20 nights, Miami to Los Angeles
Explora's name for it: An Extended Journey from Majestic Horizons to Mayan Gems
Twenty nights, fourteen calls, two oceans. This is a one-way repositioning that uses the Panama Canal as its hinge. The first half is classic Caribbean walk-off: Willemstad's pastel Handelskade is a flat ten-minute stroll from the berth, Cartagena drops you through a 700-animal aviary on the way to the taxi stand, and Santa Marta puts a colonial cathedral and a free gold museum within fifteen minutes on foot under a snow-capped Sierra Nevada. Then the centerpiece, a full canal transit that lifts the ship 85 feet over the Continental Divide through century-old locks, a slow cruising day you watch from a forward rail rather than ashore. The Pacific leg that follows is a different animal: Huatulco's protected national-park bays for snorkeling, Puerto Vallarta's mile-long Malecon, Banderas Bay's humpback grounds offshore.
Be honest with yourself about pace. Several Pacific calls are pure logistics ports. Puerto Quetzal is a gated compound whose only reason is a 90-minute drive to Antigua; Acajutla and Puerto Chiapas are working cargo docks where the day lives an hour inland. If you want beach-bar ease, this stretch will frustrate you. It rewards a traveler who likes long sea-leg rhythm, one decisive shore plan per port, and the engineering theater of the canal.
Explora III is all-suite, all-oceanfront. The full twenty days, water on both sides.
The itinerary, port by port
14 calls over 20 nights, Miami to Los Angeles. Open any port for my full day-ashore guide, what to see, when to go, and how the day actually runs.
Getting there: Flights to Miami (MIA) are already bookable for these dates. I watch the fare for booked clients so you book at the right moment. When to book your flights →
- Embark
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7 Crossing the Panama Canal
- 8
- 9 Acajutla
- 10 Puerto Quetzal
- 11 Puerto Chiapas
- 12 Huatulco
- 13 Puerto Vallarta
- Disembark
Fares on this departure, decoded
Reading the fare fine print is the job. Here's what this sailing currently carries:
- Founders Fare
- A founding-era fare on a selected set of sailings. Onboard credit where the offer applies.
- Invitation to Discover More
- Explora's discovery fare, available across most of the calendar. Onboard credit where the offer applies.
- Air-Inclusive Fare
- A fare that folds airfare into the voyage price on a smaller set of sailings.
The ship and your suite
This sailing is aboard EXPLORA III, all-suite, every suite with a private ocean-front terrace. Suites run from the entry Ocean Terrace to the Owner's Residence; the right tier depends on how you travel. Compare suites → · What's included →