Panama Canal Questions

[Cruiser-66]

We are planning to do a Panama Canal cruise this coming year. Princess is our favorite cruise line, so hoping to book with them. I would like to know what the best time is for this cruise. Also which ship is best. It used to be the Coral Princess. Is this still the favorite?

If this is still the favorite, I know nothing about this class. What would be your preferred cabin? I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

[toothmaker]

My wife and I have done the Panama Canal cruise twice, once on the Coral in December and the other in May on the Island. As they are sister ships, they are laid out the same. The Island is now undergoing an extensive overhaul and will be remodeled in a number of ways. No need to be concerned about which stateroom to book as the best viewing of the canal is done outside so you can view from many different perspectives. As for the weather, it is always very warm and humid so close to the equator. The rainy season is generally from April-December. Rains come and go during that time..some are very heavy rains lasting hours and some are short and light. Enjoy your cruise.

[jsmac3]

We have done two Panama Canal full transit cruises - both of them were in March - one from LA to Miami and one from NYC to LA. The weather was great both times - it can get very hot there. I would recommend going from West to East if you are doing a full transit, and either the Coral or Island Princess are great ships for PC cruises. I believe the Coral was specifically designed for canal cruises - it is a bit longer than the Island.

 

As far as cabins . . . if you're doing 14 days, I recommend a mini-suite.

 

I don't believe the Island or Coral have window suites.

 

Hopefully, this is helpful.

[Colo Cruiser]

The Coral is the best now as the Island is having a major makeover as we speak. Adding 150 plus cabins and removing an entire show venue (Universe lounge). The Coral is due for the same next year. :(

[Coveguy4]

Have done the canal twice, once in Dec/Jan and once in April. We had perfect weather in April,( but I believe that is not the norm.) The Coral is my ship of choice. Enjoy your cruise, I hope to do it again in the upcoming years, its that great a cruise....

[travellover3]

We went in January at the suggestion of my next door neighbor who is Panamanian. Weather was perfect...no rain and temps in the mid 70s. The Coral was great! An entire day pasing through the locks. We plan to go again in an couple of years and it wil be the Coral, again! Enjoy the experience, it is phenomenal.

[Thrak]

We are doing the full transit in September. The cruise has been sold out for months...

[Talisker92]

I would opt for the partial transit. In the full transit there are a lot of sea days.

You go through the same number of locks (6). Also you can take a small boat excursion through the canal. Or can take the train to the other end.

This is our trip story from the cruise on the Coral Princess

http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/panamacana2010.pdf

We are always happy to answer any questions.

[Ready to Sail!]

We went through in December and it was pretty hot. Here is what I consider the most important tip if you are getting a balcony, which we strongly suggest:

 

The canal runs north to south so when going through the canal you should be on the side of the ship facing east as the other side can be unbearably hot with balconies facing west. We could hardly stand more than 5 or 10 minutes, and ended up down on the Prominade for comfort.

 

Also, when we went through from west to east we were on port and ships traveling east to west passed us on the port side, which was fun to see.

 

So, my suggestion is to travel east to west if possible and with a port side deck. That way you will be out of the sun, and hopefully see the ships passing in the other direction.

[Tedferg]

We went on Island last April 1st weather was fine. We thought about doing Partial because of number of sea days, but opted for Full. Mostly because home flight from LAX is much easier for us. Actually enjoyed the sea days more than we had expected.

[Pam in CA]

I would opt for the partial transit. In the full transit there are a lot of sea days.

That's exactly why I prefer the full transit: the sea days. Plus, you have one day to enjoy the ship going through the Canal and a second day for touring. I've taken several full transit and one partial. Loved them all but given a choice, I'll book the full.

[jasbo49]

I believe the Coral was specifically designed for canal cruises - it is a bit longer than the Island.

 

I believe both the Coral and the Island are built from the same plans, so neither is longer or shorter or wider or whatever. They are the same ship, except for the refit the Island is undergoing now.

 

Jim

[peterspca90732]

Had a fantastic full transit cruise last February Ft Lauderdale to Los Angeles on the Island Princess. She is a beautiful ship and we enjoyed every port stop, in particular the canal transit. Both ships are almost identical; we had a Vista Suite which will really spoil you. The service was impeccable, food excellent and staff great!

[Coveguy4]

By all means....Do the full transit! You won't regret a single sea day! I booked the sanctuary and it was perfection every day.

[Ole Faithful]

I was on Coral Princess full transit and had an ocean view cabin on a lower deck. After a few locks, I went below to my cabin... see UP CLOSE the walls of the canal as the water was drained from the lock. Lo and Behold! There was a small swatch of graffiti on the wall! I'm sure the crewman had to write fast! I may have been one of a few who's ever seen graffiti in the Canal.

[Cruiser-66]

Thank-you all for sharing. A lot of good information! I can see I'm going to have to do more reading to figure everything out.

[Duck Duck Cruise]

 

While we were in one of the locks I looked over the railing and saw these people all toughing the wall at the same time. It was a really great picture and I each time I see the picture I wish I could give it to the family. By posting it here, maybe they will see it.

