Panama Canal - 10 days or 14?

[KPLIONMA]

My friend and I are thinking of cruising the Panama Canal this coming March..We are wondering if 10 days is just as good as cruising for 14 days. We live in Massachusetts and the 14 day cruise we would have to fly coast to coast either at the begining of the cruise or at the end. Hoping to hearing from everybody soon. Thanks

[kalliekae]

Ten days was ample time for our Panama Canal cruise although we couldn't take the extra time off work for a longer cruise. If you have time for a 14 day cruise, do it!

[Ted&Molly]

I take it that the 10-day is RT from Florida and the 14-day is one-way to or from California. You haven't cited specific cruises, but in general, the shorter RT will be a partial transit of the canal--not a full transit. As far as cost, the difference in air fares I don't think will be that significant compared to the overall cost of the trip.

 

We looked at the same choice and decided on the 14-day full transit on the Rotterdam leaving Jan. 5. As far as cost, we focused on US port to US port, as air fares are significantly higher to fly RT or one-way from a foreign port--and distances between port and airport can be significant, as in Pacific coast of Costa Rica to San Jose airport. Some canal itineraries start or end in Mexico, Costa Rica, etc. Very expensive to fly to or from those ports. So we are going Ft. Lauderdale to LA. We live in Oregon, so we have geographic considerations equivalent to New Englanders.

 

Another important factor is the time of day the ship transits the canal. If the itinerary shows the transit is in the middle of the night and observing the transit is important to you, that will be a major factor. We looked at that and, on our itinerary, the ship enters the canal early in the morning and exits early in the evening--a full daytime transit. Good luck.

[arlodog]

I am taking the 14 day at the end of Feb/March and if you chose the 10 day it is only a partial transit, not a full transit. If you can go for 14 you will probably not regret it!

[NevadaHiRoller]

Take the 14 day and full transit. You won't regret it.

[RustaRoo]

Take the 14 day and full transit. You won't regret it.

IU agree totally, breakfast on the Atlantic, dinner on the Pacific - full transit was great. I'd do it again:)

PS - I've done both 10 and 14-day transits and loved them both, but the full transit is special.

[GeriatricNurse]

Take the 14 day and full transit. You won't regret it.

 

 

Why not bump it up to 17 days to end your cruise in Vancouver?

[NevadaHiRoller]

Why not bump it up to 17 days to end your cruise in Vancouver?

 

I wouldn't suggest that because of the airline costs international. ;)

[caltnl]

We did a 18 day voyage on the

Westerdam in 06 and throughly enjoyed the trip. We had 5 ports in the Caribbean then up the west coast to Los Angeles.

 

It was nice to get off the ship and have our daughter and grandsons pick us up and home in an hour.

[wwinfl91]

We did a 14 day West to East on Veendam in 2001 and are scheduled to do an 18 day East to West on the Zuiderdam in April 2009.

 

I would strongly recommend doing the full transit of the canal rather than one of the cruises that just goes thru one set of locks stops in Gatun lake and then comes back thru the same set of locks later in the same day. The locks on the Pacific side and the ones on the Atlantic side are actually quite different and by only doing an Atlantic lock entry and exit you will miss out on much of the canal including the Gaillard Cut and going under the Bridge of the Americas.

 

Hopefully you can schedule enough time to do a full transit and enjoy all the beauty and majesty of the canal.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[Williebill]

I agree that a full transit of the canal is special.

[TCF]

We did the ten day partial transit on Princess Coral...the full transit on Veendam. Both were really great, but the way HAL treated the full transit was far less than the way Princess handled visiting the canal.

The Panama Canal needs a little effort on your part to make it a really special trip...some reading about the history is a good start...but Princess offered two documentaries on the building of the canal the day before arrival...the canal expert on board provided interesting commentary through out the transit through the Gatun Locks...and an official from the Canal Authority gave a lecture on the future of the canal.

