Panama Canal Cruise on Celebrity Infinity 15 Days

[Icc5]

Wondering if anyone has done this cruise and if so how was it? Best things to see, do, places to eat? Was it worth it? Did you go out of San Diego or Fort Lauderdale? Did you go/buy any of the shore excursions? If not on this ship or cruise line has anyone done the Panama Canal Cruise?
Thanks,
Bart

 

[pedro47]

Wondering if anyone has done this cruise and if so how was it? Best things to see, do, places to eat? Was it worth it? Did you go out of San Diego or Fort Lauderdale? Did you go/buy any of the shore excursions? If not on this ship or cruise line has anyone done the Panama Canal Cruise?
Thanks,
Bart

Suggestion only go to the Cruise Critic web site and its free. Look under community for Celebrity Cruise Line & also check the cruise review section just key in Celebrity and the ship named Infinity. Your questions will be answer.

Also, please check the Roll Call for the Infinity sailing thru the Panama Canal West & East Bound for the cruising date you are looking at.

 

[Passepartout]

Bart, I agree that for detailed info, www.cruisecritic.com/ is the TUG for cruises. No better info anywhere.
We did the Infinity from Ft. Lauderdale to Valparaiso Chile in Nov. '15. We love long cruises- a week isn't long enough, and have taken several trans- Atlantic and Pacific ones. But for ME, this was my ALL TIME FAVORITE cruise. Just exactly the right combo of sea days and shore days. I had thought the Panama Canal crossing would be a ho-hum affair, but they really made it interesting. Remember that the (original) locks are 1000' X 105' and Infinity is 996' X 102' wide. You don't park that close to cars at the mall. There were Panama canal experts and naturalists and engineers who broadcast all over the ship, telling what was going on, and where to get the best views. The cruise line paid almost $300,000 toll for the crossing- or about $150 per passenger, so they wanted us to get our money's worth. We enjoyed the stops in Cartagena Columbia and in Ecuador (where I got a genuine Panama hat) and nearly died (sorta kidding) at 15,000 feet in the Andes. The back and forth transits between Ft Lauderdale and San Diego don't go that far south. I can't see that it makes much difference which direction you go. We took shore excursions on Panama and in Chile. Many of the ports are close enough to the historical downtown that the ship's shuttle will take you there and back. There are several specialty restaurants on Infinity if you choose not to use the Main Dining Room (which is pretty good- though a bit 'leisurely' (slow). You can get a package of specialty restaurant meals at a discount when you get aboard. Book them early as they fill up. We were Aqua Class which has it's own Blu restaurant 2 meals a day.

We enjoyed that one so much that we (not big fans of the Caribbean) are going shortly on a Holland America partial transit round trip from Ft Lauderdale. I wish it was on Celebrity, but necessity now is having a handicap accessible cabin and H/A has more of them than Celebrity.

Jim

 

[Cruisin14fun]

Wondering if anyone has done this cruise and if so how was it? Best things to see, do, places to eat? Was it worth it? Did you go out of San Diego or Fort Lauderdale? Did you go/buy any of the shore excursions? If not on this ship or cruise line has anyone done the Panama Canal Cruise?
Thanks,
Bart

Bart,
I did a Holland America 15 day Panama Canal cruise. We sailed from San Francisco to Ft Lauderdale. I must say, it is really something sailing out under the Golden Gate bridge.

Our ports included Cabo San Lucas, Huatulco, Puntarenas, Cartagena, Aruba and Half Moon Cay.

The only places we did ship shore excursions was Puntarenas, in Costa Rica and Cartagena, Colombia. In the other ports, we just planned our own days based on info from the ports of call boards on Cruise Critic. The reason we did ship shore excursions in those 2 places was distance of everything in Costa Rica and honestly, for safety in Cartagena.

The Panama Canal transit itself was incredible, and the sides of the canal were so close it seemed that if you put your hand out, you could touch the wall.

Enjoy your trip!

Teresa

 

[pedro47]

To the OP in my opinion you have two (2) great reviews. We are Elite Plus with Celebrity Cruise Lines we enjoy any cruise that are more than 12 nights. The Trans Atlantic, The Holy Land and the Southern Caribbean cruises are some of our favorite cruises with Celebrity Cruise Lines.

 

[Icc5]

Bart,
I did a Holland America 15 day Panama Canal cruise. We sailed from San Francisco to Ft Lauderdale. I must say, it is really something sailing out under the Golden Gate bridge.

Our ports included Cabo San Lucas, Huatulco, Puntarenas, Cartagena, Aruba and Half Moon Cay.

The only places we did ship shore excursions was Puntarenas, in Costa Rica and Cartagena, Colombia. In the other ports, we just planned our own days based on info from the ports of call boards on Cruise Critic. The reason we did ship shore excursions in those 2 places was distance of everything in Costa Rica and honestly, for safety in Cartagena.

The Panama Canal transit itself was incredible, and the sides of the canal were so close it seemed that if you put your hand out, you could touch the wall.

Enjoy your trip!

Teresa

We cruised under the Golden Gate about 20 years ago on a repositioning cruise from San Francisco to Alaska and yes it was very interesting. That was probably the last cruise we were on. We have cruised about 10 times but all many years ago.
Bart

 

[cgeidl]

We have done the cruise thru the locks but found a week in Panama and visiting the locks and museum much more interesting. You look down on all that is happening and you have a much better view. The books on the history of the building of the canal are also very interesting. A land tour is our preference as the many days at sea with fw ports are not y favorite day of cruising after spending many months at sea years ago in the Navy.

 

[WalnutBaron]

The best, most authoritative, and detailed history of the construction of the Panama Canal is The Path Between The Seas by David McCullough. For some, it might seem a dry topic, but McCullough weaves a story that makes it truly thrilling. It remains one of the great engineering marvels of all time. Here's one interesting factoid from the book: the amount of earth that was removed from the Culebra Cut to build the Canal would fill a column the size of a city block sufficient to stretch to the moon and back. Three times. Unfathomable.