Ruby Hunt

My husband and I want to take a Panama Canal cruise. When is the best time of year to go and what cruise line do you recommend? What about the cabin-where on board ship? Do you recommend a balcony? Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated.<BR>Thanks.<BR>Ruby

Big Al

Big Al says absolutely go to see the Panama Canal. It is great. Big Al thinks the Carnival Spirit is good. You MUST have a balcony, only good way to see the canal as you pass through. Then take the side tour where you go back to the Canal and see it from the land-side. Panama is not much to write home about BUT the Canal is great. Columbia ----- emeralds and coffee is good. Costa Rica is GREAT.<BR><BR>You're welcomed

John

Pick a newer ship and get a balcony.<BR><BR>Coral Princess would be nice but doesn't do full transit through canal.<BR><BR>Look at repositioning cruises. They are normally cheaper. They usually occur in April/May and Sept/October when the ships are going from Alaska to Caribbean or vice versa.

April

My husband and I really enjoyed the Holland America cruise we took through the canal. This is definitely the place for a balcony. Sure you can see everything from the decks, but it can be so HOT I can't imagine staying out there for the entire 9 hour or so passage through the canal. I changed clothes three times that day.<BR><BR>Costa Rica is fabulous, especially for bird watching. But Colombia, kidnapping capital of the world? I wouldn't set foot in the place.<BR><BR>We went in November and were on the tail of a hurricane.

Tim

Ruby<BR><BR>I also took a Holland America cruise through the Panama Canal. The ship was the Amsterdam and it was a Christmas Cruise. We had a balcony but I really enjoyed being at the front of the ship or at the rear to observe the locks etc. <BR><BR>A book I would recommend you read before going is David McCullough's, "The Path Between the Seas". There's a copy in the ship's library you can borrow as I gave mine to the ship as had several other people. They had a wonderful historian on board who gave a series of lectures on the canal. Those talks along with the information I garnered from reading "The Path Between the Seas" made this cruise a very memorable one for me and my wife. I believe most lines cruise the canal in winter and a holiday cruise is always special.

Amy

Hi Ruby-<BR>One thing to remember is that it gets VERY HOT down there!<BR>We went in early Feb & it was still quite warm. I couln't imagine how hot it would be later in summer.<BR>We were on the Sun Princess & also had a balcony. We spent the morning at the front of the ship. You get a really good view of the Locks. We then spent the afternoon in our room on the balcony-recovering from being in the sun all morning.<BR>We have also cruised on the Mercury (Celebrity). It was also a VERY nice ship.<BR>Have a great trip!<BR>Amy<BR>

Pepper

omigod, I hope that by next April that Coral Princess transits the entire canal.<BR>I'm going from Fort Lauderdale to Vancouver

Lew

I have been through the canal twice, and will be going through again next month. All cruses were on HAL.<BR><BR>HAL has a lounge called the Crow's Nest on the top and front of the ship. On both previous trips, I esconsed myself right in the middle early in the morning [took my room service bkst with me], thereby capturing a superior view of entering the locks. In my opinion, it is the locks that make the canal fascinating, not the cruise through the lake.<BR><BR>Therefore, I suggest HAL and early rising as the Crow's Nest becomes a mad house later in the morning...<BR><BR>The one good thing about taking your bkfst with you is leaving a dirty tray in your chair reserves it for you if you need to leave for a short period of time.<BR><BR>

Sherri

Hi<BR>We are cruising the Panama Jan. 19 aboard the Celebrity Infinity. We do not have a balcony (if we need one I'm going to be in trouble with my sister!!!) I just thought we would get a better overall view from the deck than our balcony. Anyway I'm interested in any recommendations for our stop in Costa Rica which some of you really enjoyed! We would like to steer clear of ship excursions and do our own thing focusing on nature/eco type stuff or beach!<BR>Thanks