Panama Canal - Ship Activities during transit

[SonomaMist]

Hi all, will be on the Norwegian Jewel for a full transit canal crossing from Miami to Los Angeles. Wanted to see what shipboard activities Norwegian offers during the transit.

 

Thanks!

[casofilia]

Hi all, will be on the Norwegian Jewel for a full transit canal crossing from Miami to Los Angeles. Wanted to see what shipboard activities Norwegian offers during the transit.

 

Thanks!

 

If you email me at Casofilia at xtra .co .nz I will scan the actual page for you; we were there on the Pearl 3 years ago and have the Freestyle Daily

 

Mike

[IsanTom]

Relaxing at the pool bar with the UBP! Enjoy!

[SonomaMist]

If you email me at Casofilia at xtra .co .nz I will scan the actual page for you; we were there on the Pearl 3 years ago and have the Freestyle Daily

 

Mike

 

Thanks, Mike, much appreciated. Just sent a note.

Kind regards,

Kathy

[retired rascal]

Transit day is really fascinating. Be sure to go to see the documentary the day before (I think it was shown more than once) about the prior failures, planning, obstacles and actual construction of the canal. Usually all the ships that will be transiting line up well before dawn awaiting their turn to be called. There is no way to predict which of the 2 parallel channels your ship will go through. It is fun to go to the front of the ship to watch how the locks operate and also to each side. On one side you will see the trains. On the other, the ship transiting in the parallel channel. Since it takes all day, you can do other activities off and on. Usually the Captain opens the crew only section at the bow so more people can get a forward facing view of the locks. Enjoy it.

[abbyar]

We went through the canal, although it wasn't with NCL. It's not every day they to get passenger crossing, so I high recommend a balcony for this sailing. At some points we were so close to people on the edge it felt like we could touch them. The view is truly spectacular. Many of the workers spent a few minutes waving to us as we went by, so we ate in our room and drank champagne and waved. So much fun!

[atomax]

We just got off the Pearl's PC cruise on the same itinerary. The Pearl had local expert come on the ship at the beginning of the passage to talk about the process and history. This person speaks for pretty much the entire passage and is incredibly informative. Unfortunately, if you go to the crew area, you may not be able to hear the talk because the crew area is on a different comm system than the rest of the ship. We requested some kind of alternate audio system for future crossings, so fingers crossed (maybe it's already different on the Jewel).

 

If you are not in a balcony (and even if you are, you should walk around to different points on the ship for different perspectives) and you go to one of the public viewing areas, be aware that they will fill up fast for the first lock. People were staking out their claim at 6 AM in the crew-only area; and considering we didn't start going through the first lock until ~8:30 AM, it was a long wait in the hot sun. The crew set up a water and bar station, plus a shaded area for people to sit; but if you left to get water, good luck getting back to your spot (we brought our refillable water bottle for this very reason). The ship gave out bottles of bug repellent due to zika virus concerns, but putting on sunscreen was much more important, IMO!

 

We spent the morning watching the process from the crew-only area, then we went to Deck 14 for the second gate (plus went down to Deck 7, which was almost at the same level as land, so it was cool to see just how freaking close the ship gets to the edge!). We sat in the back of the ship (at the Garden Cafe) for the last lock, and got to watch the sun set over Gatum Lake.

 

All in all, a great day, and well worth getting up early for!

[Turtles06]

We have our first Canal cruise booked for next year (on the Jewel) and are very excited. Thanks to all for the info above.

 

Quick question: normal ship's announcements are not broadcast into the cabins (only the hallways and public areas) and can't be heard in the cabins or if you are on your balcony. Is the guide's narration during the transit of the Canal broadcast into the cabins themselves? If not, is it live on the TV? I'm just wondering what if anything you can hear when you are on your balcony.

 

Thanks!

[watchdiva]

You should be able to turn on channel 24 and hear the narration....we are just off the 1 day Alaska and on Glacier Bay day we heard the narration of the park guide on that channel. We are on the Eastbound Jewel cruise next February and hope that will be the case.

