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Crusing from FL to CA through the Panama Canal.


babrowpix
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What side of the ship is better for views? The starboard or port side.

 

 

When going thru the Canal there isn't a best side. You'll be wanting to move all over the ship to get the best and different views of the canal. You'll want to be on the promenade deck during lock transit to see how close you get to the lock walls.

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If you stay in one place during the canal transit, you will miss 75% of the sights! Get our of the cabin and roam! Go to all parts of the ship....front, back both sides AND different deck levels! Everything looks totally different from the promenade deck than it does from the pool deck! The transit takes a LONG time....you will have ample opportunity to see all there is!

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If you stay in one place during the canal transit, you will miss 75% of the sights! Get our of the cabin and roam! Go to all parts of the ship....front, back both sides AND different deck levels! Everything looks totally different from the promenade deck than it does from the pool deck! The transit takes a LONG time....you will have ample opportunity to see all there is!

 

I absolutely agree with this advice. I have made the Canal transit more than once. The first time, most of the day was spent on an upper deck (which most people seem to do). When I went through the next time, thanks to the recommendations I read by others, I spent time on different decks of the ship. The perspective of being on a lower deck when the ship is in a lock and is being lowered or raised is totally different and interesting than spending all the time topsides.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The important thing is that you are not going to be in your cabin for the main parts of the transit -- the locks. You will enter in the morning, and everyone is on deck watching all around. Getting a good spot is the challenge. It is amazing to watch what is going on all around you as you enter the channel and the initial locks. There will be ships all over the place waiting to start the process, then you get teamed up with a tug and make your way to the first set of locks. Going through the actual locks and the machinations of the electric mules is amazing to watch. In between the locks, not much goes on, but then you start the locks at the other end. All-in-all an amazing day.

 

Some of the guides put onboard by the Canal Authority are good, some are fair, but we had a lecture the day before we got there, and the detailed explanation of the system is very interesting.

 

As for your cabin, I don't think I was in our cabin all day. Bear in mind that you are going through in one day. Every ship that goes in in the morning is supposed to go out that same day.

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Let me more specific with my statement of being on the lower decks at some point going through the locks. I surely did not mean to imply to remain in a lower deck cabin. Get out on the lowest possible open deck or be in a public room with a view to experience what I did and am recommending.

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  • 3 months later...

Port will be in shade in the hottest part of the day IN PANAMA -- contrary to intuition. Search web for map -- the canal itself is oriented NW to SE.

 

Port will then have hot afternoon sun as you progress up the west coast of central America. So you have to choose.

 

We spent most of the day on our STARBOARD balcony until the sun forced us in. Sure we missed some stuff on the other side of the ship, but we didn't miss anything while in the stairwells or elevators, including the commentary playing on the TV. Everybody misses something!

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Port will then have hot afternoon sun as you progress up the west coast of central America.

 

Thanks for the confirmation, this makes a lot of sense. We are deciding on the Panama Canal cruise for the future FLL to San Diego, so will try for a starboard cabin (balcony). As everyone else are saying, we'll probably be up and about during the transit, and rather be in the cooler side of the ship for the rest of the cruise.

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It's kinda fun to find a map of the west coast of Mexico and stick it up with a strong magnet near the balcony door -- try and figure out where you are! (I think I found a National Geographic map that I folded to show just the coast.) The afternoon sun through the canal will surely drive you to move to other places than your balcony -- if it doesn't drive you in for a nap! as it did us! Oh well, just have to sail through again someday.

 

From your starboard balcony in the morning, watch for the guy in the rowboat... in this day of high tech everything, they hadn't come up with anything better to fetch the rope to attach to the engines (mules?) that pull the ship through the locks.

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