panama canal

[zx2dodi]

can anyone tell me the best time of year to cruise the panama canal and also which cruise is best for just the panama canal, any length.

[newmexicoNita]

There probably isn't a best line or length of cruise. If you want to do the entire canal from west to east or visa versa you will probably be looking at 14-20 days. There are some that are only 12. If you are happy with just doing part of the canal you can get a 10 day one. We are doing that in November. We haven't done the canal so I am speaking 3rd hand (not always good) the summer (which doesn't do the canal anyway) and early fall are very warm. The weather begins to cool down a littel starting November or so we have heard. I am sure many others will chime in with better information than I have. NMnita

[LHT28]

we are doing a 16 day full transit in Jan and weather looks 70-mid 80's which is fine by me.

We did Mexican riviera in Oct and the weather was very hot & humid in Mexico.

[ab0si]

Time of year does not make a lot of difference except for huricanes, of course. Therefore, winter is better.

 

Which ship is best? Well, for the canal itself, it doesn't make much difference. I do think that this is certain a cruise for which the extra cost of a private verandah is well spent. Even better, of course, is to have or make friends who have a penthouse for the cruise. :)

 

Some ships make a stop at an island midway through the canal. Intersting flora and fauna .. but that has nothing to do, of course, with the engineering marvel of the canale itself.

 

Paul

[FryGirl]

zx2dodi

 

This is what I have found out the climate. I need the lower humidity for my bad lungs and the dry season. Will be going Jan 6, 2008 on the Coral Princess I'm looking forward to this cruise. We are doing a 10 day partial transit.

 

Panama has a warm, wet, tropical climate. Unlike countries that are farther from the equator, Panama does not experience seasons marked by changes in temperature. Instead, Panama 's seasons are divided into Wet and Dry.

The Dry Season generally begins around mid-December, but this may vary by as much 3 to 4 weeks. Around this time, strong northeasterly winds known as "trade winds" begin to blow and little or no rain may fall for many weeks in a row. Daytime air temperatures increase slightly to around 30-31ºC (86-88ºF), but nighttime temperatures remain around 22-23ºC (72-73ºF). Relative humidity drops throughout the season, reaching average values as low as 70%.

 

FryGirl :D

[zx2dodi]

what is the difference between trans canal and panama canal cruises?

[Sue L]

what is the difference between trans canal and panama canal cruises?

 

From doing my research for our trip there are basically three types of cruises that go to the canal.

 

1. Those that list Panama in their itineraries but don't actually enter the canal. Carnival comes to mind as this type. Not entering the canal means you need to take a canal excursion to actually see or go through the locks.

You can go to Carnival.com to see the full list.

 

2. Partial transit. This means you go through the first set of locks , the ship basically turns around and goes back out the same locks. It is an all day trip . RCCL as well as I think Princess ( Coral?) offer this type. I chose the RCCL Brillance of the Seas 11 day version. There is both an 11 day version and a 10 day version both which do a partial transits but have different islands as the other ports. You can go to RCCL.com to see the sailings

 

3. Then there are the full transit which are usually 14-20 days and they start either the west coast and end up in Florida/east coast. Or the reverse. I don't remember the ships that do these because they were too long for our time contraints but you can try RCCL, Celebrity, and Princess.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Sue

[Betsy's Mom]

Holland America Line also does partial and full Panama Canal cruises. Check them out too!

B.

[mea718]

We went on a 15 day Celebrity Cruise in early May and the humidity was extremely high. Condensation was so heavy on some windows it was streaking like rain. Very warm that time of year. It was a repositioning cruise from Florida to Alaska, so that should tell you something about how the weather was turning.

[wrp96]

what is the difference between trans canal and panama canal cruises?

 

Sue did a great job of explaining the differences. One difference is the partial canal cruises are usually round trip and shorter than the full transit cruises. Cost wise this means the partial canal trips are usually less expensive, especially airfare wise since you could book round trip air instead of two one ways. However, if you have the time and money to do a full transit, I highly recommend doing that if at all possible.

[SailAways]

We will be doing a full transit (17 day) on the Sun Princess in April.

 

Any thoughts about the weather this time of year??

 

Thanks for any advice.:)

[johnlcruise]

How HOT will it be the first week in November?.

leaving in 4 weeks.

[LHT28]

You can check the weather from previous years at http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/MPMG/2005/10/5/MonthlyHistory.html

 

No one can predict the weather but you get some idea of what it was like previously

[deb18]

JohnL we are leaving on the infinity on nov. 5, exactly four weeks from yest. what ship are u on?

[johnlcruise]

JohnL we are leaving on the infinity on nov. 5, exactly four weeks from yest. what ship are u on?

 

Hi

We are leaving on HAL Amsterdam on Oct. 30th.

Less then 4 weeks to go. Cant wait. :)

[BillB48]

How HOT will it be the first week in November?.

leaving in 4 weeks.

 

It's seldom much hotter than 90 or much below 75, all year. The real question is the humidity. Although November is still officially the rainy season it generally is a more pleasant month with humidity levels begining to lower a bit as dry season arrives toward the end of December. Not knowing what humidity levels you are used to..... it can feel humid to you no matter what time of year you go.

 

Enjoy!

[johnlcruise]

It's seldom much hotter than 90 or much below 75, all year. The real question is the humidity. Although November is still officially the rainy season it generally is a more pleasant month with humidity levels begining to lower a bit as dry season arrives toward the end of December. Not knowing what humidity levels you are used to..... it can feel humid to you no matter what time of year you go.

 

Enjoy!

 

Thanks for the Info. (Also LHT28 thanks for the weather history site) :)

 

Well, living in Colorado it is very dry here.

So no matter what the humidity it will be humid for us. But hopefully it won't be too bad.