Queen Elizabeth - Panama Canal Crossing: Miami to Seattle

Where this cruise calls, day by day

9 ports and 12 sea days over 20 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Miami, FL

   United StatesDepart

   PortMiami is the busiest cruise port on earth and behaves like it: a lettered row of terminals strung along Dodge Island - A for Royal Caribbean, B for Norwegian, C for MSC, D through F for the Carnival brands, V for Virgin. Traffic funnels in over the Port Boulevard causeway or through the tunnel under Government Cut, and on a Saturday with six ships turning around, both back up.

   • Ocean Drive and the Art Deco district in South Beach, 20 minutes across the causeway
   • Wynwood Walls and the warehouse murals around it
   • Calle Ocho in Little Havana - a cortadito and the domino tables at Maximo Gomez Park
   • Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, a 1916 bayfront villa in Coconut Grove

   Getting ashore

   Terminals A-G and V sit on Dodge Island, reached by the Port Boulevard causeway or the PortMiami Tunnel; Miami International is about 8 miles west, usually 20-30 minutes but longer on a heavy turnaround morning.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr (Aug-Oct is peak hurricane season and August ashore is punishing)

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3 · At sea

4. Day 4

   Cartagena

   ColombiaPort

   The berth sits inside a working container port, and the walk out passes a small aviary the port maintains - flamingos, macaws and monkeys in the trees, an odd but real feature of the arrival. The walled city is 20 to 30 minutes by taxi and earns the trip: a complete colonial core inside Spanish fortifications, with Getsemaní's murals just outside the gates. It is punishingly hot and the plaza vendors are relentless.

   • The walled city and Las Bóvedas
   • Castillo San Felipe de Barajas
   • Getsemaní's street art and Plaza de la Trinidad
   • A boat out to the Rosario Islands

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock in the commercial port; the walled city is a 20-30 minute taxi ride, and official port taxis queue at the terminal.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is drier and marginally less humid; Sep-Nov is wettest. Outside the main hurricane track

5. Day 5 · At sea

6. Day 6

   Panama Canal (Transit)

   PanamaPort

   This is a sea day where the ship itself is the excursion. A full transit takes eight to ten hours, lifting the ship 85 feet through the Gatún chambers, across Gatún Lake and the Culebra Cut, then down through Pedro Miguel and Miraflores. Partial transits go only as far as the lake, land passengers for shore tours, and back out the way they came. Forward deck space fills before dawn.

   • Watching a lock chamber fill from a forward deck
   • The Culebra Cut, the section hacked through the continental divide
   • The wider Agua Clara and Cocolí locks, if your ship is Neopanamax
   • The onboard canal narrator, who boards with the pilot

   Getting ashore

   Not a port call - the ship transits; on partial transits passengers tender ashore in Gatún Lake for excursions and rejoin the ship there.

   Best months

   Jan-Apr is the dry season; drought years have cut the number of daily transit slots, so schedules can shift

7. Day 7

   Panama Canal (Transit)

   PanamaPort

   This is a sea day where the ship itself is the excursion. A full transit takes eight to ten hours, lifting the ship 85 feet through the Gatún chambers, across Gatún Lake and the Culebra Cut, then down through Pedro Miguel and Miraflores. Partial transits go only as far as the lake, land passengers for shore tours, and back out the way they came. Forward deck space fills before dawn.

   • Watching a lock chamber fill from a forward deck
   • The Culebra Cut, the section hacked through the continental divide
   • The wider Agua Clara and Cocolí locks, if your ship is Neopanamax
   • The onboard canal narrator, who boards with the pilot

   Getting ashore

   Not a port call - the ship transits; on partial transits passengers tender ashore in Gatún Lake for excursions and rejoin the ship there.

   Best months

   Jan-Apr is the dry season; drought years have cut the number of daily transit slots, so schedules can shift

8. Day 8 · At sea

9. Day 9

   Puntarenas

   Costa RicaPort

   Puntarenas is a narrow sand spit with a long pier down the middle, and walking off the ship puts you straight onto the Paseo de los Turistas, a seafront promenade of soda stands and ice-cream carts. Do not swim - the estuary water here is grey and murky. This is a jumping-off point, and the headline trips, Monteverde above all, run close to three hours each way.

