My Friend Mario - Panama Canal Tours

Does anyone have his website/contact information?

his website is mario@myfriendmario.com

i hope not to get flamed with this post but i find that mario is not user friendly for a single tourist. a couple of his tours in panama is '' na '' for 1 passenger. the other tour is $125 for a single. i will stick with the ship if i decide to take tour in colon. the prices are high but i know i will get a seat for what i want to do. do other single travelers feel as i do about this is or it just me :confused:

Don't worry for the high price, he will include you in with the rest of the group when you get there. There are only 3 of us and we got the group rate for 20 when we got there.

thanks cruise-wife. i will check his site again and see what his prices are again compared to the ships. i would much rather go with an independent, i like to support the locals and you do get a much better tour that is less crowed.

Hi CruiseWife, I see you are on the same ship as we will be on October 21st. Have you booked the tour with Mario? We are debating doing it.

BrendaGard

Yes we are booked with Mario, we can't wait to do this tour again, it was the highlight of the cruise out last trip to Panama!

Why don't you join our Victory thread and meet some of the other CC'rs cruising with us. It's getting very active with all of us getting excited for this cruise. Where are you from? I see you cruise a lot too.

Terri

Hi - we're from Moneta, Virginia (southwestern Virgina). Largest city near us (45 minutes away) is Roanoke.

Which tour # are you booked with Mario? I think we will book with him also.

Hi Brendagard

I'm Terri from Punta Gorda, Florida. In betweem Fort Myers and Sarasota on the Gulf Coast. We booked tour #CL007. It was great.

Terri

BrendaGard

Yes we are booked with Mario, we can't wait to do this tour again, it was the highlight of the cruise out last trip to Panama!

Why don't you join our Victory thread and meet some of the other CC'rs cruising with us. It's getting very active with all of us getting excited for this cruise. Where are you from? I see you cruise a lot too.

Terri

Looking for tour in Panama too... we have 17 people with us.... would love to hook up with group and tour with Mario... have you book tour with him before?

Looking for tour in Panama too... we have 17 people with us.... would love to hook up with group and tour with Mario... have you book tour with him before?

Hi Top Cat -- have you looked at the threads for the October 21st Victory sailing? A lot of us are booked on the tour with Mario. My hubby Bowgard posts there a lot.

Hey, has anyone been in contact with Mario, I am trying to confirm the tour during our Nov 16th sailing on the Legend. Seems that I can't connect to it and no response to my email. Any info will be helpful.

I got in touch with Mario also. He responded back the same day (yesterday)... We are going there on the Legend in December.

My wife and I just returned from the Carnival Legend today. We were in Panama on Nov. 19th and took the CL007 tour with MyfriendMario. This tour was conducted by two tour guides, Lori and Ricardo. I do not know how many guides work for this company but if you take this tour you should request these two people to conduct your tour.

The tour began with them being right where they stated that they would be and their map is accurate as to their location and being easy to locate them. There were about 21 of us on their tour and we were seated in their A/C van and we began with a narration of Panama geography, history and customs, it was most interesting. They also answered any and all questions from us and were very pleasant and informative.

The tour then took us to a lake where we were met by some of the Embera Indians and their dugout outboard motor powered canoes. We sat in the canoes and were off on about a 45 minute ride across the lake then upstream on a river that ended up at a location just below a waterfalls. NOTE: while in the canoe, or better yet, before getting into the canoe, be sure to put on your water shoes as when you get out of the canoes you will be wading in the river, sometimes in water that is 1 to 2 feet deep, and crossing over rocks and boulders that are in the river near the bank while you are making your way to the waterfalls. The distance was probably about 100 yards to the falls. This was a very scenic and memorable place and a great photo op for us all. Incidentally, I was bothered by only 1 fly all day, and only for about 5 seconds. We had bug repellent with us but obviously did not need to use it.

