Coral Princess question re: NB Panama Canal transit and Bridge of the Americas

[dmwnc1959]

OK. So, this is going to be crazy specific so please bear with me. And it’s going to be very specific to the ship, as well as being specific to the Pacific-side approach channels into the Panama Canal.
 

I’m booked on a Coral Princess Northbound Panama Canal transit for early next year. She has a port stop the day prior to the transit in Fuerte Amador, and then departs late day for anchorage to overnight there. 
 

For those who have done this transit and in this specific direction, on Coral Princess (or her sister Island Princess), are the forward facing open-deck areas on Baja and Caribe decks (those ‘secret decks’) accessible to passengers 24/7, or are they locked and then opened at a specific time as the ship enters the approach channel?
 

The reason I’m asking is that once she departs her anchorage and heads towards the Bridge of the Americas the speed slows to approx. 6 knots as she passes under the bridge. I’m looking at trying to be there long before she passes underneath the bridge, as well as to try and secure a spot upfront on one of those two observation decks for the duration of the initial transit well into the Miraflores Lake (roughly 2+ hours). 

 

My apologies for this being so specific and so long of a description, but I will only ever get to do this once, and want to be at the best possible spot (especially for some really great picture taking!) for the very first portion of the day-long passage through the Panama Canal. 

[hobbyfarmer2]

The two decks were both open when we transited from the Pacific in Jan 2019.

Edited February 7 by hobbyfarmer2
Sp

[rmsmith]

Well, not your specific use case but I can tell you when we were on the Island and traveled in the opposite direction those observation area as were open well before we started our approach to the canal. 

 

Best bet is probably to check with the crew the day or two before you get to Panama 

[travellingnana]

We were on the Coral in 2011…yes, a long time ago. The decks were both open when we went. DH was up there before 5AM. In fact, I think the decks may have always been accessible. 

[skynight]

I did this. Those two areas were open for the transit. I can't answer about 24/7. I didn't try. I can tell you that these areas are narrow, standing only and were not crowded when I was there. What happens on one cruise may not happen on another. You just have to ask or try once on board. The most crowded area was the deck on top of the bridge. 

[SCX22]

No idea the open viewing decks of Coral during PC transit, but I did just complete a northbound full transit on the Emerald.  The drought has caused cruise ship transits to be less timed in the sense that the ship will begin transiting as soon as they they the go signal from the lock master so that container ships without reservations can be accommodated if possible.  Our itinerary had 6:00 am as the published start of transit.  We were in the first lock at 5:30 am and many were disappointed in missing the Bridge of the Americas as we had passed under at around 4:45 am.  At the same time they wouldn't have seen much because it was still dark out.  Hopefully, the drought will have improved by the time of your cruise.

[Parrottdizes]

I have done the Panama Canal 4 times (first 3 times on the Coral Princess). The viewing area that you are talking about was open on the Coral and I got there before sunrise each time (not that many people up that early).  

First image is from the forward viewing area on the Coral.

Second image is from the forward area on the Caribbean.

[Alaska05]

What do you mean by northbound. I mostly see it referred to as either east or westbound.  I too am looking to do the full transit on the Coral. 

[Steelers36]

18 minutes ago, Alaska05 said:

What do you mean by northbound. I mostly see it referred to as either east or westbound.  I too am looking to do the full transit on the Coral. 

Take a look at a map.  This is like a school geography test trick question.  The Panama Canal actually runs more N/S than W/E.  In the south section, you will see it almost runs SE to NW.

Edited February 7 by Steelers36

[skynight]

2 hours ago, Alaska05 said:

What do you mean by northbound. I mostly see it referred to as either east or westbound.  I too am looking to do the full transit on the Coral. 

Traveling from the Pacific to the Atlantic in total is an eastbound trip, but the canal portion is northbound from southeast to northwest. When you exit the canal on the Atlantic side you are actually north and west of where you entered on the Pacific side. 

[Alaska05]

Learn something new every day.  Thanks for the geography lesson.

[dmwnc1959]

5 hours ago, SCX22 said:

No idea the open viewing decks of Coral during PC transit, but I did just complete a northbound full transit on the Emerald. We were in the first lock at 5:30 am and many were disappointed in missing the Bridge of the Americas as we had passed under at around 4:45 am. 

I’ve noticed that mentioned regarding the very early arrival at the Cocoli Locks for the NCL Breakaway-class ships heading NB. I’d read about one recently where the ship was already heading into the Culebra Cut before most passengers were even awake. I’d been pretty upset. 

 

As for the very, very early morning arrivals and the scheduling mess, I’m wondering if that’s because there is only one lock set there at Cololi (one ship at a time) whereas the Miraflores Locks has two sets (as does the Pedro Miguel Locks) and can handle double/quaduple the traffic at the same time allowing for greater flexibility?

[dmwnc1959]

4 hours ago, Parrottdizes said:

I have done the Panama Canal 4 times (first 3 times on the Coral Princess). The viewing area that you are talking about was open on the Coral and I got there before sunrise each time (not that many people up that early).  

 

 
That sunrise picture taken from Caribbean Princess at the Bridge of the Americas is simply stunning. Nice to know that the forward observation decks on Coral Princess are open before sunrise! 🤞

[dmwnc1959]

4 hours ago, Alaska05 said:

What do you mean by northbound. I mostly see it referred to as either east or westbound.  I too am looking to do the full transit on the Coral. 

That does seem to confuse a lot of people. I’ve used both references, especially on Cruise Critic forums, but to simplify things I like to use Westbound and Eastbound since that is, for the most part, the general direction of the itineraries in regards to start point and endpoint.

Edited February 7 by dmwnc1959