Cruises from Panama

Cruising has hit new highs in the 21st century. 11 million passengers booked cruises worldwide in 2005, and this figure is growing by around 11% per year. There are more, bigger, cheaper cruises available now than ever before. One of the newest itineraries is a cruise of the south western Caribbean which originates in Colon, Panama.

Colon has been a port of call for cruise ships for many years, but it is now the home port of Royal Caribbean International’s “Enchantment of the Seas”. This is a very convenient point of embarkation for many South Americans and Panamanians, who no longer have to add an expensive international flight to the cost of the cruise.

Travel by road to Colon, and stay the night at the Isla Grande Hotel before departing on a 7-night luxury cruise. Ports of call include Cartagena, Colombia; Santa Marta, Colombia; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; Kralendijk, Bonaire and one day at sea.

Of course, you may not even want to leave the ship, but choose instead to relax by the pool, indulge in the Spa, work-off that 5-course dinner in the gym, walk a mile or two on the top deck, read a book in the library, check your emails in the computer room, browse in the street of shops onboard, or relax awhile in the café and enjoy complimentary coffee and cake.

To make an inquiry about Carnival Cruises from Panama, click here to fill out a contact form

Cruise ships play an important part in Panama’s tourist revenue. In the past 7 years, 900 cruise ships have called at Panama, unloading 2 million tourists and 1 million crew to explore Panama City, take trips around the Isthmus, eat, drink and shop. The average spend per visitor is $125 which is a sizeable contribution to the small businesses in the area.

One of the largest cruise ships afloat, the Carnival Liberty is too large to transit the canal, so it deposits its 4134 passengers and crew in Colon for a full day once a month. The highlight of many smaller cruise ships is the transit of the Canal, which takes a full day. Passengers enjoy the scenery as they sail through Lake Gatun and Gaillard’s Cut. They see the tug boats and mules take the huge Panamax ships through the locks. The tolls paid to Panama are many hundreds of thousands of dollars per ship – a great revenue stream for the Canal and for the country.

To plan your Panama vacation please contact to our Travel Department: info@thepanamaclub.com or by phone +507 211-1466