Panama Canal cruise- Costa Rica or one that goes to Aruba

[texasstar]

I am considering a cruise through the Panama canal.  I have never been, so need advice whether to choose one that includes Costa Rica, or one that starts in Balboa and ends in Aruba.  Thank you for your advice.

[Ski Mom 2]

Holiday season 2014/2015 we did Colon through the canal and up Costa Rica. We flew in early to Panama City and it was a wonderful trip. 
 

in January we are leaving from Bridgetown to Aruba and through the canal. Costa Rica is lovely and if you’ve been to the Caribbean I think I would choose going to Costa Rica. We loved the old town of Panama; we celebrated Christmas Eve there and it was fantastic!

[r&rd]

We do every new years on the Costa Rica sailing but the things we take into consideration are many. First, where is it easier to fly into? We have a nonstop from SFO to Panama so it’s easier - especially during winter or holiday travel. The Caribbean is much harder and riskier to fly into. Second, do you want the sailing ships or the yachts? We prefer the sailing ships but some prefer the yachts. Also, consider whether you want the canal to be day 1 or the last day of the sailing. We find that having the canal on the first day harder - not adjusted to time or heat and if you want to be prepared (if it is your first time in the canal) not enough time. 

We also enjoy staying in Casco Viejo in Panama- and the Marriott in Costa Rica. In spite of Costa Rica being our first choice, we will be doing Bridgetown to Panama in 2025. Any way you go will be wonderful!

[new_cruiser]

10 hours ago, r&rd said:

We do every new years on the Costa Rica sailing but the things we take into consideration are many. First, where is it easier to fly into? We have a nonstop from SFO to Panama so it’s easier - especially during winter or holiday travel.

With either cruise, they will be flying to or from Panama. The flight that changes is Costa Rica vs Aruba. 

[new_cruiser]

20 hours ago, texasstar said:

I am considering a cruise through the Panama canal.  I have never been, so need advice whether to choose one that includes Costa Rica, or one that starts in Balboa and ends in Aruba.  Thank you for your advice.

We have done the Costa Rica Panama Canal itinerary and almost the same itinerary as the Aruba Panama Canal cruise. (The later for us was on Wind Surf when it did the big Caribbean series of itineraries shortly before COVID - its the same as Aruba to Panama canal cruise except that the Wind Surf masts are too high to exit the Pacific end of the canal it was a partial transit and then the ship continued up the East coast of Central America.)

 

I'd say you can't go wrong with either one - I enjoyed them about equally. The Aruba one has better snorkeling opportunities and Caribbean port towns and such plus the Columbia stops. The Costa Rica stops are more about nature - seeing the varied bird and animal life of the jungles in the area, Costa Rica culture and crops (e.g. coffee, bananas, chocolate and other tropical fruits). 

[texasstar]

Thank you all for your replies.   Decisions, decisions. I am in the Pacific Northwest, to it is difficult to fly to that part of the country.  I will check out the SFO flight.  I had better options going than returning.

[elklemi]

I did Star Clipper Costa Rica in January and their port stops were mainly rain forest and only one was a nice beach.  Still enjoyed it and Costa Rica was very enjoyable but was looking for more beach time.  They also do Panama and Costa Rica but found Windstar from Panama thru Panama Canal to Aruba and just booked for March.  Full transit is appealing as I have only done partial many years ago and always wanted to experience the full passage.  It also has stops at Panama islands what I want to see and Cartegena which I experienced on land tour and enjoyed and on one of their Yachts which will be a new experience as other trips with them were on the sail ships. Chance to experience Panama islands, and Columbia I really enjoyed so those items made the choice easy for me. I miss the Gallo beer in Columbia.  I am sure you will enjoy whatever trip you choose.  Best of luck.

[oakridger]

@elklemi Your hometown caught my attention!  I'm originally from there hence my Cruise Critic name.

 

I'm taking my first Windstar cruise in February 2025 on Star Breeze so I have a long time to wait.  Boo.

 

Have a great cruise to the Panama Canal!

