WHICH PANAMA CANAL CRUISE IS BEST, SPRING VS FALL, EAST OR WEST?

[sweb69]

We are retired and have been planning a Panama cruise for years, even before we retired, to go on the cruise. My question is which cruise is the best, between the Spring or Fall cruise, we have no problem with the dates, basically 2021? We live in Texas so embarkation or debarkation isn't a problem and basically weather seem to be a concern, but are activities different on the east or west bound itineraries? Are there plenty activities and how are the port excursions?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are retired and have been planning a Panama cruise for years, even before we retired, to go on the cruise. My question is which cruise is the best, between the Spring or Fall cruise, we have no problem with the dates, basically 2021? We live in Texas so embarkation or debarkation isn't a problem and basically weather seem to be a concern, but are activities different on the east or west bound itineraries? Are there plenty activities and how are the port excursions?

There are plenty of onboard activities. I haven't taken the PC cruise since they started using Galveston, but that was our first DCL cruise.

My preference is to go east to west, as you gain the extra hours with the time zone changes that way, instead of losing them.

 

[BartmanLA]

We've done 2 Westbound Panama Canal Cruises (2017 & 2019) we're booked on the 2021 WBPC too! We LOVE the longer cruises, going west we end up in California where we live so that makes the most sense for us, but we like the itinerary since you start out and do a number of ports right off the bat once you sail, and then you can relax after the Panama Canal and enjoy the 4-5 sea days going up the West Coast to really enjoy sailing, and personally I think the sunsets in the Pacific are incredible! Weather wise if you don't mind warmer weather the West Bound sails in the spring and hits the Caribbean ports and temps are warmer than fall would be. We enjoyed that as well. While we can't speak to the Eastbound cruise we feel that the post Canal ports might make it feel rushed leading up to your getting off the ship at the end of the cruise. Hope this helps you decide and if you do book it enjoy your cruise!

 

[bobbiwoz]

We really enjoyed East to West. Gaining the hours is easier on our bodies!

 

[otten]

We chose the westbound 2020 largely because I am a lot more interested in sailing out of New Orleans than sailing into Galveston.

 

[KVH]

Been on both and I honestly don't think the time savings/loss is any real consideration. Since they no longer start or end in PC, were only talking an effective 2 hour difference over 14+ days. Shoot, I'd happily give up 3 hours if they'd go back to PC and add the CC stop back in.

Otherwise, they're pretty much the same. EXCEPT for the weather. East-bound, when it occurs in late fall, I think, has it over the spring sailing as the weather is usually a little cooler (on average).

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We have done both, eastbound into Galveston and westbound from PC. Would do either again, but the westbound weather on our PC day in 2019 was better than the eastbound PC day weather in 2017. I don’t think this is actually predictable, however, so I’d just choose the cruise to fit your travel schedule.

 

[o&smom]

We have chosen WBPC because you gain hours and we also live on the West coast. I have read many of the Navigators for both cruises and the activities seem to be very similar. Enjoy your cruise, we are about to go on our second leaving from New Orleans.

 

[jenmiller114]

We just did the eastbound in November. As someone who lives in Texas, I LOVED it because it was an hour drive home when we got to Galveston. After 14 days, we were ready to be home and not having to fly was a huge plus. But we live in Houston. I am not sure where exactly you are in Texas. The weather was fantastic everywhere we went. Nice and warm! I imagine since the itineraries are almost identical (just reversed) the activities shouldn't differ all that much. Lots of fun stuff to do on sea days. We were not even close to bored.

As far as time changes goes, it doesn't compare to something like the transatlantic. I always prefer to gain an hour when I can, but losing one really didn't make that much of a difference because there were only a few over the course of 14 days. It was nice to be back on our own time zone when we got home and not have to adjust. I imagine people feel the same way if they are traveling westbound and they live in the Pacific time zone.