Panama Canal Expansion Excursion

Has anyone taken the ship's tour called "Expansion of the Panama Canal"? Celebrity offers a 4-hour tour but the description is vague and appears to offer a bus ride and a viewing platform. If you know of this tour, please tell what you actually saw, heard, experienced and if it gave you good insight or just a "view". Thanks in advance. We are on Celebrity Century SD to FL, sailing Dec 4.

This is a fairly recent addition to the shore excursion lineup and probably not too many people have not yet taken the tour. From the tour description it sounds like they will take you to both the present locks and to the locks that are being constructed as part of the expansion program. From the length of the tour I would also assume that it will be the locks on the Atlantic side.

I've not taken this tour but would be interested in hearing from anyone who has. When the Canal was being constructed it was such an enormous and amazing undertaking that people came to Panama from all over the world just to see the construction activity. There's a great old book you can sometimes find on Amazon called PANAMA AND THE CANAL by Willis J Abbot from 1913, just as the Canal was nearing completion. If you like to read, and of course have read my book on cruising the Panama Canal, and David Mc Cullough's definitive Canal history, then you will enjoy this book, written back in the day and filled with amazing old photos. Regards, Richard

We recently completed the Infinity October 23rd cruise and were in Colon on November 3rd and took the Celebrity “Expansion of the Panama Canal” tour. I was not initially thrilled with the idea of spending my day looking at construction, but following the progress of the new locks is my husband’s new “hobby” and this was a must-see for him. I have to admit this tour was a pleasant surprise for me.

Our tour was provided by Adventours and our guide’s name was Miguel. He was very knowledgeable and personable. We boarded a small bus (air conditioned, of course) at the pier and drove through Colon and several neighborhoods on the way to Gatun locks. Miguel gave us current and past history regarding Panama and the canal while we rode to the locks. I’m guessing the drive took 30-40 minutes. At Gatun locks we watched a ship transverse the locks from the observation deck. While we were in the observation area an employee of the locks gave us an informative narration while the ship travelled through. The Gatun observation area is right next to the locks and you get a very up close and personal view. Then we were on our own to view the locomotives (mules) on display, use the restrooms, take pictures and visit the small gift shop. We spent a little over an hour at Gatun locks.

We re-boarded the bus for a short drive from the current locks to the observation facility at the new construction. I mentioned November 3rd because it turned out that this is Panama’s Independence Day and there was no construction being done during our visit, but just viewing the massive work that has been done was fascinating. Panama has put a lot of effort into this observation area. It is a beautiful facility. There are three main sections. First we were directed into a theater and shown a short video about the new technology being used in building and operating the new locks. There was an employee of the observation facility who introduced the video and answered questions. A gift store is next to the theater (but no, you do not have to exit through it from the theater as if you were in Disneyland!).

Then we went to the actual observation platform (open air, but covered) overlooking the construction site. Our guide gave us some more facts about the new locks and answered questions. It was obvious there were a few engineers on our tour by the questions they asked, but Miguel was up to the task. After the observation deck we went to the third area, a building containing pictures of the canal, past and present, and Panama in general. Not hugely informative, but another employee provided narrative while she walked us through the photos and she answered questions. In all, we spent about an hour or a little more here. The construction site is so vast that my husband was glad he had binoculars with him. Then the bus returned us to the pier in Colon.

When I booked the tour I could not imagine how it could take four hours, but with driving time it turned out to be about two hours for the Gatun Locks and another two hours for the new construction observation facility. We certainly were not rushed, but we also were not bored. Although I enjoyed the drive through the housing areas, my guess is that this part of the tour is a bit of padding to fill out the time. It did give our guide opportunity to provide us with information and answer questions, so the time was not a waste.

This is obviously not an adventurous excursion, but it does provide a lot of information about the current and future locks—one of the world’s great construction projects-- as promised. I was expecting to earn a lot of points with my husband for indulging him with this tour, but I have to admit I enjoyed it, too.

Make sure to book a reliable tour. Colon is infested with crime, and it is not safe under any circumstances to walk around the town, day or night. Several people on our cruise were mugged in Colon—six Germans walking together, robbed at gunpoint--and a crew member was mugged in the tourist shopping area right near the ship’s dock.

Thank you for the review... glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you SeaGal ! We are planning to take Panama Canal Cruise sometime next year and your feedback is very valuable to me !

Thank you so much for the very good detailed description of your tour. You have been very helpful. That is exactly what we needed to know to make up our minds. And I think there will be others following suit.

SeaGal,

I also want to thank you for the great review. We will be going thru the canal twice in 2014.

Thanks so much for this detailed review! We are cruising in March and your review has convinced me this is the tour for us! One question: Do you recall the approximate time of day that the tour left and returned to the port? Thanks!

Thanks SeaGal! There are one or two companies that almost all of the cruise lines use for tours, even although the tour names may be slightly different. Glad you enjoyed the tour and got an opportunity to see the construction. When the Canal was originally being built, people came from around the world just to see it under construction!

Regards, Richard