14 Night Panama Canal Cruise from $799

Once again, we’re looking at a cruise that’s above our $40 per night arbitrary threshold but, once again, this one is worth mentioning. Transiting the Panama Canal on a ship is not only a common bucket list item for cruisers but for travellers in general. Typically, a Panama Canal cruise starts at around $100 per night per person and goes nowhere but up, regardless of the cruise line. With Norwegian Cruise Lines at the start of January, 2014, this cruise can be had for as low as $57 per person per night.

The Cruise

Some Panama Canal cruises just go halfway, turning around at Gatun Lake and heading back home. This 14 night cruise on board the Norwegian Star does the whole deal from Panama City at the Pacific Ocean to Colon at the Caribbean/Atlantic side.

The ship embarks from Los Angeles, California at 4pm on Sunday, January 5, 2014 and reaches Miami, by way of the Canal, at 8am on Sunday, January 19, 2014. Along the way, she makes six port calls other than the Panama Canal, five on the Pacific coast and one in the Caribbean. Included are: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Huatulco, Mexico; Puerto Chiapas, Mexico; Puntarenas, Costa Rica and Cartagena, Colombia. All are full days on shore, ranging from 7 to 9 hours.

The Pricing

An interior stateroom on board the Norwegian Star can be had for as low as $799 per person. This equals around $57 per person per night. Unfortunately, any Panama Canal cruise, no matter the length or cruise line, costs dearly in government taxes and fees, in this case to the tune of $362 per person. Right now, with a $25 on board credit included, a couple can do this cruise for an all-in $2,322.

For other categories, the pricing goes as low as $1,249 per person for an Ocean View stateroom, $2,399 per person for a balcony and $2,499 per person for a suite.

If money is not an issue, you might want to try out the Garden Villa Suite. 6,694 square feet of living space on the 14^th deck, at the back of the ship. Yes, I had to check that two or three times. 6,694 square feet of living space! This includes all inside and outside space. You have your own private garden, hot tub and room for eight people. There are three bedrooms with nothing less than a queen sized bed. Butler and concierge service comes included. The total price for two people? $27,722 or just under $14,000 per person!

 

 

The Ship

Norwegian Star is barely within Panamax sized limits when it comes to width. Meaning, it just squeaks into the locks of the Panama Canal. Back in 2000, this ship was intended to be dubbed SuperStar Libra in the Star Cruises fleet. Instead, she made her maiden voyage on November 19, 2001 as Norwegian Star.

She is a NCL Dawn Class ship with just one younger sister. Norwegian Dawn came into service in 2002. Star has a gross tonnage of 91,740 and is 294 metres or 965 feet in length. There are 15 decks on board, eleven accessible to passengers. Guest capacity is 2,348 with a staff of 1,083 crew members.

The Small Print

·Because of the nature of last minute deals, the pricing printed here is fleeting and could change at any time.

·Prices are in Canadian dollars.

·Most meals are included in a typical cruise price but DRINKS ARE NOT!

·Also not included are gratuities.

·Cruise pricing does not include air fare, ground transfers and hotel accommodations before and after the cruise.

Celebrity Constellation 5 Night Western Caribbean From Just $209

If you took a gander at the ‘About’ page for this website, you’d see that our target range for cruises to be featured here is in the $30 to $40 per night range. Today, we’re going a little outside that range but it’s worth it.

Normally, the same itinerary on the Celebrity Constellation goes from the $80 to $100 per person per night area. On Saturday, December 14, 2013, you can be on the Celebrity Constellation as she leaves Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on a five night Western Caribbean cruise for just $41.80 per person per night.

The Cruise

 

The five night Western Caribbean cruise leaves the Port Everglades cruise port at 4:30pm on Saturday, December 14, 2013. Constellation returns to Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday, December 19 at 7am. Along the way, she makes two port calls with a generous amount of time at each.

On Sunday, December 15, Constellation arrives at Key West, Florida at 7am. She remains docked for the day at the colourful destination and departs at 5pm. After a day at sea, the next stop is the tropical island of Cozumel, Mexico. Once again, there is a full day on shore with the vessel docking at 7am and heading back out at 5pm.

Earlier this week, we looked at a four night Princess Cruises Western Caribbean cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale onboard the Ruby Princess. The Ruby and Constellation start out on the same evening but the Princess ship does not stop at Key West, instead going directly to Cozumel, arriving on the Monday. At the time the article was published, that cruise went for as low as $149 per person and is currently still available at that price.

