Panama Canal - Port Or Starboard? [Archive] - Cruise Critic Message Boards

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Aussie Gal

January 5th, 2005, 09:25 PM

We are looking at a cruise leaving Fort Lauderdale and finishing in San Francisio via the Panama Canal.

Is one side of the ship better than the other for viewing?

I would appreciate your input as we are novices in this part of the world.

Jennie

localady

January 5th, 2005, 09:34 PM

Jennie-

It is hard to know which side of the Canal the Ship will be assigned to, as I believe the assignments are made by the Canal authorities on the day you are there so it's really the luck of the draw. I think you will find the view from both sides to be quite interesting, as you can see the "mules" operate from both sides of the Ship! Remember to be prepared for very hot and humid weather, even in December it was oppressive. I am sure you will enjoy it very much!

I also have a question for you, we are considering the NZ/Australia cruise in Nov. 2006, would this be a time of year you'd recommend??? Thanks in advance Jennie!

garydm

January 5th, 2005, 09:38 PM

You will not know which "track" you will be directed to until the ship gets to the Canal. There is a big arrow there that directs the ships either right or left. We did this trip last January on Statendam and had a great time. We went from San Diego to FLL and were on the starboard side, which was great from one perspective-we were in the shade going thru the Canal. So, you might want to go for a port side cabin if you have a verandah as you will be in the shade (or at least it was in January). It is hot and humid.

Gary

gizmo

January 5th, 2005, 09:39 PM

Aussie Gal

January 5th, 2005, 10:48 PM

Thanks everyone for your prompt postings. I had no idea about "which set of locks." We have done barging in France and most of the locks there are usually single ones so I think I expected the ship to go into the lock and be the only one. I have a lot to read up on the Panama Canal.

Localady,

November could be a bit cool in the South Island of New Zealand. January and February are our hottest months, though it is humid in Sydney at that time. As with any holiday you can be lucky with the weather and November could be perfect. I would just book it to suit yourselves.

Jennie

localady

January 5th, 2005, 11:15 PM

Jennie-

Thanks for the information!
The Panama Canal has 2 different lanes which the Canal authority assigns ships to. I tried a couple of times to attach it here, but despite my cropping etc, it will not post it!:cool:

Grumpy1

January 6th, 2005, 08:59 AM

Here's a link to the cameras for the Panama Canal. You can see the ships in both sets of locks.

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

Grumpy

Cruise Fanatic

January 6th, 2005, 09:03 AM

I was on hte Oosterdam's trans-canal sailing in April '04. They opened the doors to the bow of the ship, so you could go from side to side to view the transit...It is a great experience I highly reccoment it.

mountainmare

January 6th, 2005, 02:18 PM

Local lady is correct about not knowing which set of locks you will enter in the canal.

Going from Ft.Lauderdale to San Fransico I would book Starboard. There some nice views of the coast line after you leave Cabo.

This is really great to know!! We were port side on our partial transit last Feb and could see the Southern Cross from our balcony.

Even with a balcony cabin I found myself running around the ship through each lock to get the very best pictures(be careful, you'll end up with hundreds of "yep there's another lock" pictures). Great to know that they let you up on the bow to see the action up close--I'm anticipating many more pictures where our friends say"wow there's another lock"

I'M VERY EXCITED!!!!

InvestiGator

January 6th, 2005, 08:32 PM

gizmo

January 7th, 2005, 08:08 AM

We had a starboard cabin from Miami to Long Beach in September. It was great;however, I really think it makes no difference. You'll probably be uptop through the canal anyway. We were despite our high-end suite.
Agree it makes no difference as far as the canal goes since there is no way to tell which set of locks you will go through, but I feel the view of the coast line after leaving Cabo is very nice so booking Starboard would be my choice.

As others have mentioned, you can access many areas of the ship including the bow when going through the canal.

HeatherInFlorida

January 7th, 2005, 09:39 AM

Hi, Jennie! Why don't you come on our cruise from LA to Ft. Lauderdale on 10/23 (Celebrity:o ) instead! We're booked port side which I guess is good if starboard is good going the other way:) . Doesn't matter since we basically like the port side anyway.Truthfully ... port, starboard, bow, stern ... who cares? I'm just excited to be going on a 14 day cruise!!!

Aussie Gal

January 8th, 2005, 01:45 AM

Thanks Heather for the invite. I would love to share in your 20th Wedding Anniversary celebrations. You have to double yours to get to ours!! (41 in April) :) :)

I am actually thinking of doing this in 2006, I like to plan ahead early and this year we have two big cruises coming up. The Transatlantic on the Maasdam and our South American trip on the Regal Princess at the end of the year. The first one we will be away for five weeks and the second one we will be gone six weeks.

I would like to try Celebrity as I have read so many good reports, though I want to either start or end in San Francisco. We have always wanted to visit that city.

Jennie

HeatherInFlorida

January 8th, 2005, 11:11 AM

Well, Jennie, understand I didn't marry (for the first and only time) until I was 43:D . Our anniversary is in April, too!!! April 13th. We picked the date based on a cruise we had booked in the Mediterranean on the Royal Viking Sea which left Barcelona on the 16th. So we had to go with the unlucky day of the 13th. Turned out to be my "lucky day";) .

The cruise we're taking goes in both directions, but it is out of LA. However, I've also seen them out of SF so you should have no trouble finding one. Or you can do Greg's out of Vancouver or Victoria (I forget). So many choices ... so little time.:)

Aussie Gal

January 8th, 2005, 05:28 PM

Heather I had a feeling you had been married before as someone would have snapped you up when you were young as you are such a nice person and very attractive but I didn't like to ask.

Our anniversary is the 4th April and in 2004 we celebrated it on a Tahitan Cruise - the best ever!! This year is more low key, in fact we will probably just go out to dinner but we are going to far north Queensland on the 16th April for 2 weeks which will be lovely.

Jennie

HeatherInFlorida

January 8th, 2005, 07:01 PM

Wow, Jennie!!! Are you nice or what? What a perfect way to end a Saturday with a compliment like that. A quick personal note: I moved to NYC when I was 24 to become (in my dreams) an actress or find Mr. Right. It took me almost 2 decades to find Mr. Right and I never did make it as an actress. But I had a lot of joy and tears along the way. Someday, maybe a book:D.