My thoughts about Panama Canal cruises

[bobbiwoz]

Probably our favorite DCL cruise was our Panama Canal cruise in 2014. However, I truly felt something was missing, and so we just completed a partial crossing on a Princess Cruise and this has satisfied me. We tendered into Panama on the Gatun Lake and saw some of Panama City, but most of all, we went to the Gatun Lock Visitors Center where we watched the gates operate, a ship come in and eventually the ship lowered and sailed out. Another awesome sight was when we viewed a new lock from ground level.

I think DCL's lecturer Kenneth Puckett was far superior in his talks about the Panama Canal than was Princess's offering of a guide. However, our Princess cruise director, Richard, did an excellent overview of cruising history beginning in the 1950s. I think he was fair in his presentation of all cruise lines. At his talk we realized just how small DCL truly is with their 4 ships!

From what we saw in Panama, I cannot imagine the new lane will open in April, but perhaps the new canal will be dedicated then. It really looks unfinished!

I wanted to ask here about something that was mentioned on our cruise. It was said that the Magic paid the second highest toll going through the locks. Did the Magic cross the canal? I was not aware that it had.

Bobbi

 

[jdb in AZ]

Probably our favorite DCL cruise was our Panama Canal cruise in 2014. However, I truly felt something was missing, and so we just completed a partial crossing on a Princess Cruise and this has satisfied me. We tendered into Panama on the Gatun Lake and saw some of Panama City, but most of all, we went to the Gatun Lock Visitors Center where we watched the gates operate, a ship come in and eventually the ship lowered and sailed out. Another awesome sight was when we viewed a new lock from ground level.

I think DCL's lecturer Kenneth Puckett was far superior in his talks about the Panama Canal than was Princess's offering of a guide. However, our Princess cruise director, Richard, did an excellent overview of cruising history beginning in the 1950s. I think he was fair in his presentation of all cruise lines. At his talk we realized just how small DCL truly is with their 4 ships!

From what we saw in Panama, I cannot imagine the new lane will open in April, but perhaps the new canal will be dedicated then. It really looks unfinished!

I wanted to ask here about something that was mentioned on our cruise. It was said that the Magic paid the second highest toll going through the locks. Did the Magic cross the canal? I was not aware that it had.

Bobbi

Yes, the Magic used to do Mexican Riviera cruises so she went back and forth through the Canal before the Wonder did. FWIW, the Magic and the Wonder are the largest cruise ships to ever go through the Canal, and DCL has paid a premium for the day-time sailings.

If I remember right, DCL paid $400,000 for our cruise to go through the Canal five years ago.

 

[MickeyEarrings]

The Magic is now too big for the locks due to the duck tail added with her reimagineering. So, for now, the Wonder is the only ship in the fleet that can transit the Canal.

I wonder...once the new locks are open, might the Dream or Fantasy do a PC cruise? I would love to sail this wonderful itinerary on one of the larger ships.

 

[mmouse37]

The cost was close to $500,000.00 in October. It is a 10% upcharge to have a priority time slot through the canal and Disney pays it!!!

Loved Ken Puckett's lectures on the PC. He's quite the character!!

MJ

 

[bobbiwoz]

....
Loved Ken Puckett's lectures on the PC. He's quite the character!!

MJ

I agree!

 

[DCL Repeaters]

Actually the guests are paying for the priority slot through the canal. The May 2016 Panama Canal cruise lists the taxes, fees and port charges at $757.

The Magic was the first DCL ship to transit the canal in May 2005. I've been fortunate to have been on 2 transits with the Magic and greatly enjoyed each one.

 

[SillyInventor]

As I understood it DCL both pays a premium to be guaranteed crossing the canal by daylight and priority to finish the crossing within the same day. Of course guests pay for it! Everything DCL does is payed by cruisers, but the PC-cruises tend to have the lowest per-night rate possible on a DCL cruise. We will on the upcoming WBPC this May and our rate for the entire 14n is lower than any 7n Alaska cruise! So Alaska cruisers are also paying for the repositioning...

 

[bobbiwoz]

As I understood it DCL both pays a premium to be guaranteed crossing the canal by daylight and priority to finish the crossing within the same day. Of course guests pay for it! Everything DCL does is payed by cruisers, but the PC-cruises tend to have the lowest per-night rate possible on a DCL cruise. We will on the upcoming WBPC this May and our rate for the entire 14n is lower than any 7n Alaska cruise! So Alaska cruisers are also paying for the repositioning...

Have a great time. I fully expect to do another DCL PC cruise once the new canal is opened for passage!

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

If I remember correctly , most if not all cruise ships pay for guaranteed daylight passage in the PC.

In my 15 -20 transits most were at night and that was becuase the cruise ships and container ships were going during the day.

We would anchor and watch them go by. Some.times.we would be.surprized and get a VHS call that there was a daylight open slot and off we would go.

