Panama Canal in September

[Cruzn ELM]

Considering Sept 28, 2012 out of SF, concerned about weather in the destination locations that time of year. Appreciate comments from anyone who has experienced it.

[Pia1913]

Considering Sept 28, 2012 out of SF, concerned about weather in the destination locations that time of year. Appreciate comments from anyone who has experienced it.

 

Weather never guaranteed; anywhere. If the itinerary and time is right for you; book it.

 

We've done this cruise many times from LA to FLL; 3 times in Sept.

[billco]

Considering Sept 28, 2012 out of SF, concerned about weather in the destination locations that time of year. Appreciate comments from anyone who has experienced it.

I tried to book that cruise last week. I was told it was completely sold out, so I went ahead and booked the following cruise out of FLL on October 11.

[sultan_sfo]

Did it 5 or 6 years ago. Excellent cruise.

 

IMHO, September & early October are the best months for the Panama Canal cruise from SF. The weather is good SF to LA, and then Mex Riviera ports are not too hot. And I think the hurricane season in the Carib has also ended by then.

 

Considering Sept 28, 2012 out of SF, concerned about weather in the destination locations that time of year. Appreciate comments from anyone who has experienced it.

[Pia1913]

Did it 5 or 6 years ago. Excellent cruise.

 

IMHO, September & early October are the best months for the Panama Canal cruise from SF. The weather is good SF to LA, and then Mex Riviera ports are not too hot. And I think the hurricane season in the Carib has also ended by then.

 

Hurricane season in Florida does not officially end until November 1st, and one of the most destructive ones occurred in 2005 at the end of October.

[Pia1913]

I tried to book that cruise last week. I was told it was completely sold out, so I went ahead and booked the following cruise out of FLL on October 11.

 

Who told you it was sold out? That ship is wide open. :confused:

[spyro1952]

I tried to book that cruise last week. I was told it was completely sold out, so I went ahead and booked the following cruise out of FLL on October 11.

 

September 26 2011 is sold out (not 2012). I am booked on the 9/26 cruise. I am least concerned about the weather, usually you have the normal humidity, especially at the Canal, and afternoon showers. I'll let you know when we get back!!:)

[Loonbeam]

I always assume that given the hassle of missing ports, etc, if a cruise line is willing to schedule a trip at a given time of year, they have every reason to suspect it will proceed as scheduled the vast majority of the time. Other than that, weather is what it is, plan and pack accordingly.

[billco]

Who told you it was sold out? That ship is wide open. :confused:

Sorry. I misread the year. I was thinking of the Sept. 2011 Panama cruise out of San Francisco. My apologies to anyone I caused distress.

[NSWP]

We are on Coral - FL to LA on November 8, 2011, still plenty of cabins available. Hope we do get good weather, but one never knows, all part of the cruise experience, as I told myself on Regal in 40 foot seas off NZ in September 2007, enroute LA to Sydney.!

[remydiva]

Sorry. I misread the year. I was thinking of the Sept. 2011 Panama cruise out of San Francisco. My apologies to anyone I caused distress.

 

so is Sept 26, 2011 or Sept 26, 2012 sold out?

 

WE are getting on in Vancouver on Sept 24, 2011 and got the second to last minisuite when I booked in Feb 2011.

 

Our friends are waitlisted for either a balcony or minisuite but they didn't phone till April this year.

 

About the weather...I heard to count on lots of humidity...I've bought 3 new sleevless sundresses so I'm good to go!:cool:

[dfields1814]

We went on that cruise in late Sep and early Oct in 2009. We had excellent weather. We had a rain shower in Panama, but it did not last long. Great weather as we went through the canal. I did worry a bit about hurricanes... but we got lucky. We did have a couple of quick storms at night, but we were inside the ship so they were no problems at all. I would not hesitate on booking a cruse at this time of year... but you never know about the weather especially in the tropics.

[TM]

We've done this cruise twice out of San Francisco in late September and will be doing it again this year. The first time was in 2001. We missed Cabo due to a hurricane and spent a wonderful extra day at sea. After leaving Cartegena we were supposed to go to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. However when we got back on board there was a flyer indicating there was a hurricane in front of us and another coming up behind us. So we went to Curacao and Aruba instead. Overall the weather was great. But it will always be hot and humid by about the 3rd or 4th day after leaving San Francisco. The second sailing was in 2007 and we again had good weather, no rain but again hot and humid. It's definitely my favorite cruise.

 

Tom

[BillB48]

Rainy Season in Panama runs from May through mid December, so a September cruise is well within the Rainy Season. Usually the rains are the shower variety and they will pass without severly impacting your day. As for hurricanes, now there's a possibility you could wind up dodging them since hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 in both the Atlantic Basin and Eastern Pacific. They will steer clear of them but you may have a bumpy ride if they have to steer a little on the close side of a storm. In case of a hurricane in your path, you may skip a port or two and get an extra sea day, but they will make the Canal on their scheduled day of transit. Huge financial consequences if they don't:eek:!

 

Here are a few generalities for Panama and immediate vicinity;

Pacific side is drier that the Atlantic.

Mornings are usually drier than the afternoons, better chances of PM showers.