Panama Canal cruise question

I know that Panama Canal cruises tend to be pricey but popular. Please give me some advice: should I wait and hope for a 2-for-1, or book now at full price? Do these cruises ever get to the 2-for-1 stage? Because of our jobs, we have a limited window of time when we could go.

If we book now, does Windstar allow us to re-book at the lower fare if it comes out? Would we have to pay the $50pp cancellation fee (or whatever it would be)?

Windstar's policy for lower fares, if the fares drop outside the 90 days prior to sailing you can get that price. However, once you pay in full inside at the 90 days, which is required, you can not get the lower fare. I do not know anything about the $ 50 cancelation fee, luckily I have never had to cancel. The cruise is spectacular, going through the canal in a small ship is thrilling. When we went through we had a great lecturer taking us through the entire day. My feeling is it all balances out, I try to get the best fare then get my air. Usually the air increases the closer one gets to the date. In the past I have not seen much change in price in WS canal cruises due to their popularity. It is a great cruise. Have fun. Susanne

We were on the last years WS Panama Canal cruise leaving December 27, 2014. We booked the cruise in April, 2014. We have two college sons and I booked two cabins. I wanted to be close together and we actually got the last two cabins that were across the hall from each other.

Our cruise was full which is to be expected for the holiday season. It was a wonderful cruise and we enjoyed the Panama Canal and Costa Rica as well.

I also booked our airline tickets as soon as I had the cruise booked.

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have about the cruise. It was well worth it and we had a wonderful time!

Thank you both for your replies. We have been wanting to return to Costa Rica so this itinerary is very appealing to us. Most of the other PC itineraries we've seen visit ports that we are not quite interested in, so this one is a good fit for us. Our previous Windstar experiences were superb.

Did you do the Windstar air package, or book independently? We are finding it a bit expensive to fly into one port and fly out of the other. Any suggestions?

Hi, we reserved the air ourselves. I always do that because I always want to maximize my miles or use miles and always get extra leg room I am tall. Airline prices are miserably high now for miserable comfort but the cruise is worth it. Have fun. Susanne

We booked our own flights as well. We actually flew into Panama City 3 days early on December 24 (the cruise left on 12/27) so we could explore the old town. It was a wonderful experience! They shoot off fireworks on Christmas Eve for an hour straight at midnight. Very exciting!

Since we flew on the eve, the price difference between coach and business class was minimal so we went business class :)

Our flight from Costa Rica left about 2:00 pm so we went straight from the ship via taxi to the airport. We had some extra time there but it all worked out fine for us. Good luck!

Getting ready to book the Costa Rica to Panama cruise for DEC 2015 on the Star Pride. Any info you could supply would be appreciated. We will be traveling with our 30 year old son and his girlfriend. We plan to arrive 2-3 days early in Costa Rica. Suggestions for what to do? And at the ports? We tend to book tours/activities on our own rather than go through the ship. Suggestions for hotels in Costa Rica prior to boarding? Is Colon worth an extra overnight prior to flying back to the states?

We will actually be on the Pride in 3 weeks heading from Dover to Copenhagen so we will see what she is like.

Thanks in advance....

Our cruise started in Colon and ended in Costa Rica. We flew in early to Panama City and stayed in the old town which was delightful! I highly recommend staying in Panama City versus Colon. We booked a driver through the boutique hotel we stayed in Panama City to drive us to Colon to get on board. He was a very interesting man who had grown up in Panama and worked for the U.S. Government and the canal. Even he didn't care for Colon at all and wouldn't recommend it to us to visit. He took us directly to the cruise terminal. After driving through the streets of Colon we could understand why. I'm sure there are some nice things about Colon but I think Panama City has much more to offer.

I assume you would be leaving for home from Panama City. And if you're not, I recommend you look at that and head to Panama City after you leave the ship to explore this fascinating place.

We actually are starting in Costa Rica... want to spend at least 2 nights there before the cruise. We end in Colon and want to spend a night or two there. We will take your advice and stay in Panama City. Thank you! How long a drive from the ship? Do you remember? Also, would you provide the name of the boutique hotel? Did you stay somewhere in Costa Rica when your cruise ended? Any recommendations there?

We are just starting to work on this... we board a Windstar in Dover, England in 3 weeks so am trying to put the finishing touches on that trip at the same time I am beginning to work on this one... Travel is great ... the planning is time consuming but fun.

Also, can you give me an idea of the average ages on your trip? My son and girlfriend are accompanying us and given that it is Dec I am wondering if there will be any other folks in their age range. We have now been on Windstar 5 times and have usually not see younger folks.

