dccruisin Posted March 21, 2016 #1 Share Posted March 21, 2016 We are booked on the September 17th departure out of Bilboa, Spain to Colon, Panama. It is 15 nights. Anyone else joining us? If you are thinking about taking this cruise there are some good deals. However most of the North American cruise booking companies don't show Pullmantur. You can book directly on Pullmantur's site or query Pullmantur Vacations to Go and there is a phone number for their people that deal with Pullmantur. We have a large exterior for a total of $1,140 including port charges for two including the drinks package. Can't beat that for 15 nights. We like to spend some time in Europe and become haggard travelers then chill out on the ship back to the west. We live about an hour west of Panama City so Colon works out great for us. In Panama it is very tropical and like Hawaii in weather and vegetation. So if you do decide to take the transatlantic spend some time in Panama. It is a beautiful place if you get out of Panama City. Also, Panama City is only a 2 hour flight from FLL. Copa is THE BEST airline to Panama however Spirit also has non-stop flights out of FLL that can be cheap even after all the add on fees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allig565 Posted April 7, 2016 #2 Share Posted April 7, 2016 My husband and I are also from Northern VA area, live one plus hour west of Panama City and are planning this repositioning cruise in September! Will let you know when we book it! And hopefully we can connect at some point during out planning of the trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dccruisin Posted April 7, 2016 Author #3 Share Posted April 7, 2016 My husband and I are also from Northern VA area, live one plus hour west of Panama City and are planning this repositioning cruise in September! Will let you know when we book it! And hopefully we can connect at some point during out planning of the trip! Sounds great. We live up in Altos del Maria. Are you in the Coronado area or closer in like La Chorrera area? Hope you can join us. Purchasing the transatlantic the one-way airfare from PTY on your own can get rather expensive. We did find that Icelandic Air has good one-way airfares to Europe. I know they fly from Orlando and Boston to places in Europe. They also allow you to stay up to 7 days in Reykjavik for no extra charge. We were able to get Icelandic from Orlando to Geneva for $667 each. We are taking Spirit from PTY to Orlando. Seeing relatives in FL for few days. Then flying from Orlando to Reykjavik and staying 6 nights. Seeing the Northern Lights has been on our bucket list for a long time. Then we are going to spend a few days in Geneva area and checking off another bucket list item. My husband has wanted to tour the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) in CERN. Also, Switzerland has a great transportation/museum pass for foreigners which we are going to use for several days. (You can get most places in Switzerland on day trip. Or in the time it use to take us to commute in the DC area.) Then we head to Bilboa and relaxing on the way back to Panama. So we were able to combine the family visit and a couple of bucket list items that we were planning to do anyway and a nice cruise. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allig565 Posted April 8, 2016 #4 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Iceland! Wonderful! We have traveled there, and also to Spain which is why we are going to board in Lisbon. Plans are to fly to Amsterdam then Paris then Lisbon and board. We are also booking Superior Oceanview ($1140/couple). Was told they don't have Grand Class option since they don't have any suites on this cruise. Interesting. We live ten minutes west of Coronado in Rodeo Viejo near San Carlos. We know many in ADM because of Spay the Strays! We, so far, have one other person from Coronado booking the trip and also boarding in Lisbon. Should be a blast!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allig565 Posted April 8, 2016 #5 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Now you will have three from Panama joining you on cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dccruisin Posted April 9, 2016 Author #6 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Iceland! Wonderful! We have traveled there, and also to Spain which is why we are going to board in Lisbon. Plans are to fly to Amsterdam then Paris then Lisbon and board. We are also booking Superior Oceanview ($1140/couple). Was told they don't have Grand Class option since they don't have any suites on this cruise. Interesting. We live ten minutes west of Coronado in Rodeo Viejo near San Carlos. We know many in ADM because of Spay the Strays! We, so far, have one other person from Coronado booking the trip and also boarding in Lisbon. Should be a blast!:) It should be a great time. We live one lot over from Helen and Rick (?) and just below Allison. San Carlos is our favorite beach in the area. We will have to get together. I also inquired about a suite. I was told they were sold out. Interesting that they aren't having any suites on this cruise. Never heard of that before. Strange. Maybe doing upgrades in that area? We were on a ship one time when they were doing upgrades during the cruise. They put down new carpet and installed new bedding. We got a new bed 2 days into the cruise. Linda My email is LG_10002001 at yahoo dot com to contact me directly. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dccruisin Posted April 26, 2016 Author #7 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Just bumping us up on the boards. When we get more people joining then I will start a spreadsheet of cruise critic people on the sailing. