Panama Canal question

[OSUTRIKERS]

I am wanting to cruise Panama Canal, but is there a cruise line that goes through all the way and then back to departing port? I'd like to leave and return to same port to use round trip airfare, but I wanted to Not do just a partial transit. Maybe from Florida, hitting ports, thru canal and a couple of pacific pros and then back to Florida.

Thanks

[cb at sea]

You would probably have to do some sort of "back to back" cruise to return to the same port on a full transit...IF it's even offered! Good luck! A travel agent could research this for you in a flash!

[Keith1010]

I am not aware of anyone who goes in both directions.

 

I highly recommend it and would go East to West as during the sailing you would turn the clock back three times.

 

Keith

[lannp]

Princess does it. FLL to LA and then in reverse. It is two trips consisting of 14 days each.

[Keith1010]

And that the issue. You have to do back to back cruises.

 

Keith

[LHT28]

We did a B2B from Miami to LA one year but you have to find a ship that does it not one that is going onward to Alaska or South Pacific

[SPacificbound]

I am wanting to cruise Panama Canal, but is there a cruise line that goes through all the way and then back to departing port? I'd like to leave and return to same port to use round trip airfare, but I wanted to Not do just a partial transit. Maybe from Florida, hitting ports, thru canal and a couple of pacific pros and then back to Florida.

Thanks

 

RCCL Legend OTS does a back to back- example 4/1/14 San Diego to Fort Lauderdale 15 nights, and then the reverse back to San Diego. We are doing the West to East but some friends are doing both West to East and East to West.

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/search/vacationSearchResult.do?pagename=homepage_redesign_nobooking_us&actionType=&cruiseType=CO&includeAdjascentPorts=Y&eventSource=ship&dest=T.PAN&date=&port=FLL&port=MIA&ship=LG

[LHT28]

A quick search reveals celebrity Century & Norwegian Star do the B2B sailing

if you have a month to spare it is a great trip

[Donray]

The OP wants to save money on airfare so I would think a 28 days cruise would be out of their budget.

[leaveitallbehind]

Princess does it. FLL to LA and then in reverse. It is two trips consisting of 14 days each.

 

Several cruise lines offer back to backs through the canal - which are two separate itineraries. But that is not the question asked.

 

The OP's question is if any lines offered a full transit and reverse through again to the same departure port as a single itinerary. To that, I am not familiar with any - but a cruise specialist TA would be the better source to confirm.

Edited November 15, 2013 by leaveitallbehind

[OCruisers]

Princess does it. FLL to LA and then in reverse. It is two trips consisting of 14 days each.

 

It's a B2B ... but it works. In 2015 it's 15 days each sailing on Island Princess.

 

LuLu

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[reedl]

Many airlines treat one way trips the same as round trips nowadays. For example Southwest treats every direction as a single trip.

 

So you could just as easily book a trip from your place to Florida and a trip from California back to your place for the same price as a round trip (in many cases)

 

Airlines have pretty much given up on "open jaw" segments costing more than round trips.

 

Plus with the price of the cruise, the airfare is a small portion of the cost in most cases.

[NMLady]

I am wanting to cruise Panama Canal, but is there a cruise line that goes through all the way and then back to departing port? I'd like to leave and return to same port to use round trip airfare, but I wanted to Not do just a partial transit. Maybe from Florida, hitting ports, thru canal and a couple of pacific pros and then back to Florida.

Thanks

 

We were on the Star last month for Panama Canal transit from Miami to Los Angeles. There were several passengers staying aboard and doing the transit back to Miami. So, yes if you're willing to pay for two Panama Canal cruises you can go all the way through and then back through again as a back-to-back cruise.

 

Paying for open jaw return airfare would be much cheaper than paying for another 12-14 day Panama Canal cruise.

Edited November 15, 2013 by NMLady

[jamessemaj]

I did a reposition through the Panama Canal from LA to New Orleans. I did one way air to Los Angeles and from New Orleans on 2 different airlines and it cost no more than a round trip on one airline.

 

Also, the Panama Canal is a great cruise, done it twice but I wouldn't want to stay on that long to immediately repeat the same transit.

[Nitemare]

Princess does round trips from FLL that go most of the way through the Canal, then turn around in Gatun Lake and go back to FLL. They had (may still have) an excursion that takes you all the way to the Pacific Ocean, so you complete the journey through the canal, although the cruiseship doesn't.

