My parents (in their early 70's) and my husband and I (in our early 40's) are planning on a cruise to the Panama Canal in 2004 (either spring or fall). The itinerary is something that my parents would like to do.

My parents have sailed with Holland America (Noordam-transatlantic), NCL Dream (transatlantic) and Wind (Australia, N.Z. & Hawaii). We have sailed with Carnival Sensation , Destiny (and soon Spirit), and NCL's Sky (all Caribbean itineraries). We want to go on a ship we haven't been on before.

My question is:
- Is there a better time to go on this route, as far as weather is concerned?

- What are the normal ports of call for such an itinerary? And does anyone have any comments on them.

I know that some of the itineraries for cruise lines will change that far ahead, but we were looking at some of the newer ships, like the Coral Princess, RCI's Brilliance of the Seas or Radiance of the Seas and some of the Celebrity ships. Any comments on these? We haven't sailed on these lines, but I think that my parents would like them. After they went on their first cruise with Holland America, they said they never wanted to sail any other line and I had to convince them to try NCL. We could, of course, sail Holland America, too, just haven't checked which ship it is.

Anyway, sorry, haven't started my research yet, just wanted to get some feedback. Thanks.

Do you know of any thing better to say?

Charley Scott

Charley, this chat room is reserved for cruise-related topics only, and is not a "live" chatroom in the same sense as more general ones you may enjoy better. Please confine your comments and questions to cruise topics.

Thanks Karen. I was wondering when someone would say something. Now for the Panama Canal. Do you want to go through it completly, or just go through the 1st lock and turn around? A lot would depend on suggestions. I've gone through it twice on different ships, and will be doing the partial on the Coral Princess. If I know more about your likes, could possibly offer better advice.

We have returned from the Canal cruise on the Coral - inagural Jan 03.

Loved it - and a very classy ship. We also travelled with family and it worked out beautifully. We only went half way thru the canal, but this was fine. The train trip to the coast was fantastic according to other cruisers, we did the walk around the locks and learned a lot. We also did the historical fort tour and could of done with out this. The canal was as exciting as I expected it to be.
Hope this helps and it you need any further info I will be happy to oblige.


Regards,
Mich