Panama Canal in October? LA-Miami or Miami-Miami?

Hello, we were originally doing a Panama canal cruise in February but had to put that on hold. Now it looks like we may be able to go in October - I am aware it'll be hot then (30 degrees Celsius), but will it be as humid?

Also, we are contemplating whether to do the LA-Miami or Miami-Miami itinerary with Norwegian :confused::

11-Day Panama Canal from Miami

Miami, Florida (EMBARK)

At Sea

At Sea

Cartagena, Colombia

Panama Canal/Gatun Lake, Panama

Colon, Panama

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

At Sea

Banana Coast (Trujillo), Honduras

Harvest Caye, Belize

Costa Maya, Mexico

At Sea

Miami, Florida (DISEMBARK)

OR

15-Day Panama Canal from Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California (EMBARK)

At Sea

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

At Sea

Huatulco, Mexico

Puerto Chiapas, Mexico

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

At Sea

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

At Sea

Daylight Transit Panama Canal

Cartagena, Colombia

At Sea

At Sea

Miami, Florida (DISEMBARK)

Miami-Miami

PROS

Goes to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica - can go to sloth sanctuary

Has Colon port

Has Costa Maya port

Has Panama Canal/Gatun Lake

CONS

Expensive (a few hundred dollars more compared to the LA cruise)

Shorter cruise

Would need to fly LA-Miami

Los Angeles-Miami

PROS

Cheaper

Longer cruise

Has more Mexico ports (haven't been to Huatulco and Puerto Chiapas)

CONS

No Colon port

No Panama Canal/Gatun Lake port

Can't go to sloth sanctuary from Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Has anyone been on similar itineraries and can recommend one over the other? :)

Norwegian website does not have shore excursions for Banana Coast (Trujillo). Do they usually have tours available closer to date of sailing? Or can you do this port independently?

Thank you!! :D

If you are able to do the full transit (LA-Miami, or vice versa), no real good reason to do the partial (roundtrip out of Miami).

 

Has anyone been on similar itineraries and can recommend one over the other? :)

 

Norwegian website does not have shore excursions for Banana Coast (Trujillo). Do they usually have tours available closer to date of sailing? Or can you do this port independently?

 

Thank you!! :D

I would do the full transit Miami - LA

Banana Coast is a brand new port. There is a thread on it on the destination board. If I remember correctly, you can take a taxi to Truijillo.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1990772

Thank you for the replies so far.

I will have a look at the thread re Banana coast.

If we choose the LA-Miami itinerary (full transit), that would mean we can't go to the Sloth sanctuary..or is it still possible? Is there another sanctuary closer to the Puntarenas port?

Cheers

While I think the partial transit cruise (Miami-Miami) is a great cruise and I would do it in a heartbeat... any of the pros for the partial transit cruise just don't compare with a full transit. The gold standard of a Canal cruise is the complete transit (LAX-MIA) and I think that would go for someone coming a long distance such as Oz for the cruise, should go for the full transit. I really think you would be more satisfied with the LA-MIA cruise.

Let me address your first concern, the humidity... in reality the temps and humidity don't vary a great deal throughout the year. Yes, February would have been a slightly better month in the weather department, but October isn't a horrible month. To be honest, October is still within the Rainy Season, so the higher humidity can come in the form of rain;)! Don't despair, when and if you do encounter rain it usually is only for a short period of time and it is unlikely to be an all day toad choking washout:D! Usually a rain shower has the effect of sending the less hardy in search of something to eat thereby opening up the prime viewing positions.

So here is another vote for the full transit.

Good to know, cheers BillB48. :p

It would make sense to do the full transit itinerary (LA-Miami). Which means one less flight and hotel = more $$$ for spending money!! And we get to return to Mexico and visit a few Mexican ports, which is a plus ;)

As much as we'd like to go to the sloth sanctuary, it isn't an option on the full transit itinerary, as the full transit cruise calls into Puntarenas and it's on the other side of Costa Rica. So we'll have to look into where we'd like to include into our day itinerary to hopefully see sloths - Macaw sanctuary, Manuel Antonio NP or Monteverde Cloud Forest.

I will be doing research on all 3, and go from there. And hopefully choose a cabin and book our cruise soon!

Thanks again for your help, everyone! :D