BEST CRUISE FOR PANAMA CANAL?? with a Full transit but shortest number of days

[ajj0624]

My husband and I are thinking of postponing our Yellowstone trip this fall and instead take a Panama Canal cruise all the way through.This has been a dream of his and everyone states that the prices to cruise now are better than they have been but i have no idea which cruise or ship. also what about the height of the cabin/deck for viewing? Left or right of the ship? We would prefer a 10 day because it is tight to get off work for the longer cruises. Someone told us that you can fly to a location closer to the canal and board the ship from SanJuan? Arbua? or another port and shorten the number of cruising days? I am trying to process this all quickly and i am not sure i can do this without your help!!Thanks

[cruznjan]

Check with a travel agent, but I'm thinking the shortest full transit would be 13 days.

[unklez]

My husband and I are thinking of postponing our Yellowstone trip this fall and instead take a Panama Canal cruise all the way through.This has been a dream of his and everyone states that the prices to cruise now are better than they have been but i have no idea which cruise or ship. also what about the height of the cabin/deck for viewing? Left or right of the ship? We would prefer a 10 day because it is tight to get off work for the longer cruises. Someone told us that you can fly to a location closer to the canal and board the ship from SanJuan? Arbua? or another port and shorten the number of cruising days? I am trying to process this all quickly and i am not sure i can do this without your help!!Thanks

 

Another option is to book a partial crossing and take an add-on tour to cross the remaining locks. Panama is drastically raising the prices on canal crossings and many cruise-lines have responded by reducing the crossings, even partial ones.

 

In terms of viewing locations, I'd suggest you plan on viewing the crossing from multiple locations. Low, medium and high decks, front, side and back of the ship, from cabin, from open decks, etc. So book the best room you can afford and do not worry about its location for viewing.

[katiepe]

Princess Cruises on the Island Princess has a 10 day full transit. Leaves Fort Lauderdale and ends in Acapulco or vice versa.

[Michele M]

We are taking the Island Princess 10 day from Acapulco to Ft Lauderdale in January. I have been watching the prices regularly and right now they are the lowest they have been.

[Richard in Panama]

You might want to check out my article on Canal Cruises http://richarddetrich.wordpress.com/canal-cruise/ and particularly the end section about some of the tours. You can take a ship like the ZUIDERDAM roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale (convenient for most people air wise) . . . although the ship itself only goes through the Atlantic locks at Gatun, and then turns around in Gatun Lake . . . you can take the Panama Canal Experience tour and go all the way through the rest of the Canal on a smaller boat. That way you see the entire Canal, it's only 10 days, you have opportunity to get off the ship and see some of Panama, and you see the Canal from the perspective of a Panamax ship as well as a smaller ferry.

 

Regards, Richard

[J&RLOVESTOCRUISE]

Hello Richard,

 

I was hoping you could give me some advice. We are wanting to book a cruise to the Panama Canal. We will sail with RCCL and have found a few we may be interested in.

 

We have even thought about doing back to back cruises.

 

Can you give me any advice or suggestions on what cruise or what cruises to take? My husband really wants to go through the locks....

 

We can only sail in January or February also.

 

What is the weather generally like in Jan. and Feb.? Do I need to worry about bug bites?

 

I would appreciate any adn all info you could offer me.

 

It is wonderful to have someone who has such great knowledge as you do on here and who is willing tohelp...

 

Thank you

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We are considering the Coral Princess cruise that is only 10 nights Acapulco - Ft. Lauderdale in April 2011. Any suggestions or advice? Not booked yet, but it looks good for our work restrictions.:D

[BillB48]

I don't think you will find anything with less days. I think up until this Acapulco-FLL cruise, the shortest full transit was 13 days. Should be a great cruise.

[dnt4382]

Ginny,

 

We are booked on the island princess, FLL to ACA on 12/30/09. We both work, so we will be able to do this with only 7 days off. The biggest issue was plane tickets on an open jaw of flying to FLL, and back from ACA. With a stroke of luck, we were able to use Delta points to book that.

 

So if you are trying to minimize time out, pick a 10 day that leaves on a Thursday, and gets back on a sunday.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Actually, the Thursday departing 10 night on the Coral will work great for us. We are looking at the one that leaves April 24, 2011 out of Acapulco. The only concern is flying into Acapulco. It looks like we would most likely have to change planes in Mexico City, unless more flights are available by then. Has anyone else done that? What is it like?

[Sunny AZ Girl]

The short (10 night) PC cruise only has one day on the PC, unlike the longer Princess crossings which are featuring 2 days. If you take a tour on the canal (the Indian Village, for example) where does that tour begin & end? In other words - would we get to be on the ship for the initial locks or would we miss that? Thanks!