AKK

 

[dclpluto]

As I understood it DCL both pays a premium to be guaranteed crossing the canal by daylight and priority to finish the crossing within the same day. Of course guests pay for it! Everything DCL does is payed by cruisers, but the PC-cruises tend to have the lowest per-night rate possible on a DCL cruise. We will on the upcoming WBPC this May and our rate for the entire 14n is lower than any 7n Alaska cruise! So Alaska cruisers are also paying for the repositioning...

Same reason why I'm doing the May repo cruise on the wonder. 14 nights for about the same cost as the fantasy for 7 nights. Did the repo pc cruise on the magic in 08 that was more money than this one. That one I paid 4,000 plus can't remember the exact cost.
This one is 3100 dollars for 2 people. 08 was 15 nights instead of 14 nights. The one on 08 had better ports also Aruba, castaway cay, Acapulco. Acapulco wasn't special but it was something new. Than three of the same ports Columbia and the 2 west coast Mexican ports. The one coming up has Cozumel the one in 08 didn't. Been to Cozumel too much already.

 

[mmouse37]

Actually the guests are paying for the priority slot through the canal. The May 2016 Panama Canal cruise lists the taxes, fees and port charges at $757.

The Magic was the first DCL ship to transit the canal in May 2005. I've been fortunate to have been on 2 transits with the Magic and greatly enjoyed each one.

Yes, we pay it through our port fees but what I meant was Disney chose to do the priority upcharge. Who the heck wants to go through the Canal at night!!!

MJ

 

[tlynk]

Probably our favorite DCL cruise was our Panama Canal cruise in 2014. However, I truly felt something was missing, and so we just completed a partial crossing on a Princess Cruise and this has satisfied me. We tendered into Panama on the Gatun Lake and saw some of Panama City, but most of all, we went to the Gatun Lock Visitors Center where we watched the gates operate, a ship come in and eventually the ship lowered and sailed out. Another awesome sight was when we viewed a new lock from ground level.

I think DCL's lecturer Kenneth Puckett was far superior in his talks about the Panama Canal than was Princess's offering of a guide. However, our Princess cruise director, Richard, did an excellent overview of cruising history beginning in the 1950s. I think he was fair in his presentation of all cruise lines. At his talk we realized just how small DCL truly is with their 4 ships!

From what we saw in Panama, I cannot imagine the new lane will open in April, but perhaps the new canal will be dedicated then. It really looks unfinished!

I wanted to ask here about something that was mentioned on our cruise. It was said that the Magic paid the second highest toll going through the locks. Did the Magic cross the canal? I was not aware that it had.

Bobbi

Thank you for sharing!

 

[DisneySince1967]

We went on the EBPC cruise in October-November 2015. It was our first DCL cruise and we loved it so much that we plan to go on a DCL PC cruise again in 2017. We were grateful for the tips we received from veteran DCL cruisers who, like us, are not among the regulars for whom money is no object. There are folks who take the DCL Panama Canal cruise annually--some even twice, once each way, because it is the the least expensive cruise per day and the 14 day experience is so wonderful. Then, for shorter cruises, they look to other cruise lines departing from their home ports. The PC cruise becomes less about seeing a new part of the world and more about enjoying a floating, Disney resort.

I'm glad Disney pays whatever it has to in order for the Wonder to go through the Canal during the day and for it to take only one day. Capt. Puckett is such a character and his presentations are so lively that I hope DCL pays him whatever he wants to keep coming back.

 

[Munkamamacallie]

I want to go on a PC cruise soooo bad! I am a teacher and cannot go on DCL until I retire due to the timing. Would anyone have a second choice of cruise lines? It looks like Princess and MSC both go during the summer. MSC's reviews are REALLY across the board. (both great and terrible) Thanks!

 

[OhThePain]

I want to go on a PC cruise soooo bad! I am a teacher and cannot go on DCL until I retire due to the timing. Would anyone have a second choice of cruise lines? It looks like Princess and MSC both go during the summer. MSC's reviews are REALLY across the board. (both great and terrible) Thanks!

I don't believe Princess does PC in the summer. Everything I have seen their PC dates are Sept-May, so maybe you could catch one over a Christmas/NYE break? I know when I was younger, we did a partial where we actually did the canal on Christmas Day. My wife and I are beginning to plan a PC cruise for our 5-year anniversary in 2018 (we were supposed to do a PC cruise on Princess for our honeymoon, but ended up changing plans). I can't speak for full transit cruises, since we are only interested in partials, but from what we have seen only Princess and NCL offer partial transit cruises, which might also help with the timing since they run about 10 days (which is 4-7 days shorter than full transit cruises). One of the things that draws us to the partial is that they stop and give you a chance to do an excursion after the first set of locks (both PCL and NCL have an excursion that takes you all the way through the rest of the locks before busing you back to meet with the ship), where as the full transits don't seem to stop.

 

[Munkamamacallie]

Princess cruises during the summer in July, but they are a minimum of 38 days. Yikes!