Many Panama Canal cruises include Caribbean ports, several relaxing days at sea, Costa Rica, Huatulco (lovely unspoiled, seaside village in Mexico), Acapulco (pictured), Cabo San Lucas in Baja plus a full daylight transit of the Panama Canal. Many also now stop in or near the Canal for some incredible shore excursions. There are wonderful nature hikes where you will see some very exoctic animal you don't run into very often at home. Have you ever seen a coatimundi, a sloth, a colony of leaf cutter ants, and howler monkees all within about 100 feet of each other? We did on a short hike we took. Costa Rica is also a great country to explore with her volcanoes & tropical forests. Costa Rica has one of the highest literacy rates in Central America, friendly people, a beautiful country, and a great, unique cuisine. Once you go through the canal you'll learn the story of how it was built and how it operates. You can stump you friends by asking them how many pumps it takes to move all the water used to lift and lower the ships going through all the locks in the canal. This engineering wonder built over 100 years ago takes zero pumps, it is all gavity fed from the huge Gatun Lake.




You can spend a day on a beach in Huatulco or several other tropical ports of call like the one pictured. The many relaxing sea days and widely diverse ports of call make a Panama Canal cruise a great way to spend 14-nights away for our hectic lifes at home. We strongly recommend the 14-night cruises between Ft. Lauderdale/Miami and San Diego/Los Angeles. These cruises are offered each spring, fall and winter. There are no Panama Canal cruises during the summer..



Curacao is a colorful, fun Caribbean port of call for some lines. This small island is just a 35 miles north of Venzuela off the north coast of South America. It is one of the three nearby ABC islands: Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. Curacao is the largest island of the three but Aruba is most famous and frequently visited island. Bonaire has the reputation for the best scuba diving.


Many Canal cruises also stop in Aruba with its Dutch ancestry clearly showing. Aruba is really a desert island without the lush vegetation most people associate with Caribbean islands. The island is know for its happy people who have a vibrant tourist based economy and no crime. The casinos and beaches are excellent, plentiful and the people are very friendly with no irritating street vendors trying to sell you things. Many people fly to Aruba and vacation here year after year.

The Captain's Favorite Ships to the Panama Canal

Celebrity

Celebrity's new Infinity, Constellation & Summit

These are our top choice for a Panama Canal Cruises. These 5+ star beauties are our top rated premium class cruise ships. They hold only 1950 people (double occupancy) and have about the same high space ratio per person as the top luxury lines like Crystal. In fact, the CondeNast Traveler's readers survey for ranked Celebrity as the top premium class cruise line with 6 of the top 10 slots for large cruise ships. Ships rated #1 to #4 include both the Summit and Infinity and their two other identical twins Constellation and Millennium. The only ships nicer than these are luxury class ships which sometimes offer one or two cruises a year. Please ask for this option.

 

Azamara

• Celebrity's new Deluxe Azamara Cruises .

Azamara Journey is a new Deluxe ship offering great high end Canal & Caribbean option. They offer luxury like service, amenities, and dining choices but with cabins still the same size as premium class ships at half of luxury class ships. They also have no formal nights, no smoking, open seating with 3 great restaurant choices.

Great new choices at great values. Similar to Oceania but for a lower price!

Royal Caribbean

For the latest Panama Canal and other destination specials see our

Top Great Deals or Last Minute Specials

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

The Seven Seas Mariner is our top rated ship and is the first luxury ship to have private balconies on all passenger cabins. Mariner is 50,000 tons and hold only 700 passengers for one of the highest passenger space ratios at 71.4 of any cruise ship afloat. Carnival ships are around 27 for example which means their public areas have less than half the room per person and will be much more crowded. Click here to see our on-line brochure for the Regent Mariner.

Crystal Cruises

Crystal Symphony & Serenity offers Panama Canal cruises on this 5+ star luxury ship. These are first class ships and #2 overall behind Radisson. Not recommended for families with children that want a children's program and other children for their kids to play with. For more information on luxury cruising. See our page on Luxury Cruising

For a quote request please review our cruise price estimator at Cruise Price Estimator then fill out our quote request form by clicking on the button below.



For questions please email john@galaxsea.com. We welcome your feedback.

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