HAL did not provide the lectures or historical information before entering the canal that made it a really exciting opportunity. They had a retired university professor give a lecture... he is the only person I know that could actually make the building of the Panama Canal a boring event in history.

The narrator/commentator during the actual transit was the retired PR person from the Canal Authority and unfortunately we found her to be very boring also...she had obviously given one too many talks about the history of the canal because she even seemed bored by her presentation. In addition, lines she used such as..."On the port side you can see what is called the French Cut. It is lucky the American's came along or we wouldn't have a canal." ...which I suppose is the lowest common denominator, but hardly historically accurate or fair!

Best advice I can give is research carefully before you book who HAL intends to use to lecture and narate the Panama Canal is not the people they used on the Veendam reposition cruise from vancouver to Tampa in Sept/Oct '08.

[rjm1cc]

If the 10 days goes all the way through the canal that would be just as good as the 14.

 

When I went we started in Florida and ended in Seattle. You could get off in LA and make the trip shorter.

[Lurker1]

HAL did not provide the lectures or historical information before entering the canal that made it a really exciting opportunity. They had a retired university professor give a lecture... he is the only person I know that could actually make the building of the Panama Canal a boring event in history.

 

The narrator/commentator during the actual transit was the retired PR person from the Canal Authority and unfortunately we found her to be very boring also...she had obviously given one too many talks about the history of the canal because she even seemed bored by her presentation. In addition, lines she used such as..."On the port side you can see what is called the French Cut. It is lucky the American's came along or we wouldn't have a canal." ...which I suppose is the lowest common denominator, but hardly historically accurate or fair!

 

Best advice I can give is research carefully before you book who HAL intends to use to lecture and narate the Panama Canal is not the people they used on the Veendam reposition cruise from vancouver to Tampa in Sept/Oct '08.

 

We did a full transit on the Westerdam in April. They had a retired engineer give four lectures on the canal. He was very good (I got to 3 of them, DW to all four).

I guess you are right about HAL not using the same people all the time, but what about Princess? Do their lecturers also vary in quality? And how would you find out from either line?

And for the OP, I agree with others, do the full transit. And if you have the time, spend a couple of extra days in whatever West Coast city you embark/disembark from. We live on the East Coast. Since DW and I have started cruising, we've spent extra time in San Diego, Seattle and Vancouver.

[KPLIONMA]

Thank you everybody for responding so quick...my friend and I have a lot to consider...but it sure sounds like the 14 day is the way to go and well worth the time.

[maxsmamma]

YOu should also decide if you want to be on a Vista ship or smaller. The Vista is a far different cruise from what I hear (we have only done HAL with Vista Class) I'm sure you can find a few threads with recommendation on ship size. I'd think about my whole cruise experience, not just the time in the canal. Unless that is the most important time of the cruise to you.

[pokeyjones]

Ours was a partial transit, but we opted for the excursion that went to Balboa, seeing the skyline of Panama City. Fortunately for us, we had no delays and got back to the ship with an hour and a half to spare for shopping at the pier. There were very favorable prices there, so, if you are wanting more of a memory, of Panama and it's people, do the 10 day with and excursion...otherwise, you will just be transiting the canal unless your itinerary specifically states ports of call in Panama.

 

Also, check out the questions that Melissa B, managing editior took while doing the 10 day itinerary. You'll find that in the ports of call section for Panama Canal.

[Typhoon1]

Go for 14 if you can spare the time. It is truly a voyage you will never forget.

[HALFans]

Any time you take a Panama Canal cruise you're going to pay a premium due to the lock fees; partial or full transit.

 

You might as well go whole hog for the bragging rights of doing a complete transit, as well as for the experience!

[Kamloops50]

Why not bump it up to 17 days to end your cruise in Vancouver?

 

You can take a shuttle from Vancouver and fly out the same day from Seattle or the next day . This way the flight is not international.

Another option is to fly via Toronto to Boston .

 

:):)