Hawaii or Panama

[adee74]

I'm considering taking an extended cruise vacation for 2013 and I would love to cruise to either Hawaii or Panama (FL/CA). I'm noticing that the cruise lines seem to use some of their oldest ships for these itineraries. Has anyone sailed these itineraries with RCCL Rhapsody, Radiance and Vision ships?

[cruisenfever]

I'm considering taking an extended cruise vacation for 2013 and I would love to cruise to either Hawaii or Panama (FL/CA). I'm noticing that the cruise lines seem to use some of their oldest ships for these itineraries. Has anyone sailed these itineraries with RCCL Rhapsody, Radiance and Vision ships?

The size of the ship determines if it can fit through the Panama Canal and until the new canal opens, only up to Radiance class vessels can make the trip.

 

Have done 6 transits on Radiance through the PC both going west and coming back east and it is truly an amazing itinerary. Rhapsody and Radiance won't be doing any PC transits in the next several years as they are both doing Australia/NZ/South Pacific Islands from September through April and then Alaska in May to September.

 

Vision of the Seas will be doing 2 west bound and 2 east bound transits from FL to San Diego and back. Vision is scheduled to go into dry dock in 2013 for her enhancement session.

[Beachin2]

Have done the canal twice - both on the Radiance - I'd do the canal over Hawaii every time if I could only choose 1!

[SadmanCruiser]

The choice is definately a personal preference.

 

Having done Hawaii as a land based holiday, we spent a month on 3 islands in 2011, my choice would be Panama (we are booked on the March 2013 cruise).

 

I am really glad we did Hawaii as a land based as we would have missed so much if we had cruised Hawaii.

 

We have done 4 cruises on the Vision and it is a beautiful ship.

 

Pete & Wifey

[lv2cruisgrl]

Have done the canal on Brilliance years ago and loved it, doing hawaii in 2013 on Celebrity Solstice you might want to consider that, as it is a newer ship.

[JMG]

We did the Canal on the Brilliance. Highly recommend the Canal if you have never done this cruise. Fascinating experience to go through the locks!

 

When we cruised, the Star Princess went through the other side and some of those passengers took pics of the Brilliance as we did of the Star Princess. When we got home, on these boards we located a couple that were on the Star and we swapped photos. I sent the copies of the photos on to friends in Scotland. They had an aft stateroom and on one of the pictures they saw themselves out on their balcony going through the locks. Priceless photo!

 

Another thing that happened when we did the Brilliance - the ship hit the sides of the canal. Since the ship is under the control of the Canal authority, we were stopped for over an hour while they climbed all over the sides of the ship to access the damage. Turns out it was just scraped paint and at our next port of call, it was repainted. If I recall correctly, that was the Brilliance's first transit of the canal. It was a turn around on the lake cruise, coming back out to the Atlantic instead of going Atlantic to Pacific. The bad thing is that a lot of passengers were on shore excursions. It was raining and we were held up , nice and dry with plenty to eat. The shore passengers were wet, cold, and hungry by the time they got back onboard.

[Cigar King]

Hawaii has Pearl Harbor and the Kilauea volcano, both are spectacular. (Kilauea can be extra special on some nights) Panama Canal is amazing as well. If it were me, I would give the nod to the canal, but, with either cruise you likely won't lose.

 

BTW with the cruise you probably will not have enough time to really experience Kilauea up close.

[cb at sea]

If you haven't been to Hawaii, it's really best to do it as a land-based vacation....there's simply too much to see and do with limited port hours!

[critterchick]

If you care about the ship as much as or more than the itinerary, I recommend Hawaii. Radiance has had her Extreme Makeover, and Rhapsody is scheduled for hers in March or April of this year. Vision is scheduled for 2013, I think, so may be held together with duct tape for those PC cruises.

 

I prefer Rhapsody's itinerary to Radiance - it's 2 more nights and, in some categories, is less expensive right now. But keep in mind that it's rather like a transatlantic crossing since you will have 5 consecutive sea days. On RH, you will spend one week in the Hawaiian Islands - overnight in Honolulu and Lahaina (Maui), one day in Kauai and two days on the Big Island. Radiance skips the overnight in Honolulu and doesn't stop in Victoria, as I recall. IMO that's plenty of time to give you an overview of the major islands and decide which one you like best and might return to someday. Island-hopping isn't cheap, and you'll spend too much time in the airport, so if you were going to spend a week on land, I would recommend no more than 2 islands.

 

I've done many land trips and found that I enjoyed the cruise just as much as a week spent on a single island or two. Hawaii has a way of sapping your ambition, and all your plans to see everything can easily go straight out the window.:)

 

Having said all that, the Panama Canal transit is one of those bucket list experiences. I would look closely at the ports - we stopped in a couple that weren't ready for prime time yet, and I confess to being bored by the end of the cruise (it was on Azamara, not RCI, so the shipboard activities were less compelling as well). But the actual transit is really interesting. And there may be some great ports as well - I haven't looked at Vision's itineraries.

 

But if you care about the ship, Vision (although I love her, have sailed on her before and am booked on her again) would come in third to the other two.

[KristyM79]

Having done Hawaii as a land based vacation, I would recommend the Panama Canal. I haven't done the Panama Canal, but my experience with Hawaii, specifically the Big Island and Oahu, there is so much to do that I think you would miss out on it on a cruise. The Big Island is definitely my favorite place on Earth, but there is so much to see that you would miss my just spending one day or two in Kona or Hilo.

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

My vote's for the Panama Canal cruise. I did Hawaii on NCL Star after my HAL Rotterdam cruise because a tour guide said both places are in the same latitude.

 

I really liked Costa Rica & Panama so much that I'm going to an all inclusive in Panama

soon.:D Part of the reason I didn't like Hawaii as much might have been that we missed the ship due to plane problems but learned the "fly in the day before" rule.;) We also didn't get a lei or get to see the volcano.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[constantcruiser]

We lived in Hawaii and have taken 2 cruises thru the canal. If taking a cruise is important to you, I would have to agree that Panama is the better choice. There are other, better ways to experience Hawaii...but the canal can only be fully appreciated aboard a ship.

 

If, on the other hand, you are asking strictly about the destination itself, I would vote for Hawaii in a heartbeat.

[seaweavers]

Another vote for Panama Canal. We did the Eastbound full transit (San Diego to Tampa) on Radiance. It was a fabulous trip with something different at every port. It was nice itinerary with sea days every other day. We were able to participate in more of the ship's activities which we usually skip due to the destinations. The weather was perfect (September/October). Good luck deciding! Heidi

[RoyalDiamond]

Easy....book both! I did. LOL. If final payment rolls around and I cannot afford both, then I'll choose. Until then, I am confirmed on both itineraries! LOL I realize this is probably not an option with most people and work, etc., but it's a tough choice!