Panama Canal - Which itinerary would you choose?

[darkhorizon]

Hi, am a first time cruiser and traveling from outside US to take one of the cruises from the attached image. Which would be a better itinerary in terms of weather, and port timings? The ship is Norwegian Bliss, and we are 2 seniors, 2 adults, and 1 infant.

 

Would it be colder in December compared to November, to enjoy the pool on ship or the beaches and places at ports? Also, December itinerary has an additional port stop at Mazlatan, Mexico. Is it worth to choose this, over supposedly warmer weather in November?

 

What would you choose and why?

 

 

[dexddd]

Welcome to CC.

[mugtech]

            The difference in weather will be slight, most of the cruise is in the tropics.  Stopping in Mazlatan adds little to the cruise, although it is a Love Boat stop.  One item to consider is time change, when traveling East to west you have three 25 hour days, while traveling west to east you have three 23 hour days.

[www3traveler]

For me this is an easy question: Los Angeles to Miami.

That puts the crossing through The Canal toward the end of your cruise rather than at the beginning.

 

On the cruise that you posted (LA-Miami), Thanksgiving Day (November 23rd) would be a Sea Day.  Lots of football and food all day long that you are not cooking.

 

I have done this cruise twice-once in each direction.  I do not get off the ship in either Acapulco or Mazlatan, but that's just as a Senior Citizen solo passenger.

 

Enjoy your cruise and most importantly your family.

[v3cruiser]

The dec itinerary for sure. Not much difference in weather from nov to dec. dec may be a little drier. we did a cruise in nov east to west and weather was perfect. We later cruised in feb, west to east, weather was great but you can tell it was dry season from so much haze, pollution in the air. Dec itinerary you will approach from the east and its quite dramatic going up the first three locks bow first as you really rise up and into the lake. 

 

We have been to mazaltan and really enjoyed the town. You can always do a brewery tour at pacifico, go to the beach. lots to do. We paid a taxi to drive us around the old city and old part of town where which was under major renovation at the time(2019).  Acapulco was nice as well. we cruised around the bay, saw the cliff divers, and later hung out in town as there is a nice church and huge market down from pier. Disappointed that niether itinerary has nicaragua on it but that seems to be the current trend. 

[hallux]

Interesting - I'm booked on the January 27 MIA-LA cruise, the difference between my cruise and the LA-MIA just before it is Acapulco, not Mazatlan.  I chose the one I did for the cost, (saved me $500, added a port) but the flights aren't as good coming home to the East coast from LA.

[MeHeartCruising]

I think I would do the December cruise.  Weather differences between the 2 are going to be minimal.  The first cruise is over the US Thanksgiving Holiday and that could mean more children on board.  Mazatlan is a decent port, but nothing special. 

[ExArkie]

"Not as blisteringly hot" might be a better way of putting it than "colder."

 

I'd probably vote for the December one myself for reasons stated above: likely fewer school-age children than one occurring over the US Thanksgiving holiday (although the length of the trip may reduce that expectation) and the peak of the Panama rainy season is October-November. I think that the LA-Miami direction is perhaps more interesting as far as the sequence of Canal operations, but that isn't really a deciding point.

[Stealthdog]

The December cruise for me.  Holiday cruises tend to have more children on board.  Though, I’m not sure how many would be on board for a 15 day cruise regardless, so it’s probably not an issue with either cruise.  The December one also has an extra port stop - there are enough Sea Days that I’d prefer the extra port stop.  
 

The difference in weather will probably be marginal - it will be great in November and December.  
 

The only other consideration would be travel.  I’d rather fly to California for the start and end in Florida, since I live here.  But, the first cruise leaves the Sunday before Thanksgiving, so that will probably be a really busy travel weekend.

[dcipjr]

I’d go with the December itinerary. We did a very similar itinerary on the Joy back in Feb 2020 and loved it. 

 

One point I would raise: the Bliss and the other large ships will use the new Panama Canal locks. Smaller ships like the Jewel-class and the Sun, etc. will use the original locks. If the canal is on your bucket list, you may want a ship that uses the original locks.

 

As always, I recommend reading Path Between the Seas by David McCullough before your journey. It’s a wonderful read and added so much to my canal transit experience.

Edited July 27, 2023 by dcipjr

[GORDONCHICK]

3 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

I think I would do the December cruise.  Weather differences between the 2 are going to be minimal.  The first cruise is over the US Thanksgiving Holiday and that could mean more children on board.  Mazatlan is a decent port, but nothing special. 

It's too long of a cruise to have that many children on board unless they are not school-aged children.  If that's the case, they can be on board at any time.

[Panhandle Couple]

We chose the Dec 4 sailing (made final payment earlier this week).

Between holidays, so flights were easier to get and cheaper.  

As stated, also reduces chances of large children population on board, which also leads to over capacity, as kids are #3, #4 in a room for free.

Whales.  The humpbacks will arrive on MX west coast in Dec, Leaving LA first means there may be few or none at Cabo or PV.  You might see them along the way, however.  The Dec sailing has Cabo especially at the end, so an excellent chance to see them on a whale watching tour.

 

Mazatlán (with a silent T) is yet another beach option and an interesting place to visit.  We have been there once.   NCL offered a double decker bus tour of the city for a good fare with the shore excursion credit.  You get the highlights.  There are also 3 brew pubs in town (2 in walking distance) if you so desire.  We haven't made plans for there yet.

 

We have heard Cartagena is hot even in the winter, docking from 10 AM to 5 PM places any tours in a hotter time than a 6-2 visit.  

 

[Raleigh Traveler]

My wife and I did the Miami to LA cruise this Jan-Feb. The weather was great and the only time it got cool was the last couple days heading up to LA. We always fly in a day or two pre-cruise and we preferred to overnight in Miami. We also live on the east coast so the trip began in the same time zone and dealt with the time change post trip. We were on the Joy but the itinerary is the same as the Miami-LA you posted. Great cruise.

[Turtles06]

@darkhorizon

We’ve been through the Canal,4 times — 3 southbound (from the Atlantic side), and once northbound (from the Pacific).  There are a number of things to consider regarding your itinerary choices. First, as noted in comments above, the Bliss will use the new locks. Many folks think that for one’s first transit of the Canal, going through the original locks would be preferable. Only you can make that decision for yourself after your research. Perhaps one of these Bliss cruises will be your only opportunity to transit the Canal, in which case, go for it, and use some of your time in Panama City to go to the Miraflores Visitors Center, where you’ ll get an up close look at the operation of that set of original locks.

 

Another consideration is whether it matters to you which city you fly into and out of. 
 

As for the two itineraries, forget about cold weather. These are warm to very hot weather cruises. I would probably pick the December sailing. The overall direction of travel is east to west, which will give you three 25-hour days,  You will also call at Cabo a bit later in the year than you would on the other itinerary. Hopefully, that will be far enough into December for you to see migrating humpback whales, which is an incredible experience.  And you’ll arrive in Cartagena early in the morning, before the most brutal heat of the day. Also, the December cruise adds Mazatlan, which we enjoyed very much.
 

Below is a link to my detailed review, with photos, of our first cruise that transited the Canal, including what we did in each of the ports, most of which overlap with those on your two itineraries.  You may find it helpful. 
 

Finally, I strongly second the recommendation to read “The Path Between the Seas” before you transit the Canal.  You will appreciate it even more.  
 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Turtles06