Ocean Cruise Guides Panama Canal By Cruise Ship: Your Porthole Companion: The Complete Guide To Cruising The Panama Canal

I recently purchased "Panama Canal by Cruise Ship" by Anne Vipond. It is superb! I am a recently-retired submariner from the U.S. Navy and was stationed at one time in the Canal Zone. I have transited the Canal twice on Navy ships and again recently as a part of a Panama Canal study program aboard the Isla Morada. I am a serious historian of the Panama Canal from before the Panama Railroad to the present. I have accumulated much information in the form of books and over 350 old postcards of the Panama Canal Zone. But I have never seen such a "meaty" yet concise history of Panama and the Canal as Ms Vipond offers. The information presented by Ms Vipond is unusually factual and well-researched.

DELIVERED AS ADVERTISED. TO MY SURPRISE ORDER INCLUDED BONUS BOOK ON RELATED MATERIAL. SINCE I HAVE A PANAMA CRUISE SCHEDULED IN LATE 2024 THE INFORMATION IS GREATLY APPRECIATED. MY ONE DISAPPOINTMENT IS I FAILED TO FIND THE SELLER'S CONTACT INFORMTION SO I MIGHT BE ABLE TO EXPLORE OTHER PURCHASES. I'M SURE IT IS MY LOW SKILL LEVEL NAVIGATING THE WEBSITE.

Now having gone through the canal, I have can verifying just how accurate the book is. It is fairly accurate, but things are moving fast and no book is able to keep up with every detail. I do believe it is an excellent reference for anyone going on a Canal cruise. It is comprehensive and detailed both as to the actual layout of the canal and its history. One of the best parts of the book is a pull out map of the canal. I carried this with me on the trip and it came in handy during the passage -especially in traveling though the cut. THe map made spotting landmarks easy. Also knowing where things are on the canal is important if you want to capture all of the detail. FOr example, the Gatun dam is a lot bigger than I imagined, but without the map, it would have been easy to miss. In addition, she covers many (if not all) of the ports commonly visited on a canal cruise. Finally, I was impressed by the sections covering the geology and weather system of the area. Overall, this is a must have book for the region.

Great coverage of the history and structure of the Panama Canal itself and a great deal of information about cruise ships in general. However, I was disappointed in the coverage of the ports. I would have preferred more details.

This will be packed and going on my upcoming cruise. It has not only the historical, cultural, political perspectives on the canal, but has all the Central America, Mexico, South America ports where you stop during the cruise. Wonderful maps, pictures, and discussions about the surrounding areas. I am enjoying studying it each night in prepartion for our cruise. Well write and easy to pack. This author did a tremendous job with this guide. I would definitely buy other guides from Ms. Vipond. Linda Canada

This book was very good in giving highlights of all the ports for our cruise. It contained a good but quick to read history of the Panama Canal. Just the right size to stow in the luggage and have handy while cruising through the canal so as to be able to check out the maps and tell me what I was seeing. I highly recommend it for anyone cruising the Canal.

Purchased this book for a cruise I was taking. Mildly disappointed that the book was marking Library property all over including the card pocket. But very unhappy that the Large Color map of the area was missing (this was the main reason I choose this book).

I bought this book prior to a Panama Canal cruise not just for the cruise information but also because of the extensive amount of history covering the Panama Canal, including how it was built and the political involvement in making it happen. The details and background on the canal are outstanding. What I didn't expect to find was not only information about the ports of call in Panama, but information about every possible port of call on a Panama Canal cruise. Whether you sail from Florida to California or any other path, your ports are covered in this book. Know what to purchase in Costa Rica, know where to sightsee in Cozumel, and know where the locals will be waving at your ship as you pass through the canal. A must have guide for every canal cruise, and a great guide for the Caribbean and Mexico as well.

I bought this as a Christmas gift for two octogenerian first time cruisers. It was a huge success. Contains lots of background information and, I'm told, there was some squabbling over who had custody of "the book" during the transit. Highly recommended by the users (and lots of brownie points for me!).

Very informative and interesting. A really good read. Our cruise to the Panama Canal is in 2014 so I'm sure having read this will be very useful.

A very clear book with lots of info to send you on your way. The map of the canal is excellent to have to hand whilst in transit!

Interesting book although a bit dated

I was expecting a book called cruising the Panama Canal to be about cruising the Panama Canal but its not. Its about taking a cruise which includes the Panama Canal so much of the book is about random caribbean islands, some mainland america possible stops, et al. Only a small part is actually on the Panama Canal and that was why I bought the book. Change the title and then people could make an informed choice!!