My parents want to take the Panama canal cruise out of L.A. They want to use Princess or Carnival cruise. Any suggestions. They are over 70 years and think carnival might have alot of children.
Thanks,
Mike

Panama Canal cruises are at least two weeks long, and do not sail during the summer. I would think there would be few if any children on either line given the length and time of year. (unless there are holiday sailings) Would recommend Princess.

On our PC cruise which was on Princess there were few children. Ours was 10 days which was a full transit starting in Acapulco and ending in Ft. Lauderdale. I am not sure if cruises out of LA are longer. You would have to check if time is a factor for them.

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Princess is a great company, didn't sail with Carnival.

Don't make reservations during school/college vacations. We went on this cruise in January, loved it!

There are several Panama Canal sailings on Oceania this year. They make it clear in their brochure and on the web site that they have no special facilities for children. There are always a few on board, nonetheless. But, there always are a fair number of cruisers in your parents' age range, or close to it, and I think they would find the trip more comfortable than they would on the more family oriented lines. Alternatives would be Azamara, or the smaller ships of Holland America.

It's better to take Panama Canal cruises in the Westward direction (i.e., to LA or San Diego) because the timezone changes lengthen rather than shorten the days. Look at Celebrity as well as Princess.

My daughter and son-in-law are going to be musicians on the Island Princess for 6 weeks starting Sept 25th 2011. They are doing the Panama Canal circuit, the first cruise they are on leaves from LA and ends up at Fort Lauderdale, I think it is 15 days. The rest of the time the cruise leaves from Fort LAuderdale and is a 10 day circuit through the Panama Canal.

Thanks for all your great responces! They want to go in April. I will pass on this info to them.
Mike