Panama Canal cruises from Los Angeles: full transits and the flight home

Every Panama Canal cruise from Los Angeles is a one-way voyage. The ship sails down the coast of Mexico and Central America, goes through the canal, and finishes on the other side of the country, usually in Fort Lauderdale or Miami. You need a flight home.

The schedule has 25 of these voyages, from 3 December 2026 to 12 October 2028. On 2 November 2026 the lowest fare was $1,199 per person, for the cheapest cabin listed with taxes and port fees included. The table at the end of this guide lists every one.

For Panama Canal cruises from California, this list covers Los Angeles and Long Beach. Princess also names San Francisco as a start port for full transits.

What is a full transit of the Panama Canal?

A full transit takes the ship from one ocean to the other through the whole canal. Princess says a full transit, which it also calls Ocean to Ocean, typically takes 8 to 10 hours and passes through the Gatun, Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks.

The Panama Canal Authority gives the canal's length as about 80 kilometers between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Its locks lift ships 85 feet to Gatun Lake, and lower them to sea level on the far side.

A partial transit is a different trip. Princess sells it as a round trip from Fort Lauderdale that reaches Gatun Lake and turns around. No partial transit leaves from Los Angeles or Long Beach. Anything from here that reaches the Caribbean has gone all the way through.

Which Panama Canal cruises from Los Angeles go through the canal?

All but one of the voyages on this schedule go through. This table shows how the itineraries on sale list the canal day, because the wording differs.

Ships	Nights	Canal day as listed	Ends
Island Princess	16	Day 12, Panama Canal	Fort Lauderdale
Crown Princess, Emerald Princess, Star Princess	16	Day 12, Panama Canal Full Transit New Locks	Fort Lauderdale or Port Canaveral
Coral Princess	18	Day 12, Panama Canal	New York
Norwegian Joy, Norwegian Bliss, Norwegian Encore	15 to 20	Day 12, Panama Canal	Miami or New York
Celebrity Summit	18	Day 11, Panama Canal	Boston
Seven Seas Grandeur	16	Day 12, Panama Canal Transit	Miami
Seabourn Quest	19	Day 14, Enter Panama Canal Balboa	Miami
Carnival Luminosa	14	Day 10, Panama Canal	Miami
Queen Elizabeth	14	Day 10, Panama Canal	Miami
Brilliant Lady	17	Day 13, Panama Canal (Cruising), on Virgin's own page	Miami
Oceania Sonata	16 or 44	No canal entry	Miami

Two rows need a note. The itinerary Cruisebound shows for Brilliant Lady has no canal day, but Virgin's own page lists one, and the two differ by a day after Panama City, so go by Virgin's. Oceania Sonata's itinerary has no canal entry either. It is sold as a Panama Canal voyage and goes from Puntarenas in Costa Rica to Cartagena in Colombia with two sea days between them, so we read it as a transit. Confirm with Oceania.

The label "New Locks" on the Princess rows points to the canal's third lane. The Panama Canal Authority says the Cocolí and Agua Clara locks were added for NeoPanamax vessels, and that cruise ships have transited the expanded canal. Princess's general description names the original locks, so check your own sailing if the locks matter to you.

Which Panama cruise from Los Angeles stops short of the canal?

Seven Seas Prestige's voyage of 10 February 2027 ends in Panama City without a transit. It is a 12-night trip that Regent sells as Mexico, and it calls at Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Acapulco, Puerto Quetzal and Puntarenas. We list it under Panama because that is where it ends.

Do not confuse this with the voyages that stop in Panama City or at Fuerte Amador and then go on. Norwegian calls at Panama City the day before the canal, and Princess does the same at Fuerte Amador. Both go through.

How long is a Panama Canal cruise from Los Angeles?

Most last 14 to 20 nights, and 16 nights is the most common length, with 13 sailings. NOAA gives Los Angeles to the Pacific end of the canal as 2,939 nautical miles, so the canal is usually around day 10 to 14.

Days at sea vary more than the length does. The itineraries on sale show 7 on Norwegian's 15-night and 17-night voyages, 8 on most Princess 16-night voyages, and 10 on Star Princess, which sails straight from Mazatlan to Fuerte Amador.

• Norwegian Bliss, 17 nights. It calls at Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, Puerto Quetzal, Puerto Caldera, Panama City, Cartagena, Falmouth and Great Stirrup Cay before Miami.
• Most Princess voyages. Puerto Vallarta, Huatulco, Puerto Quetzal or Puerto Chiapas, Puntarenas, Fuerte Amador and Aruba.
• Fewest stops. Carnival Luminosa calls only at Cabo San Lucas, Puntarenas and Cartagena in 14 nights. Queen Elizabeth makes the same trip with Aruba in place of Cartagena.

