October Panama Canal ?s

[GoochDSA]

My fiancee and I are interested in doing a Panama Canal cruise in October of 2013 for our honeymoon. I know that this is not the ideal time of year to be in the area, but our wedding will be in May of 2013, right after the ships move north to Alaska for the summer.

 

With that being said, I have a couple of questions about that area durring the "rainy"/"hurricane" season.

 

How rainy does it actually get? Is it the type of rain where it will rain all day and night or is it more of a stronger rain that passes relatively quickly? Would weather be something that would sway you from doing a PC cruise this time of year or should it not even be a worry?

 

How bad do the waters get in that area that time of year? We would probably do a partial transit (and will probably head to Disney World for a few days after) so I am not worried about the West coast waters, more for the Caribbean.

 

How well do the Coral and Island handle rougher waters? We know that some ships handle rough waters a lot better than other ships, so I am just curious as to where the Island and Coral fall into that.

 

Any experiences, tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

TIA! :)

[2theship]

We were heading out on a Panama Canal cruise one October when a tropical storm seemed to appear out of nowhere. The ship simply sailed out of harm's way. We did not feel any significantly rough waters at any time. Our ports of call were changed to avoid the storm but we did not feel we had any real problems.

 

On the other hand, if a hurricane heads for the central coast of Florida while you're at Disney World, you will have to deal with the storm.

[GoochDSA]

We were heading out on a Panama Canal cruise one October when a tropical storm seemed to appear out of nowhere. The ship simply sailed out of harm's way. We did not feel any significantly rough waters at any time. Our ports of call were changed to avoid the storm but we did not feel we had any real problems.

 

On the other hand, if a hurricane heads for the central coast of Florida while you're at Disney World, you will have to deal with the storm.

 

What did your ports change to and did you still make it to the Canal?

 

We don't care much about how the weather may affect our Disney portion of the trip. We have been to Disney quite a few times (she's more or less obsessed) and love it when there is bad weather there (it means less crowds for us :D).

[Loonbeam]

We did it October in 2012 - it was fine. One half sea day of pouring rain and one evening of bumpy waves was it.

 

On the plus side, Cartagena was a bit warm, but every other port was GORGEOUS weather wise (okay a sprinkle of rain and some clouds in Aruba but we were underwater at the time.)

 

I posted a couple of reviews that may help:

 

Main Review:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1504733

 

Excursions:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1508966

 

Food:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1555288

 

Photos:

 

 

 

My fiancee and I are interested in doing a Panama Canal cruise in October of 2013 for our honeymoon. I know that this is not the ideal time of year to be in the area, but our wedding will be in May of 2013, right after the ships move north to Alaska for the summer.

 

With that being said, I have a couple of questions about that area durring the "rainy"/"hurricane" season.

 

How rainy does it actually get? Is it the type of rain where it will rain all day and night or is it more of a stronger rain that passes relatively quickly? Would weather be something that would sway you from doing a PC cruise this time of year or should it not even be a worry?

 

How bad do the waters get in that area that time of year? We would probably do a partial transit (and will probably head to Disney World for a few days after) so I am not worried about the West coast waters, more for the Caribbean.

 

How well do the Coral and Island handle rougher waters? We know that some ships handle rough waters a lot better than other ships, so I am just curious as to where the Island and Coral fall into that.

 

Any experiences, tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

TIA! :)

[TM]

We've done a full transit 3 times in early October and have never had any rain or any other issues. Maybe we were lucky but we'll definitely be doing it again at that same time.

[WineCountryCruiser]

My fiancee and I are interested in doing a Panama Canal cruise in October of 2013 for our honeymoon. I know that this is not the ideal time of year to be in the area, but our wedding will be in May of 2013, right after the ships move north to Alaska for the summer.

 

With that being said, I have a couple of questions about that area durring the "rainy"/"hurricane" season.

 

How rainy does it actually get? Is it the type of rain where it will rain all day and night or is it more of a stronger rain that passes relatively quickly? Would weather be something that would sway you from doing a PC cruise this time of year or should it not even be a worry?