 

Best excursion I've ever done in the Carribbean

[RSLeesburg]

I was looking at full transit, but do not have enough vacation days to do it at the moment. But I did find an alternative (sort of). Fly to Panama City, spend a day or two there, tour Miraflores locks, catch shuttle to Colon, cruise on RCI Vision for a week, drive back to Panama City, and fly home. Round trip tickets from Dulles were about $600 pp, and the cruise was fairly inexpensive too. It is a Spanish immersion cruise, which I think would be fun. You get canal and cruise and fly in/out of same airport, plus you get chance to see more of canal. Trying to talk my wife into this one for 2015 :D

[RSLeesburg]

Princess does round trips from FLL that go most of the way through the Canal, then turn around in Gatun Lake and go back to FLL. They had (may still have) an excursion that takes you all the way to the Pacific Ocean, so you complete the journey through the canal, although the cruiseship doesn't.

 

Best excursion I've ever done in the Carribbean

 

I did not realize they went into the lake; I thought they stopped at Colon. This is something else for me to look at...lol

[OCruisers]

I did not realize they went into the lake; I thought they stopped at Colon. This is something else for me to look at...lol

 

Yes, and you get to go through the first lock. :)

 

Look at some of the ones offered by Princess on Island Princess. ;)

 

LuLu

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Edited November 15, 2013 by OCruisers

[paul929207]

We will be on the Island Priness for 30 days doinga b2b from Fort Lauderdale, thru the Panama Canal to LA and then returning to Fort Lauderdale. We sail March 2, 2014. Join us. There are other dates available if ours don't work for you.

[panoramaofthepast]

I am wanting to cruise Panama Canal, but is there a cruise line that goes through all the way and then back to departing port? I'd like to leave and return to same port to use round trip airfare, but I wanted to Not do just a partial transit. Maybe from Florida, hitting ports, thru canal and a couple of pacific pros and then back to Florida.

Thanks

Celebrity does. We just did the Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego leg, but it came from San Diego with a full ship. A number of people were doing B2B. That means 30 days on board.

 

However, that cruise cost us about $4500 for the cabin [concierge class] for two people. The airfare [Dallas to Ft. Lauderdale; San Diego to Dallas] was right at $600 each, so if saving money on airfare is a goal, it may not work. Inside cabins were less, but still well over $1000/person.

[leaveitallbehind]

Princess does round trips from FLL that go most of the way through the Canal, then turn around in Gatun Lake and go back to FLL. They had (may still have) an excursion that takes you all the way to the Pacific Ocean, so you complete the journey through the canal, although the cruiseship doesn't.

 

Best excursion I've ever done in the Carribbean

 

RCI used to do this as well from Miami - we did it in 2008. But to clarify, Gatun Lake is by no means most of the way through the canal - it is just past the first set of locks from the Atlantic side, which is only a couple of miles from the lock entrance. We also stopped at Colon on the return back from the lake through the same canals. BTW, RCI does not do this itinerary any more.

[feathersandnananose]

Holland America does it, but it would - as others have noted - be TWO cruises as a back-to-back. Florida to San Diego and then back again, or the reverse. And it would be two 14-day trips = almost a month.

[Underwatr]

Port charges on a double transit of the canal would probably be more than the airfare one is trying to avoid. On our 14-day transit in 2011 port charges were over $700 while on a simple transatlantic the same year the charges were under $22.

Edited November 16, 2013 by Underwatr

[BillB48]

In summation to the OP the only way you can get a round trip cruise that does a full transit of the Canal at this time is to do a B2B which generally speaking would be a 28-30 day cruise. Right now the cruise lines that are offering this itinerary would be Celebrity, Princess, HAL and to a lesser extent RCI and NCL. To take advantage of a round trip itinerary that includes the Canal, you need to look at what is called a 'partial transit" cruise. What this cruise does is sail and returns to the same port in Florida, calls on various Caribbean ports with the highlight of the cruise entering the Canal from the Atlantic side, locking through Gatun Locks and upon reaching Gatun Lake allowing passengers off to take tours. The ship will then return through Gatun Locks and proceed to Colon where the touring passengers rejoin the ship. The ship will only cover about 8 miles of the Canal which leaves the remaining 42 miles yet to be seen. There is a tour you can take that will help you see about half of the remaining 42 miles. Each of the cruise lines have their own name for this tour, but essentially it is a tour that takes you through the Pacific Locks and Gaillard Cut. Right now the only cruise lines that are offering partial transit cruises are Princess and HAL.

 

There are some small ship cruise lines or "boutique" cruise lines that could possibly have something of what you are looking for, but generally speaking they are pricey and would involve flying to the Panama area to join the cruise.