Has anyone been on a cruise to the Panama Canal?

Question

What did you think of it, and what tours did you do? did you think the tours were good or not? I have heard negative things about cruising to the Panama canal. Are they true?

Answer 1

We cruised to the Panama Canal on Princess a few years ago and I did not think it was negative at all.  Most of the people who cruised to the Canal when we did were middle aged and older.  So it was not a party ship like some may expect; not like cruises which typically do the Caribbean.  this is in part because its a historical/cultural cruise instead of one on which you have beach parties and shore excursions with activities like jet skiing, para sailing, and dune buggy riding.

On our Panama cruise was on a  Princess ship which was very nice and so was the entire cruise.  We departed from Ft Lauderdale (also called Port Everglades) and stopped first in Costa Maya, Mexico. We did not do a tour there, just went to the beach. Then we stopped in Costa Rica. We did a tour there that included a train ride away from the port city into the jungle. A guide in each car explained what we were passing as we went. Then we got off the train in a small town about 10 miles from the port and boarded a bus and were taken to a banana plantation where we had a brief tour before we were bused back to the ship. I did like this tour as it gave opportunity to see life away from the city.

We got to the Panama canal about 5:30 AM and it was still dark as we waited for our turn to enter the locks. We went in beside a huge ship carrying autos. We watched some from the bow of the ship and then went back to our balcony cabin and watched the progress from there. We could see clearly the trains that are used to pull the ship through the locks. The whole process took about two hours. We then entered Guten Lake after going through the locks and there departed the ship for tours by tender boat (no dock).

The tour that we selected was a train ride across Panama to the Pacific. It was kinda expensive but it was a great trip. It takes about an hour to cross Panama and when we got there we got off and took a bus tour that included a stop at the Pacific coast side locks. After that we re boarded the bus and went back to the train for the ride back to the East coast. At the east coast side we had a tour on the way back to the ship of the former American compound in Panama. Then when they dropped us at the pier the ship had re-entered the locks and was at a pier at the port. There was a small market there to buy souvenirs.

Our planned stop in Columbia was canceled due to security reasons. Then our final stop was Jamaica and there we chose the Dunn's River Falls tour. That was nice and a must do. There are two main tours to do in Jamaica, Dunns River Falls and a river raft trip. We have done both and they are great.

We used the ship's tours for all of our excursions, mainly because I did not know how to book tours otherwise. The big worry with outside vendors is getting back to the ship on time. The cruise ship will wait for its tours that are late, but not for those of private vendors. I have used private vendors in some Caribbean ports, but not these.

About everyone whom I have talked to about their Panama Canal cruise has said that they enjoyed it.  I think folks who did not probably did not know what to expect.

Answer 2

I heard great things from my relatives who visited. I don't recall anything negative. Sorry, I don't have any other requested specifics.  

Answer 3

Just like Tinker toy, I also did the Panama canal on Princess just 2 years ago. The ship we went on has now been retired to another cruise company. Princess has built other smaller ships to be able to go through the canal. Also Panama is in the process of making the canal bigger which will allow bigger and more ships through. Going through  the canal takes all day, but is very fascinating. A Balcony is a must on this cruise. I'm very glad I did this cruise. We went all the way through starting from San Diego and ending up in Florida. Great cruise.

Answer 4

no, but it looks really fun