Panama Canal - Eastbound or Westbound?

[Drew B]

I'm in the early fantasizing stages (not quite planning, but getting there) of doing a Panama Canal trip. Does anybody feel that there is a great advantage in doing this cruise either Eastbound or West? For what it's worth, I live in Los Angeles, so it would either be sail there, fly back or fly there, sail back.

 

Thanks!

[dmk]

Done both and loved them both!:)

[Drew B]

Was there any appreciable difference in the experience? Or just same thing, different order?

[CelebrityMan]

Hi,

 

The Panama Canal sailing is one of our favorites! We've done it both directions, and as you point out it is basically the same sort of experience either direction.

 

There are, obviously, slight variations, depending on time of year, cruise speed, etc., and sometimes a slight variation in itinerary (i.e., staying longer in ports/shorter in ports, etc.).

 

But for us, as fellow west coasters, there is no question which one we prefer: westbound!! We much prefer to fly the longest distance prior to the cruise and have a short flight at the end. Otherwise, the longer flight home simply undoes all the wonderful fun and relaxation we've just had on the Panama Canal sailing.

 

Whichever direction you choose, have a GREAT cruise! The days at sea are wonderful, and the ports all have their own unique appeal.

 

 

 

 

 

CM

[stebul]

Another advantage of westbound:

Multiple 25 hour days instead of 23 hour days (due to time changes).

Although I'm sure some people will prefer the shorter days.

[rubrrick]

My DW and I are just shy of 3 weeks from trying an eastbound Panama Canal trip, full transit. We have been in Gatun Lake, where we have experienced only the Gatun locks.........both ways.

 

We look forward to cruising the cuts of earth that helped create the Panama Canal. This should be a very special trip for us.

 

Rick

[Jim_Iain]

I would mirror stebul. The major advantage of a west bound cruise is that you gain an extra hour on three evenings. This is also nice for the crew that get an extra hour sleep as oppose to loosing an hour of sleep.

 

Jim

[Roland4]

We have done both and for the canal transit itself, it really doesn't matter. There is a school of thought that says eastbound is better because, on the portion of the westbound north from the canal, you are bucking the south-flowing Japan Current which can make for a bumpy ride. We have cruised north into LA twice. The first was extremely rough, the second as smooth as glass.

[ebslc]

I'm in the early fantasizing stages (not quite planning, but getting there) of doing a Panama Canal trip. Does anybody feel that there is a great advantage in doing this cruise either Eastbound or West? For what it's worth, I live in Los Angeles, so it would either be sail there, fly back or fly there, sail back.

 

Thanks!

 

If you go Westbound you won't have to go through jet lag from flying home from the East coast at the end of your cruise. To make sure you get onboard on time, you will need to fly to the east coast a day ahead and pay for a night's hotel.

 

Since we have only gone Eastbound, I don't have the experience to compare Eastbound vs. Westbound. Going Eastbound, you will see the best part of the crossing: the bridges, the first 2 set of locks, the Culebra Cut earlier in the day - before noon. It may be cooler outside on deck!!

 

Check my post in the Panama Canal board for some tidbits from our cruise. I have a link to it in my signature below.

 

I think you will have a great time going either direction!

[Irishwhiskey]

I would probably prefer the westbound.Having taken the cruise from Florida to San Diego last year.The extra hours were nice.We went in the spring and had the best weather you could ask for.I did not look forward to the 5 hour flight home.We were all tired after two weeks.I would fly first if i could.The excitement of going on a 14 day cruise takes the sting out of the travel day.

[DC2OC]

We are looking for one and the final decision will come down to ports and price.Good point was made that the crew should be fresher westbound on the gaining sleep/losing sleep scenerio.Living on the east coast eastbound may be better since it would be a much easier trip home.We'd be back in time to get the dog from the kennel and relax before a good nights sleep.Leaving, I'd probably plan on leaving a day early either way................Frank

[Druke I]

I think there is a slight advantage going from West to East. The Japanese Current flows South along the West Coast, so it is often smoother sailing South from California than it is North from Panama.

 

We've done two Eastbound transits, and one Westbound thus far.

[Jarronwood]

When you say West coast you mean LA????

 

For me I would prefer to fly first since any flying is a hassle but if you are all excited and geared up for your holiday for me my holiday starts when I leave home to go to the airport and my whole body is on an up.

 

YOu have something to look forward to and from experience no matter what the airport throws at you you are still on holiday and going somewhere.

 

For me personally since I live in the UK it would mean flying to say New York or a European port, obviously staying overnight or may be more then getting on the ship. When you finally get off which for us woudl be SOuthampton, we live 30 mins away. That would be heaven.

 

I HATE HATE leaving my hotel/ship to go home but to have to cope with the airport, baggage, customs yuck yuck yuck.

 

Its about time someone invented the "beam me up Scotty" machine.

[mii]

I also preferred the east to west. We left from Ft. lauderdale and ended in San Francisco. Now this was on a Princess ship but I felt that since we flew in a day ahead of time we got used to the jet lag. Then got on the ship and sailed until S.F. where we just got in the car and drove home rather than getting off of the ship, finding a taxi to get to airport, going through the hassles of that etc. In my opinion go from east to west.

 

Marilyn

[LeftcoastBC]

Just another vote for East to West because of the Time Zones and you get home with no huge travel facing you.

Done it twice.....well actually got dropped in Mexico because of a "pod" problem ..but you get the idea.

The Canal is a must see. We plan on doing it again. On a repos it is quite leisurely ....I think that X has replaced Aruba with Columbia however which is not a good thing for pax.

[happycruzer]

Hi,We are sailing on the Summit Westcoast to Eastcoast, for the same reasons as Jarronwood we always feel refreshed at the start of any trip and despite a 12 hour flight from the UK plus connections from Scotland to London we still prefer that. This then leaves us with 'only' a 9 hour flight back home from Miami.

So IMHO I would do your flight part of your vacation at the Start and then be nearer to home when you are coming off the ship.

 

We also try to make such a long flight more worthwhile and do our best to stay a couple of nights at either end a) to make sure we are there on time and b) to see some of the area that we are sailing/flying into well thats my excuse to my DH and I'm sticking to it.

 

Good luck with your decision.

 

Sandra

[easternLIers]

I think it depends on where you live. Living on the east coast we prefered to start with the long flight to San Diego and chill with 2 days pre-cruise stay. Start off rested and have a short flight back home at the end. The time change isn't really a big deal except in that you have to constantly be aware of it for your excusions etc. either way. AS others have said also the left coasters would most likely prefer east to west for same reason.

[cruiserfromohio]

I'm surprised no one pointed this out, so I shall. If you look in the map, the Panama Cannal really runs more North and South, than East and West. So when you pass from the Pacific to the Carebbean, the ship is making an North-bound transit of the Cannal, not an East-bound transit. Amaze your friends with this of geography trivia!;)

[easternLIers]

Go Buckeyes !!:D

[Drew B]

Actually, the flight at the end of the cruise wouldn't bother me much - I'm going to be grumpy and depressed that the cruise is over regardless, so it's not that big a deal. HOWEVER, the time change thing is a very good point. For that reason alone, East to West sounds better.

 

Thanks, guys!

[Drew B]

Ooops. Duplicate post.

[MTemple212]

I would have to say West to East. I know people have said that it would be a hassle to have to get on a plane to go back after the cruise is over but look at it this way, you gain time flying back to the west coast. There is really little jet lag going from East to west. It's mostly going from West to East is when you get jetlag and if you did the west to east cruise, that would be a non-issue.