There are several different cruise lines that offer sailings to Panama. These include popular cruise lines such as Carnival Cruise Lines (Carnival Legend, Carnival Victory), Celebrity Cruise Lines (Celebrity Mercury of Summit), Cruise West (Pacific Explorer), Crystal Cruises (Crystal Symphony or Crystal Serenity), Holland America Line (ms Veendam, Westerdam, Volendam, Zuiderdam, Amsterdam, Ryndam or Noordam), and Norwegian Cruises (Norwegian Crown, Norwegian Sun).
Cruise lines such as Princess Cruises (Princess Coral, Princess Regal or the Sun Princess), Regent Seven Seas (Seven Seas Mariner or Voyager), and Royal Caribbean (Serenade, Radiance or Brilliance of the Seas) also feature Panama sailings as well as American Canadian Caribbean Line (Grande Mariner, Grande Caribe or Niagara Prince), Fred Olsen Cruise Lines (Boudicca, Braemar), MSC Cruises (MSC Opera, Msc Lirica), Orient Lines, Polar Star Expeditions, P&O Cruises (Arcadia, Oriana), the Yachts of Seabourn (Seabourn Legend), Suncrusies, and Seetours International.
While the above cruise lines have Panama sailings ranging anywhere from 7-11 days up to 14 days or more, the cruises with the most frequent Panama sailings include:
·Norwegian Cruise Line
·P&O Cruises
·Seetours International
·Suncruises
Panama cruises are among some of the most popular cruises on the market today. Not only does a Panama cruise offer the perfect vacation from cold weather or a chaotic city, it also offers hundreds of opportunities for world-class adventures. Just a few Panama adventures include kayaking, snorkeling, jungle tours, canopy tours, helicopter tours, whale watching, white water rafting, Embera Indian tours, and river tubing. These and other adventures are readily available, through tour operators, from the homeport for cruise ships in Colon, Panama, and in Panama City as well as areas throughout the country.
Cristobal Cruise Terminal and Colon 2000 Cruise Terminal are the two homeports for cruise ships in Colon, Panama. The Cristobal Cruise Terminal is located on the eastern side of the Panama Canal. The cruise terminal is home to a flea market, a shopping complex, a variety of restaurants, and entertainment such as native dance performances. Colon 2000 Cruise Terminal, also called the Colon Container Terminal (CCT), is typically for cruise ships that dock in Colon for a full day. These ships do not generally enter the Panama Canal. Colon 2000 Cruise Terminal is located within one of the world’s largest duty free shopping area. It features cafes, a duty free mall, native craft boutiques, restaurants, lounges and more. Colon 2000 is also home to the world’s largest Free Zone.
If you’re visiting either homeport here are a few tips about transportation. Passengers have several forms of transportation to choose from including railway, bus, taxi or a combination of the three. The Colon Railway is available for trips from Colon to Cozumel, and bus service is available from the Albrook bus terminal located on Avenida Bolivar, Colon to Panama City. One-hour trips to Portobelo are also available and all trips cost $2-$3 one-way. Taxi rides are typically $3 – to anywhere in the city. Maps, schedules, and other information are available at the cruise terminals.