Norweigein Pearl Port or Starboard Side

Have an inside cabin booked. Considering taking a balcony for the 11 night Oct. Panama cruise. Which side. Port or Starboard? Advice please.

As discussed here quite frequently, there is no "best" side. You aren't locked in your cabin, and as it is an 8 or so hour transit, you want to be all over the ship looking, not just one side.

You won't know in advance which lane of locks you'll pass through, so it's not possible to predict which side of the ship will face "out" or "in".

As far as the canal itself, there's not much difference between the scenery on the east or west side.

Choose your cabin based on other factors (like average direction of the sun with relationship to the cabin, etc).

I agree with CruiserBruce that there is no best.

I have found that when going through the canal one should view it from all sides of the ship and angles.

I do this mainly on the open deck.

I will start at the front (bow) on the highest deck at the start but as we continue I will go to each side of the ship and also to the aft (back) and then I will view the canal from lower decks. Many give up after an hour but don't. There is so much to see. But I have found that I see the most from public decks.

Keith

I don't want to hijack this thread, but did want to ask a couple of questions of those that have done the canal, which several of you appear to have done.

We are in the very preliminary planning stages.......

-We are thinking of doing the West to East leg in the spring of 2016 in order to avoid hurricane season in the fall months.........Thoughts??

-Any thoughts to which cruise line (in your opinion) offers the better experience?

-Seems that San Diego is the port that most lines use as a starting point, and Ft.Lauderdale at the end..... Did these seem to be a good cruise ports.

Any other thoughts or ideas that might be helpful?. You can always email me (link below my signature)

Thanks in advance....

I don't want to hijack this thread, but did want to ask a couple of questions of those that have done the canal, which several of you appear to have done.

 

We are in the very preliminary planning stages.......

 

-We are thinking of doing the West to East leg in the spring of 2016 in order to avoid hurricane season in the fall months.........Thoughts??

-Any thoughts to which cruise line (in your opinion) offers the better experience?

-Seems that San Diego is the port that most lines use as a starting point, and Ft.Lauderdale at the end..... Did these seem to be a good cruise ports.

 

 

Any other thoughts or ideas that might be helpful?. You can always email me (link below my signature)

 

Thanks in advance....

All of these points are discussed here regularly. The Canal is the Canal, you won't see or hear anything different on one cruise line vs another. Some will tell you that a certain cruise line has two specially built ships for the Canal, because they have more open deck space. But that is marketing hype. That cruise line doesn't open the bow for sailing the Canal, where many cruise lines do, and the bow is a very popular place as you enter and go thru locks.

If you are seeking a "difference" look at port stops. That may add some interest to one route over another.

Some reading here would reveal Jan-April is the drier time, relatively. Hurricanes don't affect the Canal, but they could affect the rest of the Caribeban in the hurricane season.

Ft Lauderdale is discussed regularly on the East Coast Departures board. Cruising in and out of Ft lauderdale is about as easy as it can be. San Diego (discussed on the West Coast Departure board) is fine for departing, however, if ending there, it has a long record of very slow Immigration clearances.

You will read here that some like going east to west, as you don't lose time as you going west to east. Minor issue, IMHO.

 

We are in the very preliminary planning stages.......

 

1-We are thinking of doing the West to East leg in the spring of 2016 in order to avoid hurricane season in the fall months.........Thoughts??

 

2-Any thoughts to which cruise line (in your opinion) offers the better experience?

 

3-Seems that San Diego is the port that most lines use as a starting point, and Ft.Lauderdale at the end..... Did these seem to be a good cruise ports.

 

 

1. I have not had issues with hurricanes in the fall, but if I were going to pick a cruise through the Canal based on weather alone, I would pick January or February. The primary reason is this is Dry Season (mid Dec thru April) in Panama and surrounding countries like Costa Rica and Colombia. If you happen to stop anywhere in Mexico the weather there is more agreeable as well.

2. The cruise lines that offer some selection of Canal cruises are not that great in number. During the Canal "season" the lines that are offering multiple Canal cruises are usually Celebrity, Princess, Holland America and to a lesser extent Royal Caribbean. Lines such as Carnival and NCL usually offer Canal cruises in conjunction with repositioning their ships from Alaska, which is generally in September and October. So if one of those cruise lines are to your liking, then pick your favorite along with the itinerary you like as I believe they all will do a good job.

3. The last time I was in the San Diego cruise terminal, it seemed a bit chaotic, but San Diego is a great town. Ft. Lauderdale is a much bigger port which seems like there is always construction going on, but the airport is sure real handy. To me there are no minuses to either place that would make me avoid them.

The only other "advice" I would throw in is... I would look for an itinerary that includes a full day stop in Panama. This would give you a chance to see more of the Canal from a different perspective or be able to soak up other items of interest in Panama. Celebrity and Royal have included a full day port call in addition to the transit. Meanwhile Princess and HAL offer the full day port call only on some of their full transits.

