Cruise Days–Guatemala, Panama and Panama Canal

Oct 30, 2011 by Joel

Upon leaving the last port in Puerto Chiapas, in Mexico, there was just two more ports before the ship would be transiting the Panama Canal. These two stops were to be different countries with the first being Guatemala and the second Panama. Just like the ports in Mexico, getting to see these countries and cities really was quite interesting, and very much different to what I expected at times, however it was really a great way to see them by way of a cruise.

Puerto Quetzal – Guatemala

For me this port turned out to be a bit of a failure. The day we were in port was Good Friday, which for Guatemala is a fairly important day. As such the tours that were available, were all cancelled and the single option of a transfer to Antigua to see the festivities was the only option. In the end I wish I had tried to get on to the transfer and gone to Antigua, however I left it too late and was not able to. Instead I spent the day between the small port area and the ship.

In the end it did not turn out to bad, there were still some things around the port that could be done. There was a small markets selling quite a lot of local crafts and some jewellery. It was nice to look around here and I bought a couple of small souvenirs to bring back for some people. There was also a small bar/cafe that I spent a little while at. While I did not get to see a lot of the country I did get to see this little part which seemed to be quite a nice area.

Fuerte Amador – Panama

The stop in Fuerte Amador, was an evening stop, arriving just around sunset. While there were some tour options here, they were probably not the best way to see the area especially since it was at night time. This was the first of the two ports on this cruise where a tender was required to get ashore. This was not a big issue, however it makes it a little more difficult then just walking on and off the ship.

In the end I decided to just to go off for a short while and look around the area where the tenders dropped passengers off. There were a few restaurants and a number of small souvenir shops here. So just chose to stop at one of the restaurants and have a meal and a local Panama beer, while also getting to see the ship lit up at night, out in the bay area.

Panama Canal – Panama

The Panama Canal transit is really an all day event. The ship left anchor quite early in the morning to start the approach to the first set of locks on the Western side of the canal. Both the Eastern and Western sides have three locks to raise and lower ships, however while the Eastern side all three locks are in series on the Western side there are two separate sets. The first set of two locks is called Miraflores Locks, while the second set of 1 lock is named Pedro Miguel locks.

The actual transit is really a great thing to watch from just about anywhere on the ship. You get to see a lot of rainforest, and there are a number lighthouses along the way. There are a reasonable number of ships going the other direction as well. The only problem being that in the climate it can be quite hot and humid, which can make it a little uncomfortable at times. Combined with the rain we had around lunch time wasn’t the greatest.

The final step of the transit through the Panama Canal is the transit of the locks on the Eastern side. These locks are named Gatun Locks and are a series of 3 locks all together. This takes about an hour to get through.

Still To Come

Once the Panama Canal Transit is complete there is one sea day before Cartagena, Columbia, followed by two sea days as the ship heads north towards Fort Lauderdale, USA which will mark the half way point in the cruise. There are still quite a number of interesting ports to go though so keep an eye out for the up coming posts.