Tours from Gatun Lake or Colon

Looking for suggestions or to join a group for Zuiderdam , Day 7, Jan 11 Confused of when we are allowed off ship for tour. Do we take a boat tour from Gatun through canals then meet ship at Colon? Or tour out of Colon? Anyone aware of the Gatun Visitor center being closed? Any response appreciated. Thank you

You will get off the ship in Gatun Lake, by tendering ashore. Your tour will meet you when you get ashore.

The ship will go back through the locks and dock at Colon. I don't think they are offering any tours at Colon.

How your tour catches up with your ship in Colon will depend on the nature of the tour, but generally it will be by bus.

There many threads on this, and the general tours. We would have difficulty recommending tours, as we don't know you, your interests, your budget or your limitations. What of the offered tours interests you?

As commonly discussed here, if you go ashore in Gatun lake, it can only be for a ship's excursion.

For you to take a shore excursion on the day you transit (day 7) you must take a ship's excursion. After the ship locks up through Gatun Locks and arrives at the Gatun Lake anchorage you will board a tender for a very short tender ride to start your excursion. Only those passengers that are on excursions can go ashore at this point, there is no going ashore here for those remaining on board . The ship will then lock back down Gatun Locks and then a short sail to Colon. Those passengers who are on a shore excursion will rejoin the ship after it docks in Colon.

The time the ship is docked in Colon on these partial transits is not long enough to take any tours. However there is normally enough time to pick up the required T shirt and browse through the mall that is connected to the dock.

There are a number of very popular tours for the Canal stop. One of the more popular tours is the one that is a partial transit of the Canal on the Pacific side. That tour takes you through the two Pacific Locks and Gaillard Cut. Right behind that tour in popularity is visiting the Embera Indians. A city tour of Panama City which encompasses Panama Viejo, El Casco Antiguo as well as modern Panama City or possibly a trip on the Panama Railroad are a couple of popular tours as well.

As to the Gatun Locks Visitor's center... the info I have that it is only opened the times when a ship is doing a partial transit or docked in Colon. This of course dependent on the availability of man power to operate the Visitor's Center.

Thank you both for very helpful information.Did either of you book a ship excursion from Gatun?

No, we have not.

I did not book through the ship... on my last partial transits I stayed on board for the down lockage at Gatun. While I agree with the saying get off the "Dam" ship in most cases, I didn't take the advice since I am more than familiar with all the excursion destinations.

We did this itinerary back in November 2014 and will repeating it again this December. The Panama day is a very long one, but worth it.

We were up before the chickens to watch the ship enter the canal- make sure you move all over for different views. You will hear narration around the ship. About 30 min before our tour time we had to meet in the theater. They will load each tour onto a tender in Gatun Lake, and you'll be brought to a pavilion on the shore, and then put on your buses. We took the Embera Indians tour, and it was one of the best days I've ever had on a vacation ever (land or sea). We toyed with the ferry through the canal but that seemed like a long day and a little confining. Incidentally, that particular excursion got back so late the ship left an hour later than scheduled because those folks were not yet onboard.

You can only take ship sponsored tours in Gatun Lake. If you decide to stay onboard, the ship will return through the same locks and you can enjoy the views on a nearly empty ship (my parents did that). Your bus will bring you back to Colon, where there is a small tourist flea-market.

This December we will likely be taking one of the excursions to Panama City. I adored Panama and would like to return for a land visit in the future.

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Thank you to everyone on this thread. I was so confused before I read all of your wonderful comments on what to do here. I really appreciate all of the information that was shared.