Why only ship sponsored excursions?

We're booked on the Coral Princess next February for a partial transit of the canal.

When looking for shore excursions I tend to opt for the independent operators instead of the ship sponsored tours. However, I'm told that on our day in Panama and into the canal, I'm told that only those passengers booked on ship sponsored excursions are allowed to tender off of the ship when it anchors in Gatun Lake. I read where some other cruise lines will allow passengers to disembark with special documentation from their independent tour operator, but not Princess. Can this be true, and if so, why?

I had heard good things about My Friend Mario tours. Now it appears that I will have to pay twice as much for a less inclusive similar tour through the cruise line.

Has anyone experienced this same problem, and if so, what did you do?

I read where some other cruise lines will allow passengers to disembark with special documentation from their independent tour operator, but not Princess. Can this be true, and if so, why?

Royal Caribbean only allows you to take ship excursions as well. I did the Panama Canal by Ferry trip and was highly satisfied with it. Even if independent excursions had been allowed, I wouldn't have been able to do this one on my own since the length of the excursion was such that if it had been any longer we would've missed the boat.

It took me a bit to figure it out. I think some Carvinal ships stop somewhere here, but do not go thru the canal, they are allowed to book private tours.

Anyone getting off the ship in Gatam Lake has to do a ship tour due to Panama's Security regulations, not the individual ship rules. Yes, the ships are taking advantage of this with jacked up prices.

You do have to have an excursion booked to get off the ship at Gatun Lake, since there is nothing to do and no way to get from there if there isn't a someone waiting for you. It could be a security related issue in that you have to have the proper documentation. After all, you're getting off the ship at one place, and returning another. But, it doesn't have to be ship sponsered. Some cruiseline require this, so they can jack the price up, but it is NOT a requirement of Panama or the Canal Authority. When I wrote to Mario, he provided a copy of the appropriate official documentation to satisfy the Panama Authorities. So, if you cruiseline doesn't accpet that documentation, it's because they are selfish, not because of security regulations. It upsets me that people try to blame regulations or governmets for fiscal decision that they make, instead of just telling the truth. The cruiselines are getting heavy handed in this respect IMHO. I remember a last minute Canopy Tour in Roatan cancelled because the cruiselines made a deal with the tour operator not to allow anyone except cruiseline Pax on the tour when a cruise ship was in port.

Mario was already book for my December date, but Pete Garcia from http://www.adventuresinpanama.com is available, and we are considering using him. He requires a few more Pax to make the trip price reasonable, and we're seeing if we can round up the requisite number. In our case, it's also a case of the cruiseline not offering what we want to do - snorkeling and a visit to Portobello and possible tour of Gatun Locks visitor center.