Benjy45

Wanting to travel to Panama and take a one day (half or full day) cruise of Panama Canal. Has anyone taken one recently, any recommendations as to reliable company and did you like the full or half day cruise? Thanks

JeanH

We did the full canal transit in January of 2005. A very long day. Left our hotel at about 6am and didn't get back there until after 9pm. There are only complete transits one Saturday a month. Other Saturday's have partial transits.

Although others disagree, I would have been happy with the partial transit. The locks are fascinating, but there are several hours where there isn't much to see, the scenery looks like an Iowa pasture in places.

I was looking forward to the bus ride back from Colon, I thought it would be an opportunity to see the countryside. We were so late that it was pitch dark before we got onto the bus.

In the end, it all comes down to your schedule. If you are there on the Saturday of the full transit, go for it. But, I don't think I'd plan my trip to be there that week of the month.

Benjy45

Thanks for the info. Which boat or company did you use, and did you book before arrival? Thanks

JeanH

I can't remember which company we did our canal transit. A Google search wasn't much help either. We booked before we arrived, used Tammy Liu at Panoramic Panama to book. She's wonderful. She's lived in Panama quite a few years, but is from Hong Kong and England. Anyway, every transfer, hotel and plane was 'on'. I usually don't use travel agents, but she certainly made this trip very pleasant. We moved around a lot in two weeks, and it all came off without a glitch.

mikemo

We did a daylight transit in Spring '03 with a very black and sinister Bolivian Navy (German-built) diesel-electric submarine as a companion.
It was on a small local boat arranged by the Clipper Cruise Line. The same boat does (or did then) commercial transits.
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