Suggestions please - Panama cruise

We are considering taking my elderly parents on a ~7 day cruise in late
Nov. or early Dec. Any suggestions anyone may be able to offer as to
which cruise line to use, itinerary, etc. would be appreciated. Any
preferences for passing through the Canal eastbound or westbound?

Price isn't a huge concern, but our tastes are fairly simple and we
aren't big partiers. A table for four in the dining room is a must -
meeting new people and simultaneously dealing with meals is more of a
challenge for them than a pleasure.

Limited mobility will require one of the cabins to be wheelchair
accessible and we won't be planning on doing a lot of touring at ports
of call.

T.I.A.
Wayne

Wayne wrote:
We are considering taking my elderly parents on a ~7 day cruise in late
Nov. or early Dec. Any suggestions anyone may be able to offer as to
which cruise line to use, itinerary, etc. would be appreciated. Any
preferences for passing through the Canal eastbound or westbound?

Price isn't a huge concern, but our tastes are fairly simple and we
aren't big partiers. A table for four in the dining room is a must -
meeting new people and simultaneously dealing with meals is more of a
challenge for them than a pleasure.

Limited mobility will require one of the cabins to be wheelchair
accessible and we won't be planning on doing a lot of touring at ports
of call.

T.I.A.
Wayne

First you should know that you are planning this rather late -- it
isn't impossible,
but you might be prepared that what you need might not be available.

Second, I did a quick search and can't find any seven night cruises
that do
the Canal. Mostly they are ten night to fourteen night.

Third, a Camal cruise might involve a long flight either before or
after the cruise.
Would that be a problem?

stitcher wrote:
Wayne wrote:

We are considering taking my elderly parents on a ~7 day cruise in late
Nov. or early Dec. Any suggestions anyone may be able to offer as to
which cruise line to use, itinerary, etc. would be appreciated. Any
preferences for passing through the Canal eastbound or westbound?

Price isn't a huge concern, but our tastes are fairly simple and we
aren't big partiers. A table for four in the dining room is a must -
meeting new people and simultaneously dealing with meals is more of a
challenge for them than a pleasure.

Limited mobility will require one of the cabins to be wheelchair
accessible and we won't be planning on doing a lot of touring at ports
of call.

T.I.A.
Wayne


First you should know that you are planning this rather late -- it
isn't impossible,
but you might be prepared that what you need might not be available.

Second, I did a quick search and can't find any seven night cruises
that do
the Canal. Mostly they are ten night to fourteen night.

Third, a Camal cruise might involve a long flight either before or
after the cruise.
Would that be a problem?

The long flights s/b ok. We may have to work a bit to minimize the # of
flights, but I think that is manageable.

I fear that you are correct about it maybe being too late to book. This
may be one of those good ideas that never gets off the ground -
figuratively and literally. Long lead times are a bit of an impediment
when working around health issues, but c'est la vie.

10-14 nights could be a deal-breaker. As novice cruisers we aren't
sufficiently in love with the idea that we wouldn't be concerned about
being bored (sorry, I've probably just offended a bunch of dedicated
cruisers).

On Sun, 01 Oct 2006 05:56:46 GMT, Wayne wrote:

I fear that you are correct about it maybe being too late to book. This
may be one of those good ideas that never gets off the ground -
figuratively and literally. Long lead times are a bit of an impediment
when working around health issues, but c'est la vie.

Try vacationstogo.com's 90-day ticker. I've also had good luck
finding a cruise on their site then calling my travel agent, who will
match or beat it.

--
Face your fears.
Live your dreams.

Try Princess; but most Panama Canal trips run 10 days, and
that's not for full passage from Altantic to Pacific.. You
can do a customized search on the VacationsToGo.com
website that will let you select the cruise parameters--it is
a pretty powerful cruise search tool.

Wayne wrote:
We are considering taking my elderly parents on a ~7 day cruise in late
Nov. or early Dec. Any suggestions anyone may be able to offer as to
which cruise line to use, itinerary, etc. would be appreciated. Any
preferences for passing through the Canal eastbound or westbound?

Price isn't a huge concern, but our tastes are fairly simple and we
aren't big partiers. A table for four in the dining room is a must -
meeting new people and simultaneously dealing with meals is more of a
challenge for them than a pleasure.

