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Partial Panama Canal Cruise from East: rough seas?


Floridapenny
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I am considering a 10 day partial Panama Canal Cruise from Ft. Lauderdale and am wondering if I am likely to encounter rough seas. Last late Spring, I did 2 Alaska cruises between Vancouver and Whittier for a total of 14 days and encountered rough seas one morning for a few hours. I was very uncomfortable, but, in the scheme of things, seeing Alaska was worth it. I think I am very sensitive to motion, and I am very reluctant to try the patch or other prescription medication.

 

Also, does anyone have an opinion about the best time of year to cruise to Panama?

 

I am looking at the Princess cyber sale right now that has some reasonable fares for March 21, 31 and April 10 on the Coral Princess. I cruised on the Island Princess in the Spring and was not overy impressed. I understand the Coral Princess is a nicer ship.

 

I plan to look at Holland America fares to compare (since I have read that the cruises are similar and HA is less money).

 

Thank you.

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There is tons of info about the "best" (whatever that vague, undefined term means) times to do Panama just down the board. It is wetter in Oct-Dec, drier in Jan-Apr.

 

The seas are not predictable. We have done the Canal 4 times, November, December, March, April. The seas in the Caribbean were the worst in December, but that is a very relative term. They were windy and "rougher" going from the Canal to FLL, but not really noticeable. 3-5 foot seas, instead of the much more common 2-3 foot.

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The seas will do what they do...whenever they want. Typically, going from Florida to the canal isn't too bad, but it could be! Once in the canal...well, you're in a canal...no waves! Lol! No guarantees when you get to the Pacific....

Time of year really has nothing to do with rough or calm seas....it's all about the weather on any given day.

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...................

I am looking at the Princess cyber sale right now that has some reasonable fares for March 21, 31 and April 10 on the Coral Princess).

Thank you.

 

Both dates would be great times for a partial Panama Canal out of FLL. :)

Coral Princess is a VERY nice ship!!!!!

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You're not going to have the sea churn in that part of the world that you can in Alaska. As someone said you might encounter 5ft seas but not much more than that and these large ships are well suited to handle.

 

If things kick up and you don't want the patch, 2 gin martinis does the trick as well.

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The good news is the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico are not notorious rough spots during the time frame you are considering. The bad news is any particular stretch of ocean can have bad days at times. By and large all of my trips to this part of the world have been uneventful which even includes a 380' refrigerated banana boat on several occasions! The Canal cruises you are considering lie within the Dry Season in Panama (late Dec thru April), IMO absolute best time in Panama is the Jan-Feb time frame. Having said that I would make by decision based on when it was convenient time to go and the fare as there really only will be slight differences in the weather.

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  • 3 weeks later...

If you have a particular favorite cruise line or one you have had good experiences with, that is the one I would go with. All of them will probably do a good job with a Canal transit, it is just what you like about a particular cruise line that may make a little extra special.

 

As to the ports, almost all of the lines visit most of the same ports. You have to decide do you want a full transit, partial transit and where you want to leave from.

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What is full transit / partial transit ?

 

A partial transit is a round trip cruise that sails from the Atlantic side(typically...Princess does an exception from the Pacific side), through the Gatun Locks, into Gatun Lake. It then drops off pax for shore excursions, and returns through the Gatun Locks, docking on the Atlantic side to pick up the excursion pax. So, you might sail from Miami, into the Canal, back out on the same (Atlantic) side, and return to Miami.

 

A full transit is one way passage through the entire Canal. For an example, a west bound full Canal transit might sail from Florida, through the Canal, and end in San Diego. Or, our most recent experience, an east bound might sail from San Francisco, through the Canal, and end in Ft Lauderdale.

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I have opted for a partial Panama Canal cruise on the Coral Princess on 3/21/17. The ports of Aruba, Cartagena, Limon, Ocho Rios are virtually meaningless to me since I previously have visited all but Limon. I chose the partial (with excursion) to save some money and time (since I do not fly and it takes at least 4 days to travel by train between the west coast and Florida).

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