We then got back into the canoes and went for about a 15 minute ride to the Embera Indian Village and were met on the river bank by the villagers, young and old alike. We were invited to join then in eating some food that they were preparing as we arrived there. The chief explained, through an interpreter, the history and culture of the tribe, again very interesting. They then demonstrated their costumes and began playing their music and performed a dance for us. Then, much to my surprise, they came and got some of us and led us by the hand to join them in the dance. Take note, a Fred Astaire I am not, but it was impossible to turn down their request to join them in this ritual. This turned out to be a very special moment for me and others as well. We then went to a hut where they had various handicrafts on display and for sale. They make each of these items, baskets, clothing items, wooden carvings, jewelry, a great many to look at and very inexpensive prices being asked for these items being offered for sale. They invited us into their village and treated us as though we were family or somehow important people. I was very touched by these people and I feel that this part of the tour was worth the cost all by itself. I will never forget this experience and will always value the memories from our visit there.

We then left there by canoe and went to meet up with our bus and then went to the Panama Canal locks. We observed three ships while they were passing through the canal. This was also most interesting and very informative. We were led to a viewing platform that is right next to the locks in order to get a good view and photo op of the ships and the working of the canal employees. This was narrated by an official of the locks and we learned many important and interesting facts regarding the canal and the operation of same.

This has to rank right up there with one of the best tours that we have ever taken. Lori and Ricardo were very good as guides and they work very well together. Where one might have expertise in one area, the other has other knowledge and expertise in another area. They blended this presentation together perfectly. They presented the information in a very interesting and informative manor, I was actually sad to see the tour come to an end as they were such special people and my wife and I will always remember them fondly. They, as well as all of the Panamanian people that we met, were simply wonderful and left us with a warm feeling and many great memories of this visit to a very special place.

We would schedule another tour with these folks without hesitation. They offer several varieties of tours and if the other ones are conducted as well as ours was then I am sure that you would be as satisfied as we were.

Randy

Thanks for the informative review Randy. A Panama Canal cruise in somewhere in my future, and this tour sounds like a must do.

Randy,

Thanks for the review. It sounds like a fantastic tour! I emailed myfriendmario about 2 weeks ago to book that same tour for July. I haven't heard back yet.

Do you remember if it took a while for a response? Should I try again?

Thanks again and I'm so glad that you had a wonderful experience!

Randy,

Thanks for the review. It sounds like a fantastic tour! I emailed myfriendmario about 2 weeks ago to book that same tour for July. I haven't heard back yet.

Do you remember if it took a while for a response? Should I try again?

 

Thanks again and I'm so glad that you had a wonderful experience!

mpat,

I'm glad that you liked the review. We also booked this tour several months in advance but we heard back the next day. However, that was probably the slow season for those folks in that area so he may have had more time then. I would certainly contact him again, it can't hurt, right? If your tour is anything like ours it will be worth the effort. Good luck.

Randy

Great review, thank you!

I too am booked on the legend with a stop in Panama. I was considering booking a tour through myfriendmario- I did have a couple of questions for you about timing. What time did you meet up with the tour? How much time left did you have before debarkation?

Thanks for your help!

Jessica

Great review, thank you!

 

I too am booked on the legend with a stop in Panama. I was considering booking a tour through myfriendmario- I did have a couple of questions for you about timing. What time did you meet up with the tour? How much time left did you have before debarkation?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Jessica

Jessica,

Per Mario we were requested to be at the pier and meet with him by 7:00 AM as the tour would begin at 7:20 AM. A few shops were open but most were closed (it was Sunday by the way). At the end of the tour, approximately 3:45 PM we had about an hour to shop as the ship was scheduled to leave at 5:00 PM. At that time all of the stores were open and they had a great many souvenir items to look at, and we felt that they were reasonably priced. It was a very clean, safe looking area that was monitored by the local police and we felt very much at ease just hanging around looking for things to buy in this mini shopping mall.

If you have any other questions just let me know.

Randy

Randy,

Thanks for the review. It sounds like a fantastic tour! I emailed myfriendmario about 2 weeks ago to book that same tour for July. I haven't heard back yet.

Do you remember if it took a while for a response? Should I try again?

 

Thanks again and I'm so glad that you had a wonderful experience!

I sent out an email to "myfriendmario" tonight and received an email back within 10 minutes. He was very helpful. I would re-send your email.

Trying to book a tour with Mario but the email contact is weak. Anyone try the Il telephone number and get through? Thanks for the help.