Are there any 7 - 8 day Panama Canal cruises?

[KatieSails]

Does anyone know of any shorter Panama Canal cruises? I can't really take all that time off from work but would sure love to do the Canal? Any suggestions? Is it all that great?:confused:

 

Happy Cruising!!!

[Lois R]

Hi:) If you can find one, please let me know:D

But I think the Canal is always 11, 12 or 14 nights:eek:

[hardingk]

RCL has a 10 night one. We just did it in May. It was only 6 vacation days for us. We flew down Thursday night, boarded the ship on Friday, (monday was MLK Day (holiday), and then off Monday, back to work on Tuesday. It was awesome and I highly recommend the experience. Carnival has a 7 night cruise out of FLL I believe that stops in Panama, you can watch the ships go though, but the ship itself doesn't go through. Hope that helps!

[Leela]

I have been looking and looking and I can't find anything that short that actually goes all the way through the canal. I got all excited when I saw a 10-day one somewhere, and then I realized it went in through the first sent of locks and the turned around in Gatun Lake and went back out again -- and it was listed as "transcanal," which is very misleading since you never actually transit the entire canal!

 

I wish I could find something that fit this shorter time frame, though!

[superjerryw]

There are no 7 day canal cruises because it takes too long to get to the canal. The Brilliance of the Seas has done the 10 day partial transit that is roundtrip from Florida.

[new_cruiser]

It depends partly on how you feel about the small ship experience and what your budget is. I loved my trip on Wind Surf and will be trying the smaller Wind Star in June.

 

If you could stretch to 10 days, Windstar has a few sailings of the Wind Star that transit the canal. They depart from Costa Rica.

 

Cruise West has full transits for 10 days and 8 day trips that go part way through from the West. These start and end in Costa Rica/Panama. I haven't tried the line yet, but expect to sometime. A very different experience from the big ships - perhaps like the difference between staying in a big city hotel versus at a lodge in a national park. Even smaller ships than Windstar - generally under 100. Pricey, but many of the excursions are included.

[Marobarb]

We stopped at Colon, Panama, last year on our 10 day Horizon cruise. The ship did not go into the canal but there were several shore excursions available that took you to/partially through the canal. As the cruises on which the ship actually goes into/through the canal are much more expensive (at least the ones I have priced) that is probably as close as I will ever get. It satisfied my wanting to see it anyway.

Carnival does have two ships that have Colon as a port - Legend and Liberty -

(I am looking at Feb 06) - on 8 day cruises. If you can find one that leaves on a Saturday and returns on the next Sunday, it might work for you.

[hardingk]

I have been looking and looking and I can't find anything that short that actually goes all the way through the canal. I got all excited when I saw a 10-day one somewhere, and then I realized it went in through the first sent of locks and the turned around in Gatun Lake and went back out again -- and it was listed as "transcanal," which is very misleading since you never actually transit the entire canal!

 

I wish I could find something that fit this shorter time frame, though!

 

This is the one that we did and it was AMAZING!!! There was a shore excursion that you could take to go through the Mira Flores locks as well if you wanted. But just going through the Gatun locks was amazing!

 

We are young, so we figured that we will be able to do full transit one day!

[mii]

Princess has wht they call partial transit where they go through the 1st set of locks, then turn around on Gatun Lake and go back. As stated above there are excursions that will take you through the other locks. This is a 10-day r/t out of FLL. Depending on what day you leave you might work it out that 2 of the days be the weekend. Just a thought.

 

Marilyn

[phillipahain]

Theres no way even from Galveston they can do the Panama Canal in 7 to 8 days its too darn far

 

You only have to look at an atlas and use a ruler to find out how far it is

[Nitemare]

I think Princess did a couple around the holidays that were 8 or 9 day R/T out of Fort Lauderdale. Just skipped a couple of ports for a quick in and out.