 

https://monkeycruise.wordpress.com/2010/10/03/saturday-october-2-cartagena-we-found-jesus-in-cartagena/ In reading the blog again I found my wife's sense of humor was in rare form in this link during our time in Cartagena.

 

This is our blog from our Canal trip. We started out in Vancouver and picked up most of the passengers in LA for the full transit. We loved the Coral and had a blast. Enjoy!

 

People were recently asking about Costa Rican Coffee. In Punterenas we picked up some from Coffee John the owner of Shade Lady Coffee. It was amazing. We have a picture of him in the blog.

[tvaud]

We just did the partial on the Coral in February and the weather was fine...not terribly hot or humid. Even though we had an end bump out balcony, we still went to the "secret" forward deck for viewing when we were going through the locks. It's the best view. The rail was full, but you could still see everything. We even brewed and brought our own Starbucks coffee, as it was very early for us...:p The ship's photographers were out in force to snap us in the locks.

 

As for Costa Rican coffee...we toured the Golden Bean coffee plantation in the mountains of Costa Rica and picked up some great peaberry coffee and some other coffee products. We dubbed this the 'coffee cruise' as we were able to get coffee in Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica and Jamaica...some of the best in the world.

 

I didn't know about the renovations to the Island and Coral until we returned. It made more sense to me, as the Universe Lounge was being under utilized for the entire cruise. It's a shame. That's the best layout of a show lounge in the fleet. I'm sure with more cabins and less public space, it will feel more crowded. All I can say to Princess is "WHY?????"

[ckrcjr]

We did the partial transit on the Coral last month and we had perfect weather every day! Typically we book balcony cabins, but on this cruise we booked an inside cabin, due to the cost, and were very unsure of our choice - however, it turned out to be great. So little time is spent in the cabin and when you are going through the canal the best place to be is out and about the ship - forward, aft, etc.

 

We were on Emerald Deck - E717, and loved the location. Only a few steps to the aft which felt like a private balcony since there were rarely any people out there.

 

The cruise was one of our all time favorites. Had great excursions in every port and loved all the coffees we brought home - along with rum cream from Jamaica!!!

 

You will love the cruise!!

[SeaMystique]

We did a full transit on the Island from Ft Lauderdale to LA this February. Since we were new cruisers, we had some doubts about the sea days. They turned out to be our favorites -- there was always plenty to do, including nothing if we were so inclined.

Do yourself a favor and take the full transit. Otherwise it's like going to a movie and walking out in the middle, before you know how it ends. To go from the steamy, green Caribbean side, where you can hear howler monkeys in the treetops, to the shiny, glittering Pacific side is seriously close to time travel. If you go, read the David McCullough book or rent the documentary based on it.

Also, the water in the canal itself is a beautiful shade of light green... like Depression glass ... sort of milky. Not to be missed.

 

Yes, it's hot. You can always take a shower or jump in the pool. Carry a hydration pack, drink lots of water, avoid caffeine, and it'll bother you a lot less.

 

Definitely do it!

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

Given the choice between the two ships- go with the Coral since the Horizon buffet had been redone & is much nicer with the updated arrangement.

[Esprit]

We did the partial transit aboard Island Princess in November. It was really wet!

 

Avoid November. I found out on board that Roosevelt purposely visited the Panama canal construction site in November to witness conditions at their worse.

[caribill]

Even though we had an end bump out balcony, we still went to the "secret" forward deck for viewing when we were going through the locks. It's the best view. Soon to be eliminated with the refit that adds cabins where the viewing area used to be. The rail was full, but you could still see everything.

 

 

I didn't know about the renovations to the Island and Coral until we returned. It made more sense to me, as the Universe Lounge was being under utilized for the entire cruise. It's a shame. That's the best layout of a show lounge in the fleet. I'm sure with more cabins and less public space, it will feel more crowded. All I can say to Princess is "WHY?????" Revenue from more passengers is why.

 

See above in red

[Colo Cruiser]

See above in red

 

Originally Posted by tvaud

Even though we had an end bump out balcony, we still went to the "secret" forward deck for viewing when we were going through the locks. It's the best view. Soon to be eliminated with the refit that adds cabins where the viewing area used to be. The rail was full, but you could still see everything.

They are not removing the forward viewing areas.

[Thrak]

https://monkeycruise.wordpress.com/2010/10/03/saturday-october-2-cartagena-we-found-jesus-in-cartagena/ In reading the blog again I found my wife's sense of humor was in rare form in this link during our time in Cartagena.

 

This is our blog from our Canal trip. We started out in Vancouver and picked up most of the passengers in LA for the full transit. We loved the Coral and had a blast. Enjoy!

 

 

Hey! I just checked out your blog and discovered you are geocachers. My wife and I are hoping to snag a few on our transit as well. I'll have to figure out which cache you were looking for in the blog and be sure to have a Spanish translation of a geocaching card with me "just in case".