Panama Canal - back from a small ship tour

We're just back from a wonderful cruise on Panama Marine Adventures' M/V Discovery. When I was looking for info on this ship or any other small ship that focused on the canal experience, I couldn't find anything on CC and only one review of this tour on Trip Advisor, so I thought I'd leave some info here that might help the next person who comes looking for a different way to see Panama and the canal.

I was originally looking for a ship of about 200 to 500 passengers that would transit the canal during the day, but couldn't find anything that met those criteria, so I started googling for even smaller ships and came across Discovery. She's a catamaran that holds 24 passengers in 12 cabins on the lower deck, a large salon/dining room on the second deck, and open space on the top deck. The ship carries 6 kayaks and 2 tenders that are used for excursions.

We booked through a U.S. travel agent, but some of our fellow passengers booked directly through PMA. Prices were the same either way -- cheaper than a Lindblad cruise, but more than a huge ship. The timing worked better for us, as we really wanted a full transit, but find it hard to take off 2 full weeks from work.

Passengers:

Our sailing was not full. We had 12 passengers from the U.S. and 2 from Panama. It was a nice congenial group, ranging in age from 50 to late 70's. We were the two youngest passengers at 51 and 52.

Crew:

All are Panamanians with varying English skills, but we had no problem communicating, and learning more Spanish was part of the fun. Everyone on the crew was extremely friendly and sociable. The captain maintains an open bridge and anyone is welcome to visit with him any time. We could also meet and talk to the canal pilots when they were aboard. Octavio, the guide/naturalist, had excellent English and was very knowledgeable.

Itinerary Highlights:

- Visiting an Embera village in Darien province. This village sees tourist visitors only 5 times per year, and meeting the Peace Corps worker who's living there with them really makes you feel like you're off the beaten path.

- The Panama canal transit of course! This is done in two days, with a night in Gatun lake in between. You can see everything from a small ship that doesn't need help navigating the locks like the larger ships do.

- While in Gatun lake, we picked up two guides from the Smithsonian research station on Barro Colorado Island and cruised around in the ship's tenders, looking at some amazing wildlife on shore. We also hiked on the island the next morning before finishing the canal transit that afternoon.

- Night anchored in the Chagres river, followed by a morning wildlife observation cruise up the river towards the dam that forms Gatun lake. What a magical place that is, where you can just enjoy the rain forest without seeing another boat.

I hope this helps anyone who's in the same situation I was in a few months ago, and I'm happy to answer whatever questions I can based on our experience. :)

Thanks CAA - a great review of an interesting trip that is pretty much off the radar on CC. Relatively new although I'd heard of it, I've never actually heard from someone who took the trip. There is SO much of Panama that you miss if you just barrel through the Canal without really seeing Panama. This trip gives you a chance to see the Canal from a small boat, very different aspect than transiting on a Panamax cruise ship with thousands of fellow passengers. The small ship experience - although with only 24 passengers this is REALLY small - is totally different than on a big ship. So even for folks who've been "through" the Canal, this is a neat option.

Regards, Richard

Yep, that's the Discovery! After our transit we went to the visitors center at Gatun Locks and watched the Norwegian Star come through. It's definitely a different experience when the ship is filling the lock from wall to wall.

Wow, I just came from the Panama Marine Adventures website before I found your post. I do have a couple of questions if/when you have the time. How are the meals on board? Given such a small size I assume everyone eats at the same time. Does the ship sell alcohol either beer, wine, or mixed drinks? If not do they allow you to bring any items on board? What happens on a typical day?

Thanks

Hi tgmg00a,

The meals were very good -- not high-end restaurant food, but a bit fancier than I make at home on a daily basis. There are 3 tables seating 8 to 10 people in the main salon and yes, everyone eats at the same time. Meal times vary a bit from day to day, but they're announced the night before, and they're flexible. If we were out hiking in the morning and people wanted to shower before lunch, there was just a general consensus that we'd eat in about 45 minutes and service would start once everyone was there.

Breakfast was a hot and cold buffet with fresh fruit, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc. The cooks would always have one local specialty like empanadas or tortillas (more like a fluffy hush puppy made with corn meal than what I call a tortilla though). I loved these little goodies. Lunch varied depending on what we were doing. When we went to the Embera village, they brought boxed lunches. Other days we had soup, sandwiches, salads, pasta, barbecued chicken or shrimp. For dinners, we usually had a salad, a choice of two entrees, then dessert; though one night everyone had seafood paella for the entree.

They easily accommodated one gentleman who had pretty severe food allergies, and I'm sure they could handle special diets that involve adapting available food. E.g. if you're gluten-free, you'd be eating rice rather than the special gluten-free bread you can get in the states. Something like a strict kosher diet that requires special food and preparation would probably be impossible.

The ship has an open bar. They have a variety of red and white wines that they serve with meals, and they also can make common cocktails. They couldn't do mojitos without fresh mint, but they had margaritas, pina coladas, rum, vodka, gin, whiskey, etc, and mixers. I can't remember seeing people drink beer, but I'm sure they must have had it. One man had asked in advance for non-acoholic beer and they hadn't been able to obtain any for him. I don't know if that just isn't available in Panama or if there was some other mix-up that prevented it.

It's a small bar. If you ask for rum and coke, they can definitely provide it, but they're not going to be offering you five kinds of rum to choose from. If there is something special you want, you could just email them and ask if it's possible for them to stock it or if you could bring it aboard and keep it at the bar. You can bring whatever you want on board, there's nobody inspecting or x-raying your carry-ons, but it would just be weird to bring rum runners or a case of coke as people sometimes talk about doing on large ships. It would be less strange to bring a bottle of your favorite bourbon that you drink from while everyone else is also having drinks.

Days varied a lot, but we'd usually have breakfast around 8:00, do some activity in the morning, lunch around 12:30 or 1:00, something in the afternoon, then resting or socializing before dinner at 6:30. Octavio (our naturalist and guide) would give a talk after dinner about the things we would be doing the next day with a bit about the history and what types of wildlife we might see, along with any recommendations for clothing, footwear, insect repellant.

I hope that answers your questions. If you have any more, feel free to ask.

Caa - Great report!! Sounds like a great trip! Regards, Richard

Thanks for the info on PMA. Another cruise joins the bucket list

Thanks for the great feedback! The M/V Discovery goes on the list for sure!

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I was thrilled to find your review and the info you provided. We are looking seriously at this trip - it sounds fabulous. I notice they offer either north or south bound itineraries - from your experience, was one preferable over the other. Did you pick your month of travel for any particular reason?

Thank you.

Andi

Thanks very much for posting your review. It sounds like a wonderful experience.

Question: How many total days was this cruise?

I was thrilled to find your review and the info you provided. We are looking seriously at this trip - it sounds fabulous. I notice they offer either north or south bound itineraries - from your experience, was one preferable over the other. Did you pick your month of travel for any particular reason?

 

Thank you.

Andi

Hi Andi -- I really don't think it matters whether you go north or south. We went north and traveled in late April. The timing was entirely due to work commitments related to the U.S. tax season. That was actually a bit late. It would have been better weather (less hot) if we could have gone earlier in the year. We spent a couple days in Panama City after the cruise and had heavy thunderstorms both afternoons since it was the beginning of the rainy season.

Thanks very much for posting your review. It sounds like a wonderful experience.

 

Question: How many total days was this cruise?

Hi -- the cruise was 7 days, 6 nights.