Panama Canal which way East or West.

Hello.

Looking at doing the Panama Canal in 2018 presumably on the wonder.

Just looking for different peoples perspective on which one is best. Have to travel from Australia to do this but that is not a concern. Have traveled on the Magic 2 times and the Dream once. Assuming it is on the Wonder which the smaller ship I prefer and it does not worry me returning to Cozumel and Grand Cayman. So those things aside whats your experience/opinion

TIA.

We absolutely loved the Eastbound, but I'd be more likely to base it on the dates and how they fit into my schedule than to the direction. As you noted, you'd also need to look at the ports that are planned for the year you are cruising. We stopped at Curacao which was amazing.

We did West bound which worked well with the time changes. You got an extra hour's sleep those nights rather than loosing an hour.

Hello.

Looking at doing the Panama Canal in 2018 presumably on the wonder.

Just looking for different peoples perspective on which one is best. Have to travel from Australia to do this but that is not a concern. Have traveled on the Magic 2 times and the Dream once. Assuming it is on the Wonder which the smaller ship I prefer and it does not worry me returning to Cozumel and Grand Cayman. So those things aside whats your experience/opinion

 

TIA.

Another vote for westbound. Mostly due to the "gain and hour" thing. After several time changes ("it's only an hour" - each time), it can mess with your body clock.

Other than that, the cruises themselves, are pretty much the same, either would be great.

Depends, also, on where you want to end up - east coast or west.

Another factor - the cost. Is there a difference in price for the category room you want?

We did a couple days at Disneyland first, which was awesome. And of course all the same advantages as at WDW to having a few land days before the cruise. On the other hand, the extra hours are amazing on the TA crossings--I can only imagine it would be the same on the Panama Canal cruise.

The time changes really didn't bother me on the PC--it was only 3 changes over 14 nights. That's a whole lot different than 7 hours over 14 nights on the TA cruises. But then, Shmoo sounds like she's an expert on both directions, so guess I'd defer to her.

We did a couple days at Disneyland first' date=' which was awesome. And of course all the same advantages as at WDW to having a few land days before the cruise. On the other hand, the extra hours are amazing on the TA crossings--I can only imagine it would be the same on the Panama Canal cruise.

 

The time changes really didn't bother me on the PC--it was only 3 changes over 14 nights. That's a whole lot different than 7 hours over 14 nights on the TA cruises. But then, Shmoo sounds like she's an expert on both directions, so guess I'd defer to her.[/quote']

 

"Expert" not really. Only done the Panama Canal Westbound. As it was our first cruise ever, I had no idea that time changes could affect people.

 

But, we did our westbound TA first. Then we did an eastbound one this past year. When the time changes started, it wasn't too difficult. By the time we got to the 3rd or 4th change, I was definitely feeling a bit out of sorts. And by the time we debarked, getting to the airport and boarding our plane was pretty much in a fog.

 

Given the choice, I'd opt for westbound. But I wouldn't let it stop me from booking an eastbound cruise, if it works (monetarily and time-wise) better for me.

Doesn't matter....Westbound would put you closer to home!

"Expert" not really. Only done the Panama Canal Westbound. As it was our first cruise ever, I had no idea that time changes could affect people.

 

But, we did our westbound TA first. Then we did an eastbound one this past year. When the time changes started, it wasn't too difficult. By the time we got to the 3rd or 4th change, I was definitely feeling a bit out of sorts. And by the time we debarked, getting to the airport and boarding our plane was pretty much in a fog.

 

Given the choice, I'd opt for westbound. But I wouldn't let it stop me from booking an eastbound cruise, if it works (monetarily and time-wise) better for me.

funny i never thought about the time change when thinking about picking a TA...

it's a very good point!!

in our experience flying, eastbound is really a problem for jet lag, while westbound doesn't affect us at all, other than being exhausted from traveling non-stop for over 30 hours, but once we get a good nights sleep we're fine....

but eastbound we usually are hit by jet lag for at least a week, sometimes two or even three...

so that's really important for us to take into consideration in picking the TA....

i was going to try for an eastbound, but now i think a westbound TA makes so much more sense for us for that reason.....

so glad i read this thread...i wasn't going to as i'm not interested in a PC cruise...but TA is definitely on my bucket list!!

On the TA, the direction does make a difference because it is 7 time changes in about a 10 night period. The cruises are 14 or 15 nights, but the time changes are ore bunched together than that. Depending on the exact route, you can have a time change multiple nights in a row. When that happens, the WB is definitely more "user friendly."

On the EBPC, we really didn't have a problem but that is only 3 time changes over a 14 or 15 night cruise.

Not to hijack, but any speculation on EBTA 2018 potential dates? We did EBTA 2013 and WBTA 2011 / 2014 so are itching for another..: and school schedule may make it somewhat possible for 2018

Panama Canal we jumped ship and did Celebrity going westbound this past November. Actually cancelled the Wonder for it because X offered more new ports for us. Still missed Disney but on the plus side our 2 kids were 2 of the 16 kids onboard so had an amazing time in kids club!

technically the canal is more of a north south path then it is east west .....

technically the canal is more of a north south path then it is east west .....

Yeah, I know. But most people can't wrap their head around that.

You're going from a location on the east coast of the US to the west coast. So that means west bound.

Even though the "road" actually heads south to do so.

Ditto... people always refer to it as EBPC or WBPC... tell some northbound or southbound and they get baffled

Not to hijack, but any speculation on EBTA 2018 potential dates? We did EBTA 2013 and WBTA 2011 / 2014 so are itching for another..: and school schedule may make it somewhat possible for 2018

 

Panama Canal we jumped ship and did Celebrity going westbound this past November. Actually cancelled the Wonder for it because X offered more new ports for us. Still missed Disney but on the plus side our 2 kids were 2 of the 16 kids onboard so had an amazing time in kids club!

When we did the canal on the Magic there were 14 teens on board and every one of them was a super kid. It was a truly amazing group, and some of them are still in touch more than 10 years later.

technically the canal is more of a north south path then it is east west .....

And if you embarked and disembarked at either end of the canal, then I could see calling it a NBPC or SBPC. Given that the cruises start and end well east or west, though, it's certainly correct to refer to the cruises overall as westbound or eastbound.

technically the canal is more of a north south path then it is east west .....

In fact, the Caribbean entrance is west of the Pacific entrance.

Of course most people using the EB or WB terms are referring to the ports that they start from and end at.