Recommended excursions Panama-canal cruise

Well, fair enough! I'm in a quandary. I have The Shaping of Panama (to Panama City) booked, but am having second thoughts. I've considered, like you said, that we'll see the locks pretty "up close and personal," and we usually really enjoy getting a feel for the culture. With that said, if we felt more comfortable with going with a private tour, we probably would; but we're concerned about safety. Thank you for sharing. My quandary makes me think about going to Las Vegas and only planning to go to Hoover Dam! I'd NEVER do that ... although with additional time to spare, I liked seeing Hoover Dam!!!/mdnotmd

As far as safety... on either tour you would be safe and there would not be any significant precautions that you would not take anywhere else. What maybe the source of your concern is you probably have read that Colon is not a place to venture out. That is true, the area adjacent to the pier (the shopping mall) is safe and you can pass through Colon on a tour or in a taxi without worry. You just don't want to leave the mall for a leisure stroll down Colon's streets to soak up any local flavor. Unfortunately Colon isn't the greatest front door (or backdoor) for any country.

Good advice on port safety.

Thanks, I did hear back and we told him we want to tour Portobello and Gatum Locks with a lunch in Portobello. Should be fun. :)

Bill

Hi Bill, 2 years later, but I just emaile Roberto and got a very quick reply, I was wondering how it went? Were you pleased overall? Was the lunch spot good and do you remember the name of it? Thanks for any info. Mike

Hi Bill, 2 years later, but I just emaile Roberto and got a very quick reply, I was wondering how it went? Were you pleased overall? Was the lunch spot good and do you remember the name of it? Thanks for any info. Mike

Hello Mike, we visited Colon in November and I organized a tour with Roberto for our CC group (nearly 40 of us!). We did not do the tour you are asking about but thought I would just let you know that our tour was great! We did a '4 hour' tour to the old and new locks. Roberto actually was our tour guide and was in no hurry at all and extremely knowledgeable. He, his father, and grandfather have all worked for the canal. Everyone in our group was very happy with the experience. I think we ended up taking about 6 hours of his time rather than 4 because he took time to answer all questions at both places and made sure everyone had plenty of time to see everything, take photos, etc. I would highly recommend him and if we ever happen to go back to Colon, I would certainly plan another excursion with him.

Hope you enjoy whatever you do! BTW, he did tell me he is working on getting a website.

Marilyn

Would appreciate contact information for Roberto.Please email jerry@soon.com

Thanks

Jerry

Would appreciate contact information for Roberto.Please email jerry@soon.com

 

Thanks

 

Jerry

His email address is in this post....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=48491833&postcount=1

His email address is in this post....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=48491833&postcount=1

Yep, that is the email address I used!