Have any of you done the Panama canal partial transit roundtrip Ft. lauderdale?

[momofmeg]

Does the ship actually go into the locks?

[ChaCr]

Yes it does.

 

Ours went in thrrough the Gatun Locks, sailed around Gatun Lake, and then anchored

 

Charles

[momofmeg]

Yes it does.

 

Ours went in thrrough the Gatun Locks, sailed around Gatun Lake, and then anchored

 

Charles

 

Okay then Island Princess is a choice. We knew HAL did this. We already ruled out RCI Jewel of the Seas.

[watergal]

Does the ship actually go into the locks?

 

Yes, it goes through the locks and we've done it twice and I've found the best views when cruising are on the port side - IMHO.:o If you do not have a land tour booked then you cannot get off the ship so we quickly made a last minute decision to do a tour to Panama City and it was great fun and literally takes you to the Pacific side. Tour took us back to the ship which had left Gatun Lake and was now docked in Cristobal.

Occasionally you will find a ship that is going through the locks in real time, including Princess, but I've found the clearest pictures transiting the locks are with Crystal Cruises. If there are better ones out there, I'd love to know about it too.

[rcacace]

Occasionally you will find a ship that is going through the locks in real time, including Princess, but I've found the clearest pictures transiting the locks are with Crystal Cruises. If there are better ones out there, I'd love to know about it too.

 

What do you mean.....real time????

and why would Crystal cruises give you clearer pictures when going through the locks?:confused:

[mii]

Yes I have been on the Coral for a Partial Transit and yes they go through the 3 Gatun Locks. Then after people go on their excursions the ship will come back and dock at the town.

 

Marilyn

[helpmesailaway]

You can look at live Webcams of the Panama Canal on the official site. I think it is www.pancanal.com Scroll down on the page and there is a link for the webcam. I was amazed at how "unindustrial" it was going through the canal. It is so beautiful and very simple. This was a great cruise.:)

[macmax]

Okay then Island Princess is a choice. We knew HAL did this. We already ruled out RCI Jewel of the Seas.

Just wondering why you ruled out Jewel OTS. She has a much nicer itinerary IMO and is a gorgeous ship.

[jff50]

I have done 3 full transits and 1 partial transit of the canal. If you do a partial, I would strongly recommend a shore excursion that has a smaller ship that goes all the way to/through the Pacific locks. While it is great to go through the locks, you would miss a lot of the canal. Actually, the locks were the easiest part of building the canal. The excavation of the Culebra Cut was the most challenging part of building the canal (and the dredging is an ongoing process). I think the only way to see the whole length of the canal (on a partial transit) is to take the smaller ship--the train does not follow the canal the whole way.

"The Path Between the Seas" is a must read for anyone taking a canal cruise (it's the history of the building of the canal), and a great read for anyone else.

[watergal]

What do you mean.....real time????

and why would Crystal cruises give you clearer pictures when going through the locks?:confused:

 

Real time - webcam pics of ships during their current voyages. Crystal pics are much larger and clearer than the postage stamp sized Princess pics.

[momofmeg]

Just wondering why you ruled out Jewel OTS. She has a much nicer itinerary IMO and is a gorgeous ship.

 

I was told that after this season she will not go through the locks. Besides I have been to Grand cayman a zillion times- Aruba is more appealing than Grand cayman to me-as I have not been to Aruba.

[venusbello1]

I was told that after this season she will not go through the locks. Besides I have been to Grand cayman a zillion times- Aruba is more appealing than Grand cayman to me-as I have not been to Aruba.

 

three times in the span of 12 months! Yes I really enjoyed it! I enjoyed the Dec 07 the best because included the new ports of Cartegena and Aruba!

 

As someone mentioned the sea to sea excursion is really nice but makes for a long day! I have also done the bus trip to the Pacific, visited the Mira Flores locks, and then returned to Cristobal on the observatory train--I really enjoyed that too!

 

I have only done this on the Coral, but since the Island is the sister ship, I'm sure it is just the same and the Coral is an absolutely beautiful ship!

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

VB1

[RickEk]

Just wondering why you ruled out Jewel OTS. She has a much nicer itinerary IMO and is a gorgeous ship.

