Best time of year for the canal

I am looking for a 2019 partial transit cruise of the Panama Canal most likely on Princess.

I am from the Pacific Northwest so I am used to rain and rain and more rain but would prefer to cruise in the NOT rainy/hurricane season. I am also aware that the weather will be much warmer than I am used to.

Any recommendations on the best month to travel?

Also if anyone has an inside to the vacation gods and can sprinkle fairy dust so Mr Indy could get more time off work I would love to do a full transit coast to coast. :halo:

If you look down the board, you will find many threads on this topic. The "season" for Panama Canal cruises is late September to mid May. The rainy season in Panama is July-December, the dry season in January-June.

Note, Panama is a tropical rainforest/jungle. Even out of season, it can definitely rain there.

Winter! The dry season! :)

To precisely answer your question... the answer is... January! You can also expand that into most of February as well. January is the first full month of the Dry Season, the trade winds are usually established then, humidity is about the lowest you are going to find, temps are good (at least about as good as you are going to hope to find:D temps usually within 75-90F), the vegetation is still nice and green. I would pick that time frame if I were making the decision on time of year alone. A great cruise and transit can be had anytime you can find a cruise that fits your time frame, regardless of the "best" time. Differences of what you can expect in the weather department are not extreme, just mostly what you can expect in the way of liquid sunshine.

To give you something to think about... if you are considering Princess, their partial transit this season (I presume next season too) are being handled by the Caribbean Princess which will have to go through the new locks. Transits through the old locks will be handled by the Island and the Coral and those will be full transits. This may be something that may influence your decision.

Tell Mr. Indy that work just interferes entirely too much with cruising and you just have to have priorities! I am sure work will understand;). That fairy dust is in real short supply!!

To precisely answer your question... the answer is... January! You can also expand that into most of February as well. January is the first full month of the Dry Season, the trade winds are usually established then, humidity is about the lowest you are going to find, temps are good (at least about as good as you are going to hope to find:D temps usually within 75-90F), the vegetation is still nice and green. I would pick that time frame if I were making the decision on time of year alone. A great cruise and transit can be had anytime you can find a cruise that fits your time frame, regardless of the "best" time. Differences of what you can expect in the weather department are not extreme, just mostly what you can expect in the way of liquid sunshine.

 

To give you something to think about... if you are considering Princess, their partial transit this season (I presume next season too) are being handled by the Caribbean Princess which will have to go through the new locks. Transits through the old locks will be handled by the Island and the Coral and those will be full transits. This may be something that may influence your decision.

 

Tell Mr. Indy that work just interferes entirely too much with cruising and you just have to have priorities! I am sure work will understand;). That fairy dust is in real short supply!!

Thanks Bill this was most helpful.

I keep telling Mr Indy that work is highly overrated and we should just retire already. :cool:

He keeps telling me my champagne tastes requires more than a beer retirement budget.

I am looking at most likely 2019 for the Panama Canal and January sounds lovely. Living in the Pacific Northwest rain really doesn't bother me as it is usually a daily occurrence here. But the "dry" season sounds good.

I will wait for the 2019 season offerings to come out and hope to find an offering through the old locks and hope Mr Indy can get enough time off by then to do a full transit. A girl can dream right?

Living in the Pacific Northwest rain really doesn't bother me as it is usually a daily occurrence here. But the "dry" season sounds good.

 

I will wait for the 2019 season offerings to come out and hope to find an offering through the old locks and hope Mr Indy can get enough time off by then to do a full transit. A girl can dream right?

The rain will be warm, and immediately afterwards, typically quite humid. 85 degrees and 80% is very noticeable.

As is commonly discussed here, you probably have a 90% or better chance of going through the old locks. All ships aren't just shifting over to the new locks. It, so far, is a pretty small number, and only a couple of cruise ships have booked the new locks. If your ship fits in the old locks, expect to use the old locks.

Thanks Bill this was most helpful.

 

 

I keep telling Mr Indy that work is highly overrated and we should just retire already. :cool:

 

He keeps telling me my champagne tastes requires more than a beer retirement budget. The only thing worse is a beer taste and a beggar's budget!!!

 

I am looking at most likely 2019 for the Panama Canal and January sounds lovely. Living in the Pacific Northwest rain really doesn't bother me as it is usually a daily occurrence here. But the "dry" season sounds good.

 

I will wait for the 2019 season offerings to come out and hope to find an offering through the old locks and hope Mr Indy can get enough time off by then to do a full transit. A girl can dream right?

Certainly no harm and waiting since I don't think any of the cruise lines have really sorted out how the Canal will come into play with which locks will be used. Maybe we will start to see in what direction the cruise lines will be using the new locks real soon. A cruise ship has not used the new locks to date, the first cruise ship to use the new locks is scheduled to be the Disney Wonder on April 28, IIRC.

If you want a cruise through the old locks just look for ships that can still squeeze through them, anything 965'x106' or less. Present Canal policy is not to have these sized ships use the new locks.