Coral Princess - Panama Canal

Went to the dr. today, and was told that one of the nurses who was on the Coral Princess reported back to the office that the Coral Princess was unable to get into the Panama Canal due to high water. Does anyone know anymore about this?

Elite on Princess

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Cunad

Yes they had some major flooding in that area. http://www.thelog.com/news/logNewsArticle.aspx?x=11836

DS just got off the Coral yesterday (on for 5 months), and although they always got into the Panama Canal, on this last cruise, they were unable to dock in Colon, which is just outside the Canal, due to the weather conditions (wind, rain, etc.)

I also just got off the CP. we were scheduled to take the train trip to the Pacific Ocean, but that was canceled. The original plan was to tender us to the Yacht Club from Gatun Lake, then by bus to Colon to get on the train.

The problem was because of flooding and landslides, that was impossible. We also did not dock at Colon (no loss) because of the weather.

On a lighter note, my DW was on our balcony, and the man above us complained that we did not go through the canal. My DW asked if he slept through it, and he said , "All we did was sail around a big lake".

I also just got off the CP. we were scheduled to take the train trip to the Pacific Ocean, but that was canceled. The original plan was to tender us to the Yacht Club from Gatun Lake, then by bus to Colon to get on the train.

The problem was because of flooding and landslides, that was impossible. We also did not dock at Colon (no loss) because of the weather.

On a lighter note, my DW was on our balcony, and the man above us complained that we did not go through the canal. My DW asked if he slept through it, and he said , "All we did was sail around a big lake".

Another poster put up video of his Panama Canal excursion by boat a few days ago. As the small excursion boat was going thru the canal, they commented on how high the water was. Last week the new bridge (10 yrs old) that crosses the canal had a partial collapse due to land slide. I don't know if it's open or not.

I leave on the Island in 2 weeks and wondering if we will even get in the canal as they predict more massive rains and flooding. I am also signed up to do the boat excursion to the Pacific. :eek:

I've been thru many times before so I will happy just to get on the ship, sign up for chef's table, and veg for 10 days.

Hope you get to do the boat tour. We did that tour on the Coral Princess (Nov. 25-Dec. 5 voyage) and it was terrific. Tour lasts around 8 hours.

Hope you get to do the boat tour. We did that tour on the Coral Princess (Nov. 25-Dec. 5 voyage) and it was terrific. Tour lasts around 8 hours.

Thanks so much! I've done it before and one of my favorite Princess excursions!!

We were on that cruise! You had to get up at 5:30 AM to see the entrance into the canal. The Coral floated around Lake Gatun for several hours, and then went back through the locks in the PM. It was amazing, and I didn't mind missing my expensive excursion.

For some reason, this voyage was full of whining, complaining passengers. I felt sorry for the staff. It was hard not to laugh at some of the complaints. "Harry, why are we walking here? It's raining!" (Overheard during the rain forest hike.)

"There are no seats left! We can't sit together!" (Passengers who boarded the excursion bus 5 minutes late, delaying us all.)

"How long are we going to be on this thing? I gotta pee!" (From a gondola on a 2 hour rain forest tree tops ride.)

"Why don't all the elevators go to all the floors? This doesn't make any sense. Who designed this?" (Passenger standing at the glass elevator in the atrium.)

On the bright side, Princess has really toned down the sales pitches and junk sales in the atrium. You no longer have to dodge the chains-by-the-inch tables and the Swarovski tables. They are still there, just not as prominent, and not a lot of paper junk in the drop slot by your cabin door.

This is our 10th cruise with Princess, so I can see the difference. Everything else went smoothly. We had a super excursion to the Museums in Cartegena! Our guide, Jose Villa, was very knowledgeable and so proud of his country's history. Princess helped us make lemonade from the lemons of the Panama flood, and it was a great cruise!

Dear Tina,

Thank you for a very funny post. After I read it to my wife, she said, "some people should never leave their house". I remember years ago, being on a boat shuttle from our ship to Piazza San Marco in Venice, someone asked me to move so the three of them could sit together on a 15 minute boat ride.

Tina, your comments reminded me of some whining I overheard on my Crown trans-Atlantic cruise last September. We'd missed Belfast and due to high winds and tricky currents entering Reykavik harbor, we missed that port too. Right after the Captain announced we were heading directly to Greenland, someone said, "I don't understand why they don't just go to another port for the day. After all, they do that in the Caribbean!" I wanted to say, "Er... Lady. Do you even know where we are?"