Advice please sailing Miami to Vancouver

[charltonkerry]

We are from the UK and were wondering what the weather would be like on the journey, I assume that Miami in late April would be warmish, going through the Panama Canal area and Alaska well frankly I don't know.

 

I'm an engineer so I'm interested in the Panama Canal from that aspect, how much do you see of the workings, can you see anything from you balcony, in fact is there anything to see, we are thinking of an A grade suite as they are forward on deck 11 and a high up. Are there any must do trips through or around the Panama cancel area?

 

As the cruise is leaving from Miami we were thinking of having a few days there, were would the best area to stay, we done Disney etc and frankly we are too old for the parks, but never been to the coast and was wondering if we should be looking to stay within easy travelling distance of the port, if there anywhere nice

 

Sail into San Francisco I'm assuming it's worth getting up for? We are due to dock at 8am so what time should we be on deck? Or is the sail out as equally as nice that people would recommend, a nice sandy beach to relax on, a broad walk to walk along, you know the typical touristy thing.

 

May in Alaska what can we expect, cold and snow or beautiful sunny day and temperatures of around 60's or both? it will be a once in a lifetime trip so we want to get the maximum from it, so we were thinking of adding say a week to our trip to say go on the Rocky Mountaineer to say Banff from Vancouver, would Mid May be a good time?

 

Sorry to ask what might be deemed as silly or basic questions, but it's a lot of money and I want to make it special for the wife and I as its our 40th wedding anniversary in 2018 so thinking of doing it then, special for me would be seeing the operation of the Panama Canal, special for Marion would to be able to see the wildlife, the whales and bears especially. Please don't feel obliged to answer every question, any answers would be appriciated, Thanks for any advice.

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[Gilly]

Charltonkerry, I was very excited to transit the Panama Canal a couple of years ago and blogged about our day. I don't think you'll be disappointed! I note that some recent Regent cruises offer an excursion on shore to learn more about it - even though we didn't have that benefit, I still loved the whole experience.

 

http://www.elegantsufficiency.org/blog/2014/2/1/the-early-morning-show.html and the follow on post to that one, if you're interested.

[charltonkerry]

Thanks for that Gilly, much appriciated, I found it very interesting and great photos, will show the wife when I get in from work.

[flossie009]

The Panama Canal website is very good (including the live webcams under the multimedia tab):

 

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/index.html

 

It is always very warm/hot transiting the canal but it can be very rainy. When we went through a few years ago (not on Regent) it was beautiful weather, but we have met others who have gone through in continuous heavy rain and poor visibility

 

The transit through the locks at each end was fascinating. I don't know whether it will be the same experience when the new (larger) locks come into operation......scheduled for later this year

 

Have a fabulous cruise

[Gilly]

Glad you found my blog posts interesting, Charltonkerry, I'm sure you will love every minute of the canal transit as we did.

 

Re the weather further into your trip, I am following a couple of blogs written by people coming to the end of the Crystal World Cruise and they are currently sailing down the coast of Alaska. It might give you an insight to the weather at this time of the year, though of course, I have no idea how typical it is... (When you read it, you'll understand why I hope this is an unusual year ;-) )

 

http://worldcruise2016-jimandginny.blogspot.co.uk/

http://kay-kaystravels.blogspot.co.uk/

 

I've been keeping an eye open for an itinerary which crosses from Japan to Alaska, as this one has just done, so I've been reading with interest. Having done so, I'm now wondering if I'm altogether sane ;-)

[charltonkerry]

Thanks everyone for all your help, whilst I have checked the regent section on here, I never thought above checking other cruise lines, for someone who meant to be fairly intelligent, it amazing how thick I can be sometimes 😄.

[JMARINER]

Having been through the Canal many time, IMO if the ship does not stop and have an excursion to the locks, don't go and find cruise that does. There are viewing platforms between the Gatun Lock that are a must see if you are an enthusiast. Seeing the lock operations from ground level is a very different experience that from just being on the ship. Search older post on the subject.

 

j

 

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[Wendy The Wanderer]

I've never been through the canal, but hopefully will next winter on Mariner. But I know about weather in Florida--it should be nice and warm in April, although it's hard to predict rain or storms. And thus it should be fairly hot down around the canal I guess.

 

We did the Alaska trip in early May in 2012, and the weather in San Francisco was very pleasant, rainy in Oregon. And the weather in Alaska is totally unpredictable, but often nice in May--we had ups and downs weather-wise, so come prepared for layers.

 

If you stop in Victoria, make sure to go to Butchart Gardens--should be lots of tulips left, unless it's been a very warm spring.