 

How bad do the waters get in that area that time of year? We would probably do a partial transit (and will probably head to Disney World for a few days after) so I am not worried about the West coast waters, more for the Caribbean.

 

How well do the Coral and Island handle rougher waters? We know that some ships handle rough waters a lot better than other ships, so I am just curious as to where the Island and Coral fall into that.

 

Any experiences, tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

TIA! :)

 

We did a full transit, Ft.Lauderdale to S.F. in October, 2010 and the only rough waters we encountered were on the Pacific side. It was very warm and humid in Cartagena and Aruba.

 

We've been on the Island on a Hawaii RT from L.A. and encountered fairly heavy seas. There was quite a bit of ship movement for a couple of days but dramamine worked well for us.

 

We really like the layout of the Coral and the Island. The public areas feel more spacious than on other ships.

 

Craig

[Pam in CA]

If there is a hurricane threat, the ship may do one of a couple of things: change the order of some ports to avoid the worst of the weather or change the entire itinerary. Some eastern Caribbean cruises have become western Caribbean, and vice versa. Tropical rain is usually a cloud or two with a downpour, sunny elsewhere. The Canal will most likely be hot and very humid.

[caribill]

Weather in the area of the canal is about the same all year. Tropical rain, especially in Gatun Lake is always possible.

 

Hurricanes usually do not go near the canal area, but could affect your path from Florida to the Canal and back again.

 

A partial transit is good if you cannot do a full transit, but you are only seeing a small part of this engineering marvel. If you cannot take a cruise that transits the entire canal (you can always visit Disneyland on the west coast), you should consider the Princess offered excursion that lets you take a smaller vessel from Gatun Lake all the way through the canal and then return by bus or train to pick up the ship at the Caribbean side.

[RickEk]

On our last partial transit on the Coral Princess, we had to dodge tropical storm Noel. The most rain we got was actually during sailaway in Ft. Lauderdale. It was windy and the rain poured down in buckets. The itinerary was reversed and they had to substitute Grand Cayman for Jamaica. But, as a result, we got to spend more time in Aruba... we sailed away after sunset... very nice. Oh, and you'll complete the partial transit rain or shine. I've never heard of a Princess ship missing Canal day, but I guess it would be possible if there was a major storm over the area. But hurricanes usually don't travel that far south.

 

The Island/Coral are panamax ships, so they are very long and narrow. My first cruise was on the Island Princess and I remember sitting in the Princess Theater the first night for the sailaway show and as the ship moved through some rough waters, it would dip and then recover and the whole audience would gasp. But being the seasoned cruiser that I am now... :p they seem to handle rough weather as well as any other ship.

[Loonbeam]

I will assume she knows about the Platinum Plan at Disney? (We did that on our honeymoon and repeat every 5 years - in fact we'll be there Oct. 2013 as well :)

 

What did your ports change to and did you still make it to the Canal?

 

We don't care much about how the weather may affect our Disney portion of the trip. We have been to Disney quite a few times (she's more or less obsessed) and love it when there is bad weather there (it means less crowds for us :D).

[cruisingpeople]

A partial transit is good if you cannot do a full transit, but you are only seeing a small part of this engineering marvel. If you cannot take a cruise that transits the entire canal (you can always visit Disneyland on the west coast), you should consider the Princess offered excursion that lets you take a smaller vessel from Gatun Lake all the way through the canal and then return by bus or train to pick up the ship at the Caribbean side.

 

Did the full transit in October 2010 from SF-FLL and then a partial transit in October 2011 from FLL (along with Loonbeam). The weather was not really a factor (except the afore mentioned sea day downpour).

 

As Caribill stated above,taking this particular Princess excursion is a great way to see the rest of the Canal. The complete tour and bus ride makes for a looooonng day, but IMHO, it is definitely worth it.

 

If you do end up considering this cruise, (and even if you don't):), we are on the October 13th-23rd Island Princess trip and you are more than welcome to join in. That is as long as Pam brings us the ship from CA in one piece and in good condition. LOL:eek: (sorry Pam, couldn't resist).

 

Joe

[cruisingpeople]

BIG APOLOGY............ Didn't realize you had said 2013 not 2012....... My mistake......Sorry again

[DUCHESSRN]

When will Princess release October 2013 dates ???