Pricing

An interior stateroom on the Celebrity Constellation can be had for as low as $209 per person per night. This equates to $41.80 per person per night. The same cruise on the same ship is typically in the $80 to $100 per night range, and beyond. With government taxes and fees of $109.03 added to each passenger, a couple can book this cruise for $628 with all taxes included. Considering the quality of Celebrity Cruises, this is a great value.

Other staterooms on the ship are also reasonably priced for this date. An Ocean View stateroom goes for as low as $299 per person while a balcony room can be had for $419 per person. A suite is priced at $999 each.

The Ship

Celebrity Cruises is the premium line of Royal Caribbean International. Celebrity Constellation is the youngest of the four Millennium Class ships in Celebrity’s fleet. Millennium came in 2000, Infinity was put in service in 2001 while Summit and Constellation came last in 2002. All have identical gross tonnage of 91,000 and all are 965 feet or 294 metres long.

The Constellation has eleven decks accessible to passengers. It has a capacity for 2,170 guests and has around 1,000 crew members on board for a nearly 1 to 1 ratio.

The ship was built by Chantiers de L’Atlantique in St. Nazaire, France. Her sole job over the next year is alternating four and five night Western Caribbean cruises with Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale as a home port.

 

The Small Print

·Because of the nature of last minute deals, the pricing printed here is fleeting and could change at any time.

·Prices are in Canadian dollars.

·Most meals are included in a typical cruise price but DRINKS ARE NOT!

·Also not included are gratuities.

·Cruise pricing does not include air fare, ground transfers and hotel accommodations before and after the cruise.

$179 for 5 Night Western Caribbean Cruise on Brilliance of the Seas

Port Canaveral, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa. All are cruise ports within are relatively short drive via automobile at 70+ miles per hour. A different story when travelling at around 22 knots in a massive cruise ship. Each port of embarkation yields slightly different routes and itineraries under the shared name of ‘Western Caribbean’ cruise.

We’re just over a week away from a five night Western Caribbean cruise out of Tampa on board Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas. The last minute price for this cruise has dropped to as low as $179 per person for an interior stateroom or $35.80 per person per night.

The Cruise

This five night Western Caribbean itinerary embarks from Tampa, Florida at 4pm on Saturday, December 7, 2013. After spending Sunday at sea, rounding the western tip of Cuba, Brilliance of the Seas makes its first of two port calls at Georgetown, Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands.

The ship stays docked in Georgetown from 7am to 3:30 in the afternoon. Grand Cayman is all about the water surrounding the island and not so much the land the island is made of. The thing to do is visit Stingray City Sandbar. This is an opportunity to swim up close and personal with stingrays in their environment. Although you can use U.S. dollars in Georgetown, the official currency is the Caymanian Dollar (KYD). One Canadian dollar is currently valued at .77 KYD.

The following morning, Brilliance of the Seas moves a little further west and docks at Cozumel, Mexico. The ship will remain at the Mexican island resort area from 10am to 7pm.

Wednesday is another full day at sea as the ship makes its way back across the Gulf of Mexico. Brilliance returns to Tampa on the morning of Thursday, December 12, 2013 at 7am.

The Pricing

As mentioned, an interior stateroom, based on double occupancy, can be had for as low as $179 per person. This price does not include the $65.76 per person in government taxes and fees. With all the taxes included, a couple could pay as low as $486 total to take the cruise. For just $20 more per person, the cruise can be upgraded to an Ocean View room.

The Ship

Brilliance of the Seas is one of four Radiance Class ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet. She made her maiden voyage in July, 2002 and is a medium-large sized ship by today’s standards. Brilliance has a gross tonnage of 90,000 and is 962 feet or 292 metres long. There are 12 decks accessible to the capacity 2,501 passengers. 848 crew members are on board to make everything run smooth.

Brilliance is the second oldest of the Radiance Class of ships. All four are nearly identical and the first was Radiance of the Seas, put in service in 2001. Brilliance was followed by Serenade of the Seas in 2003 and Jewel of the Seas in 2004.

 The Small Print

·Because of the nature of last minute deals, the pricing printed here is fleeting and could change at any time.

·Prices are in Canadian dollars.

·Most meals are included in a typical cruise price but DRINKS ARE NOT!

·Also not included are gratuities.

·Cruise pricing does not include air fare, ground transfers and hotel accommodations before and after the cruise.