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bollywood Posted April 29, 2016 #8 Share Posted April 29, 2016 dccrusin Appreciate your reply. I will first get my vacation approved and read all tread messages here. I have many questions being first timer and curious to know how I should plan. Let me get all questions list ready this weekend and I will post here. Thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seabourndt Posted May 3, 2016 #9 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Not doing this one but one before so getting off in Bilbao have a great time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Packer Posted May 5, 2016 #10 Share Posted May 5, 2016 My wife and I are wondering if not being bilingual will be a deterrent from enjoying this cruise. Will probably fly in a couple of days early to see Bilbao then post cruise a few days after. Looks like we should do the post cruise in Panama city area is theis the correct information? Packer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JVD2 Posted May 5, 2016 #11 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Just booked, 22 days out of Rostock to Colon, great price for a single, looking forward to meets other Anglophones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katct Posted May 10, 2016 #12 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Hello, I booked a single on this cruise at an amazing price. I am from Florida and I have been studying Spanish for a few years now and I hope to be able to immerse myself in the language on this trip. I have cruised many times before but never on Pullmantur with that rating of 3.5 so I am not expecting luxury. Also, I love sea days in the middle of the Atlantic! One thing I am concerned about is smoking onboard. I know the official stance is that smoking is not permitted in cabins, only designated smoking areas but I have been other places in Europe and South America where the rules are not enforced. I have an allergic reaction to smoke. Anyone know how Pullmantur handles this? I'm so glad to see this thread for this cruise. Thanks to whomever started it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dccruisin Posted May 11, 2016 Author #13 Share Posted May 11, 2016 My wife and I are wondering if not being bilingual will be a deterrent from enjoying this cruise. Will probably fly in a couple of days early to see Bilbao then post cruise a few days after. Looks like we should do the post cruise in Panama city area is theis the correct information? Packer Packer, If you have the time, get out of Panama City to the mountains/beach areas. You would need a rental car though. Panama City is worth about a day or two of sight seeing. Not a very touristy town but out Coronado way there are beaches and mountains. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dccruisin Posted May 11, 2016 Author #14 Share Posted May 11, 2016 Hello,I booked a single on this cruise at an amazing price. I am from Florida and I have been studying Spanish for a few years now and I hope to be able to immerse myself in the language on this trip. I have cruised many times before but never on Pullmantur with that rating of 3.5 so I am not expecting luxury. Also, I love sea days in the middle of the Atlantic! One thing I am concerned about is smoking onboard. I know the official stance is that smoking is not permitted in cabins, only designated smoking areas but I have been other places in Europe and South America where the rules are not enforced. I have an allergic reaction to smoke. Anyone know how Pullmantur handles this? I'm so glad to see this thread for this cruise. Thanks to whomever started it. Kat, I do not know Pulmanter's policy. But we live in Panama and I know there is no smoking in restaurants and most public places in Panama. I have seen fairly few people smoking here. We took a Costa cruise a few years ago out of Venice and it was 90% Europeans and Costa had the designated smoking places on deck and a cigar bar. The no smoking was enforced. Boughtmypoints recently wrote a review over in the Pullmantur english speaker thread ( http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2315424&page=3 ) on the Zenith crossing. Maybe Boughtmypoints would know. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katct Posted May 12, 2016 #15 Share Posted May 12, 2016 Thanks, for the help on smoking policy. I will keep an eye out for folks going on the May through September monarch cruises to see what they have to say. I know that the concept of cheap airfare is different for everyone but for me the splurge to business class (with a lie flat seat) is one I value since it lets me be up and running when I arrive across the pond. I don't remember the cruise critic policy about posting things like this but I got a Lufthansa business class one way from Tampa to Frankfurt and then on to Bilbao for $2500. I used an online flight aggregator called alpha guru. The one way coach flight from Panama City to Tampa on Copa was $283. Also, I second the request for more info about the all-inclusive drink service. Is it only at meals? Only at meals in the main dining room? Does anybody know if other packages are offered (for a fee, of course) that allow one to get soft drinks and or drinks at other times? Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flutocrat Posted May 12, 2016 #16 Share Posted May 12, 2016 (edited) Hi, I just booked a solo cabin on this cruise (and am hoping to practice some Spanish!) but would be happy to meet up with some other English speakers as well. I haven't sailed on a Pullmantur cruise before, but I've sailed on Royal Caribbean, so I'm thinking that the Monarch will look a little familiar. This will also be my first time flying on Spirit Airlines (from Panama City back to the US) which I understand will be an adventure in itself! Best, Judy Edited May 12, 2016 by flutocrat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pjnc Posted May 18, 2016 #17 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Hi All I am thinking of booking this cruise. The only problem is my airfare to Bilboa. Yikes. I live in the Myrtle Beach SC area and am in the process of investigating airfare. Does anyone know if I stay a extra day in Panama and leave on the late Spirit air flight will I be able to arrange a partial excursion thru one of the locks? I am retired so an extra day or two on the Panama end is ok. Hope I can work this out for a reasonable price. I will be traveling solo Hope to meet you all pat myrtle beach, sc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pjnc Posted May 18, 2016 #18 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Hi All I am still trying to figure out the logistics of this. Does anyone plan on staying over in Panama and doing a partial transit of the canal? Has anyone done the tour of the canal and is it possible to do the day after the ship arrives in Colon? If that can be done that would mean two nights in a hotel and fly back to the US on the 5th. Is this possible? and if so anyone know of any tour companies, and have any hotel suggestions since I am traveling solo? Hopefully I can make this all come together. Hope to get some suggestions. Thanks pat novak-call myrtle beach, sc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb51 Posted May 26, 2016 #19 Share Posted May 26, 2016 Thanks in advance to other English speaking CCr's...this cruise piqued my interest but my very rusty Spanish scared me off. Now that I found this thread I see that I won't be the only one. Is there anyone disembarking at Aruba? It's cheaper for me to get back to Vancouver from Aruba than Panama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JVD2 Posted May 26, 2016 #20 Share Posted May 26, 2016 Yes, on flying out of Aruba to Toronto, good connection, and good price, Oct. 1, one night stay in Aruba, airport is 10 minutes from port area. Doing 20 days out of Rostock, Germany Hope to meet you on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pjnc Posted May 27, 2016 #21 Share Posted May 27, 2016 Hi All Is any one leaving from the east coast that has already made their air reservations? I am still getting outrageous prices for air fare. Any suggestions are appreciated. I have not booked the cruise yet, since I want to get the air done first. I think I have to fly in a day early stay in a hotel either in Bilbo or near the port for one night. That is ok it will give me a little time to see the area. Hopefully I get this all worked out since I have never done the transatlantic and it will be a first. Everyone have a good holiday pat myrtle beach, sc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pjnc Posted June 3, 2016 #22 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Hi All I am almost ready to book this cruise. I have a question for anyone who can help. UR Will Pullmantur have a shuttle in to the city or have a Paid Excursion for a tour of either the Canal or the city after debarcation? I can not decide if I want to just fly back home or spend a couple of days in Panama. (tour of canal) Since I am a solo traveler I am not about to go out on my own in Panama. Thanks for your help pat murrells inlet, sc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katct Posted June 3, 2016 #23 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Flutocrat and those others of you who have mentioned Spanish language practice as one motivation for taking this cruise. Wouldn't it be great if Pullmantur offered daily Spanish lessons for us? I wonder if anyone has ever suggested it to them? Hmmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanvb Posted June 3, 2016 #24 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Hi All Is any one leaving from the east coast that has already made their air reservations? I am still getting outrageous prices for air fare. Any suggestions are appreciated. I have not booked the cruise yet, since I want to get the air done first. I think I have to fly in a day early stay in a hotel either in Bilbo or near the port for one night. That is ok it will give me a little time to see the area. Hopefully I get this all worked out since I have never done the transatlantic and it will be a first. Everyone have a good holiday pat myrtle beach, sc Hi I have booked this cruise and am leaving from Lisbon, it might be easier to fly in to there than Bilbao. I don't know how near you are to New York but norwegian.com fly from there to Europe at reasonable one way rates. You could also try an 'open-jaw' fare from the US to Europe then back from Panama. I am going to the Galapagos Islands after a few days in Panama City then flying back to Miami from Ecuadori then from Fort Lauderdale to the UK with Norwegian, I have flown them several times. You have to pay extra for bags, food etc but 10kg, 22lbs carry on is enough for me. Hope this helps.....Joan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanvb Posted June 3, 2016 #25 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Hi All I am almost ready to book this cruise. I have a question for anyone who can help. UR Will Pullmantur have a shuttle in to the city or have a Paid Excursion for a tour of either the Canal or the city after debarcation? I can not decide if I want to just fly back home or spend a couple of days in Panama. (tour of canal) Since I am a solo traveler I am not about to go out on my own in Panama. Thanks for your help pat murrells inlet, sc When I was researching this trip months ago I looked at ways of getting from Colon to Panama City and there were local operaters who could do a transfer with some sightseeing included . I'm sure we could get together a small group if necessary. Joan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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