Would Appreciate Help Selecting Panama Canal Cruise

[petesweet]

We are wanting a LOOOONG Panama Canal cruise. We would appreciate views on the best ship for this cruise and also the best time of year to cruise. Many thanks.

[sisocialworker]

come join our group on 12/21/09

 

did the PC last year, can wait until next year to do it again..AMAZING TRIP

[petesweet]

come join our group on 12/21/09

 

did the PC last year, can wait until next year to do it again..AMAZING TRIP

Thanks for the invite. I looked up the price but see you are paying a premium for a holiday cruise. Really don't want to do that.

 

Is December a good month as far as weather is concerned?

[Priusprof]

We are wanting a LOOOONG Panama Canal cruise. We would appreciate views on the best ship for this cruise and also the best time of year to cruise. Many thanks.

We did Brilliance in February and it was a great time. Only thing that could have been better was if the cruise was longer. We did 10 days but the transcanal cruises are 14-15 days.:) Based on the length and width of the chambers at the locks, nothing much bigger than a Radiance Class ship will fit. I would recommend a transcanal repositioning cruise on Serenade. They move her from San Juan in the spring and back in the fall of 2009.Also you can check Radiance for this fall and probably Vision as well. They are shuffling ships off the west coast when they reposition Mariner to LA. Monarch is doing a transcanal when it moves to Port Canaveral to replace Sovereign. Our favorite is Radiance class of what can go through the canal.

[sisocialworker]

hoiday cruises are always a bit more expensive...but worth it...rci does it up nice....

 

dec. weather is perfect

[cb at sea]

We did the PC in mid-April. The weather was stellar and although there were kids on the ship, they weren't bothersome at all. The weather that close to the equator is ALWAYS warm, so summertime clothes are the wardrobe all year round.

Whatever you pick, enjoy!

[cyscopup]

We are wanting a LOOOONG Panama Canal cruise. We would appreciate views on the best ship for this cruise and also the best time of year to cruise. Many thanks.

Hi petesweet, I think I have seen you on the roll call for the Serenade of the Seas to Hawaii this October. I would have to vote for doing a Radiance class ship from one coast to the other, last year we did the Serenade from San Diego to San Juan in October and it was fantastic. I think the ship was designed with this cruise in mind, so many places to view the canal, plenty of things to do, and a great value. Just ask here or on the roll call and we can answer any questions you may have.

[petesweet]

Hi petesweet, I think I have seen you on the roll call for the Serenade of the Seas to Hawaii this October. I would have to vote for doing a Radiance class ship from one coast to the other, last year we did the Serenade from San Diego to San Juan in October and it was fantastic. I think the ship was designed with this cruise in mind, so many places to view the canal, plenty of things to do, and a great value. Just ask here or on the roll call and we can answer any questions you may have.

 

Hi, Cyscopup. Yes, I did pop in quickly on the Hawaii rollcall. Nothing active on our part, however.

 

Thanks to you and the others about this good information. Believe that 14- to 16-day cruise is more in line with what I had in mind.

[Jimbo]

Ship Name: Radiance Of The Seas

Departure Port: San Diego, California

Ports of Call: San Diego, California; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Acapulco, Mexico; Huatulco, Mexico; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; Panama Canal (Cruising Canal); Cristobal Pier, Panama; Cartagena, Colombia; Fort Lauderdale, Florida

2008 Date(s): Oct 26

 

Stateroom:Prices From*:Interior Oceanview Balcony Deluxe & Suite $1,449.00 $1,799.00 $2,699.00 $3,999.00

[Jimbo]

Ship Name: Radiance Of The Seas

Departure Port: San Diego, California

Ports of Call: San Diego, California; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Acapulco, Mexico; Huatulco, Mexico; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; Panama Canal (Cruising Canal); Cristobal Pier, Panama; Cartagena, Colombia; Fort Lauderdale, Florida

2008 Date(s): Oct 26

 

Stateroom:Prices From*:Interior Oceanview Balcony Deluxe & Suite $1,449.00 $1,799.00 $2,699.00 $3,999.00

[Jimbo]

Should have said WEST to EAST not the other way around :p

 

14 night cruise

[bubbie617]

Whatever you decide about a PC trip, I would like to offer one caveat. When we did it for the first time many years ago, we were foolish and didn't check the deck plans for the ship. (It was not RCCL.) We were on a ship with no open front deck. There was no way to get to the front of the ship to see the locks opening and closing. It was a big disappointment. We did the itinerary a second time on Celebrity and thought the canal was just amazing because we could see what was happening.

[petesweet]

Ship Name: Radiance Of The Seas

Departure Port: San Diego, California

Ports of Call: San Diego, California; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Acapulco, Mexico; Huatulco, Mexico; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; Panama Canal (Cruising Canal); Cristobal Pier, Panama; Cartagena, Colombia; Fort Lauderdale, Florida

2008 Date(s): Oct 26

 

Stateroom:Prices From*:Interior Oceanview Balcony Deluxe & Suite $1,449.00 $1,799.00 $2,699.00 $3,999.00

 

So you recommend that one? I'll make a note. Will have to be 2009, but if I don't do Oasis (or maybe even if I do??), that sounds perfect. I take it that's good weather too.