   • Monteverde cloud forest, accepting the long drive
   • Manuel Antonio National Park
   • Tárcoles River crocodiles and Carara National Park
   • A Churchill, the local shaved-ice dessert, on the Paseo

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at the pier and you walk directly onto the Paseo de los Turistas; San José is about two hours inland.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is dry; May-Nov brings afternoon rain, heaviest in September and October

10. Day 10 · At sea

11. Day 11 · At sea

12. Day 12

    Huatulco

    MexicoPort

    Huatulco is a planned resort development on the Oaxacan coast, but a restrained one - nine bays, most of them undeveloped national park, and a low-rise village at Santa Cruz where the ships tie up. You can walk off the pier onto Playa Santa Cruz, which is rare on this coast, and the snorkelling in the sheltered bays is better than the Mexican Pacific's reputation suggests.

    • A panga tour of the nine bays
    • La Entrega beach for snorkelling
    • La Crucecita's plaza and its painted church ceiling
    • Hiking in Huatulco National Park

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock at Santa Cruz Huatulco; the beach and village are at the gangway, and La Crucecita is five minutes by taxi.

    Best months

    Nov-Apr is dry and sunny; Jun-Oct is the rainy season

13. Day 13 · At sea

14. Day 14

    Puerto Vallarta

    MexicoPort

    The Terminal Marítima is at the north end of the bay, next to the marina and a cruise-oriented shopping mall, so Vallarta proper - the Malecón, the Zona Romántica, the tiled church dome - is a 10 to 15 minute taxi away. Banderas Bay is deep and calm, humpbacks winter in it, and the town behind the seafront is a real one with an art scene and a long-established gay quarter.

    • The Malecón sculpture walk and the Zona Romántica
    • Playa Los Muertos
    • A boat to Yelapa or the Marietas Islands
    • Humpback whale watching, December to March

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock at Terminal Marítima; downtown is 10-15 minutes by taxi, and timeshare touts work the terminal exit hard.

    Best months

    Nov-Apr is dry and warm; Jul-Sep is hot, humid and the heart of the rainy season

15. Day 15 · At sea

16. Day 16 · At sea

17. Day 17

    San Diego, CA

    United StatesPort

    San Diego is one of the easiest cruise arrivals in the country: the B Street and Broadway piers sit directly on the downtown Embarcadero, with the aircraft carrier USS Midway permanently moored a few hundred yards along the same waterfront. The Gaslamp Quarter is a flat ten-minute walk. It works as both a turnaround port for Mexico runs and a pleasant one-day call.

    • USS Midway Museum, with the flight deck and hangar open to walk
    • Balboa Park's museums and the San Diego Zoo
    • Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, the original Mexican-era settlement
    • The ferry across the bay to Coronado and the Hotel del Coronado

    Getting ashore

    Docks downtown at the B Street or Broadway Pier; the Gaslamp Quarter, Midway and Little Italy are all walkable.

    Best months

    Year-round (Sep-Oct warmest and clearest; May-Jun often grey until afternoon)

18. Day 18 · At sea

19. Day 19 · At sea

20. Day 20 · At sea

21. Day 21

    Seattle, WA

    United StatesArrive

    Seattle is the busiest Alaska turnaround port in the US, and which pier you get matters. Pier 91 at Smith Cove is a converted cargo terminal about three miles north of downtown; Pier 66 on Bell Street puts you a steep ten-minute walk from Pike Place Market. Because sailings from here are US-flagged only in part, almost every Seattle Alaska itinerary is legally obliged to call in Canada, usually Victoria.

    • Pike Place Market and the original Starbucks, best done before 9am
    • The Museum of Pop Culture and Chihuly Garden and Glass at Seattle Center
    • A ferry across Elliott Bay to Bainbridge Island for the skyline view back
    • Pioneer Square and the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park museum, free and directly relevant to where you are sailing

    Getting ashore

    Two terminals: Pier 66 is downtown and walkable, Pier 91 is three miles out and needs a taxi or shuttle - check your ticket, they are not interchangeable.

    Best months

    May-Sep (Jul-Aug reliably dry and warm; May and Sep wetter but far less crowded)