Panama Canal Tours

[cruisen cracker]

This question is for those who have taken the HAL 10 day Panama Canal cruises before.

We will be on the Amsterdam in November for a Panama Canal cruise. I believe it will enter the canal, go to Gatun Lake, turn around and go back to Colon. If we take the "Canal Experience to Colon" tour or the Panama Railway-Domed Car to Colon" tour, do miss the entire canal portion of the cruise on the ship? Would you recommend either one of these tours?

Thanks for the information.

[jhannah]

We took the train and enjoyed it very much. That tour goes over on the other side to the Miraflores Locks where you can watch transits from ringside seats.

You will have a great opportunity when entering Gatun Lake to watch the process from the ship. We went out on deck early in the morning and watched the entire approach and transit. It's an amazing process. If you take a tour, you'll miss turning around and going back through, but it isn't any different ... just on the other side of the locks. The land tour portion is great.

There is also a tour that goes out to a native village. We didn't take that one, but will certainly do it next time. Those who went said it was simply outstanding.

[newmexicoNita]

This question is for those who have taken the HAL 10 day Panama Canal cruises before.

We will be on the Amsterdam in November for a Panama Canal cruise. I believe it will enter the canal, go to Gatun Lake, turn around and go back to Colon. If we take the "Canal Experience to Colon" tour or the Panama Railway-Domed Car to Colon" tour, do miss the entire canal portion of the cruise on the ship? Would you recommend either one of these tours?

Thanks for the information.
Are you cruising on the Nov 29th cruise? If so, please check in with the roll call; we would love to get to know more people on our cruise.

NMNita

[Southbound]

We did this itinerary on the Rotterdam; had a verandah port side, but were out on the fore deck just before sunrise. Could see all the other ships lined up waiting behind us, as the PC doesn't open up to traffic until the light of dawn. It was an amazing experience.

We went through three locks, then sailed into Gatun Lake. Those who were doing excursions disembarked; the ship then headed back out the same three locks. We did the Panama Railway excursion in the domed rail car and highly recommend it. Our tour guide had a great sense of humor and did an excellent job; we were given a nice box lunch while on the train. Would do it again in a heartbeat. :)

[marshacher]

I second "Southbound". We did the same trip on the Zaandam in January and did the domed railroad tour. Excellent. We probably had the same guide. His name was Marty. You get to see the entire Canal plus the other 2 sets of locks with traffic going through them and then a tour on the Pacific side. We had a box lunch on the way back. Nice thing about doing it this way, you're not in the blazing heat. You sit in comfort in an air conditioned coach.

[Southbound]

Marshacher -- Marty! That's him, all right:) . American born and raised. No language problems with his knowledgeable narratives and funny (but true) stories.

[zaandam_2]

Be sure to book the dome tour in advance. i booked the sunfarer on short notice (long story) and it was sold out by the time i tried.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Did the Train!! -- Had the dome car!! And Marty was on our car!!

Loved it!!

A year later we ran into Marty in Panama and he remembered us!!

[johnlcruise]

We are doing this tour,on Nov. 5th
Any comments?

The Canal Experience to Colon

Experience the full wonder of the Panama Canal with a partial crossing of the canal by tour boat. Board air-conditioned transportation for the drive through the isthmus to Gamboa. Embark on your tour boat for a partial transit of the canal. Cruise Gatun Lake, once the largest man-made lake in the world, to the Gaillard Cut, where you cross the Continental Divide. Enter the Pedro Miguel Locks, which lower your vessel 28 feet on its way to the Pacific. Sail across Miraflores Lake to the Miraflores Locks, which lower your tour boat the final 56 feet, matching the level of the Pacific Ocean. Your cruise ends at the port of Balboa in Panama City, where you board your air-conditioned transportation for the return trip to the ship.

[Capital Cruiser]

I did this tour in February/March this year and loved it! In fact, it was probably the best tour I have ever taken. We had a very knowlegeable and personable guide (Arturo) who kept us informed and entertained for more than seven hours. I really enjoyed getting the full canal experience from both a big ship and a much-smaller tour boat.

One word of warning, this is a very long tour and the box lunch is bit skimpy, so have a good breakfast. The timing going through the locks depends on canal traffic, so there may be some waiting at each of the locks, but it does give you an opportunity to see how the cargo ships and other "working" boats operate. On the bus trip back to catch up with your HAL ship in Colon, you will get to see some other aspects of Panama.

I'm sure you will enjoy this tour.

[BCEagle78]

Although unlike other posters, we did not think it was that great an experience. We had Marty and found him not very interesting, borderline offensive... We also thought that it was overpriced...

Just our opinion...

[gizmo]

We did this itinerary on the Rotterdam; had a verandah port side, but were out on the fore deck just before sunrise. Could see all the other ships lined up waiting behind us, as the PC doesn't open up to traffic until the light of dawn. It was an amazing experience.



It does not wait for the light of dawn. The canal operates 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Most of tghe time cruise ships are scheduled for day light entires, occasionally there is a ship that goes through at night. :)

We did the 10 day a couple of years ago. Instead of doing a tour we stayed on the ship. Going back through the canal to sail to Colon was great. We got to see a lot. We did not regret staying on the ship.

[Southbound]

Thanx, Gizmo, for the correction. Was just passing along info we were given while waiting out on the fore deck, but know now not to do that in the future. :(

[gizmo]

Sorry for all the spelling errors. I wasn't awake. ;)