Liberty/Panama Canal

My Family and I will be docking into the Panama canal aboard the Carnival Liberty, on April 20th. It's my wifes bithday, what truly special private or carnival excursions do you recommend. something to blow her socks off is the order of the day.:eek:

carnival miracle 12/05

carnival liberty 18 days and counting:D

We just took the Libery on the cruise that stopped in Colon Panama. Our family (DH, me, 2 kids) took the Panama Canal excursion offered by Carnival. I was leary of Panama so I opted for the ship excursion. Figured I'd only go to Panama once, so I didn't want to miss the canal.

First, a bus took us to the other side of the country (Pacific Ocean side). It was sort of a long ride, which we didn't love. But, you get an idea of the country (definitely not as poor as Costa Rica). Once to the Pacific Ocean, we boarded a large ferry. We went to the top as I definitely wanted an outdoor experience. It was AWESOME!

The ferry ride was probably about 3 hours. We went through numerous locks, under the centeniel bridge, through the continental divide. All of it was great. Even my kids (10 and 13) liked it. We usually like beaches, but this was one sightseeing day we all enjoyed. Definitely the highlight of the entire week on the Liberty.

By the way, they do provide a box lunch -- we didn't like it, but we would never base our day on the quality of the box lunch. The food wasn't important to us. It held us till we got back to the ship (and could get some ice cream!)

My parents were with us on the cruise, but they opted for a different excursion -- they did a train, banana farm and some other things. They loved their excursion too (my father doesn't like to do one thing for too long, so they had to do something that had numerous stops).

I'm really glad we could have the Panama Canal experience and give our children that opportunity. I have some beautiful photos -- if I can figure out where to post them and how to do it, I will get back to this board.

Have fun and enjoy!

Hi Tennislover,

Thanks for the info, I will be on RCCL Brilliance of the Seas, but I think most of the tours are the same or similiar even on different lines. Did Liberty go through any of the locks?

We make a half transit through Gatun locks and then turn around in Lake Gatun and if you want to get off for an excursion it MUST be through the ship. They will not let you off without an excursion.

I can't wait!!!

Sue

SueL: The Liberty did not go through any locks. It docked in Colon, then we took bus to Pacific. We were on a ferry through the locks -- can't remember how many -- it was at least 3. We had a great guide on the ferry who explained lots of stuff (and you could still chat if you didn't want to listen to all of it). Great, great day. Going through the locks is an experience I wouldn't want to miss.

FYI - we did see another cruise ship going through the canal - I think it was Seabourne (?). Definitely much smaller than the Liberty.

What is the cost?

If I remember correctly, it was about $175 per person. I booked it on-line prior to cruising. I just didn't want to miss it. I never paid that much for an excursion before (there are 4 of us), but it was my one and only time in Panama and this was absolutely the one thing I wanted to do.

As I mentioned previously, it was the best day of the entire cruise (IMO)

I recommend the train ride to the pacific side. Big roomy comfortable seats.

i see carnival offers a tram ride over the tree-tops. it is 51/2 hrs long. it looks great. has anyone done that?? if so was it worth the money??

We did the tram ride over the rain forest in Costa Rica. Very long bus ride to the rain forest and disappointing in that we didn't see the promised monkeys in the rain forest.

But we had an excellent guide on the tram who gave us a lot of great information. And, my DH was thrilled that we got rained on in the rain forest (doesn't everyone?).

Not sure what else we would have done in Costa Rica so I guess it was worth the money (which was less than the Panama Canal excursion).

A lot of people said the zip line over the rain forest was great, but I just don't see myself doing that kind of thing.

thanks for the honest opinion about the tram ride. the zip line sounds exciting. i might check into that. thanks again