Coral-Panama full transit

[Darcy8]

I am wondering which direction on the full transit is better or is there much difference? If you leave from FLL the ship ports at MObay vs. Ocho Rios; Fuerto Amado Panama vs. Colon; Puntarenas Costa Rico vs. Peurto Caldera and San Juan Del Sur Nicaragua vs. P. Corinto.

 

Thanks for any input,

darcy8

[ibfern]

I am wondering which direction on the full transit is better or is there much difference? If you leave from FLL the ship ports at MObay vs. Ocho Rios; Fuerto Amado Panama vs. Colon; Puntarenas Costa Rico vs. Peurto Caldera and San Juan Del Sur Nicaragua vs. P. Corinto.

 

Thanks for any input,

darcy8

 

I like Ocho Rios because of Dunns river falls; can't comment on Puerto Amado Panama vs. Colon; Puntarenas because of Charlie (plus I've never been to Puerto Caldera); Puerto Corinto for better access to Leon and San Juan del Sur because its a cool surf town with funky shops and lots of surf dudes chasing waves! Nicaragua has the best coffee.

 

Amelia

[Colo Cruiser]

I am wondering which direction on the full transit is better or is there much difference? If you leave from FLL the ship ports at MObay vs. Ocho Rios; Fuerto Amado Panama vs. Colon; Puntarenas Costa Rico vs. Peurto Caldera and San Juan Del Sur Nicaragua vs. P. Corinto.

 

Thanks for any input,

darcy8

 

 

I like W/B, but they can leave off Jamaica. ;)

[mii]

I like Ocho Rios because of Dunns river falls; can't comment on Puerto Amado Panama vs. Colon; Puntarenas because of Charlie (plus I've never been to Puerto Caldera); Puerto Corinto for better access to Leon and San Juan del Sur because its a cool surf town with funky shops and lots of surf dudes chasing waves! Nicaragua has the best coffee.

 

Amelia

 

I am doing a full transit from East to West and our stops are: start in FLL, then Aruba, then Cartagena, Panama Canal, Punteneras, Hualtico, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, Acalpulco, Cabp then L.A. I am also curious about San Juan del Sur. Maybe you can tell me more. I have done lots of searching on that stop but not much out there. This will be our 2nd full transit.

Marilyn

[Druke I]

delete - duplicated post.

[Druke I]

We prefer to have the long flight before the cruise, so for us, FL to CA is preferable.

[skellis]

we prefer east to west. We don't like Jamaica, and we would rather lose the three hours sleep on the plane and get it back on the ship. We will be going on the Island in November.

[Ula]

We are booked in 09. Since all the ports are new, we have zero opinion on them.

Living in CA we booked FL to CA. Flying anymore can just erase any relaxation on a cruise. Not so much the airport, used to that. The plane staff can be just down right rude. Got a lecture on our last flight on limiting liquids to control bladder issues. This was over the loud speaker.

[ggprincess2004]

We would rather do east to west and have the benefit of gaining hours, rather than losing hours.

[DocM3]

Sorry this is off subject but I notice that Druke I is from Lincoln, Ca - so are we, we live at Del Webb. Do you by any chance live there?

[Druke I]

Yes, we live in Lincoln Hills, village 35A (the "raptor" section).

[DocM3]

We are in Village 36 - here is an e-mail contact if you wish to get in touch

USGrandma35@hotmail.com

[Darcy8]

Flights both ways are about the same for us, so I was wondering if the ports were better on either of the trips. We have been to Ocho Rios but not Montego Bay, haven't been to any of the other stops. I can't find much of anything about either Nicaragua stop either.

 

darcy8

[ibfern]

I am doing a full transit from East to West and our stops are: start in FLL, then Aruba, then Cartagena, Panama Canal, Punteneras, Hualtico, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, Acalpulco, Cabp then L.A. I am also curious about San Juan del Sur. Maybe you can tell me more. I have done lots of searching on that stop but not much out there. This will be our 2nd full transit.

Marilyn

 

Hi Marilyn,

 

San Juan del Sur is a visually striking port. You will tender into the bay and be let off at the tip of town. There will be lots of locals offering tours, as well as a local crafts market set up at the tender disembark area. I noticed a lot of people taking the bicycle cabs around town, we walked the town but if it was hot I would hop on a bike cab next time. The town is so cute with lots of colorful buildings and stores, and of course the "El Gato Negro" coffee shop has the best coffee I ever tasted in my life. I bought every bag of coffee they had, and now I cannot find any more and I need to go back!

 

The town is filled with a lot of expatriate Californians who flock here because of a break that produces great waves, so you'll see a lot of blond haired people around. The thing about the waves is that in the afternoon it gets very windy and this wind causes even bigger waves. This means that the afternoon ride back to the boat is rough, but thankfully it is a very short tender.

