Hawaii/Panama Canal which to choose?

[Majesty Fan]

Hubby and I did a wonderful cruise to Hawaii on Radiance and had a great time. So much that we rebooked for next year. But we did have issues getting on/off the ship in San Pedro. getting on was not too bsd but getting off was a 3 hour wait due to 2 custom officers on board no RCI was monitoring who was getting in line. Then the Hawaii cruise had issuses that are making us rethink our decesion. Suposedly a fishing tounramnet in Maui delayed the ship and then new training of the security people land side in Maui delayed the tender by over 4 hours and the waits to get on/off were hours long. Don't know if it is worth spending $4000 for that aggrivation and hoping everything will turn out ok. I even called to complain to RCI about the debarkation process in San Pedro. The comnet I got was we know it is problem but there is nothing we can do about it and San Diego is not an issue which is where we disembark next year. So we are still looking at both Hawaii and the Panama Canal and Radiance which would you choose.

Lexi

[jerick]

For cruising, I would choose the Panama Canal. In my opinion, Hawaii is best when you can stay on the islands for several days at a time. There is too much to see and do to just spend a few hours at one port city or another.

 

Jeff

[BILL-WI]

I agree 100% with the post above.

 

Hawaii is best by land in my opinion. I could spend a week on each island and still have things on my must see list...

 

I love the Panama Canal and can not recommend it highly enough. If you have never done it, you will enjoy the trip.

 

I vote Canal!

 

BILL

[abridalmaven]

We have done both and they were very different. Panama canal was more relaxing because of so many sea days on the 14 day thru the canal itinerary.

[cruisingrightalong]

Do them both!!! Oh, not an option! We did the 2 week Radiance out of San Diego in April and had a wonderful time. But, we love sea days. That having been said we did the Canal twice and are scheduled a third time! So .... take the 2 week Canal from Miami to San Diego and then the 2 week from San Diego???

 

Okay....just kidding. We would love to do that! In the spring, the Hawaii trip out will be chilly a couple of days from San Diego and then a couple of days coming back. It is spring! Sorry your trip had issues. For a change the Canal is wonderful. And, we don't do excursions there...the Canal is the excursion.

 

We are thinking of redoing the Hawaii 14 day though. Personal choice. Just if you haven't done the canal you may want to.

 

Lou

[Janet524]

We took the Radiance cruise to Hawaii from San Diego in May of 2006. We had absolutely no problem either boarding or disembarking the ship. We stayed the night before at the Holiday Inn and watched the ship pull into the pier the morning of the cruise. In fact, we didn't even bother to take the free shuttle to the terminal because it was literally right across the street. And since we had rolling luggage it was no problem. That said, we've done both the Hawaii cruise and a Panama canal cruise and both were great for entirely different reasons. The Panama canal is fascinating when you go through the locks and see the engineering feat it was for the time it was built. Of course, Hawaii is just gorgeous! If you want to do Hawaii again, I would not be put off by the experience you had boarding or disembarking in San Pedro. We found San Diego to be pretty efficient.

[beckster42]

Just returned from the 14 day Panama Canal sailing on Saturday aboard the Serenade of the Seas. Like another poster said, I can not recommend this trip enough. Being our first trip through the canal, it is definetly a memory to last a lifetime. By far the best trip (land or cruise) that I have ever been on and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

You can see Hawaii by land and travel around to the islands on your own, but the best way to see the canal is on a cruise ship in my opinion. Go for it!

[cyscopup]

I would have to say the Canal would be the best trip. We just got home from the Serenade through the Canal and had an absolutely fantastic cruise. Whichever you decide to do make sure you get involved with the Meet & Mingle, this past cruise ours was the best we have ever had. Plus we are scheduled for Hawaii next year and it looks like we have another great Meet&mingle group.

[cruisenfever]

We did the PC last April westbound transit on Radiance ending up in San Diego. Debarkation was a nightmare......starting with not getting off the ship at the time we were supposed to.....because of lack of C&I agents, plus those that do not like to respond when they hear their name being paged to report to Guest relations.

 

Buses took pax to the airport and dropped them off at arriving flights instead of departing flights and if you are not familiar with San Diego airport it can be a problem. When we asked the bus driver why we were being dropped off in the wrong location, he said it was airport policy. I personally think he just screwed up!

 

We are doing Radiance next September 26 R/T Hawaii out of San Diego, but we will do our own transportation to the airport.

 

There is nothing like a trip to the PC, if you have never done it. The ports of call on the itinerary are wonderful.

 

Whatever you decide............have a great time on our most favorite ship.

[Apoggi]

We did the Radiance Sept of 06 and we had issues with customs at Los Angeles. The wait was unbearable to clear customs. They called priority departure (which we were) and all the ship got in line. The only way we made it off the ship in time for our flight was that I went to the head of the line and complained that we had priority departure and they took us right away. I would go to Hawaii again but not by ship. Didn't see enough of Hawaii to satisfy me.

 

I would do the canal in a heartbeat.

[sea-cruise]

Our SIL's parents live on Maui and we've heard of the problems that you mentioned in your post. We've cruised to Hawaii and haven't encountered any problems. We liked cruising the Hawaiian Islands, and felt that we saw just as much as when we flew directly to Oahu and hopped the Islands via Aloha Airlines, so I know how much you enjoyed that cruise.

We cruised the Panama Canal 5 times, only because we sailed various cruiselines and wanted to see the different ports that each line offered. Being you haven't yet seen the Locks, I would recommend the Canal, but personally, I loved the Hawaiian cruise much more. Have fun.

[Majesty Fan]

I am still undecided about the canal. We had such a great time in Hawaii that not sure next Oct's cruise could be any better than this years cruise. I did live in Seattle at the Lock's so I have been through them several times but not the degree the PC has.. We have enver been to the Mexican Riveria either.

Lexi