Limited mobility will require one of the cabins to be wheelchair
accessible and we won't be planning on doing a lot of touring at ports
of call.

If you want a cruise that does the Panama Canal, it is going to have
to be a 10 day or longer cruise. The 10 day cruises are round trips
that go through the Gatun Locks, then turn around and head back
through the same locks again. They usually start and end at the same
port in Florida and stop at some other ports before and/or after the
Panama Canal.

It is rather late to be booking this type of cruise for Nov. or Dec.
this year. We are sailing on the Volendam, Panama Canal cruise in
early Jan. and from what I see it is sold out. The other issue is that
it might not be possible to get a handicapped cabin this late.

I would suggest sitting down with a cruise only travel agent and
seeingif they can help you, esp with this time frame. If you can't
find anything for now, why not book something further out. I see you
said there are health issues to work around, so if you book something,
just buy cruise insurance that has pre-existing conditions covered.

Another option if you really want to go this nov. or dec. is to look
at a Carribbean sailing, instead of the Panama Canal. There are plenty
of options and in the Carribean you can get a seven day sailing.

Good luck!!

sue

Do a search for the Coral Princess for those months, only
1 cruise is sold out. They even have balconies onsale in
November for about 1,000 dollars, a darn good bargain
for that ship. I can't imagine being bored; the time flew
for us.

Pete

Uncle Peter wrote:
Do a search for the Coral Princess for those months, only
1 cruise is sold out. They even have balconies onsale in
November for about 1,000 dollars, a darn good bargain
for that ship. I can't imagine being bored; the time flew
for us.

Here is the link to the Princess website, so you can see what is
available: http://www.princess.com/find/index.jsp


sue

On Sun, 01 Oct 2006 05:01:22 GMT, Wayne wrote:

We are considering taking my elderly parents on a ~7 day cruise in late
Nov. or early Dec.

Hi Wayne,

Unfortunately there are not any 7-day cruises that do a full transit
through the Panama Canal. To do a full transit you will need to plan
12-14-days. There are partial transits available for shorter
durations. I suggest you contact a travel professional to assist you
in finding the proper cruise for you and your parents.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com
--

"Wayne" wrote in message
news:CYHTg.71406$5R2.16715@pd7urf3no...
We are considering taking my elderly parents on a ~7 day cruise in late
Nov. or early Dec. Any suggestions anyone may be able to offer as to
which cruise line to use, itinerary, etc. would be appreciated. Any
preferences for passing through the Canal eastbound or westbound?

Price isn't a huge concern, but our tastes are fairly simple and we aren't
big partiers. A table for four in the dining room is a must - meeting new
people and simultaneously dealing with meals is more of a challenge for
them than a pleasure.

Limited mobility will require one of the cabins to be wheelchair
accessible and we won't be planning on doing a lot of touring at ports of
call.


Wayne, as suggested by other posters here, go to www.Vacationtogo.com .
There are cruises for the Panama Canal listed there from Oct.8th to
Jan.8th...But check them out thoroughly and contact a cruise only T/A (we
have several on this newsgroup who can help you; ask for names if you do not
already have a T/A ) as soon as you have found a cruise that you like. I
would suggest a Holland America ship. Their ships usually are a little
smaller than other cruise lines and have a wrap around balcony which would
solve your problem of wondering which side of the ship was preferable
through the canal. They also have a lovely viewing area at the top of the
ship, The Crow's Nest, where they will get a wonderful view of the workings
of the Panama Canal.

If mobility is a big problem, I'd also suggest a balcony cabin at the lowest
level for their viewing pleasure..We have sailed through the Panama Canal
twice; once on the Carnival Elation, from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles and
the second time on the Norwegian Crown enroute to South America and both
times I wished that we had chosen a lower balcony..They were not available
at the time of our booking.

Have your T/A request a table for four. That should not be a problem.

Next January, we will be going on a group sailing of the HAL Volendam and
were fortunate to get a lower balcony. If you can delay your cruise plans,
we'd love to have you join us!

Happy hunting, let us know if you need further help and how well things turn
out for you!

--Jean