A couple of questions about PC cruises

The shorter [10 day] Panama Canal cruises I've seen are partial crossings; are there any shorter lengths for ocean-to-ocean? I'm putting together a PC cruise for 2008 [yes, I know I'm starting really early, but this'll be a big one!] mostly for my mom, as a surprise, that would include myself and my family, and my sister and her family, because one of the few places I can get my mother to that's she really wants to visit (that is within our budgets!), is the Panama Canal. I know my sister is going to go crazy at the idea of a 14-day cruise [plus the transportation time back from the West Coast], and two of her children will be well into college and adulthood by that time, so it'll be difficult to get around their school/life schedules. I would also have a hard time taking 2 full weeks off from work; also my mother and I both do not fly [and please don't go there!], so we'd have to return to FL from CA by Amtrak, which is an additional several days tacked on. Given the difficulty a 2 week cruise would have for several of us in the traveling party, I guess my second question would be if there are no shorter ocean-to-ocean cruises, would the 10-day be fulfilling as having seen and experienced the Canal for my mother, who will be 74 [or 75, depending on what time of year we go], and, mostly due to financial considerations, not likely to be able to go again? Your opinions would be really appreciated! :)

We did the Coral Princess 10 day r/t out of Florida, and did the Ocean to Ocean boat tour so we could go the rest of the way through the Canal, and I feel like we've seen the whole thing, and much of it way up close and personal from the tour.

Much cheaper to do a 10 day than a 14, of course, and no One Way airfare addon makes this an easy decision, in my opinion.

I do think I've seen some San Juan to San Diego full transits of 10 days or so, maybe relocation trips if your heart is set on a shorter full transit.

Thanks; I think I'm going to go for the 10-day round trip out of Fort Lauderdale on the Coral Princess. :) Of course, this isn't till 2008, so who knows; maybe itineraries will change! Thanks again...

IMHO there's nothing like a "full transit" on the ship and we did just that for 11-days but there was flying involved.. My guess is that you will have to settle for a 10-day "roundtrip" BUT a lot can change in 2 years .. which is when all of the '08 itineraries will be out.. IMHO I'd have a cruise line in mind but hold off on any major planning until at least fall '06 when you'll have a decent idea of what's out there? The "season" runs from about mid-late October through April for the "partial roundtrip cruises"... and that won't change..

IMHO there's nothing like a "full transit" on the ship and we did just that for 11-days but there was flying involved.. My guess is that you will have to settle for a 10-day "roundtrip" BUT a lot can change in 2 years .. which is when all of the '08 itineraries will be out.. IMHO I'd have a cruise line in mind but hold off on any major planning until at least fall '06 when you'll have a decent idea of what's out there? The "season" runs from about mid-late October through April for the "partial roundtrip cruises"... and that won't change..

I have not seen any full transit cruises that are only 11 days.

What cruise line does this?

This sounds like what we are looking for.

IMHO there's nothing like a "full transit" on the ship and we did just that for 11-days but there was flying involved.. My guess is that you will have to settle for a 10-day "roundtrip" BUT a lot can change in 2 years .. which is when all of the '08 itineraries will be out.. IMHO I'd have a cruise line in mind but hold off on any major planning until at least fall '06 when you'll have a decent idea of what's out there? The "season" runs from about mid-late October through April for the "partial roundtrip cruises"... and that won't change..

Yes, I'm really hoping one of the lines includes a shorter full-transit roundtrip, but would be waiting till late '06/early '07 to actually book. Thanks for your advice! :)

Have you considered a repositioning cruise - those seem to be the most reasonable, especially if you book through a travel agency that can get good deals. We are doing a repo cruise in Sep 05 from Vancouver BC to Houston, that includes air fare back to Seattle - 24 days with a base price of $1000 pp inside. We have an excellent TA.

They don't have time for a repositiong cruise based on the first post.. and, yes, many many agencies have these repo cruises for around $1000 per person for 14-18 nights... it's a great bargain if you have the time!

What is a "repo" cruise? Also, what is "full-transit roundtrip"?

Hi - The "repo" (for "repositioning") cruises are when they're moving the ships from one area to another. For the Panama transits ... in the Fall (mid Sept to early Oct) they move them from the West Coast (the summer Alaska itineraries) to the Carribean (for the winter Carribean itineraries) ... in the Spring (usually in April) they're going the other way. They also reposition from Europe to the east coast ... west coast to orient ... etc. There are a lot of great deals on these cruises (usually last minute).

The round-trip full transit is not very common ... usually a back-2-back (b2b) that's basically two cruises through the canal. The most comon round-trip is the "partial transit" ... through part of the locks ... into Gatun Lake and then back out the way you came in. This isn't a bad trip at all.

we're taking a repo cruise May '06 that goes to Alaska after the Panama Canal but I don't think it was any cheaper because cruising is so popular. It was amazing how fast this trip sold out. Hope you do better than we did price wise.

Edna