Panama Canal 2 day experience or...........

[Gemlea]

Hoping that some of you experience Panama Canal cruisers can help us make a decision.

I recall reading somewhere on these threads that the 2 day canal experience - which gives the opportunity of visiting Panama City - is not to be missed when sailing through the Canal. This takes us into the realms of sailing from FL, and ending in LA or vice versa in either Feb or March. Not being a fan of LA, I see there is an option to sail from FL, just doing the full PC transit and finish in Vancouver (calling in at LA, San Francisco and Victoria on the way).

My quandary is whether it is worth losing the 2-day Canal experience to gain a few hours in San Francisco, Victoria and Vancouver ?? :confused: This latter cruise would be in mid April. What is the weather like going through the Canal in April?

 

Any help you can give to assist our decision would be appreciated.

Many thanks. :)

[skynight]

Hoping that some of you experience Panama Canal cruisers can help us make a decision.

 

What is the weather like going through the Canal in April?

 

:)

 

The weather is very hot and humid in Panama all year as it is close to the equator. During the first week of April the sun will be directly overhead and very strong. Bring lots of sunscreen.

[Colo Cruiser]

I would say no. :(

[MustangGT]

I vote for the 2-day Canal Experience!! It was wonderful!

[AKman2495]

I had the best of both worlds. In 2012 I did Vancouver to FLL-with the 2 day canal experience. It was in September and the Coral Princess was repositioning from Alaska back to Florida.

 

I definitely recommend the 2 day canal experience. For the LA to FLL transit, you get to Panama and anchor off Ft. Amador. The ship tenders to shore for the day so that you can do excursions etc. The next day you sail through the canal, which basically takes the whole day.

 

Going from FL it is reversed. Canal first, anchor later.

 

You definitely will get a much better understanding of Panama with the 2 day experience.

[IECalCruiser]

We did a partial transit and a 2 day Panama full transit. IMHO, visiting Panama City is nothing we would want to do again. Two day would let you visit the Indian village, take a small boat through the Canal, take a tour to see the new locks or ride the 50+ mile transcontinental Panama Canal Railway. We did the train on our partial transit because I love trains and we had good but not great views of the canal along much of the ride. We were lucky and rode the train both ways in the observation car. Sometimes I believe one way is by bus.

 

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

Are they still offering the railway tour?

Thought they had stopped it.

It was really nice when we took it several years ago.

[Gemlea]

Thanks very much everyone. Very helpful detail, and it looks like the 2 day experience is well worth hanging on to. Maybe I'll look into flying in to San Francisco a few days earlier and then driving down the coast to LA the day before departure. The friends we are travelling with have never been to the west coast USA and it would seem a shame not to see more than LA has to offer.

Thanks once again for the input.

[cr8tiv1]

I have done the canal twice. On the second cruise, I did the two day Panama voyage. I tendered in and took an independent tour that picked us (mostly cruise critic roll call "new" friends) at the pier and raced us back for the tenders back to the ship. We traveled by small van across the isthmus all the way over to the Caribbean side. Stopped at a fort, watched the ships pass through the canal from roadside AND the observation towers. Crossed over the canal by van when they stopped the shipping and opened the road (this was most exciting). Saw 2 sloths! It was a great way to spend the extra day.

 

I did a first timer mistake by staying on my balcony the entire day. Second time, I was all over the place, including the great vantage decks on the aft of the Coral. I would definitely do this again on a Panamax ship. Do this before the new canal opens and they send mega ships through.

[Fuzzyape]

Recently returned from the 2 day experience. I'm so glad we did this. While in Panama, we did the excursion that showed us the Gatun locks and the new locks. The new locks were quite something to see! If you are a fan of the canal, you shouldn't miss it. I didn't see if you were going this year or next. If you go next year, they should be further along on the new canal.

 

Whatever you decide keep one thing in mind....you're on a cruise ship :) Enjoy.

[Marigold252]

We just returned from the Panama Canal full transit, not on Princess, but on HAL. It was fabulous and not a drop of rain the entire cruise. You definitely want be all over the ship during the transit so you can see the operations from all angles. The promenade deck gets you closest to the action of the"mules" along side the ship, but the over all view is best from on top, the bow and stern decks. The sun was very intense and even with SPF 50, I'm still peeling a little. Like you, I researched the trip for a year, following the weather, before booking, and am very glad we chose February. We had a corner aft balcony (the upgrade fairy blessed us) on the starboard side. There is more to see on the starboard when traveling west coast to east coast if you do get a balcony. Have fun!

 

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[jnc411]

Hi , we have done the Canal full transit 3 times , and I vote for the 2 day canal experience, we really enjoyed our time in Panama City.

Cori

[Gemlea]

Thanks again for all the contributions. 2 day experience it is then !!

[BillB48]

Even though you have made your decision and not knowing just how much you don't care for LA, I do think the 2 day Panama stop is very worthwhile.

 

In regards to the weather in April, it may depend on which part of April you are thinking about... The end of April is the end of the Dry Season in Panama and the closer to May you get there is certainly chance that you would encounter some transitional weather patterns. Yes, that does translate into a possibility of rain. Don't let that dissuade you in any event as the chances of dry weather are still excellent. In the early part of April normal Dry Seasons weather should prevail.

 

If I were to select a particular month in the ones you mentioned, I would pick February. In February, the Dry Season is well established and the foliage is still very lush and green. Although there never is a huge variance of temperature, there is usually a pleasant breeze and the humidity levels are about the best they will get in Panama. Don't worry I'm sure it will seem warm for someone from the UK:)!

 

The bottom line is... all the differences I mentioned are slight and are offered as tie breakers in your decision making. It should be great whatever time frame you choose.

[shastatroy]

I love the idea of flying into SFO and driving down to LA to catch the ship. Take your time and enjoy what California has to offer. Pick up a couple bottles of wine at one of our wonderful wineries to enjoy on the ship. Visit one of our beautiful missions and enjoy the exquisite scenery of the California coast.

 

Enterprise rental car has an office around the corner from the port.

[SpelChic2001]

We took the full-transit Panama Canal cruise last April (5th-20th) from Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles.

 

Having done a partial transit before, I recommend the two-day canal experience. We signed up for the Embera Indian Village tour in Panama, which was easily the most enjoyable tour of our entire trip.

 

In early April, the weather was very hot and humid, with no rain. I'm not a heat and humidity person, so it was uncomfortable because I hate being dripping wet all day long. We had a great time, regardless of the weather. Bugs were not an issue on this trip (they were probably hiding from the heat and humidity too!)

 

Our partial transit was in late January, and I would recommend that time frame as the weather is much more pleasant.