 

This is the jumping off port for tours to Granada and Lake Nicaragua and the mud pots and Volcano. I did not take any tours and instead stayed in town for a nice walk and talk with locals. There is a zip line right out of town but I didn't try it because I was zipped out from two stops in CR with Charlie!

 

There are lots of restaurants in town, particularly along the beach, where you can sit and sip drinks all day watching the waves and people on the beach. The beach is beautiful so this is a fantastic place to lay out or play in the water. There are lots of places to rent beach toys and water toys, and I know a group of people who rented a boat and sailed all day--they had a blast.

 

Ask me questions if you want specifics, and I hope this helps!

 

Amelia

[ibfern]

Flights both ways are about the same for us, so I was wondering if the ports were better on either of the trips. We have been to Ocho Rios but not Montego Bay, haven't been to any of the other stops. I can't find much of anything about either Nicaragua stop either.

 

darcy8

 

If you want to hang out in the town, hang at the beach, and not be tied to any particular agenda, San Juan del Sur is the place to go. This is a nice town, much nicer than the town near Puerto Corinto, and worthy of spending a day on your own. I hear the roads up to the Volcano and Lake from here are rough, but this is only heresay because I have never been on it. From this port you should be able to access Granada and the Islatas, this was one of my last stops on a 21 day B2B cruise and my back was hurting so I opted to stay in town.

 

Puerto Corinto is the jumping off point for tours to Managua and Leon, I went to Leon on an art tour and loved it. The guide was great, I learned a lot about Nicaragua and its history and politics. I did not spend any time in the port town but I have read that it is a sad place to visit and the people who live there are very poor. This would be a great place to lighten up your clothing load and donate them. I know lots of people who travel with clothing they plan on getting rid of to make room for trinkets. Donate them instead.

 

Hope this helps,

Amelia

[cruisepsycho]

Having lived in Panama for 4 years, I can give you my recommendations about the Panama ports. Their is absolutely nothing of interest in the port of Colon (Critobal), unless you aren't transiting the canal and want to tour the Gatun locks. The city is dirty, high crime, no good beaches or shopping -

no sense getting of the ship really. Fuerto Amador though is right outside Panama City which offers beautiful sights by day and night, shopping and entertainment. Also, on an east to west transit of the canal (which is actually a north to south transit) the best views of the canal, and panama city are from the port side of the ship. Choose a starboard cabin for a west - east transit.

[Darcy8]

Thanks for the info. It has been very helpful.

darcy8

[mii]

Hi Marilyn,

 

San Juan del Sur is a visually striking port. You will tender into the bay and be let off at the tip of town. There will be lots of locals offering tours, as well as a local crafts market set up at the tender disembark area. I noticed a lot of people taking the bicycle cabs around town, we walked the town but if it was hot I would hop on a bike cab next time. The town is so cute with lots of colorful buildings and stores, and of course the "El Gato Negro" coffee shop has the best coffee I ever tasted in my life. I bought every bag of coffee they had, and now I cannot find any more and I need to go back!

 

The town is filled with a lot of expatriate Californians who flock here because of a break that produces great waves, so you'll see a lot of blond haired people around. The thing about the waves is that in the afternoon it gets very windy and this wind causes even bigger waves. This means that the afternoon ride back to the boat is rough, but thankfully it is a very short tender.

 

This is the jumping off port for tours to Granada and Lake Nicaragua and the mud pots and Volcano. I did not take any tours and instead stayed in town for a nice walk and talk with locals. There is a zip line right out of town but I didn't try it because I was zipped out from two stops in CR with Charlie!

 

There are lots of restaurants in town, particularly along the beach, where you can sit and sip drinks all day watching the waves and people on the beach. The beach is beautiful so this is a fantastic place to lay out or play in the water. There are lots of places to rent beach toys and water toys, and I know a group of people who rented a boat and sailed all day--they had a blast.

 

Ask me questions if you want specifics, and I hope this helps!

 

Amelia

 

Amelia, thank you so much for this info. There is truly not much about Nicaragua on this site. i have googled a lot so thank you very much

 

marilyn

[Go-Bucks!]

I like Ocho Rios because of Dunns river falls; can't comment on Puerto Amado Panama vs. Colon; Puntarenas because of Charlie (plus I've never been to Puerto Caldera); Puerto Corinto for better access to Leon and San Juan del Sur because its a cool surf town with funky shops and lots of surf dudes chasing waves! Nicaragua has the best coffee.

 

Amelia

 

Thanks for the info. I'm going to Puntarenas and San Juan del Sur, so your info was very helpful. One question, though: who is "Charlie" and why does he make that stop good??