Viking's Panama Canal Passage Is A Luxury Cruise Through History

Viking Mars getting ready to enter the first lock of the Panama Canal
One of the best things about travel, besides getting to visit new places and experiencing different cultures, is introducing other people to your favorite finds. So, when I decided to finally plan a Panama Canal cruise with a friend who also had always wanted to sail through the famous waterway, I made sure we booked Viking's 11-day Classic Panama Canal Passage itinerary.
My husband and I have taken more than a dozen cruises on Viking and are so at home on their ships, the crew feels like family. So I felt like a proud parent as we stepped aboard the Viking Mars and I saw my friend's wide-eyed expression. She couldn't stop ooh-ing and ah-ing over the casually elegant Scandinavian design, our spacious staterooms with their balconies and all the thoughtful little details for which Viking is famous.
Viking's beloved waffles at Mamsen's
It was pure joy to watch her fall in love with my favorite Viking features: the gelato! The spa! Afternoon tea in the Wintergarden! Having recently sailed on a couple of other cruise lines, she especially appreciated that Viking includes many conveniences in their fare that others charge extra for, like wifi; self-serve laundry; beer, wine and soft drinks with lunch and dinner; and one shore excursion in each port of call. These can really add up on other cruise lines and leave you feeling like you're constantly being nickel and dimed — something Viking founder and chairman, Torstein Hagen, despises and has vowed never to do.
As a huge fan of Viking, this philosophy is a big reason we keep returning — along with the fact that there are only 930 passengers and no casinos or kids under 18. So, for my first non-European ocean cruise (I've done a river cruise to Egypt with them and an expedition cruise to Antarctica), it was a no-brainer that I was going to choose them.
The itinerary features port stops in Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama and a full day sailing through the Canal. Here are a few of my personal highlights:
Highlight of the trip! Hugging a sloth in Roatan, Honduras.
Bucket list item checked off! Viking's Best of Roatan excursion includes a visit to Daniel Johnson's Monkey and Sloth Hangout and, honestly, we could have spent all day there. Each guest had a chance to hold a sloth (the best!) before heading over to play with the capuchin monkeys, who are hilarious. We ended by acting as pedestals for the macaws, who used our heads, arms and shoulders as landing pads. It was an animal lover's (and Instagrammer's) dream come true and I can't recommend it enough.
Painting alebrijes in Cozumel, Mexico
Painting our own alebrijes in Cozumel was one of the most fun and meaningful experiences of the trip. Alebrijes are those Mexican folk art sculptures you've seen in Coco and we learned so much about them before getting to paint one ourselves. All of the brightly colored pieces came out beautifully and my bird is one of my all-time most treasured travel souvenirs.
View from our balcony
Our long-awaited passage through the Panama Canal was the grand finale of an amazing trip. We got up early to ensure we'd get a good viewing spot at the front of the ship as we prepared to enter the Canal and were glad we did. We stayed to watch the first few lock entries, which gave us a real sense of the Canal's mind-blowing feat of engineering as well as its massive scope. The live narration provided fascinating commentary, facts and perspective and I loved that we could listen to much of it from the comfort of our balcony as the ship continued its cruise through the 48 mile Canal throughout the day.
The Spa on Viking Mars
My favorite parts of cruising are the days at sea, when you can take advantage of everything the ship has to offer and remember that the journey is as important as the destination. Viking, which appropriately bills itself as the 'cruise line for the thinking person,' offers a ton of enrichment programs, including daily port talks, to really immerse you in the local culture and give you a deeper understanding of what you'll be seeing and doing. This itinerary also featured fascinating lectures and presentations about the Canal, the Panama hat, the horses of the Conquistador, the rare birds of Costa Rica, the real pirates of the Caribbean and so much more.
For me, sea days are synonymous with spa days and Viking's spa is my favorite place to relax and rejuvenate. I always get at least one massage and I take advantage of the entire Nordic-inspired thermal suite (another included Viking perk), going back and forth between the sauna, steam, hot tub, snow grotto and ice bucket. I consider it self-care.
Barriecito is a must-visit in Cozumel during a Viking Panama Canal cruise
Don't miss the Viking summer sale, offering special fares on Classic Panama Canal Passage sailings from October through December. The sale ends on June 30 so book now to have an amazing trip to look forward to later this year.

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