We did the Puerto Caldera to Colon 2 years ago then stayed on the ship as they were doing a transatlantic an stopping at Bermuda and we got off at home. Pre-Cruise we went to Arenal for 3 nights and did 2 days of tours. We booked all the travel from a Costa Rica tour company. We had a driver from the airport to the hotel and then two days of tours and then a driver took us to Puerto Caldera.

In Colon we did the Windstar tour to Panama City doing one of the lock areas on the way and then toured Panama City after that they dropped off people at hotels and the airport. Then we were taken back to the ship

Thanks so much for the info...

We started going to Costa Rica in 1996. We discovered the Marriott San Jose in Heredia close to airport but a world away. It is one of our most favorite hotels, great restaurants, pool, serene, majestic etc. Great for touring the San Jose area. Their concierge always reserved a van for us to get to the port to the Windstar at a fraction of the price WS charges and now with the new highway only one hour plus away. Remarkable place on an old coffee plantation. We are on the Tall Ships cruise in August it is our 17th we have loved them all but we adored the Costa Rica cruise, wonderful country and people. Panama Canal is also great and they make a couple stops in CR well worth it. Very active cruise because of the stops so I think young people will love it. Happy Sailing. Susanne

Is there much to do in San Jose? From what I have read it just reads like a big city. We like to learn about the people and culture. Any suggestions for our two day pre cruise experience?

You can go to the gold museum, the volcano, Arenal, zip lining, the natural springs, into the old town at night, there is a small art town, the name eludes me, I am sure much more. We always drove ourselves but tourism has had such growth since we have been going I am sure you can either find a private guide easily or a tour group. We found the concierge at the Marriott to be extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Have a nice trip, enjoy the country it is wonderful, we adore the people. Susanne

Thank you all for so much information. We are very excited about the trip.

i used Costa Rica Expeditions as our tour company. We stayed in Arenal at the Nayara Hotel And it was the best hotel I have ever stayed in. The grounds were beautiful and all the rooms are separate casitas and they are huge

We stayed at Las Clementinas in Panama City in Chamber 5. There are only 6 rooms and 5 is one the top floor. No elevators and this is actually on the third floor. Our two sons ages 21 and 19 traveled with us too. This room had a separate bedroom and a pull out sleeper sofa. It had several balconies and up another floor was a roof top garden. The folks were so lovely and there is an attached restaurant where we had breakfast each morning. I've never had such delicious and juicy watermelon and pineapple! We didn't eat dinner here because there were so many other choices to be found.

The hotel arranged a driver that met us at the Panama City airport when we flew in (our cruise went from Colon to Costa Rica). They also booked us a different driver that drove the four of us from the hotel to Colon and the ship. He was the one I mentioned earlier and he gave us a nice tour as we drove along. I believe it was about 1 1/2 hour drive but I honestly don't remember.

The hotel is right in the old town so please know that there will be a beautiful renovated building next to a run down place. The entire old city is a world NESCO site and they are working hard to renovate back to the original architecture throughout. We were fascinated by it all but it might not be for everyone.

There were several college aged students and a few high school kids on our cruise. Our boys love the outdoors and did several hikes and the water sports as well.

I'm happy to answer any other questions. I never did write up a review but maybe I'll work on it! We loved it all!

In 2010 we spent two days in CR before our cruise from Puerto Caldera. We stayed at the Peace Lodge in the cloud forest, near La Paz Gardens. We arrived just before lunch and spent the afternoon enjoying the hotel and pool. The next day we visited the gardens and hiked up to the waterfalls. On the third day we had arranged for a driver to take us to the ship and did a tour along the way to the Poas volcano and Sarchi, pretty standard tourist stops. We enjoyed it, though we didn't get to see the crater because of the mist.

We just booked the March 19, 2016 cruise on the Breeze which is Puerto Caldera to Limon. We will arrive a day ahead, and I think we'll probably head straight to the coast and stay at the Doubletree on the beach. If we had more time, I would prefer to visit Arenal for a few days, but our schedule won't allow for that much time off then.

As for excursions, we booked some of our own, though we missed Quepos due to a sick passenger. At Bahia Drake, all visitors to Corcovado must go with a guide and have a permit. It's a tender port, and I imagine it would be difficult to hire a private boat and guide to pick you up at the ship, etc. We did the ship excursion (hike to a waterfall) and there were maybe 10 of us. It was wonderful.

Gulfo Dulce and Isla Coiba will be new for us. We will probably hire a private guide for our day in Panama City.