Would you swap this cruise?

[gordylad]

We are going through what a lot of people probably do and that is considering switching a cruise that we currently have booked to another one. We have a 14 night FL to Rio cruise booked on the Infinity starting November with 3 stops in the Caribbean 2 stops in Brazil ending in Rio.
Now we are speaking about and considering the Millenium 15 night Panama Canal cruise which starts in September from San Diego and finishes in Puerto Rico.

Never been on any of the two ships nor have we been to any of the ports other than the end three of the Panama Canal cruise Aruba, Curacao and Puerto Rico.

Any help appreciated in helping us come to a decision.

tx

 

[cruisestitch]

Where are you coming from?  How do the airfare costs and options compare?

 

 

[gordylad]

UK…not much of a difference in airfare as I normally use air miles and cash..4 hr longer flight back from Rio.

[Turtles06]

I'm a huge fan of the Panama Canal; have done two full transits with two more booked.  It's fascinating, but is it of interest to you?   Also, to the extent this may matter to you, the Millie has been "revolutionized" but the Infinity has not.  We've sailed on the Infinity and on the "revolutionized" Summit, and, as far as ships go, would pick the latter (and hence the Millie) unless there were other factors at play.  And since these are different itineraries, that again comes down to your interests.

 

Perhaps you could let us know the ports on each of those two cruises.

[gordylad]

absolutely I will show you the ports:

 

Fort Lauderdale, St. John's/Antigua, Castries, Bridgetown, [5 sea days] Salvador, Buzios, Rio de Janeiro

 

San Diego, Puerto Vallarta, Huatulco, San Jose/Costa Rica, Panama Canal, Cartagena/Colombia, Oranjestad, Willemstad, San Juan

 

 

 

[RTShaker]

Given the timing of the Panama cruise, I would lean towards the Rio cruise. My opinion is that your chances of encountering rough seas and inclement weather are greater in September.

[Purplsmurf]

I would definitely go on the Millennium. It has been revolutionized. We were on Infinity Oct 2019 and it was in desperate need of some work and nothing has been done to this day. We go to Aruba every year for our land vacay and love cruising there as well. I would be a little concerned about hurricane,  but Aruba and Curaçao are out of the hurricane belt and the captain will steer you clear of any bad weather.

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, gordylad said:

absolutely I will show you the ports:

 

Fort Lauderdale, St. John's/Antigua, Castries, Bridgetown, [5 sea days] Salvador, Buzios, Rio de Janeiro

 

San Diego, Puerto Vallarta, Huatulco, San Jose/Costa Rica, Panama Canal, Cartagena/Colombia, Oranjestad, Willemstad, San Juan

 

 

 

 

We haven't been to Brazil, so I can't comment on the ports there or on Rio.  I guess the question re the Infinity cruise is how much do you want to visit several Caribbean islands and then go to Brazil?  I don't know that anyone but you can answer that. 

 

And really the equivalent considerations apply to the Canal cruise.  A few comments on that: 

 

San Diego imho is far more interesting than Ft. Lauderdale (in case you plan to spend some pre-cruise time).   Huatulco is a nice spot with lovely beaches, including one within walking distance of the ship (at least that was the case in 2017.  🙂) 

 

The port call to Costa Rica is at Puntarenas (not San Jose, which is inland). There are some nice shorex you can do there -- wildlife (birds, monkeys, crocs); rainforest; coffee plantations. We've enjoyed both our visits there.   And we've also enjoyed our two visits to Cartagena  -- the old city is colorful and interesting, and well worth a tour.  

 

And then you wind up in San Juan, another very interesting city. 

 

I personally would take the Canal cruise on the Millie, but that's me. Obviously, you were interested enough in the Infinity cruise to book it.  What is it about the Canal cruise that has you thinking about changing?   Again, only you can really know what most interests you in a cruise and what you want to get out of it.

[BourbonNBluesLuvr]

Yes…I would swap ! For several reasons others have mentioned (San Diego over Florida…love SanDiego as a embark port…and as a city just to visit, Panama Canal full transit, Millie over Infinity)…and because since half of each of those cruises are sea days, I prefer the way the Canal cruise splits those days up…as opposed to the Rio cruise, which at one point has 5 sea days in a row…but that’s just me. 😊

 

Enjoy…whichever you decide to choose !

 

BBL

 

[gordylad]

we were all set for the Rio cruise then a couple of cruise shows highlighted San Diego [really liked the look of it] and the panama canal with associated ports just as Turtles mentioned Costa Rica looked cool...

 

decisions decisions

 

Thanks

[Fly and Sail]

I booked Panama Canal as well for next year. Can't wait to do that awesome itinerary.

 

IMHO Panamal Canal beats the Caribbean + Brazil cruise but that's just me.

[AbbyCruiser45]

Those are very different! Do you have time before or after the cruise? San Diego is a great tourist city and San Juan is also wonderful if you want to tack on time for your trip. San Juan has beach options as well. If the itinerary is more of a toss up, as others have mentioned, the Millie is great with its recent full renovation. 

[gordylad]

We have 2 days before the cruise and if we did the Millie could have 2 or 3 days at the end and would probably finish in Florida before flying home

 

tx

[wrk2cruise]

I know the Infinity repo was priced really nicely when it opened so I assume there is a significant difference in price since Panama Canal usually commands a premium due to the transit cost.   We have done 3 full transits of the canal and for many of the reasons stated by others would probably choose the canal itinerary.

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, gordylad said:

Costa Rica looked cool

 

🙂

Just a few photos from our first visit to Puntarenas, Costa Rica, where we took a private shore excursion that included a boat ride along the Tarcoles River.  It was a wonderful day.

 

 

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[gordylad]

Great pics

 

tx

[upwarduk]

6 hours ago, Purplsmurf said:

Aruba and Curaçao are out of the hurricane belt and the captain will steer you clear of any bad weather.

I spent 14 days in Aruba in November 2001 and was told many times that it was outside the Hurricane belt. We only had beautiful, hot weather.

 My son worked at the Oil refinery and certainly wouldn’t have taken the family to live out there had there been danger of storms.

 

[emmas gran]

We have done Panama 2/3 times and Rio for Carnival about 7 years ago prior to a Princess cruise. For itinerary go with Panama, Brazil is alright but Recife, and another port call were not so safe when we did a RC cruise on Splendour many years ago.

Agree San Diego is very nice