Bored on the Panama Canal

[Royal Consort]

We are really trying to get the costs for our 2017 trip down. We're currently booked on the 7 night med cruise but our budget isn't going to realistically stretch that far.

I've been looking at the 14 night panama cruise which seems very good value (same price as the 7 night med actually). However, I've had some reservations. We spent 3 weeks on the Magic in Norway in 2015 and found that the sea days didn't have a lot going on. My concern is that I'm going to get very bored with a bit of cabin fever. What are your experiences of the 14 night Panama canal? Did you find the many sea days difficult and what activities did Disney put on during these days?

Thanks everyone.

 

[arlopop]

If the sea days bore you then the PC might not be what you want. I know there are lots of extra activities aboard but that's an iffy proposition.
Any long DCL cruise is likely a reposition and will involve sea days. The only thing I would ask is on your Norway cruise was the weather warm enough for swimming and lots of deck things? The PC is much more accommodating for on deck activities - it's warm.

We are on the upcoming PC (3 weeks away). I can let you know when we return. You might check navigators from previous PC cruises and see if they line up with your interests.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are really trying to get the costs for our 2017 trip down. We're currently booked on the 7 night med cruise but our budget isn't going to realistically stretch that far.

I've been looking at the 14 night panama cruise which seems very good value (same price as the 7 night med actually). However, I've had some reservations. We spent 3 weeks on the Magic in Norway in 2015 and found that the sea days didn't have a lot going on. My concern is that I'm going to get very bored with a bit of cabin fever. What are your experiences of the 14 night Panama canal? Did you find the many sea days difficult and what activities did Disney put on during these days?

Thanks everyone.

You can look here and see what sorts of activities have been available in the past on the Panama Canal cruise:
http://disneycruiselineblog.com/personal-navigators/

 

[aggiedog]

I understand your concern. I've had that same thought process - Panama Canal cruise, cool, way cheaper per day! Wait, 14 days?? Hmm. We loved our Baltic cruise, which had just 2 sea days and after such long port days, they were a welcome break. We did a 4 day Merrytime cruise, with only a stop in cozumel for a day at the beach. I have to say we were all a bit bored. Well, the grandparents, dh and I, and 3 teen dds. 11yo ds had a blast. We decided we like cruise ships as a way to get from port to port. We are probably not cruisers for cruising sake. There are only so many rounds of bingo and trivia I can play. Only so many movies and musical shows I can watch. We also don't enjoy a lot of time sitting by the pool, laying in the sun, etc. With a family of redheads, that's just not our thing.

 

[jubjubrsx]

are you looking at some of the panama canal cruises on the wonder? well it is going to go into refurb soon, and I havent seen a ton of info (other than tiana's) on whats going to be added. I am also hoping that they add like midship detective or something like that.

 

[mmouse37]

Personally, I loved all the sea days on the PC cruise but realize it is not for everyone. I could spend a month onboard and not get bored.

I am doing the Transatlantic next month (11 days) and I am very much looking forward to the sea days (and the whole cruise in general).

Next Saturday we will be boarding the Fantasy and 7 days seems too short!!!

MJ

 

[PrincessShmoo]

are you looking at some of the panama canal cruises on the wonder? well it is going to go into refurb soon, and I havent seen a ton of info (other than tiana's) on whats going to be added. I am also hoping that they add like midship detective or something like that.

I doubt that the mid-ship detective agency will be added. It wasn't added to the Magic during her dry dock. There's a thread here with dry dock talk (some speculation, some actual announcements made by DCL).

http://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-wonder-dry-dock-watch-update-8-4-with-frozen-news.3516346/

 

[jubjubrsx]

I doubt that the mid-ship detective agency will be added. It wasn't added to the Magic during her dry dock. There's a thread here with dry dock talk (some speculation, some actual announcements made by DCL).

http://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-wonder-dry-dock-watch-update-8-4-with-frozen-news.3516346/

just wishful thinking.

 

[Siliobear]

If the sea days bore you then the PC might not be what you want. I know there are lots of extra activities aboard but that's an iffy proposition.
Any long DCL cruise is likely a reposition and will involve sea days. The only thing I would ask is on your Norway cruise was the weather warm enough for swimming and lots of deck things? The PC is much more accommodating for on deck activities - it's warm.

We are on the upcoming PC (3 weeks away). I can let you know when we return. You might check navigators from previous PC cruises and see if they line up with your interests.

Hi Arlopop, I too am booked on the EBPC later this month. PC is on my sister's bucket list (leaving hubby and adult-age kids behind). We hooked up with a cruise group I found online who have planned many extracurricular activities on sea days. So I don't anticipate getting too bored on this trip. One regret, we don't stop at Castaway Cay. By next year, Wonder will be reimagined so there will be lots to do for everyone!

