There are 2 ways to do a Panama Canal cruise – full transit from Pacific to Caribbean or vv; or you can do a partial transit where the ship enters one side, usually the Caribbean, goes through a lock or two so you can see what it’s like and possibly stop for shore excursions.
Here’s an idea of what to expect in the way of shore excursions on a Panama Canal cruise.
Stop in Colon (sometimes tagged on to a full transit)
Partial transit with stop in Gatun Lake
Partial or full transit with stop in Panama City (Fuerte Amador)
The day before we were due to go through the canal, I noticed some ADULTS doing crafts with construction paper and cardboard signs. It turned out they were making signs to wave at the photographer as we went through the canal. I decided to join in! Of course I had to feature a bird on my sign. I’m sure a 5 year old would have done better but I liked my finished product anyways!
The full transit we did in April 2011 went from Pacific to Caribbean with only a 3 hour stop in Colon so no time to go out. We were told to stay in the shopping centre for our own safety. We arrived at 5pm so it would have been too late to go anywhere else anyway. During the transit, our fantastic port lecturer, Dr Thomas Ryan gave a fascinating and detailed commentary as we went through the canal. We saw a few birds flying overhead but not very good views. If you have a stop in Panama City, I recommend going to Soberania NP (Rainforest Center). We did end up going there in August 2013.
We entered the canal at dawn. In the following pictorial you will see the pilot boats, Bridge of the Americas, banks of the canal, a few odd birds and ships we passed including another Princess ship. You can see the locks opening and closing with water levels going up and down and the Princess photographer down below aiming his camera at the people like us on the balconies.
Here we are docking at Colon. There’s a small shopping centre with various shops selling duty free goods and Panama handicrafts. You can guess which shops I went into! Those colourful embroidered goods are called “Molas” and they are hand-made by Kuna Indians. Quite a few with bird designs came home with us that evening!
This has become one of my favourite handbags and some of those molas are now decorating our home either on the walls or stitched onto pillows. Supporting local people at it’s best!
