Totally confused now

Ok, after reading all these threads on do you get off the ship or not, I'm totally confused. It seems like if you are doing the full transit, you should probably stay put. We are not doing the full transit and will have a balcony cabin. Will we be able to see any of the activity from our cabin or will we have to go to another part of the ship. We are also not early birds, so if I'm going to get up and get off the ship and pay the exorbitant prices you have to pay for cruise ship tours, I want to make sure it is worth it. We did in Russia and it definitely was worth the extra money (plus, like here, you couldn't get off the ship unless you had one booked by the company). It sounds like the view going back through the locks is better than going in, is this correct? I know it's all subject to opinion, but any light you can shed on this would be greatly appreciated!

If you are doing a partial transit, I would still recommend being in the front of the ship, on our transit of the canal they even opened the bow section that wasn't normally open for passengers. There you will be able to get pictures of the locks, the "mules" the gates opening and closing the water coming up and the ship rising. Once you are in the lake portion of the lake, the cruise ship may offer tours that start there and occur while the ship is in the lake. There may even be an opportunity to get off the ship and view it going back through the locks which would be another good opportunity for pictures. You would then get back on the ship at the port. Otherwise I would say stay on the ship and go back through the locks again.

Have a great next cruise.

Ok, after reading all these threads on do you get off the ship or not, I'm totally confused. It seems like if you are doing the full transit, you should probably stay put. We are not doing the full transit and will have a balcony cabin. Will we be able to see any of the activity from our cabin or will we have to go to another part of the ship. We are also not early birds, so if I'm going to get up and get off the ship and pay the exorbitant prices you have to pay for cruise ship tours, I want to make sure it is worth it. We did in Russia and it definitely was worth the extra money (plus, like here, you couldn't get off the ship unless you had one booked by the company). It sounds like the view going back through the locks is better than going in, is this correct? I know it's all subject to opinion, but any light you can shed on this would be greatly appreciated!

I did a partial through the canal and we had a balcony. I got up early and went to the bow of the ship when we entered the canal. It can be a slow process. Got some good and bad pictures from the bow, then went back to my balcony for the rest of the transit. Mr. Gizmo stayed in the cabin and watched from the balcony. The ship will anchor in the lake and those on tours will leave the ship by tender. We stayed on the ship and relaxed. We then went back through the canal and off to Colon. You can see plenty from your balcony. Going back through was better since it was daylight. When we entered the canal is was dark thus some bad pictures.

Many people ask which side of the ship is best. This cannot be answered since the ship is not assigned which side of the locks it goes through until the ship arrives. We lucked out when coming back through, our cabin faced the other lock so we had a great view of the ships in the lock besides us.

You get to see a lot from the ship. You see the locks filling up, the mules, the gates opening and closing.

For us, staying on the ship was perfect. One thing to remember, Panama is HOT. If you are not an early riser, stay on the ship. You will get to see everything when the ship goes back through.

Hope this helped.

Ok, after reading all these threads on do you get off the ship or not, I'm totally confused. It seems like if you are doing the full transit, you should probably stay put. We are not doing the full transit and will have a balcony cabin. Will we be able to see any of the activity from our cabin or will we have to go to another part of the ship. We are also not early birds, so if I'm going to get up and get off the ship and pay the exorbitant prices you have to pay for cruise ship tours, I want to make sure it is worth it. We did in Russia and it definitely was worth the extra money (plus, like here, you couldn't get off the ship unless you had one booked by the company). It sounds like the view going back through the locks is better than going in, is this correct? I know it's all subject to opinion, but any light you can shed on this would be greatly appreciated!

Hi!

We made the partial transit through the 3 Gatun Locks and into Gatun Lake and saw it all from the stern. Everyone else was up front and we had a great, uncrowded view of the lock operation, the "mules", other ships making the transit, etc.

We did get off for a shore excursion (a nature hike) and it was a dud. Staying on-board is not a bad option. Plus, if it is of interest to you, there is quite a bit of shopping at the Cristobal Pier once the move back through the locks is completed.

Have a great cruise!

I am not sure if I made this clear, but if you get off the ship for any type of tour, most tours ends in Colon. You miss the transit back through the locks, so to see anything from the ship you have to get up early when the ship first enters.

I didn't think I would be all that interested in the workings of the canal but found it very interesting.

Mike is right about the stern. I also walked back there and found the views great.

A nice thing about staying on the ship is that you don't have to be up at o'dark thirty to stand in a crowd to catch the lock action, on the way back you can get a prime spot on the bow all to yourself!