Balcony View

[A&G]

Sailing Panama westbound on Legend of the Seas on Feb 20,2005. I read posts/reviews about getting your spot nice and early up on deck and not leaving your spot for the entire canal passage. Is up on deck a must or will we see just as much from our balcony?

 

We are on left (is that port) aft of ship, deck seven. What side of the lock do ships use east to west. In other words is our balcony cabin on the correct side for all the action or doesn't it matter. From the Panama web cams it seems that ships use either side of the lock depending on the day and probably traffic.

 

Alan

Sydney, Australia

[lahore]

Sailing Panama westbound on Legend of the Seas on Feb 20,2005. I read posts/reviews about getting your spot nice and early up on deck and not leaving your spot for the entire canal passage. Is up on deck a must or will we see just as much from our balcony?

 

We are on left (is that port) aft of ship, deck seven. What side of the lock do ships use east to west. In other words is our balcony cabin on the correct side for all the action or doesn't it matter. From the Panama web cams it seems that ships use either side of the lock depending on the day and probably traffic.

 

Hi again Al:

 

1: some people on our cruise got up very very early and moved deckchairs to the front of the decks and then stayed there. This meant that people standing behind them couldn't get very close to the front. Whilst the people doing that were people I knew and I really liked them, I was moving around (which I recommend - the view from the stern as the locks close is one of the most exciting and best photo opportunities I thought). When moving around I heard lots of comments about what the spot-minding people were doing being selfish and ignorant. Not a way to be considered socially correct.

 

2: There are two canals at each lock. So you will always be seing something interesting - either another ship going through the lock or the mountains and sea of Panama. This is another reason to keep moving - you don't get to see just one side of things.

 

3. The one time I would recommend being in one place is when the ship is approaching the bridge of the Americas near Panama City. For that you need to be as up front as you can be. For us that meant being up before dawn and seeing dawn over Panama City (highly worth it). For you I am not sure what it will mean but it's worth seeing.

 

4. You may want to retire to your balcony between sets of locks when on Gatun lake. That's what we did with friends of ours and it was interesting to watch the traffic in the lake. Otherwise I think you will miss something if you stay in your cabin, no matter what side of the ship it is on.

[VikkiGarcia]

We did Panama canal Oct. 2004. We got up really early and were at the rail by 5 am. If I had it to do over again I would not have gotten up so early just to be rail side. Come up to see the ship go under the bridge of Americas then head back to you balcony cabin for the first set of locks. After the first set the crowds go down dramatically. The second set go to a different vantage point ( there will probably be only 1 person in front of you) by the final set of locks we were able to watch from the front, then head to the back of the ship to watch the lock close with no one in front of us.

[skiiergirl]

I would recommend being upfront for the first set of locks. You will have to get up extremely early if you want "the rail". We usually get there about 5:30 am and are in the second or third row of spectators. We don't stay there all day though. We stay there through the first set of locks then go have breakfast and then wander the ship for a little while. We then go back to the cabin and sit on the balcony for a while. Then wander the ship a little more. For the second and third set you may want to go back to the front or go to the aft, etc. But I agree with prior poster, you will want to be upfront (as high as you can be deckwise too) to go under the Bridge of the Americas. It is really cool. The first year we went through, traffic on the bridge just stopped. People got out of cars, trucks, school busses, etc. to wave at us.

[hcat]

What is the best time & spot for Bridge of the America's? Is this on the Carib or Pacific coast. Our trip is not a through transit--

[hcat]

oops just read through posts & see this will not apply to our trip. What is best time to get up if not doing a through transit & what will we see? We have an excursions but would want to see the locks?

[cowtec]

We did the westbound transit in April. The pilot boarded about 4 AM. We were entering the channel to the canal by 5:30, I believe. Frenchman's Cut is on the starboard side as you go in and the shoreline is very pretty with the sun rising, as is the approach to the first set of locks into Gatun Lake. I have to agree that you need to be forward as you approach the locks and then move around to see everything. Your first glimpse of the locks and the arrow and so on is really exciting. After passing through the locks, we went back to our balcony and enjoyed the view from there until we were at Centennial Bridge and Culebra - then it was back to the bow until we made it to the Pacific. The Canal Visitor Center on the Pacific side of the Lake was wonderful with our ship announced as we passed it and many people waving and calling back and forth. Bridge of the Americas was fabulous with lots of cars honking and so on. We would do the Canal trip again in a heartbeat!!! :)

[A&G]

Cowtec, thank you so much for writing about your transit expereince. I guess we will take it as it comes and see what happens on the day. At this stage I can't see ourselves getting up at 4.30am to get a spot by the rail, but who knows what we will do as the excitement of it all takes over. Just two weeks to go now so the excitememt builds as we cross off items on the "to do list" before we go.

 

Cheers

Alan

[A&G]

Just removing a few subcribed threads and noticed this one. We have been back from our cruise about three weeks and planning the next. I thought I would post about our Cananal day.

 

We travelled east to west and ordered room service breakfast for 7.00am on the balcony. Sun just comming up and many waiting ships. Stayed on our balcony until the ship was in the first lock (left hand side). Whilst in the first lock we raced around all over the ship and then settled on a spot at the stern where there was not another person to be seen. Same for the second lock and then back to the balcony whilst on the lake.

 

Up front in the Windjammer having lunch as we passed under the bridge of the Americas and then back to the stern for the third lock. A few more people had found this spot but not many. once the gates had closed it was back to the balcony as we were on the correct side this time to see the other channel, the visitors centre with everybody waiving and all the activity in general. It was also cooler. Great views of Panama City after we left the third lock and sailed out into the Pacifica ocean.

 

Generally we did not find the rails crowded and every spot on the ship provided an excellent view. People did reserve chairs all day in the Windjammer cafe despite repeated requests not to do so. We found that/them rude and annoying and they received considerable abuse from many for the rest of the cruise (although I doubt they would have understood what was being spoken to them, if you get my drift)

 

Happy cruising to all

Alan