Silly question about the Panama Canal

[minnieandmickey]

Sounds silly but do we get off the ship? I have been reading some other sites where some Panama Canal cruises do, so I was wondering if anyone thinks we will be.

 

[traycie2201]

there are no silly questions on this site, i don't know the answer but a bump may find one.

 

[Verandah Man]

Originally posted by minnieandmickey
Sounds silly but do we get off the ship? I have been reading some other sites where some Panama Canal cruises do, so I was wondering if anyone thinks we will be.

If you do, I hope my nightmare from a few weeks ago doesn't come true and everyone is standing on top of the PC locks as the Magic sails on to CA without you.

 

[SoosieQ]

It looks like there is mostly just cruising with no stops. But you may want to check with whomever you booked it with.

 

[traycie2201]

The Dis web site is now showing the schedule which looks like you do get off at panama canal.

Sat
Travel to Port Canaveral to depart at 5 p.m.


Sun
Arrive in Castaway Cay at 8:15 a.m., depart at 5 p.m.


Mon
Enjoy relaxation and fun at sea.


Tue
Enjoy relaxation and fun at sea.


Wed
Arrive in Curacao at 6:30 a.m., depart at 5 p.m.


Thu
Enjoy relaxation and fun at sea.


Fri
Arrive at Panama Canal at 6 a.m., depart at 8 p.m.


Sat
Enjoy relaxation and fun at sea.


Sun
Arrive in Puerto Quetzal at 11 a.m., depart at 6 p.m.


Mon
Enjoy relaxation and fun at sea.


Tue
Arrive in Acapulco at 6:30 a.m., depart at 8 p.m.


Wed
Enjoy relaxation and fun at sea.


Thu
Arrive in Cabo San Lucas at 6:30 a.m., depart at 4 p.m.


Fri
Enjoy relaxation and fun at sea.


Sat
Arrive at Los Angeles at 6 a.m., debark the ship at 8:30 a.m.

 

[my3kids]

You won't get out...there really is no place to do that. The arrival time should be the time you get to the beginning of the canal. The day will be spent very slowly going through the canal, then the departing time should be when you float out of the last lock. It is essentially a day at sea, but instead of ocean, you see river banks with lush trees, moneys and wildlife in the trees, a lake or some sort of body of water in the middle, and passing ships as large as yours going in the other direction side by side, close enough to talk to the other passengers. I'll see if I can find any pictures from when I went through and post them somehow.

 

[SoosieQ]

It looks like there is mostly just cruising with no stops. But you may want to check with whomever you booked it with.

 

[seaulater]

We went through last year. It takes all day to do the approx. 51 miles to go from one end to the other. You go very slow and the ship never gets to go at any speed. You can walk faster than the ship is going.

You won't be getting off, unless you want to spend the summer there and get back on when it returns in August.

 

[Amberle3]

There are some cruises that don't go through the canal but just up to the canal. On those ones I think there are shore excursions. But if you're going through the canal then no.

 

[mostyn17]

I was wondering the same thing....so I called Wednesday evening and asked a CM....she told me yes, we will get off the ship...which I found exciting. I called yesterday and put the deposit down and got an extremely nice Cm so I started asking her about the cruise and the canal...She said no, you stay on the ship, it actually takes that long to get through the canal. She said at least when she did a cruise that is what they did....(not Disney of course) However, there is a place that some ships stop where you can get off, but I guess they leave an extra day for that. (I forget the name)

She said the panama canal is a great experience.....and she wants to do it again...

I guess if we end up stopping, it will be a nice suprose to us all!

Travis

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I have been through PC on a princess criuse you do not stop an route but we had a guide tell us throughout the day what we were seeing.

However we had an unadvertised stop at the Western end of PC, to refule for 6 hours.

It wasnt made clear until the 'princess' navitgators of the day.

Three other ships were there and all refuled, must be cheap or accessable there.

Some cruisers booked taxis to panama city, and there was ap ort market set up so it looked like they knew we were coming!

 

[seaulater]

I talked to DCL today and we are not stopping. Last year when we went through on RCCL we did not stop at the west end, we continued on to Costa Rica and stopped there for our normal port stop.

However, we did have to speed up quite a few times to the next port and we also had to turn around and go back to Acapulco right as we were leaving the bay back into the ocean. We had so many retirees on the ship they kept kicking off or getting hurt. In fact, the crew on that ship had an actual pool on how many passengers would be taken off or pass on during the cruise. I think the winners guess correctly at 7. Our cruise was 15 days.

 

[wide awake]

Okay, this is weird...the FL-CA cruise is at Puerto Quetzal till 6 pm...in the other direction it is 1 pm...which is it ?

 

[Tigfanjeff]

Originally posted by wide awake
Okay, this is weird...the FL-CA cruise is at Puerto Quetzal till 6 pm...in the other direction it is 1 pm...which is it ?

The FL-CA also gets into Puerta Quetzal later.

 

[ivanova]

the westbound cruise is in Puerto Quetzal from 11am to 6pm and eastbound is there 7am to 1pm (1 hour less).

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Two things

1/Down to time, speed and direction.

2/Plus East, you loose three hours going back re time zones but gain three hours going West!

 

[dclwdwlover]

Originally posted by seaulater
We had so many retirees on the ship they kept kicking off or getting hurt. In fact, the crew on that ship had an actual pool on how many passengers would be taken off or pass on during the cruise. I think the winners guess correctly at 7. Our cruise was 15 days.

What was THAT all about? What actually happened to so many people????

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Originally posted by dclwdwlover

Originally posted by seaulater
We had so many retirees on the ship they kept kicking off or getting hurt. In fact, the crew on that ship had an actual pool on how many passengers would be taken off or pass on during the cruise. I think the winners guess correctly at 7. Our cruise was 15 days.

What was THAT all about? What actually happened to so many people?

Nothing "happened". That's just, statistically, how many people in a ship with the population of a small town, when the median age is very high, will take ill during a 15-day period. The fact that the crew had a "pool" on it was their gallows-humor way of dealing with that reality.

 

[seaulater]

Someone told me that the crew also does a "pool" on the Holland America cruises in Alaska because of the ages of the cruisers!!!!


On the RCCL ship, we had a couple with heart attacks, one drank too much and fell deathly ill, one fell and broke her hip, another fell and broke her leg, and I think a couple kicked the bucket. Some of those older women (70+) where those heels so high I can't imagine them not falling down the stairs, I'm in my 40's and I have a hard enough time myself!

There you go, the unofficial list!

Linda