Now to keep this thread from officially being hijacked... The best side of the ship is topside or at least outside:D!

All of these points are discussed here regularly. The Canal is the Canal, you won't see or hear anything different on one cruise line vs another. Some will tell you that a certain cruise line has two specially built ships for the Canal, because they have more open deck space. But that is marketing hype. That cruise line doesn't open the bow for sailing the Canal, where many cruise lines do, and the bow is a very popular place as you enter and go thru locks.

 

If you are seeking a "difference" look at port stops. That may add some interest to one route over another.

 

Some reading here would reveal Jan-April is the drier time, relatively. Hurricanes don't affect the Canal, but they could affect the rest of the Caribeban in the hurricane season.

 

Ft Lauderdale is discussed regularly on the East Coast Departures board. Cruising in and out of Ft lauderdale is about as easy as it can be. San Diego (discussed on the West Coast Departure board) is fine for departing, however, if ending there, it has a long record of very slow Immigration clearances.

 

You will read here that some like going east to west, as you don't lose time as you going west to east. Minor issue, IMHO.

CruiserBruce, thanks for the thoughts..... I am really just in the beginning stages and of course looking at the various ports will be a consideration. Never thought much about being on the bow of the ship to see the locks etc. however another thing to consider for sure. I love to take photos, so I obviously will want to get the best position I could. When we left Civitavecchia (Rome) recently I managed to walk back and forth from one side to the other - and managed to get good sail away perspectives from both sides.

Also it is good to know about San Diego having immigration issues.....and again never thought about having to go through customs. Really would not be too bad for me... (I'm and hour flight away) but definately a thought for those having to fly back to the east coast if we do the East to West cruise.

1. I have not had issues with hurricanes in the fall, but if I were going to pick a cruise through the Canal based on weather alone, I would pick January or February. The primary reason is this is Dry Season (mid Dec thru April) in Panama and surrounding countries like Costa Rica and Colombia. If you happen to stop anywhere in Mexico the weather there is more agreeable as well.

 

2. The cruise lines that offer some selection of Canal cruises are not that great in number. During the Canal "season" the lines that are offering multiple Canal cruises are usually Celebrity, Princess, Holland America and to a lesser extent Royal Caribbean. Lines such as Carnival and NCL usually offer Canal cruises in conjunction with repositioning their ships from Alaska, which is generally in September and October. So if one of those cruise lines are to your liking, then pick your favorite along with the itinerary you like as I believe they all will do a good job.

 

3. The last time I was in the San Diego cruise terminal, it seemed a bit chaotic, but San Diego is a great town. Ft. Lauderdale is a much bigger port which seems like there is always construction going on, but the airport is sure real handy. To me there are no minuses to either place that would make me avoid them.

 

The only other "advice" I would throw in is... I would look for an itinerary that includes a full day stop in Panama. This would give you a chance to see more of the Canal from a different perspective or be able to soak up other items of interest in Panama. Celebrity and Royal have included a full day port call in addition to the transit. Meanwhile Princess and HAL offer the full day port call only on some of their full transits.

 

Now to keep this thread from officially being hijacked... The best side of the ship is topside or at least outside:D!

BillB48 those are some great points for sure you bring up.

Thanks to both of you for your insight. I live in Phoenix, so it is obviously closer for me to do either LA or San Diego - and at the end would be nice to keep down the flying time to return home......but I am also trying to take into consideration the others that may be traveling along on this trip. The majority are from the Boston, Connecticut, and Canada area. So it will most likely be a 'majority rules' as to direction. Of course time of year will factor into that also.

We would most certainly like to do a full day in Panama and while I am not a big fan of Mexico, (having been there so many times - we just a few hours away to the border) again the consideration for all those traveling will have to be a factor as to what excursions/cities we want to visit. I guess what I really need to do...is first see which cruise line offers the Canal and the time of year. Then of course the itinerary...including where they have excursions.

We have pretty much used NCL (we love the free style of the cruise) but would certainly use whomever offered the best overall cruise for all of us, and bang for the buck as they say.

And to stay on topic. Another thing I guess about trying to pick a side of the ship, is of course where the sun will be during the cruise. Going East to West would afford more 'sun in your eyes' while traveling but not so much a concern for port/starboard rooms I guess. So I guess as seems to be the case...it is toss a coin for which side is the 'best'.

Thanks once again for all your comments and thoughts.

If "bang for your buck" is a big priority (it is for us), be sure to look at repositioning cruises. That also often have unusual port stops, and the prices are hard to beat.

If "bang for your buck" is a big priority (it is for us), be sure to look at repositioning cruises. That also often have unusual port stops, and the prices are hard to beat.

We certainly have talked about repositioning cruises.... I guess I really need to get the consensus from those interested as to what time of year, and/or which travel direction is most wanted.