Saga Cruises offer transit of new Panama Canal aboard Saga Sapphire

Transit the Panama Canal on outward and return journeys during Saga Sapphire’s Central American Discovery cruise.

If the Panama Canal is on your bucket list there is no better time to sail than on Saga Sapphire in 2017.

The 700-passenger ship will sail through the canal on January 30 and again on February 17 for the return leg of her 66-night Central American Discovery cruise.

The grand voyage to Latin America departs on January 11, 2017 and will offer guests the chance to view Mayan ruins, bask in Caribbean sunshine, stay overnight in Havana, Cuba, and board a restored Atlantic Railway train to see wildlife in Costa Rica.

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Captain Philip Rentell will also steer Saga Sapphire to 18 new ports: Cartagena, Colombia; Oranjestad, Aruba; Colon, Panama; Caldera, Costa Rica; Acajutla, El Salvador; Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Acapulco, Mexico; Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala; Corinto, Nicaragua; Flamenco Marina, Panama; Puerto Limon, Costa Rica; Trujillo, Honduras; Belize; Havana and Santiago de Cuba, Cuba; Montego Bay, Jamaica and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Captain Rentell says he will be very proud to be at the helm for this momentous journey: He said: “In 2017 I will be celebrating my retirement and it promises to be an exciting year as I embark on a new chapter in my life.

“I am particularly looking forward to this extraordinary cruise, which features so many new ports for Saga Sapphire and I will be especially proud to be at the helm as she transits the Panama Canal for the first time!

“I look forward to welcoming many new and familiar faces on board for this voyage which will be one of my final cruises before I bid a fond farewell to Saga.”

Further ports of call include Castries, St Lucia; Port of Spain, Trinidad; Bridgetown, Barbados; Horta, Azores and Funchal, Madeira.