need help deciding

elva · December 9, 2006

ok i think i am ready for a longer cruise (10-15 days) and have been comparing and trying to decide which would be better. hopefully at some point in the future i will be able to do both but for now i need help.

west coast to hawaii (not sure which ship or port yet)

or panama canal (either east to west or rt)

i am thinking december 08 so i can budget for it

pros and cons please

thanks

jacketwatch · December 9, 2006

:cool: You will have a longer stretch at sea if you do Hawaii fom the West coast so consider that aspect. I would base my decision on what appeals to me most. Really you can't go wrong either way. Both are special in their own way. Do you want exquisite natural beauty ala Hawaii or do you prefer seeing one of the great engineering feats in history? Whats the biggest turn on? Good luck! :cool:

JoeyandDavid · December 9, 2006

Well let me say first and foremost ..Please do what is in your heart...

Personally we have always considered Hawaii a land Vacation.. Needing time to explore the beauty of the islands I don't think you can do any island justice in a few hours.. thats my personal take..

So if it was moi.. we would do the PC or possibly a South American Adventure..

jacketwatch · December 9, 2006

:cool: Thats good advice. We spent 9 days on the BI of Hawaii in 2004 and honestly we could have used about two more days.

btate · December 10, 2006

If I could do a longer cruise, I would do a relocation that goes through Panama. I WILL do this one day, just need to have a bit more time on my hands. You can't beat some of the prices either!

Shari2 · December 10, 2006

Hi Elva!

I have done both, and they are both great cruises. The others have made good points, though. You don't see much of Hawaii on the round trip cruise since you spend so much time at sea. That cruise is great if you've already been to Hawaii.

The Panama Canal cruise is great with different ports in different areas, and as Larry said you get to see one of the great engineering feats of history.

I don't think you could go wrong with either one. I would take either of these cruises again. Good luck with your decision!

Suzila · December 12, 2006

I haven't done Hawaii yet by cruising (we've been there many times on land vacations), but I just wanted to give my pros and cons of a Panama Canal cruise.

We did the canal in April of 1999. It was an 11 day cruise, from Miami to Acapulco. We got off at Acapulco because of time restraints for us, and also because we have done the Mexican Riviera portion of the trip many times.

The only con for us was that we did this trip in April, while school was in session and 95% of the people on the cruise were retirees. I'd have to say the average age was 70-75. Because of this, the entertainment was geared to older people (we are in our 50's), i.e.: Frank Sinatra-type entertainers, Marty Allen was the comedian and he did the same routines he used to do on the Dean Martin Show, etc. People also tended to go to sleep early, so the nightlife onboard was not what we expected. That part was disappointing.

The good part was the excursions were fantastic, seeing the canal was amazing, and we did actually meet some very nice (older) people on the ship whom we have kept in touch with all these years. We had our friends with us on that cruise, which was a saving grace for us. I don't think we would have enjoyed it as much if others our own age weren't with us.

Because of that cruise we have only taken 7 day cruises since that time. When we retire, we will go for a longer cruise again, but it seemed to us that younger people, who still have careers, have a harder time getting away for the longer cruises.

SMB · December 12, 2006

Well, I've taken neither cruise, so this is a second-hand opinion, but my in-laws have been on both types of cruises. My mother-in-law went on the QEII through the canal... loved it. Both in-laws went on a cruise that left from Hawaii. They went to a few islands and then sailed way out to some South Pacific island country (I can never remember the name) in the middle of nowhere. My father in-law still uses the picture he took of that island as his desktop background. They also took a Baltic cruise this summer for 2 weeks and loved it. If you hit it at the right time of year, airfare to London can run about the same as to Hawaii. We are thinking about a family cruise around South America next year. Has anyone sailed in that area?

SMB