[Loonbeam]

Probably next month for the Canal (officially, one of the other threads had the pre-release spreadsheet and TAs have the data). Europe is already up.

 

When will Princess release October 2013 dates ???

[GoochDSA]

Thank you all for your responces. I was a little worried because my fiancee can get pretty bad motion/sea sickness in rough waters. A couple of years ago we followed a blizzard up the East Coast and she did not do well (but then again neither did 1/2 the crew and 3/4 of the guests). But she has done better since, I just would rather not see her spend our honeymoon sick as a dog. It's good to hear that except for maybe a day or 2 the water should not be awful (she has also switched to the sea sick patches since the blizzard cruise and has done very well with them).

 

On our last partial transit on the Coral Princess, we had to dodge tropical storm Noel. The most rain we got was actually during sailaway in Ft. Lauderdale. It was windy and the rain poured down in buckets. The itinerary was reversed and they had to substitute Grand Cayman for Jamaica. But, as a result, we got to spend more time in Aruba... we sailed away after sunset... very nice. Oh, and you'll complete the partial transit rain or shine. I've never heard of a Princess ship missing Canal day, but I guess it would be possible if there was a major storm over the area. But hurricanes usually don't travel that far south.

 

The Island/Coral are panamax ships, so they are very long and narrow. My first cruise was on the Island Princess and I remember sitting in the Princess Theater the first night for the sailaway show and as the ship moved through some rough waters, it would dip and then recover and the whole audience would gasp. But being the seasoned cruiser that I am now... :p they seem to handle rough weather as well as any other ship.

 

This is exactly what I was hoping to hear. Glad to see that Princess has a back-up plan just incase.

 

I will assume she knows about the Platinum Plan at Disney? (We did that on our honeymoon and repeat every 5 years - in fact we'll be there Oct. 2013 as well :)

 

We know all about the Platinum Plan. While it is something I have looked into, even for just 1 night, it is one of those things that will probably be cut to try to save some money. We plan on getting a full suite for the cruise and are looking to stay Club Level at Boardwalk Inn. Between the way the Magic Kingdom is decked out for Halloween and the Food and Wine Fest at EPCOT, October is our favorite time of year in Disney.

 

Your trip report was great by the way.

 

BIG APOLOGY............ Didn't realize you had said 2013 not 2012....... My mistake......Sorry again

 

No need to be sorry. Enjoy the cruise!

[KruzPrincess]

I'm looking at the same cruise. I really wanted a westbound transit over Thanksgiving, but they just aren't offering that. :( I usually cruise in November and haven't had a a lot of issues in the Caribbean. If there's a storm they may take a different route. So, I may see you on this one. I did the partial transit last year on the Island and it was a nice cruise, but the full transit is really so much nicer. If you don't have the time for a full transit, then the partial is very nice. Love the Island/Coral Panamax ships and I never had much motion.

[Loonbeam]

The Plat Plan is only really valuable for 4 days or more, because there's just so many one shots to do to get value (Spa treatment, Tours, Cirque, etc).

 

Personally, given the price of Club, we go platinum and non-club and sometimes end up upgraded anyway. With all the food on Plat, the lounge is just a nice to have. If you do decide to go plat and our dates cross, we'll meet at Victoria and Alberts for dinner :)

 

 

Oh and make sure to wear bride/groom hats. We were the Grand Marshals of the then MGM parade in 2003 :)

 

As far as Suite on ship, they are great and have some nice perks, and for this cruise I think its a great choice given the sea days. On a port intensive cruise I would go with a mini-suite, even without the perks.

 

I have always said if there is one trip worth going into debt for, its your honeymoon.

 

 

 

 

 

We know all about the Platinum Plan. While it is something I have looked into, even for just 1 night, it is one of those things that will probably be cut to try to save some money. We plan on getting a full suite for the cruise and are looking to stay Club Level at Boardwalk Inn. Between the way the Magic Kingdom is decked out for Halloween and the Food and Wine Fest at EPCOT, October is our favorite time of year in Disney.