 

 

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[Turtles06]

You should be able to turn on channel 24 and hear the narration....we are just off the 1 day Alaska and on Glacier Bay day we heard the narration of the park guide on that channel. We are on the Eastbound Jewel cruise next February and hope that will be the case.

 

 

 

Thank you. We are westbound on the Jewel, arriving in LA on Feb. 5, 2017. Are we delivering the ship to you? :)

[roger001]

Been through twice. Don't just sit in one location. Get out and wander the ship from front to back. Deck 7, deck 13, Great Outdoors, all over. Look at it all. It's the one day of events in your life you probably won't get to see again.

[watchdiva]

Turtles06....YEP, you're bringing her to us. We depart 2/5/07!

 

 

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[Turtles06]

Turtles06....YEP, you're bringing her to us. We depart 2/5/07!

 

 

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We'll take good care of her. :)

 

(I see you have a pretty good Roll Call going. Our sailing was added only recently, so we're all just starting out.)

 

Have a great cruise!

[www3traveler]

We have our first Canal cruise booked for next year (on the Jewel) and are very excited. Thanks to all for the info above.

 

Quick question: normal ship's announcements are not broadcast into the cabins (only the hallways and public areas) and can't be heard in the cabins or if you are on your balcony. Is the guide's narration during the transit of the Canal broadcast into the cabins themselves? If not, is it live on the TV? I'm just wondering what if anything you can hear when you are on your balcony.

 

Thanks!

The last time I did the Crossing, they had the big screen pulled in the lobby and had the bow cam running so you could see forward in the comfort of air conditioning. It can be very steamy in The Canal.

[Clay Clayton]

I second all the PP's suggestions and if you haven't already, be active on your roll call...perhaps there will be someone who has a great room and will invite you to join them.

 

We were lucky on Sun last year and had a huge forward facing balcony so we set open house hours and invited folks to stop by at their leisure.

 

After I invited everyone at the Meet & Greet, the group coordinator asked me if we would like to have some refreshments to which I of course said yes. So about 8:30 room service called and said they had a delivery. They came in and set up tea and lemonade in big dispensers along with chips and cookies. They came by after lunch and topped everything off. It was a great day!

[casofilia]

Been through twice. Don't just sit in one location. Get out and wander the ship from front to back. Deck 7, deck 13, Great Outdoors, all over. Look at it all. It's the one day of events in your life you probably won't get to see again.

 

I agree totally with this; it might be nice to sit in one place but you would miss a lot. I warn that viewing from the bow will probably very hot and crushed. You will also find that "family" groups will settle in to the best viewing places very early and rotate the sitters; empty chairs will be between members and full of "luggage"!!!

 

Mike

[SeahawkSiren]

We were lucky on Sun last year and had a huge forward facing balcony so we set open house hours and invited folks to stop by at their leisure.

 

We too will be on the Sun in October for a full transit. Did the Sun show the documentary and also have someone come onboard to explain everything over the PA system?

 

I agree totally with this; it might be nice to sit in one place but you would miss a lot. I warn that viewing from the bow will probably very hot and crushed. You will also find that "family" groups will settle in to the best viewing places very early and rotate the sitters; empty chairs will be between members and full of "luggage"!!!

 

Mike

 

We have an aft mini suite so we will enjoy our expansive view without the crush of people! But we will also plan to move around to different areas of the ship just to get different vantage points. But I have a feeling we will be spending a good chunk of time on our balcony!

[toyotaford]

We did the PC on the Jewel in April. It was an amazing trip. One of the things we enjoyed that hasn't been mentioned was the special breakfast they offered the morning of the crossing. It was served on your balcony. They also open the kids art room for everyone to make a poster to display on their balcony. It was fun to see all the creativity. And definitely get a focal point to help you realize the movement. We used a light pole on land. At one point we were actually looking down at it. And as several have said visit different areas of the ship. At one point we went down a few floors and were able to carry on a conversation with the driver of one of the "mules". (The thing that pulls the ships through the canal. ) Have a great trip. We are chomping at the bit to do it again.