[petesweet]

Whatever you decide about a PC trip, I would like to offer one caveat. When we did it for the first time many years ago, we were foolish and didn't check the deck plans for the ship. (It was not RCCL.) We were on a ship with no open front deck. There was no way to get to the front of the ship to see the locks opening and closing. It was a big disappointment. We did the itinerary a second time on Celebrity and thought the canal was just amazing because we could see what was happening.

 

What a great warning! How about Radiance and Serenade? Will they fit the bill?

 

Thanks, everyone, for all the help you are giving me.

[petesweet]

Oh, I have another question.

 

I've been on two ships that have passed through locks--one on the Danube, and one in Russia. Is this one much more spectacular? I didn't think they were anything that special--just slow, tedious waiting. I realize the Panama Canal is an engineering wonder, but is it the lock itself that holds such interest? or the ports of call? Sorry if that is a really dumb question.

[Magicat]

We did the Serenade from San Juan to San Diego in April 05. The weather was amazing. 33C everday from when we left San Juan til we got to the Pacific Ocean. Then the temp dropped to 27C and we found it cool. LOL

 

Serenade has an open front deck where you can stand to watch the locks open and close. Would recomend Radiance or Serenade as they go all the way through the canal instead of only half way. MHO

[Jimbo]

So you recommend that one? I'll make a note. Will have to be 2009, but if I don't do Oasis (or maybe even if I do??), that sounds perfect. I take it that's good weather too.

 

Highly recommend it, great weather, only rained about 20 minutes while leaving the last lock going into the Atlantic Seas side the entire cruise.

 

Really neat looking off the aft leaving the last lock and seeing the water level higher then our ship.

 

Ship Name: Serenade Of The Seas

Departure Port: San Diego, California

Ports of Call: San Diego, California; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Acapulco, Mexico; Huatulco, Mexico; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; Panama Canal (Cruising Canal); Cristobal Pier, Panama; George Town, Grand Cayman; Miami, Florida

2009 Date(s): Oct 03

 

Stateroom:

Prices From*:

Interior Oceanview Balcony Deluxe & Suite

$1,599.00 $1,999.00 $2,499.00 $3,299.00

 

 

 

Jimbo:)

[Hamburg Avon Lady]

We did the full transit last Jan, '07 from San Diego to FLL on Celebrity's Summit. What a great trip, and cruise - everything was great - food, service,

entertainment, - we are doing RCCL on the Mariner of the Seas next Jan around South America. As much as I am looking forward to this trip - IF Celebrity had a similiar itinerary - I would have booked with them in a heartbeat. Hoping that as Celebrity and RCCL are under the same coporate roof - service, etc. will be similiar if not even better. Make sure that you either attend the lectures in the theatre or watch them on your cabin's TV - very, very interesting and informative and does make the whole experience

that much better. When you hear and see what those workers had to endure

in order to build this canal - it's amazing that more didn't die in the process.

By the way, another "canal" is under construction to accommodate the larger

cruise ships - don't know just how long that will take - but eventually, you will

have ships going in both directions - that would be something to see !!

[leoandhugh]

If you are interested in anything this year (08) the Radiance of the Seas is doing eastbound Panama Canal cruise from SanDiego to FLL on October 26. We have booked that cruise and it will be our 7th Canal trip. If you found the opening and closing of locks on the Danube of little interest, I am not sure that you will find the Panama locks of more interest, except that they are much larger, the ship rises or falls in the chambers much more and the scenery in general and all the other shipping is of interest . We just like the trans Canal cruises as a great way to get from one coast to the other, considering we have to fly only one way.:)

[luvscruising2007]

We did a partial transit in January on Brilliance. We loved the cruise and now I would like to take a full transit. The weather in January was great. We also attended the information sessions in the theater. The expert was really very informative and it added to the experience. I also felt that as everyone on board was there to see the canal, the crew was far more eager to share information with you. Even the waiter had his take on the whole experience. Of course they were going thru the canal every other week or so, so sometimes there perspective was a little jaded. What ever you decide you will have a great trip.:cool:

[cyscopup]

What a great warning! How about Radiance and Serenade? Will they fit the bill?

 

Thanks, everyone, for all the help you are giving me.

Radiance and Serenade both fit the bill to a T. There are so many places to watch the transit that you will be amazed. We started the morning out on the helipad, moved up the top deck about midmorning and by noon we were aft watching the transit thru the second set of locks. We then went to deck five and touched the side of the lock as we were going thru and then went to our balcony for the rest of the trip to Gatun Lake. Once there we got off the ship for an excursion and a very up close look at the Gatun Locks, before reboarding at Cristobal Pier.

[tomko2]

We thoroughly enjoyed our partial Panama Cruise on the Brilliance last January; 10 nights. Photos in the link below.

There is a good deal on the January 30th 2009 sailing on the Jewel of the Sea you might want to check out.

Kathy:)

[H2Oregon]

We did the PC on Serenade in 2005 and loved it. If you are someone that likes to read about your destination before you go I would recommend "Panama Canal by Cruise Ship" by Anne ViPond. I bought the book before our cruise and found if very informative. RCI was selling the same book on the cruise. I think Borders had a little better price than RCI.

[bubbie617]

Any Radiance class ship would be wonderful for a PC transit. So much glass! Have a fabulous time.

[petesweet]

We thoroughly enjoyed our partial Panama Cruise on the Brilliance last January; 10 nights. Photos in the link below.

There is a good deal on the January 30th 2009 sailing on the Jewel of the Sea you might want to check out.

Kathy:)

 

Terrific pictures. Thanks!