[BillB48]

I have not been on a Canal cruise with Princess but I can give you some insight as to how RCI handled tours on transit day. It's my understanding that they only offer tours on the Pacific to Atlantic transits, so with those caviats here goes. The ship arrives at the Pacific entrance of the Canal, early! Proceeds to and locks through Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks, goes through the Gaillard Cut. After clearing Gaillard Cut at Gamboa the ship sails across Gatun Lake. At the Gatun Lake anchorage, which is adjacent to Gatun Locks, passengers who have tours are tendered off the ship to meet their tours. The ship then locks down Gatun Locks and proceeds to the Cristobal pier where there is some shopping at the pier. This is where the passengers who are on tours will rejoin the ship.

 

If you eldect to take a tour, you will have transited most of the Canal. You will of course miss the lockage at Gatun and about 5 miles of sailing in the main channel to the pier in Cristobal. Getting off the ship before you go through Gatun Locks means you don't get the check mark in your passport that you have transited the Canal completely;):rolleyes:! (just kidding)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you, BB. We will be going from the Pacific to the Atlantic. I don't want to miss the entrance into the canal, so you said what I was hoping to hear! I grew up near the Mississippi River, then the Illinois where we had boats, so I am familiar with the operation of locks. I can miss a few, but not all, LOL! I have heard good things about some of the excursions, so we may elect to take advantage of one.:)

[BillB48]

I don't want to sell any of the Canal short, but if you have been through the Pacific Locks and the Gaillard Cut, crossed Gatun Lake, see the Bridge of the Americas, and the Centennial Bridge you have seen the lion's share. If it is want you would like to do is see some of Panama, then that's a good deal all the way around. Some people say the Canal is a "once in a lifetime" cruise, I could not disagree with that statement more. There is alot to see in Panama and the Canal is a huge part of it, but it is impossible to see everything at once! It's a great cruise to do more than once! Have a great cruise.

[Tikibird]

Is there any preference to going east to west vs west to east? The ports on the 10 day cruise look the same, just slightly different in Panama.

 

Is Princess the only one doing these? Or is it too far ahead for other cruise lines to have their itineraries up?

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I don't want to sell any of the Canal short, but if you have been through the Pacific Locks and the Gaillard Cut, crossed Gatun Lake, see the Bridge of the Americas, and the Centennial Bridge you have seen the lion's share. If it is want you would like to do is see some of Panama, then that's a good deal all the way around. Some people say the Canal is a "once in a lifetime" cruise, I could not disagree with that statement more. There is alot to see in Panama and the Canal is a huge part of it, but it is impossible to see everything at once! It's a great cruise to do more than once! Have a great cruise.

You make a good point. If we can see all of that on a west to east passage and still get to see part of Panama with a tour then we will have the best of both worlds!

 

Is there any preference to going east to west vs west to east? The ports on the 10 day cruise look the same, just slightly different in Panama.

 

Is Princess the only one doing these? Or is it too far ahead for other cruise lines to have their itineraries up?

We are doing west to east because of timing of the cruise for our work schedules. However, I do like the idea of flying into Acapulco better than flying out of Acapulco. We plan on flying in a couple days before the cruise and having some beach time and be able to tour the city the day before.:)

 

I looked to see if any other cruise lines are doing a full transit PC in 2010 and could not find one, at least at the time of year we can go. That could change by 2011, though. I will probably book pretty soon though to lock in cabin and price.

[BillB48]

Is there any preference to going east to west vs west to east? The ports on the 10 day cruise look the same, just slightly different in Panama.

 

Is Princess the only one doing these? Or is it too far ahead for other cruise lines to have their itineraries up?

 

As far as having an impact on seeing the Canal, it makes absolutely no difference in the direction. I mentioned in an earlier post that I don't believe they offer tours in conjunction with a Atlantic to Pacific transit unless the ship is spending an extra day in Panama. Other than that, the biggest considerations would be what itinerary you like most and the flight connections between the various ports.

 

Yes, I think Princess is the only one doing a full Canal transit in 10 days. Most of the full transits that I have seen have been in the 13 to 15 day range from California to Florida or the other way.

[Tikibird]

You make a good point. If we can see all of that on a west to east passage and still get to see part of Panama with a tour then we will have the best of both worlds!

 

 

We are doing west to east because of timing of the cruise for our work schedules. However, I do like the idea of flying into Acapulco better than flying out of Acapulco. We plan on flying in a couple days before the cruise and having some beach time and be able to tour the city the day before.:)

 

I looked to see if any other cruise lines are doing a full transit PC in 2010 and could not find one, at least at the time of year we can go. That could change by 2011, though. I will probably book pretty soon though to lock in cabin and price.

