Immunizations for Panama Canal?

I'm considering a Panama Canal cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Seattle next spring - question: Are any immunizations required/suggested for the port stops? Thanks to all of you experienced cruisers for your answers!

All the times we cruised to Panama Canal, we never got special immunization. You

may wish to ask your personal physician if they recommend any for you.

If you are visiting Costa Rica AFTER going to Columbia then Costa Rica MAY require a yellow fever innoculation. I have put quite a bit of information about this on our roll call for the Westerdam April 11, 2015 sailing.

I checked the CDC, the WHO, local travel clinics (Toronto) and talked to my local health unit's travel nurse. We are NOT getting the yellow fever innoculation as we will be considered "in transit", not being in Columbia for longer than 12 hours, 7 hours in our case.

It gets complicated so it is best to check and do what you feel comfortable with.

Best to check with HAL.

One time doing a Pan American with Ecuador cruise -- round trip out of San Diego, Nicaragua suddenly said that we all had to have yellow fever shots since we were stopping in Ecuador before going there. They announced this just weeks before our cruise. Seattle had contacted Nicaragua and explained that no one would be going into the jungle. In the mean time Seattle had to arrange for many of the crew members to get the yellow fever shots. When we got to the cruise terminal in San Diego, no one asked to see our official papers indicating that we had gotten the shots. That evening at the suite get-together I asked about that. A few days before the cruise, Nicaragua changed their minds.

If you are visiting Costa Rica AFTER going to Columbia then Costa Rica MAY require a yellow fever innoculation. I have put quite a bit of information about this on our roll call for the Westerdam April 11, 2015 sailing.

 

I checked the CDC, the WHO, local travel clinics (Toronto) and talked to my local health unit's travel nurse. We are NOT getting the yellow fever innoculation as we will be considered "in transit", not being in Columbia for longer than 12 hours, 7 hours in our case.

 

It gets complicated so it is best to check and do what you feel comfortable with.

We have done Westerdam's repositioning cruise quite a few times. Just did it again in 2013.

We have stopped at either Puerto Caldera or Puntarenas (across the bay) in Costa Rica and were never required to have proof of yellow fever shots.

We can no longer get the yellow fever shots.

Have gone through the Canal, each of the past three years and have not needed any shots. However, I do suggest the flu shot for any cruises taken from November through March.

All the times we've been thru the Canal, there was no need for any type of immunizations, but it never hurts to check.

If you are visiting Costa Rica AFTER going to Columbia then Costa Rica MAY require a yellow fever innoculation. I have put quite a bit of information about this on our roll call for the Westerdam April 11, 2015 sailing.

 

I checked the CDC, the WHO, local travel clinics (Toronto) and talked to my local health unit's travel nurse. We are NOT getting the yellow fever innoculation as we will be considered "in transit", not being in Columbia for longer than 12 hours, 7 hours in our case.

 

It gets complicated so it is best to check and do what you feel comfortable with.

Yes, CDC is the place to check. We were on a back to back Panama Canal cruise this year and did not get the shots. Yellow fever is one we haven't already had. We did have a port stop in Catagena prior to Costa Rica.

I would caution about vendor food in Costa Rica as our ship got noro after a port stop there.

DW and I are sailing on the Zuiderdam, on Oct. 27, for an 11-day Panama Canal partial transit. We will stop in Cartagena and Costa Rica.

I checked with my PCC at HAL and was informed that there are no current requirements for inoculations.

Of course, that could change at any time.

It's not required by the cruise line or the countries.

Another resource is the State Dept. We always double check - just to make sure. Here is a link for Panama info at the US state dept.

travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/country/panama.html

No need to bother.

If you're really concerned, check with your personal physician.

I'm considering a Panama Canal cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Seattle next spring - question: Are any immunizations required/suggested for the port stops? Thanks to all of you experienced cruisers for your answers!

we've done 5 Canal roundtrips out of Ft Laud since 2008 on HAL.. never needed immunizations

I'm considering a Panama Canal cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Seattle next spring - question: Are any immunizations required/suggested for the port stops? Thanks to all of you experienced cruisers for your answers!

For your cruise you'll be fine with the normal things you do at home ... no additional immunizations will be required. :)

LuLu

Have gone through the Canal, each of the past three years and have not needed any shots. However, I do suggest the flu shot for any cruises taken from November through March.

We got our Flu shots in September. And for once I didn't get the flu 2 weeks after getting the shot.

We have yellow fever shots because of another trip, but nobody ever wanted to see proof in Latin America.

We got our Flu shots in September. And for once I didn't get the flu 2 weeks after getting the shot.

Why on earth would you continue to get annual flu shots when you were convinced they gave you the flu?:confused: And by the way, people tend to throw the word "flu" around too easily - the real influenza is not a cold and a tummy upset. I once had it and ended up in hospital.

I am also on the Zuiderdam sailing on the 27th and went to the travel clinic yesterday. They recommended vaccinations for the following:

Hep A

Hep B

Typhoid

Yellow Fever

I discovered to my dismay that Red Cross deferred me from donating blood for a year after we did the full Panama Canal transit in April 2 years ago. They also wanted the names and dates of visit of all the Caribbean and Central American ports we stopped at. Uggh what a pain! :eek:

We got our Flu shots in September. And for once I didn't get the flu 2 weeks after getting the shot.

You sound like my 90 year old mother. After having gotten the shot for several years, she never gets it now.

Another side note, a friend that is a R.N. never gets it either.

I'm on airplanes a lot, and make it a point to get the shot as soon it becomes available.