Panama Canal

[matt'smom]

We are booked on the emerald to do partial transit of the canal in January 25. Question do you see enough of the locks by staying on the boat or should we take the tour which includes sail through the locks?

[Potstech]

You will bet to see three locks in full opening and closing as you travel to Gatum Lake.  There is then a ferry excursion that will take you thru the other locks to the Pacific Ocean where you will be put on a bus back to the ship which has gone back thru to locks.  This is on a Partial transit of the locks.  Hope this helps.

You can not leave the ship in the canal area unless on a ships excursion.

[skynight]

The partial transit transits the Aqua Clara (new) locks. It is interesting to view and listen to the commentary for various locations on the upper decks as well as the promenade deck. The transit takes around 2 1/2 hours in the 3 locks plus an approach time of maybe an hour, total 3 1/2 hours. Once through the locks the ship anchors in Gatun Lake. While in the lake those that are on Princess tours are tendered ashore. At some point during the day the Emerald will exit Gatun Lake via the same Agua Clara locks and dock in Colon.

To answer your question. You will get a good look at how the new locks operate as you go through them. You will not see the Culebra Cut, the channel that goes through the continental divide, and the Pacific locks. You will also miss the old original locks that operated since they opened in 1914 and are still in operation today. There are Princess tours which will let you see some of these sites. Some are on ferries that actually transit the locks and some are land tours. I would recommend one of these tours. Your tour will rejoin the Emerald Princess at the dock in Colon.

This will be a very long day. The initial approach to the Agua Clara Locks begins around 6am. Depending on the tour you could arrive back at the ship close to its departure time. 

[h20skibum]

14 hours ago, matt'smom said:

We are booked on the emerald to do partial transit of the canal in January 25. Question do you see enough of the locks by staying on the boat or should we take the tour which includes sail through the locks?

 

12 hours ago, skynight said:

Depending on the tour you could arrive back at the ship close to its departure time.

Or you could arrive back after scheduled departure.

 

I can’t believe it has been 10 years since we did Panama Canal on Coral, but we did the remaining locks by ferry boat.   It gives you a much different perspective of the locks, vs being high up on the cruise ship.  If you are interested in what it is like, I covered it on page 2 of this review.

 

 

I would suggest you move around the ship as you go through the locks to Gatun lake.  

[phabric]

15 hours ago, Potstech said:

You will bet to see three locks in full opening and closing as you travel to Gatum Lake.  There is then a ferry excursion that will take you thru the other locks to the Pacific Ocean where you will be put on a bus back to the ship which has gone back thru to locks.  This is on a Partial transit of the locks.  Hope this helps.

You can not leave the ship in the canal area unless on a ships excursion.

I have taken this excursion 2x with different friends.  I highly recommend it.  You are up close to the locks as they open/close.  A lunch, soda, water is included beer extra.

[NavyVeteran]

I would definitely recommend the tour that takes a small boat through the Pacific locks - especially since your ship is going through the new locks. The small boat will go through the historic locks which are much more interesting. Also you will have done a full transit of the canal - even if your ship did not.

 

The timing of the ship's return is never certain because of delays gaining access to the locks. If you take an excursion, you will return to meet the ship before it leaves, because it will wait for you. Sometimes the ship is delayed and you arrive at the dock hours before the ship, and there is not much to do at those docks while you are waiting.

 

Also I highly recommend you read David McCullough's book The Path Between the Seas before the cruise. It is the definitive history of the building of the original Panama Canal. After reading this book, I think you will appreciate even more going through the old locks on the small boat excursion.

[Paula_MacFan]

For those of you that are recommending the boat tour, is this the correct Princess excursion?  We have a Panama Canal cruise booked and I have looked over the excursions but was struggling with which one to chose. Some of the descriptions sound very similar.  I've also read great reviews of the one that includes the railway dome car -- can anyone comment on that compared to the boat tour?  

 

Thanks! 

[phabric]

29 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

For those of you that are recommending the boat tour, is this the correct Princess excursion?  We have a Panama Canal cruise booked and I have looked over the excursions but was struggling with which one to chose. Some of the descriptions sound very similar.  I've also read great reviews of the one that includes the railway dome car -- can anyone comment on that compared to the boat tour?  

 

Thanks! 

I have taken this excursion 2x with different friends.  Bus about a hour, large ferry (ferry size might vary - my 1 first visit had lower level with bathroom, seats, lunch, 2 visit only one level) that held  3 buses, with seats in the front and back, up close to the locks, bus to the ship. Lunch, soda, water included beer extra and bathrooms. You could have picture taken on the ferry with a lock in the background.

 

 Highly recommend.

 

I took the train my first Canal cruise as my BIL is into trains.  I found it boring as we mainly saw trees with a few breaks in the tree line.  After the train, bus to a view area, crowded from all the buses.

Edited May 16 by phabric

[Paula_MacFan]

13 minutes ago, phabric said:

I have taken this excursion 2x with different friends.  Bus about a hour, large ferry (ferry size might vary - my 1 first visit had lower level with bathroom, seats, lunch, 2 visit only one level) that held  3 buses, with seats in the front and back, up close to the locks, bus to the ship. Lunch, soda, water included beer extra and bathrooms. You could have picture taken on the ferry with a lock in the background.

 

 Highly recommend.

 

I took the train my first Canal cruise as my BIL is into trains.  I found it boring as we mainly saw trees with a few breaks in the tree line.  After the train, bus to a view area, crowded from all the buses.

Thank you so much!  That really helps and I appreciate all the details.