 

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of flying into Acapulco a day or so ahead of time rather than trying to drag all the shopping we would do on the cruise from the ship to Acapulco to LAX then to Australia. At least arriving in FLL we only have to get through US and Australia and we are big handicraft shoppers. We may be your neighbors on this cruise! We can't book yet though. We will be using AA miles for the flights which are booked one way and Mexicana is due to join One World in a few months so we have a better idea of flights when that happens. We can't book flights until 330 days prior to departure.

 

 

As far as having an impact on seeing the Canal, it makes absolutely no difference in the direction. I mentioned in an earlier post that I don't believe they offer tours in conjunction with a Atlantic to Pacific transit unless the ship is spending an extra day in Panama. Other than that, the biggest considerations would be what itinerary you like most and the flight connections between the various ports.

 

Yes, I think Princess is the only one doing a full Canal transit in 10 days. Most of the full transits that I have seen have been in the 13 to 15 day range from California to Florida or the other way.

 

I think Seabourn has a shorter cruise but they are megabucks! :eek: I do want to be sure about tours being offered as the Embero Indian one looks interesting.

 

Do we count as past passengers having cruised on P&O Australia? I cruised on Princess in 1991 but other than photos, I can't really prove it. Some cruise lines give discounts for past passengers, don't they?

[Tikibird]

Forgot a question: How is it possible that some online cruise agencies have prices for this cruise but Princess doesn't? Unless Americans are getting prices as I keep defaulting to an Aussie Princess Cruises site.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Princess' website here in the USA does have prices. I am going to get a quote from my online TA, though. They usually are much better!:D

[Sunny AZ Girl]

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of flying into Acapulco a day or so ahead of time rather than trying to drag all the shopping we would do on the cruise from the ship to Acapulco to LAX then to Australia. At least arriving in FLL we only have to get through US and Australia and we are big handicraft shoppers. We may be your neighbors on this cruise! We can't book yet though. We will be using AA miles for the flights which are booked one way and Mexicana is due to join One World in a few months so we have a better idea of flights when that happens. We can't book flights until 330 days prior to departure.

Sorry, I missed this post before. I hope it works out for you! I love shopping for handicrafts, too. No Diamonds International for me, LOL! It just seems easier to me to get off a plane in Acapulco than to get on one. Don't know why - I just am more comfortable with the airport, security, etc in FLL.

 

I think Seabourn has a shorter cruise but they are megabucks! :eek: I do want to be sure about tours being offered as the Embero Indian one looks interesting.

I didn't even check Seabourn....:rolleyes:

 

I was also looking at the Embera Indian excursion. A little worried about getting in and out of those canoes, though!:eek:

 

Do we count as past passengers having cruised on P&O Australia? I cruised on Princess in 1991 but other than photos, I can't really prove it. Some cruise lines give discounts for past passengers, don't they?

I got a past passenger price on Carnival after cruising Princess. I'm not sure if it works the other way around, though. Maybe someone else here can help you with that one.

[doubletree07]

We are taking the Island Princess 10 day from Acapulco to Ft Lauderdale in January. I have been watching the prices regularly and right now they are the lowest they have been.

 

 

Michele - I've been surfing the internet trying to find flights to Acapulco. Right now I'm looking at the Feb. 18th sailing that begins in Ft. Lauderdale. Seems the easiest way to go - rather than the Jan.9th sail which begins in Acapulco. Are you leaving a day early? Marie

[Tikibird]

Princess' website here in the USA does have prices. I am going to get a quote from my online TA, though. They usually are much better!:D

I used a proxy to have a peek at the US site. The online TA I used for RCL last year is cheaper than Princess so it probably won't be an issue. I'm also waiting until it comes up on my frequent flyer program because I may be able to book there, get miles, some kind of shipboard credit and coupon book but their drop down box doesn't go past Dec 2010 so far.

 

I'm going to be optimistic and put it in my siggy as I have all other details worked out and it's doable provided we get the FF seats.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I used a proxy to have a peek at the US site. The online TA I used for RCL last year is cheaper than Princess so it probably won't be an issue. I'm also waiting until it comes up on my frequent flyer program because I may be able to book there, get miles, some kind of shipboard credit and coupon book but their drop down box doesn't go past Dec 2010 so far.

 

I'm going to be optimistic and put it in my siggy as I have all other details worked out and it's doable provided we get the FF seats.

Yeah! DH has been gone on business all week. I want to talk to him about cabin preference and was going to book this weekend. I will start a Roll Call if one is not started and let you know. Someone on my Roll Call for my April cruise is also looking at this one.:D