The panasonic has a swaged crank which is OK but not ideal. A new triple crank and BB will run around $125. The lotus is sweet and it comes with racks which saves some money but the conversion back to drops will run you (assuming you have to buy new stuff) probably north of a $100 to get it running; that doesn't include the price of the wheels. A 27 inch to 700c swap is very doable; some cantilevers do that gracefully, others do not. There is some trial and error involved in this.

I'm leaning towards the nishiki cresta over the lotus but it's close. It's great dealing with a seller whom you trust. If the truvativ crank is a 130/74 bcd triple, that would not be my first choice for a touring bike but it's workable (a 110/74 bcd will give you better options for touring).

It's pretty old school to ride a touring bike with sidepull (or centerpull) brakes. They work fine but they don't have the clearance of a canti. If the cresta can handle a 650b conversion, it would be my first choice for a touring bike. That way you get really sweet fat tires for touring with. But you will need to take some measurements to determine whether a 650b conversion is doable on that bike.