Panama Canal on Star Pride

[elklemi]

Realize the Panama Canal-Aruba season is over, but I just got off Star Pride Saturday and spent a few days on Aruba, if anyone is considering this itinerary for next year ana has any questions I will be glad to try and help as I could find little to no information.  I will do a review on Cruise Critic hopefully this weekend.

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 hours ago, elklemi said:

Realize the Panama Canal-Aruba season is over, but I just got off Star Pride Saturday and spent a few days on Aruba, if anyone is considering this itinerary for next year ana has any questions I will be glad to try and help as I could find little to no information.  I will do a review on Cruise Critic hopefully this weekend.

Please copy your review and post it here as a thread.  Many of us in the Boards community don't read the Reviews.

[oakridger]

Hey @elklemi I see you are from Oak Ridge!  (me too, hence the CC name) There is at least one other person here on Cruise Critic that I know of from there!  I left there after 5th grade but was last there in 2000.  I hope to go back to visit again sometime.

 

I'm looking forward to your review!  I'll be on Star Breeze in 2025. First time on Windstar.

 

~Nancy

[elklemi]

On 3/14/2024 at 2:44 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Please copy your review and post it here as a thread.  Many of us in the Boards community don't read the Reviews.

Here is link, I hope it proves helpful to anyone who is thinking of making this itinerary next year  Here is a link to your review.

[oakridger]

Thanks so much for the review @elklemi. 

 

Do you mind sharing what your cabin number was as you mentioned it was forward and you felt movement each night.

 

I'll be on Star Breeze and had to move to a slightly more forward cabin than I originally booked due to the January/February 2025 cancellations. (maintenance location moved from New Zealand to Central America)

 

~Nancy

[elklemi]

7 hours ago, oakridger said:

Thanks so much for the review @elklemi. 

 

Do you mind sharing what your cabin number was as you mentioned it was forward and you felt movement each night.

 

I'll be on Star Breeze and had to move to a slightly more forward cabin than I originally booked due to the January/February 2025 cancellations. (maintenance location moved from New Zealand to Central America)

 

~Nancy

Sorry for not mentioning the cabin number (403) OakRidger, I intended to but skipped my mind. Always glad to connect with a fellow Ridger, and FYI Tuesday March 19, was 70th anniversary of the official opening of the gates of Oak Ridge. I was only  two years old so do not remember that but memory banks do seem to recall going with my Mom to the gates to vouch for my uncle to come visit. Great place for a kid to grow up, enjoy your Breeze cruise next year.

[gsutiger2]

We took this cruise in 2023. We had mixed feelings. Windstar was fabulous (with the exception of poor vegan options). However, like your review mentions, the ports (except Cartagena) and tours offered are not interesting at all.  We were pretty disappointed.

 

Ironically,  we will be back on this same itinerary in 2024 as we could not find a 7-day Christmas cruise on a boutique premium line other than Windstar for our family. So we must endure these sad ports again. At least they have fantastic cabins.

 

Btw- I found plenty of Windstar Panama Canal reviews in the review section. 

[jamin jul]

On 3/19/2024 at 11:22 AM, elklemi said:

Here is link, I hope it proves helpful to anyone who is thinking of making this itinerary next year  Here is a link to your review.

Thank you for your review.  I am signed up on  a NCL 10 day Panama Canal Cruise.  I’ve never have cruised with NCL or Windstar. My 7 day RC Panama Canal cruise was cancelled this past winter.  I have not done the Panama Canal cruise and really want to but have limited vacation time so not sure if I can do the 10 day cruise plus stay before hand.  I usually do RC and Celebrity cruises.  Do you think the Windstar 7 night is worth the price? I keep looking at it because it is 7 nights but just not sure. Were you happy with a window? I heard it was best to be in a balcony room thru the Canal. Any recommendations is helpful.  Thank you. 

[elklemi]

I was very happy with large window but admit I spent the day on deck so I could see the canal from different views. To me a balcony would not be ideal as I like to be out on deck. I enjoy a balcony when at sea to enjoy viewing the water. My cruise was discounted so I felt it was worth the experience especially since it was on a smaller ship. In the cabin you could not hear the canal commentary provided by Windstar which was full of great information. Hope this helps with your planning.

[ridethetide]

You definitely want to be on deck when transiting the canal. If you are looking out a window or balcony from your cabin, you will miss so many of the interesting views.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I think the Canal experience will be much better on Windstar than NCL because of the size of the ships.  We did the Canal on Coral Princess, which is still smaller than today's NCL ships, and the experience going through the Gatun Locks was interesting but the public areas never dropped below the lock walls.  That was only a 'partial' transit so we got off the ship in Gatun Lake and took an excursion on the public ferry from the lake through the Culebra Cut and all the way to the Pacific Ocean – the experience on that small ferry was much more dramatic.  A Windstar ship would be like the ferry experience all the way through.

[r&rd]

Definitely be on deck - the balconies do not give you the full experience of going through the locks.

[Ski Mom 2]

We have been through the Panama Canal twice on Windstar. The first time was during the holidays 2014/2015 on Wind Spirit and the second time was in January 2024 on Star Pride. Here is my take on our passage through on the Star Pride. 
 

We got up very early and found two loungers that we knew would be mostly in the shade that day. This was our last stop (we started in Barbados and ended in Panama City for a lovely two weeks on board) so we knew where we wanted to be.

 

We started through at the Gatun Locks. Many folks went to the bow of the ship to watch the spectacular unfold. There was plenty of room to wander from the bow to the stern, from port side to starboard. It is an incredible sight. And it takes lots of time to go through the three locks that make up the Gatun Locks. It was nice having our loungers as our “home base” for hanging out. 
 

Sailing through Gatun Lake was magical and very calming. When we arrived at the Pedro Miguel locks there were perhaps half the number of people hanging out at the bow of the ship. Once at the Miraflora locks there was practically no one up front! I love being outside by the Miraflora locks since there is usually a crowd in the late afternoon from various tours starting in Panama City and they wave and cheer at you as you go by and it’s very festive. 
 

I can’t imagine being on a large ship going through the canal. On Windstar you can roam around the ship and watch from every angle. Back in 2015/2015 we had our two teenage sons with us and we all went from the bow to the stern as we went through each lock to watch the water rise up and the locks open. The engineering of the entire system is mind blowing! This is a great advantage of being on a small ship and having the entire ship as your “balcony.”

Edited April 30 by Ski Mom 2