 

~Nancy

[elklemi]

Always nice to hear from a fellow "Ridger", What a great place to grow up and a unique story.  I feel certain you will enjoy your Windstar cruise as I have.  I will be on look out for your "name" when on the boards.

[CruiseOrLand]

It's tricky to make Caribbean recommendations for someone from the Pacific Coast. Our Windstar cruise ended in Costa Rica, where we had (once) spent a winter week's vacation. But Costa Rica is such a varied place that one trip would not be much like another trip there.

 

Personal opinion: OTOH, we found that Aruba was the most "Americanized" island we'd ever been to in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico and Turks and Caicos, for example. We did not dislike Aruba, and did some nice (big group) snorkeling trips. But the main reason we chose Aruba (besides not having been there before) was that it was a single nonstop for us from NYC.

 

It is fair to point out that Costa Rica has cultivated its connections with the U.S. into a robust economy, with drug plants as well as high tourism. But it remains a rugged natural place, which is not a fair description of Aruba (or St. Maarten, or ...  ).

 

Although we flew to Panama City a day early, it's important to note that Panama City is not crime-free, although the area around the Windstar hotel is perfectly safe. Our Embarcation was from the other end of the canal, so Windstar (as arranged) bussed everyone to Colon, which is an otherwise unsafe city. Only talking about your local options, not bad-mouthing the Windstar trip at all.

[new_cruiser]

3 hours ago, CruiseOrLand said:

, so Windstar (as arranged) bussed everyone to Colon,

Windstar doesn't bus everyone to Colon. They include bus transfer from the Windstar hotel for those who booked it through them. If you are staying at another hotel (or booked that hotel directly), you can pay for the transfer from the Windstar hotel. The price for that for the two of us was about the same as the cost for our guide taking on a half day of touring between Panama City to the port in Colon. 

 

This would apply to the Panama Canal Costa Rica itinerary from Colon to Costa Rica. 

 

From where we are on the West Coast, leaving from either Sacramento or San Francisco airport, there isn't much difference in flying to either San Juan, Costa Rica or Aruba. Either way it requires at least one stop and the price range seems similar. 

[texasstar]

Thank you all for your comments.  I have put this trip on hold for the moment, and gone down another "rabbit hole" a Windstar trip in May with my sisters that starts in Athens, goes through the Corinth canal, two stops in Sicily, then Sardinia and ends in Barcelona.

Looks like a great trip.

[Cometman]

When in doubt, book a back to back cruise and do it all!

We did Barbados to Panama to San Jose last year and had the time of our lives!

[kbr]

On 9/24/2023 at 6:05 PM, new_cruiser said:

Windstar doesn't bus everyone to Colon. They include bus transfer from the Windstar hotel for those who booked it through them. If you are staying at another hotel (or booked that hotel directly), you can pay for the transfer from the Windstar hotel. The price for that for the two of us was about the same as the cost for our guide taking on a half day of touring between Panama City to the port in Colon. 

 

This would apply to the Panama Canal Costa Rica itinerary from Colon to Costa Rica. 

 

From where we are on the West Coast, leaving from either Sacramento or San Francisco airport, there isn't much difference in flying to either San Juan, Costa Rica or Aruba. Either way it requires at least one stop and the price range seems similar. 

Who did you use for your private guide from Panama City to the port?

[r&rd]

We used Amber Moon Taxi - $100 cash from Panama City to Colon port. Booked in advance and did not require a deposit. Make sure you have the right port in Colon(Windstar usually uses Cristobal not Colon 2000 the larger port)

[Ski Mom 2]

Update:

We have recently returned from our Star Collector cruise that included Barbados to Aruba and through the Panama Canal cruise. I have to say we thoroughly enjoyed the Aruba through the canal cruise. Our stops were almost all new ports for us (with the exception of St Lucia and ending in Panama) and totally enjoyed the new stops. Prior to the cruise they changed our itinerary to an overnight in Cartegena (instead of the stop in Santa Marta) so we ended up going on 2 WS tours that were both outstanding there. We also had a wonderful WS tour out of St Lucia that we enjoyed. The location of the beach bbq on San Blas Island  was a one of our favorites.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with either cruise!

Edited February 15 by Ski Mom 2