Have you ever been to the Panama Canal? Well, I have, and it is truly an engineering marvel; how it was ever built and in such an ugly environment is almost beyond imagination. I've been fortunate to have gone through her twice and am planning on going again next March.
We have had some folks who have expressed an interest in going over the past few years, but I've purposefully held back because they have been constructing another canal and I did not want to go again until after it was finished. They were scheduled to be through with it in '14, then it was '15, but there were always delays of some sort or another. Well, just last week I heard that on June 26, this coming Sunday, they were going to open it for business. Here it is, 9 years after starting and $5.4 billion later, ships large enough to carry up to 14,000 containers compared to 5,000 that they can carry now, will be inviting paying customers to “come on down”. In a short while, the larger cruise ships will be able to navigate through there too, but I'm sure they will be doubly sure it is working exactly like they want it when they take passengers through those locks.
So, since it is, as I call it, open for viewing, I've planned a Panama Canal trip for the Travel Factory Gang next March, March 15-30, 2017. We will leave from San Francisco, port at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, then on to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. We will make a day's stop at one of my favorite places, Puntarenas, Costa Rica before we go through the canal. It will take all day to go from the Pacific Ocean over to the Caribbean Sea, but a fascinating trip. You'll want to stay out on the outside deck or your balcony for most of the day. Then we will port next at Cartagena, Columbia, then on to one of the ABC islands, Aruba for a day, then on to our debarking port of Ft. Lauderdale. In the middle of all those ports we will be enjoying about 8 sea days as we go from port to port.....taking it easy and enjoying the open seas and salty air.
We are doing this on one of the two sister ships that Princess built in 2003 just for this purpose. The Island Princess and the Coral Princess are a little over 90,000 ton ships, and of course have been refurbished over the years as she carries a load of just under 2,000 passengers. The other two times, we have been on the Coral Princess; this time we have scheduled space on the Island Princess.
Well, what are the details? I was getting around to that, and sorry that I did not know about the completion earlier because the only group space available on the March 15 departure was in the balcony rooms. That's ok, but it makes the price a little higher, except when one considers it is for 15 days of lodging, meals, and entertainment, it's not such a bad deal after all!! We were able to hold only 8 balcony rooms, the price is $3,372 a person including the tax, transfers, and insurance. Princess currently has airfare from DFW to San Francisco and from Ft. Lauderdale for less than $400 a person.
There is a current promotion going on with a completion date of July 6 that if booked by then, the non-refundable deposit is only $100 a person, and the final payment is not due until December 29.
Also, along with that promotion the guests will get free gratuities....now, that is really a deal!!!
Now is the time to take this vacation tip and run with it to The Travel Factory and get you and your spouse/friend a place to view this magnificent man made marvel. We are at 4150 Southwest Dr, Ste. 120 here in Abilene. Call us at 325-698-1421 or toll-free 800-760-4040. By the way, to also get all fired up, read David McCullough's book “Path Between The Seas”. Outstanding history!!!