 

From what I understand, Royal Caribbean ships will no longer be doing partial transits. They will dock at Cristobal and to actually see the canal, you'll need to take an excursion.

[flamomo]

The small ship canal excursion, Ocean-to-Ocean, IMO, was a must do. We went through the Miraflores (western) locks with a car carrier and 2 ocean-going sailboats. Gave us a true understanding of just how huge the locks are.

The bus trip back across Panama to Cristobal, from Panama City, was a nice end to the tour, because it gave us a look at the interior.

 

And, BTW, the Island Princess is a really great ship and a wonderful choice. She and her sister, the Coral, are "pamamax" ships, built to fit in the locks of the Panama Canal. Those 2 ships are my favorites, after the Tahitian.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

You will miss going thru the continental divide.

[momofmeg]

From what I understand, Royal Caribbean ships will no longer be doing partial transits. They will dock at Cristobal and to actually see the canal, you'll need to take an excursion.

 

I was told that too. But if the price was right-I may still would go-radiance class is the one class of RCI ships I would like to cruise. I am looking at January 2010 prices and right now the 9 day JOS is the same price as a 10 day Island Princess. Now if it was a little less, I could always book the excursion that goes through the locks.

[momofmeg]

You will miss going thru the continental divide.

 

Kevin I would LOVE to do a full transit-but not only is it twice the price-but the one way airfare is a killer also. Maybe one day-but for now I have to be satisfied with a partial transit.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

It doesn't make you a bad person!!!

[Richie2pies]

What makes the continental divide so wonderful?

[KevintheIrishDJ]

To navigate these giant ships through such a narrow pass is nothing short of amazing (not unlike docking)! They have erected cross hair targets ("+") on the mountain in the divide about every 50 yards. These targets are probably 20 feet tall. The captain aims the ship for the first target, then the second, etc. It takes a full day to go through the canal.

[flamomo]

"You will miss going thru the continental divide.'

 

If you take the Ocean-to-Ocean ship tour, you don't miss crossing thr Continental Divide!

[jagsfan]

I was told that too. But if the price was right-I may still would go-radiance class is the one class of RCI ships I would like to cruise. I am looking at January 2010 prices and right now the 9 day JOS is the same price as a 10 day Island Princess. Now if it was a little less, I could always book the excursion that goes through the locks.

 

I would want the fun of going thru at least one lock. after that it's kind of like "what? another glacier?"

I can tell you that the Radiance class ships are the most beautiful ones I've

ever sailed on. The glass elevators that are on the side of the ship are wonderful. You

can look right out on the ocean while riding them. The ships themselves are just

gorgeous!

[momofmeg]

To navigate these giant ships through such a narrow pass is nothing short of amazing (not unlike docking)! They have erected cross hair targets ("+") on the mountain in the divide about every 50 yards. These targets are probably 20 feet tall. The captain aims the ship for the first target, then the second, etc. It takes a full day to go through the canal.

 

Maybe one day I can do a full transit.

[momofmeg]

I am getting ready to book and I have one more question-I understand Princess goes through some of the locks-but would I be able to stay on ship and go through the locks and also take another excursion on a smaller ship to see all the locks?

 

I understand I can do that on HAL- I can stay on ship the day of the locks and another day go through all the locks on a smaller ship as a separate excursion. Does Princess stay that long in the canal area?

[bjboothman]

On my several Panama partial transits on the Coral --- yes, you go through the first set of locks at around 6 or 7 a.m. on the Coral, then once you are thru the locks, the ship anchors in Gatun Lake and tenders the passengers to shore who have booked ship's tours. Nobody else can tender in to land.

 

The ship stays anchored for several hours in the lake (I know this as I stayed on the ship!), then turns back, and goes back thru the same set of locks. It docks around 4ish and passengers can get off and shop at the port (it's sort of a handmade crafts type of open market in a warehousey type building). People who have taken tours are dropped off there and everyone is back on the ship to sail around 6ish.

 

So, it's not a separate day, it's the same day that all this happens on Princess.

 

Did that answer the question?