 

[Royal Consort]

Thanks for everyone's input. We're still very confused but feel the 14 nights is a pretty good deal. I've found looking at the Navigators helpful. It does seem there is a bit more going on than on the Norway cruise and the weather would certainly be more pleasant.

 

[Flossbolna]

In my experience the entertainment on the longer cruises on sea days cannot be compared with the normal shorter cruises. They really go out and come up with new and inventive things. I wrote a very detailed trip report on our WBPC in 2014 where I tried to explain how this cruise might differe from other cruises. This is a link in case you are interested: If You See It: Eat It! Via Panama to Disneyland

 

[Royal Consort]

In my experience the entertainment on the longer cruises on sea days cannot be compared with the normal shorter cruises. They really go out and come up with new and inventive things. I wrote a very detailed trip report on our WBPC in 2014 where I tried to explain how this cruise might differe from other cruises. This is a link in case you are interested: If You See It: Eat It! Via Panama to Disneyland

Thanks for the link to your report. This was very helpful. I especially thought your final thoughts were informative about the guest behaviour, food and how you felt about the ship in general. The cruise looks like it has some great incentives but I enjoyed your honesty regarding the downsides too. I also read your trip report on the Fantasy and it seemed much more glowing about the experience which was also helpful.

 

[Bookwood]

We've done 2 Panama Canal cruises, and a 14 day Hawaii cruise and I can't say I was ever bored. I can usually keep myself occupied reading and people watching if there's nothing going on I'm interested in. Lots of classes, games, and movies besides the regular stuff.

I'd go again in a minute.

 

[GerriS]

We are really trying to get the costs for our 2017 trip down. We're currently booked on the 7 night med cruise but our budget isn't going to realistically stretch that far.

I've been looking at the 14 night panama cruise which seems very good value (same price as the 7 night med actually). However, I've had some reservations. We spent 3 weeks on the Magic in Norway in 2015 and found that the sea days didn't have a lot going on. My concern is that I'm going to get very bored with a bit of cabin fever. What are your experiences of the 14 night Panama canal? Did you find the many sea days difficult and what activities did Disney put on during these days?

Thanks everyone.

When we cruised the Panama Canal on the Wonder Jan 2011, there was lots to do on sea days. They had special lectures including a Panama Ferry Pilot who gave several lectures on the Panama Canal, and lots of movies you don't normally get. I rate it as one of our best cruises ever.

 

[shelbell77]

I as never once bored on PC and we missed a port so had one more sea day than even planned. Last navigators are helpful. As is thinking about what else you could do. I hit the gym before and sometimes after breakfast each day. I enjoyed reading in outlook cafe or deck 4. I hit the afternoon movies most days. I was seriously relaxed and never for want of anything to do.

 

[HookedOnDCL1]

We missed a port on our 2015 WBPC cruise to (probably same cruise) and we had, I think, 5 sea days in a row. We were never bored and it was my favorite trip so far! There were many extra and unique activities that they don't offer on the shorter cruises. My favorite activity was one where the officers were introduced (although we knew most of them by then), then they dressed up as "regular" passengers and we had to run around the ship looking for them and bring them back to the lounge if we found them! (An Officer scavenger hunt! - sooo much fun).

Also, they had a sleepover in the kids club, special lectures about the Panama Canal which we all enjoyed (even DD10), a boat building contest (we had to build a "boat" out of things we found around the ship), extra movies, tastings, etc. We did several tastings, Palo brunch, animators workshops, kitchen tour (that was cool), and more. Oh, and I can't forget the crew pool karaoke contest at the adult pool that got a little out of hand and ended up with everyone in the pool (including crew) in their clothes! LOL

 

[HookedOnDCL1]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that our cruise meet group was very active and we had our own events as well - a candy social, ice cream social, pub crawl, private tastings to name a few.

 

[RedSox68]

I'm the wrong person to comment on this since I LOVE sea days -- the more the better. We did the PC from L.A. in 2005 and loved the itinerary -- just enough ports and sea days to balance out, and the experience of going through the Canal itself and the locks, etc. is a full day experience that is just wonderful. They had a BBQ up on deck and a narrator. We want to do another PC cruise as we liked it so much. The ship provides board games to use in several areas and we enjoyed that a couple of times on sea days. We took one game to deck 5 atriums and sat near the windows and just enjoyed ourselves. Sitting out on the promenade deck with drink in hand watching the world go by (and sometimes other islands and ships) is very relaxing.

 

[Royal Consort]

Thank you everyone for your responses. It was quite convincing. We've talked it over thoroughly and the one thing we did enjoy doing the Norway cruise was getting to know the cast members over the three weeks we were on the ship. We have now transferred our Med cruise to the 14 night Panama.