Too much rain in Panama?

[cruiser2015]

Greetings, CC world.

 

I've been looking at a full transit cruise for January 2024. My DW is always concerned about winter travel (to and from ports) because of potential weather issues.

Seeking alternatives, the same itinerary  has a 11/19/23 departure eastbound (my preference) and a similar westbound on 12/19/23. Is the weather likely to be much worse than in January?

 

Also, I noticed that these other two departures are both substantially less expensive than January - makes one wonder why.

[CruiserBruce]

The wet season is November-December, so possibly. But on the other hand you could get worse weather getting to your departure port in January. Toss a coin.

 

Rain in the canal is normal, pretty much a requirement, as the area is a tropical rainforest, and the Canal requires A LOT of water.

[BillB48]

After Thanksgiving in the US and before Christmas is historically a good time to look for lower cruise fares.  The higher price in January just reflects higher demand after the holidays with people wanting to head to warmer destinations.  Also January is the first full month of Panama's Dry Season and is a great time to be there.  I would not put too much emphasis in the rain chances of Nov/Dec...  while there is a slightly better chance of rain in November, the rains are usually brief and not all day events.  It rains in the Dry Season as well.  Decide on your cruise based on your preferences, convenience and price.  Use weather only as a tie breaker between different cruises, the increased chances of rain on the earlier cruises is only slight.

[cruiser2015]

Thanks, Bruce & Bill, for your wise comments.

 

In any case, we bit the bullet and booked January.

Partially, trying to "buy" the better weather chances.

Also, the 11/19 cruises over Thanksgiving, which we host for our family every year; nad, as stated, the 12/19 is westbound.

[oakridger]

Now the canal is hoping for more rain.  😞

 

 

~Nancy