Make Panama Canal a Bucket List Voyage

If you’re putting together bucket list activities, here’s one to consider: A cruise vacation through the Panama Canal.

We cruised the Panama Canal back in April 2024 on Holland America. Leaving our North Georgia home for a departure from Ft. Lauderdale, we cruised the Caribbean, Panama Canal and the west coast of Central America, ending our journey in beautiful, sunny San Diego.

**After putting off a Panama Canal transit for several years, we finally did it in April 2024. Now we recommend it to everyone as a bucket list trip.**

Honestly, we put off this trip for several years thinking the route, ports, and adventure just wasn’t for us. Boy, were we wrong. So now, we’re big fans of this route and recommend it to all our cruising friends as a “bucket list” trip.

And here are the five top reasons why:

History. The Panama Canal story may be the opening chapter in America’s world leadership. After the French failed in a canal attempt, the US took over the effort. Within 10 years, the Panama Canal opened in August 1914. The full story is filled with history, intrigue, revolutionaries, politics, tragedy, and triumph. Before you go, we highly recommend reading historian David McCullough’s excellent and detailed book, “The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914.”

**Sailing through the Gatun Locks on the Gulf end of the canal, the lock house displays the year 1913. It’s a great reminder of the incredible history of the building and beyond.**

Geography. To really understand the canal story, you have to see the local geography. Yes, you can read about the heights of the mountains and depths of the valleys. Sure, there are descriptions about the dense jungle. And of course, you can see photos of the massive lake created as part of the canal project. But approaching, transiting and departing the canal will change your understanding, perspective and world view.

**The original 51-mile canal was cut through mountains, required taming a wild river and gave birth to a giant lake. Then, a second canal was added as ships outgrew the original locks.**

Innovation. No matter how you look at it, the Panama Canal is an engineering marvel of the modern world. After the French failed with their canal effort, good old American ingenuity, brashness and determination were required to “get ‘er done.” Seeing the original locks in operation gave me a sense of awe and pride. And watching the largest of ships bypass the original canal by following the same basic route and process reinforced my amazement.

**Running parallel to the original canal and requiring fewer locks, the addition of a second canal accommodates larger ships and faster transit.**

Beaches. While we generally are not beach vacation people, the variety of stops and beaches on a typical Panama Canal routing piqued our sun-and-sand interest. Most of these cruises make a stop in the Central Caribbean before calling at one of the Southern Caribbean ABC islands. (For us, Aruba and Caracao were on the itenerary.) Once through the Canal, the Pacific coast beacons. Based on advice we received from experienced Canal-cruisers, we selected other adventures in Costa Rica and Southern Mexico, and saved our beach outings for Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas.

A canal cruise isn’t just about the canal. Most cruise lines include multiple stops in the Caribbean and along the western coast of Central America, too. There’s lots of touring, nature and beach front to explore nearby.

Value. By watching prices during the cruise line’s ship repositioning season, you’ll likely find a great deal on a canal transit. Each Spring, cruise operators move ships from the Caribbean to Alaska. And they reverse that in the Fall. Each of these transits the canal. To fill repositioning voyages, cruise lines often offer deep discounts as compared to their regular fares. So it’s possible to get both a great adventure and a fantastic bargain by watching the options and prices.

**Nature and natural beauty are a big part of any canal journey. Stops in tropical ports and near rain forests offer lots of nature-watching opportunities.**

Here’s our final booking tip: if you have travel flexibility, look for deep discounts and last minute deals on a Panama Canal trip. After the cruise lines successfully sell cabins to those who plan in advance, empty cabins are discounted deeply. You’ll start seeing the deepest discounts on Spring canal transits beginning in November. Prices will drop again within 89 days of a repositioning departure, after the cancellation deadline for early bookers.