Itineraries

We continually review the itineraries offered by the major cruise lines for a Panama Cruise.  We have tried to capture the essence of each one in the itineraries links listed on the left side of the page.

Our research has revealed that most of the cruise lines offer cruises that either visit the Panama Canal and return to their port of origin or have itineraries that originate on one coast and end on the other.  The cruises that just visit the Panama Canal usually originate in Florida (Jacksonville, Port Canaveral, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa) or Texas.  The Panama Cruises that transit the Panama Canal originate in the previously mentioned Florida and Texas ports as well as New York, on the east coast and San Diego, Los Angeles, and Seattle on the west coast.  Several cruise lines also list Vancouver, British Columbia as origin/destination ports.

Transit Panama Canal

The cruises that transit the Panama Canal typically vary in length from 10 to 14 days, but some offer cruises as long as 21 days.  While each cruise line offers a varied and interesting itinerary, most tend to have a few port of call in the Western Caribbean, such as Grand Cayman, and Central America, such as Costa Rica, as well as Mexico ports including Costa Maya and other Gulf coast ports.  In addition, several of the cruises with longer itineraries stop at many of the Mexican ports on the Pacific side such as Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, Huatulco and others.

Celebrity Cruise lines offer a unique 14 day Westbound Panama Cruise that originates in Ft. Lauderdale, then visits Aruba before transiting the Panama Canal.  Upon completing the transit, they stop at Puntarenas, Costa Rica and then several stops on the Pacific Mexican coast including Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas, before arriving at the destination port of San Diego.

Crystal Cruises offers a unique Eastbound Panama Cruise.  This cruise originates in Caldera, Costa Rica, transits the Panama Canal, and then visits the Caribbean, including Antigua, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas.  The cruise then visits Ft. Lauderdale before embarking on a Trans-Atlantic crossing ending in Lisbon, Portugal.  This is certainly a unique and interesting passage.

Holland America offers an interesting cruise with its Westbound Panama Cruise.  This cruise originates in Tampa, then visits Grand Cayman and Cartagena, Columbia before transiting the Panama Canal.  The balance of the cruise is focused on Pacific ports of calls including Golfo Dulce, Puntasenas, Puerto Quetzal, Santa Cruise Huatulco, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas before reaching its destination port of San Diego.

Princess, Royal Caribbean, and even Disney offer a nice balance of ports included in their Panama Canal Cruise itineraries.  Whether westbound or eastbound, they stop at interesting ports in the Caribbean, as well as central America and both coasts of Mexico.  These Panama Cruise itineraries are usually 11 to 16 days with 14 days being an average.

Visit Panama Canal

The cruises that just visit the Panama Canal range in length from as few as 7 days to around 14 days, depending on the individual cruise line. It seems that most of the Panama Cruise itineraries that just visit the Panama Canal, tend to originate on the Florida or Texas coast. As an example, Celebrity Cruises offers an 11 night cruise that originates in Galveston, Texas, and then visits Cozumel (Mexico), Costa Maya (Mexico), The Panama Canal (Panama), Cristobar (Panama), Puerto Limon (Costa Rica), Georgetown (Grand Cayman), and then returns to its port of origin.

Holland America offers a 10 Night Southern Caribbean and Panama Canal Cruise itinerary that originates in Ft. Lauderdale (Florida) and then visits Half Moon Cay (Bahamas), Oranjestad (Aruba), and Wilemstad. I them provides scenic cruising of The Panama canal, Gatun Lake (Panama), scenic cruising of Manzanillo Bay (Panama) and Colon (Panama). THe return journey includes Limon (Costa Rica) and two additional days at sea before returning to Ft. Lauderdale.

Princess Cruises also offers a 10 Night Panama Canal Cruise itinerary that originates in Ft. Lauderdale (Florida). This adventure stops at Ocho Rios (Jamaica) on its way to The Panama Canal. Once there, it visits The Panama Canal and Colon (Panama). The journey continues with port of calls at Limon (Costa Rica), Georgetown (Grand Cayman), and Cozumel (Mexico) before returning to its port of origination.

Several other delightful itineraries are offered by multiple cruise lines that originate and return to the same port. These can be very exciting and interesting and provide access to The Panama Canal just as the cruises that transit the Panama Canal. It is just a matter of choice and perhaps time and budget, but either way, it's time for a Panama Cruise!