are glad we chose to stay on board. The canal is really an amazing thing to see!

[vossjemi]

Alice & Dean,

 

I posed this exact same question on the Panama Canal Forum on the Ports of Call Boards. Here are the responses I got:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=63762

 

There are also several other threads on that board about other excursions. Needless to say, we decided to go with the locks by ferry excursion. We weren't able to do full transit, but this excursion will be like we did do full transit, so I'm VERY excited about it. Currently reading "Path Between the Seas"....very interesting book!

[Driftwoodgal]

We stayed on the ship and were glad that we did. It really took going through and the return to fully understand how the locks worked. From our balcony we could see how the water went into the channels and was dispursed into the locks to raise and lower the ship. Our ship was late arriving to the locks, all of the people that had excursions were at the Pursurs desk that night and the next day complaining about their tours. Granted they were offered the right to cancel the tour but most didn't cancel and they were sorry that they didn't. We hope to do a full transit at some point and will again stay on the ship.

[vossjemi]

Driftwoodgal,

 

What time of year did you do the PC partial transit? Why was your ship late? Is this typical of this cruise or atypical? Thanks.

[ddean52]

thanks everyone. think i have a full picture. we will book the train excursion, this way we will have seen the 1) our ship entering the locks

 

2) the rest of the canal from the train

3) a bit of panama city

it sound good to me!

again, thanks and have a great weekend!

:cool: dean & :) alice

[smoothdancer]

Here is my 2 cents!!!

 

We did a full transit thru the canal... Before I comment on excursions let me just say...... This is such a once in a life time experience. I had wanted to do this trip for years, and it was everything that I anticiapted it would be.....

 

If you want a sneak preview, click on my profile, go to my home page that will bring you to Webshots to see pictures....I don't know, you may just want to expereince it first hand for yourself.....It is so cool.

 

Anyway, we started about 5:00AM, and did not get thru until about 3:00PM. The day before was a sea day, and we were pretty anxious to get off of the ship. I would suggest some time off the ship.... We chose just to go to the square and enjoyed the local dancers and shops, but any excursion sounds fine.

 

The canal day so fantastic....Have a great cruise.

 

Janet

[vossjemi]

Janet,

 

Thanks for the pics!!! Awesome!:)

[Driftwoodgal]

Vossjemi,

 

We took our cruise out of Galveston Texas in February of this year. We were late getting to the locks because a tour was very late getting back to the ship in Belize. If must have been a ship sponsered tour, as I don't think the captain was at all happy about the delay. From our balcony we could see the captain pace back and forth on the bridge. We actually had already pulled up the anchor and just stayed in the same area until the tender finally brought the late comers to the ship. We didn't get into the locks until about noon. It takes a long time just to get up to the first set of locks and then the process of getting raised in the locks up to Gatun Lake. The people that did take their tours got off the ship, but it got dark and most had a terrible time. RCI did offer to cancel any tours without penalty because the ship was delayed. We did get off the ship at the Cristobol Pier and shopped with the local vendors. The pier is after you have gone into Gatun Lake and then returned back through the locks. Hope this helps......if you need more info..... just ask away.

[yarlenna]

This is probably someplace you are not likely to visit often. I suggest an excursion. Even if you don't particularly enjoy it, the experience is likely to be memorable. The lake is lovely. Some of the souveniers are pretty in their own way. Experience it! You will be home soon enough.

[vossjemi]

Thanks driftwoodgal for the explanation. We are cruising a different itinerary, so hopefully we won't have the delay problems. We are sailing on the brilliance. Our first stop is aruba. We leave at 1am that night and the whole next day is an at sea day. Then, we are supposed to arrive at the panama canal the next day around 7am the day after our sea day. So, basically we're supposed to have 30 hours of sailing before arriving there. I should hope that would be enough time! :eek: Once we go through the locks and to gatun lake, our excursion is supposed to take off around 10am. I guess we are gone all day while the ship sits in gatun lake. The ship then returns to cristobal pier around 3pm and stays there til 7pm. Our tour is supposed to bring us back to that pier, so I'm assuming we'll miss going back through the locks on our ship. But, I guess at least we'll get to see them the first time through and then take the ferry through the miraflores and san miguel locks on the pacific side to see the rest of the canal, so I'll be pretty happy with that....if nothing goes wrong! Ha. Ha.

[Driftwoodgal]

Vossjemi,

 

We had a sea day before the locks as well. Apparently each ship has a time that they are suppose to enter the locks. If they miss their appointed time then you would have to wait until their was an opening. We were only in Gatun Lake only long enough to dump the passengers off the ship and have the tenders return to the ship. We will sail on the Brilliance in Jan 2006 ...... can't wait. We were directly across from her when we were in the locks. She is a awesome ship... I hope you have a great cruise.

[vossjemi]

Hmmm....I'm still wondering why your ship was late. What happened? Was this all due to the excursion people getting back late on belize? Were you supposed to arrive early in the am and didn't get in til noon? I guess that would make me unhappy too. :( I sure hope that was a fluke.