Some voyages run on. Oceania Sonata's 44-night voyage adds Caribbean loops from Miami after the 16-night crossing. Seabourn Quest also sells a 31-night to Lisbon, and Queen Elizabeth a 26-night to Southampton, and those sit under other routes.

Where do Panama Canal cruises from Los Angeles end?

Most end in Florida, at Fort Lauderdale or Miami, and a few go on to Port Canaveral, New York or Boston. The end port decides your flight home.

End port	Who ends there	Ship due in	Princess's earliest flight
Fort Lauderdale	Island, Crown, Emerald and Star Princess	7am on most	4 hours after arrival, domestic
Miami	Regent, Seabourn, Virgin, Oceania, Norwegian, Carnival, Cunard	6:30am to 8am	5 hours after arrival, domestic
Port Canaveral	Star Princess, October 2027	7am	Not before 12:50pm
New York	Coral Princess, Norwegian Bliss	7am	6 hours for LaGuardia, 7 for JFK and Newark
Boston	Celebrity Summit	6am	5 hours after arrival

Those flight times are Princess's guidelines for its own guests, and other lines set their own. Princess says leaving the ship may take up to four hours after arrival.

The airports are close to most of these ports. Port Everglades says Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International is 1.8 miles away, and PortMiami says Miami International is 7.1 miles away. Port Canaveral is the outlier, with Orlando International about 45 minutes west.

How do you get home from a Panama Canal cruise from Los Angeles?

You fly, and the flight is not in the fare. None of these voyages returns to Los Angeles, so price a one-way flight from the end port before you compare two voyages.

You will not come back to San Pedro or Long Beach either, so leaving a car in cruise parking makes no sense. Plan on a drop-off.

Bring a passport book. Princess requires one for partial and full transits, and our documents guide has what other lines say. Regent's voyage to Panama City ends outside the United States, so its flight home is an international one.

When do Panama Canal cruises leave Los Angeles?

They leave between September and May, and no voyage on this schedule leaves in June, July or August. September and October 2027 are the busiest stretch, and there are more around January and April.

Princess calls mid-December to mid-April the dry season and the best time to cruise, and puts the rainy season from May to November. So the January and March voyages suit anyone who cares most about the weather at the canal. The fall voyages reach Panama in the rainy season.

They also fall inside the hurricane seasons. The National Hurricane Center says the eastern Pacific season runs from 15 May to 30 November and the Atlantic season from 1 June to 30 November, with an Atlantic peak on 10 September.

Why do Panama Canal cruises stop at Aruba or Cartagena?

Every voyage here that ends at a U.S. port calls at Aruba, Curaçao or Cartagena, and those stops meet a U.S. rule. Under the Passenger Vessel Services Act, a ship that is not coastwise-qualified can carry you from one U.S. port to a different one only if the voyage includes a distant foreign port and you have sailed with it that far.

The regulation, 19 CFR 4.80a, treats ports in North America, Central America, Bermuda and the West Indies as nearby. It makes an exception of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. CBP's own example of a legal trip is a ship that takes passengers to Aruba and then to Key West. Cartagena, in South America, is outside the list of nearby places.

We have not seen a line say this is why it picks those ports. The rule and the itineraries do match. Our Hawaii guide covers the same law for round trips.

Which Los Angeles terminal do Panama Canal cruises leave from?

Most leave from San Pedro, so check your terminal first. On the official schedule, which runs to 31 December 2027, they use the World Cruise Center. Celebrity Summit on 18 September 2027 uses Berth 46 in the Outer Harbor.

Seabourn Quest on 11 May 2027 and Carnival Luminosa on 6 April 2028 start at Long Beach on the itineraries on sale. Ports America's schedule covers only San Pedro, and CruiseTimetables, our other check, does not list the Carnival Luminosa date, so confirm that one with Carnival. Berths for 2028 are not published yet.

How much is a Panama Canal cruise from Los Angeles?

On 2 November 2026 the lowest fare was $1,199 per person, and 16-night voyages started at $1,199. Those are the lowest fares that day for the cheapest cabin listed, with taxes and port fees included, and they do not cover your flight home.

Length	Lowest fare on 2 November 2026	Lowest per night
14 nights	$1,204	$86
15 nights	$1,829	$122
16 nights	$1,199	$75
17 nights	$2,023	$119
18 nights	$1,262	$70

The top of the range on 2 November 2026, $22,449, was the long Oceania voyage. Regent and Seabourn fares ran far above the others, and the cheapest cabin listed for them that day was a suite. Compare voyages of the same length in the table at the end of this guide.