Hawaii 15 days from L.A. or Panama Canal Full Transit ?

[sandiego1]

Panama Canal - hands down! We did the LA-FLL transit in mid Feb on the Island. It was great.

 

Hawaii deserves a land trip. We've been there at least a dozen times. Kauai and the Big Island are our favorite islands. You don't get to see much of any of the Hawaiian island if you just pull in on a cruise ship for 1 day. For 2 wks, you could do a trip to 2 islands.

[deelastcre]

I did the Partial Transient on Coral Princess and the 15 Day on another line. Since I have to fly across country, I liked the Partial Transient better. Those sea days were relaxing on the Hawaii cruise, but I wouldn't do it again. The Coral Princess Cruise was my best one to date.

[cr8tiv1]

The Naturalist on our Panama Canal cruise had an interesting breakdown of the cost to transit the Canal. The total for our sailing came to $394,526.

 

Coral Princess by Jasperdo, on Flickr

 

Great documentation. Thanks for posting the accurate information.

[Seal]

Panama Canal for sure--or you might want to go from Hawaii to Papeete and a 10 day cruise while you're there

 

 

Nancy:D:D

[Baatman]

For me this would be an easy decision. I would take the Panama Canal starting or ending in LA. The Panama Canal is an engineering wonder not to be missed.

 

I agree - we did the the full passage through the canal and it was truely amazing.

[MicCanberra]

The Naturalist on our Panama Canal cruise had an interesting breakdown of the cost to transit the Canal. The total for our sailing came to $394,526.

 

Coral Princess by Jasperdo, on Flickr

Did he mention that you pay per berth and not per passenger (i.e if only half full, the ship still has to pay for the 2,368 berths).:D

[Jasperdo]

Did he mention that you pay per berth and not per passenger (i.e if only half full, the ship still has to pay for the 2,368 berths).:D

I believe he did. Bill Keene was the port lecturer and he did an excellent job in every one of his talks.

[MicCanberra]

I believe he did. Bill Keene was the port lecturer and he did an excellent job in every one of his talks.

The lecturers are generally top class and very interesting no matter what the subject.:D

[Guidogdh]

We just completed the Hawaii cruise on the Star Princess. The 15day cruise is relaxing, but 4 days in the islands is not enough! Maui and Kauai were wonderful. If you like cruising, that is 9 days on the water. Pacific was calm while we were out. We also did the Coral Princess Panama 10 day cruise last year. We had more fun on the Panama cruise. There were more things to do on the Coral. She is a beautiful ship. The weather was also better in the Carribean than on the Pacific. We would do the Panama cruise over in a minute!

[shredie]

I've done both cruises, and enjoyed them a great deal. I think I'd have to give a slight edge to the full Panama Canal transit cruise, however. Cruising through the entire Canal, all the locks, Gatun Lake, Culebra Cut, was an absolutely incredible experience. I also enjoyed the Ports of Call: the history of Cartagena, Panama City and Antiqua: the beauty of Costa Rica. I also liked how there was a nice mix of sea days and port days. Don't get me wrong, I truly enjoyed Hawaii. We've done it twice. It's four beautiful days on the Hawaiian Island bookended by nice relaxing sea days. But the Panama Canal cruise was just magical.

 

I agree! The process of going through the locks is fascinating! Both cruises have their high points, but the canal is just that much more special.

[BillB48]

The Naturalist on our Panama Canal cruise had an interesting breakdown of the cost to transit the Canal. The total for our sailing came to $394,526.

 

Coral Princess by Jasperdo, on Flickr

 

Looks like they got off easy;):D! I see they were not charged for tug services... ships that size are usually whacked about $12,000 for tugs on a complete transit. They are assigned tugs whether or not the ship actually uses them. Anyway what's 12K among friends!!

[IdahoCruises]

We are not heat lovers....

 

That being said, Hawaii has been best for us because of that...

 

Comments about relaxing on the HI cruise are just that....four days to get there and four days to get back...

 

Met some great people on our HI cruise in October and loved the time to share with them, and them with us about their experiences...