Gamboa Excursion (Carnival Freedom)

Is there an excursion that starts in Gamboa, goes thru 2 locks to the Pacific with a motor coach ride back to Colon? How far is Gamboa from where we dock in Colon and best way og getting there and cost....any recommendations for a private company who does that excursion and a ball park figure for cost and total time (round trip )

We did not notice it on the Carnival shore excursions offerings

Thanks

Is there an excursion that starts in Gamboa, goes thru 2 locks to the Pacific with a motor coach ride back to Colon? How far is Gamboa from where we dock in Colon and best way og getting there and cost....any recommendations for a private company who does that excursion and a ball park figure for cost and total time (round trip )

 

We did not notice it on the Carnival shore excursions offerings

 

Thanks

The tour which you are referencing has an assortment of names, but basically it is what you describe, a partial transit of the Canal, passing through the two Pacific Locks, and transiting Gaillard Cut. This excursion can operate in either direction, in other words, starting in the Pacific and ending at Gamboa or the other way around. The direction of the excursion is dependent on Canal traffic and where the excursion vessel is located. There is no "better" direction, both equally rewarding.

I find it hard to believe that this tour would not be offered by Carninval. In the past when is a ship making a port call at Colon this is one of the more popular shore excursions. Perhaps it will show up at a later date. Also when a ship is in port the cruise line generally monopolizes the assets of the tour operator, so there may not be any ability to take this tour as a private excursion if past experience is any guide.

To answer your question about the distance of Gamboa from the pier in Colon... it is about an hour drive. The distance from Colon to the Pacific side to either pick up or disembark the tour vessel would be about 1.5 hours. As far as the actual partial transit of the Locks and Gaillard Cut, you should allow about 5 hours. Allow at least 8 hours including transportation to and from, for this tour although it may not take quite that long... and now the but... it could take longer!! You are at the mercy of a lot of variables, ship traffic in the Canal is subject to many variables. One thing gets out of whack and it can become a conga line of delays until it gets back to you. Because you will be in a remote area with no alternate means of transportation back to the port, I really would recommend a ship's excursion for this particular tour. As far as the price booking this tour on your own would be about $130 where the ship's price will be around $170.

Here is the web site for the company that runs Canal transits...

https://www.pmatours.net/pacific_queen/index.html#

Thank you so much for your prompt response.....your thoughtful input helps me make my decision about staying with the ship's excursion

Here is the web site for the company that runs Canal transits...

 

https://www.pmatours.net/pacific_queen/index.html#

Unfortunately frequently the times don't work with ship docking times and often when several ships are in, the tour companies that supply tours to the ships have booked the entire thing.

Regards, Richard

If anyone has the time, would you pls look up Carnival excursions in the port of Colon and tell us which would you choose?

http://www.carnival.com/Activities

Our cruise does not go through the canal so I would really like a tour that goes to the locks.

Tks very much!

If anyone has the time, would you pls look up Carnival excursions in the port of Colon and tell us which would you choose?

 

http://www.carnival.com/Activities

 

Our cruise does not go through the canal so I would really like a tour that goes to the locks.

 

Tks very much!

I am not sure if you just want to visit one of the locks or if you would like to take a partial transit of the Canal which would involve transiting through the two Locks on the the Pacific side as well as Gaillard Cut. If that is the one you want, here's the link; http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/513005

Now if you are just wanting to visit one of the Locks there are a number tours that include a visit to the Locks. Keep in mind that a stop at the locks would only be about a one hour visit and is usually combined with another tour attraction. From what I read there a four excursions that include a stop at one of the locks... 1. Portobelo & Gatun Locks, 2. San Lorenzo & Gatun Locks. Now, for Two Oceans by Railroad... that tour states that the tour visits Miraflores Locks. For the Grand Tour (Eco, Indians & Locks, I only see "Locks" mentioned in the title of the excursion. When I read the description of the excursion, I did not see anything mentioned about a visit to one of the Locks. Many times these tour descriptions are written by people who have no idea of what they are describing, in short they may not be very accurate in the some of details of the excursion.

Wow!! You're too fast for me!! Tks very much.

I went back online and here's 3 that I'm interested in. I didn't want to do a whole-day tour. I think it would be too tiring since our cruise will have lots of late-night entertainment and activities!

Which one of these would be best for viewing locks and hopefully a ship passing through.

http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/513015

http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/513008

http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/513018

Tks very much for your help!

A visit to Gatun Locks is an almost a guarantee there will be ship/s in the locks. The trip to Ft. San Lorenzo would be the lesser of a bus ride since Ft. San L is a lot closer to Gatun than Portobelo and Gatun is actually on the route to Ft. San L. I don't have any direct knowledge of the Eco/Locks excursion, so I really can't comment on it, but at least it will take you to Gatun Locks. At Ft. San Lorenzo there is just the ruins of the fort while Portobelo is a populated town amongst the ruins of three Spanish forts. Anyway you look at it Ft. San Lorenzo and Portobelo are absolutely replete with history. Enjoy!

Tks again. I've whittled it down to two tours....eliminated the Eco one.

But I don't understand why one that is 4.5 hours costs more than the one that is 5.5 hours.