Panama Canal on Edge

[Frampton]

Hi. My wife and I are going to be cruising over Thanksgiving on Celebrity Edge. We're cruising the Panama Canal. Has anyone been on that itinerary? I'm trying to figure out if the cruise transits the whole canal and if not how that works. Does the ship do a u turn in Gatun Lake? Thanks for any insight. 

[DeanneB]

Ah, the wonderful marvel of engineering!  The Gatun Lake experience is eco-excursion you can take separately when you reached Colon, Panama. The whole canal is about 10 hours to traverse.  The itinerary does not show it traverses the whole canal and cruises to the Pacific.  It will be one of the ports of call wherein you can watch in marvel the ships passing through the Gatun Locks.  I found this in Celebrity website.  Does this look similar to your itinerary?

[FJB]

A shore excUrsion is available to traverse part of the canal in a smaller boat. You see more this way than going via cruise ship. JMHO

[FJB]

Should have added you are up close and personal to the canal locks. Can actually touch the walls of the locks via this excursion.