Panama tours on Princess Island Dec 2010

[Cat_Lover3]

We will be on the Island for an eastbound full transit this December. I have read on some of the boards that passengers get off for tours and while they are gone the ship continues thur the locks and they meet back up with the ship at a different point. From what I have read this does not seem to be the case with our cruise but I wasn't sure. This is our first time to Panama and we are really looking forward to it. If we don't take a tour in Panama, is there something nearby that we could walk to or take a taxi? Of the tours offered I was looking at one of the ones that takes you by small boat into the locks and Gatun lake. Has anyone does this? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[konatyme]

Are you on the Dec. 5 cruise? That's the one DH & I are on. We're doing a tour with MyFriendMario to the Embera Indian village while the ship is in Fuerte Amador (this will be the day before the ship actually goes through the locks). If you're on this cruise and are interested, post again & let me know; I'll post the rest of the info about the tour.

[jamessemaj]

I just returned from the Island Princess reposition from Vancouver to Ft. Lauderdale. I enjoyed it very much. I will summarize my experience for what it's worth. I don't normally do group tours. Boring. But, Costa Rica might be one worth taking. The port is a dump, the worse. I like to take taxis at the port. For that, I would suggest Panama City and especially Cartegena. Aruba do whatever. It is small and you will have no problem deciding there what to do. No much to it. Of all of the ports, Cartegena was the most beautiful, interesting, and for some reason very short on time. There, I would suggest negotiating with taxi drivers outside of the beautiful port area. Tell them where you want to go, negotiate a price. For an equal or less price than any group tour, you will set your own agenda. The place is fascinating way beyond the other ports. Enjoy. Oh, don't do the lock thing. Waste. You will see it all during the transit.

[BillB48]

As konatyme noted, your stop at Ft. Amador will take the place of you having disembark the vessel just before Gatun Locks, joining a tour and then meeting the ship when it docks in Colon. From your schedule it appears your ship will sail for Cartagena after clearing the Canal without a stop in Colon. This arrangement is preferable to having to juggle the transit and tours all on the same day.

 

After you tender ashore at Ft. Amador there are normally taxis available and there are a few reataurants etc. A great view of the Panama City skyline from this area.

 

I see that Princess offers a tour "Panama Canal Experience by Boat," this tour would take you on a partial transit of the Pacific Locks and through Gaillard Cut. Actually Gaillard Cut is an arm of Gatun Lake, but I am guessing that you are looking for the more open sections of the lake with the rain forrest in view. For this you would have to look at the Gatun Lake and Miraflores Locks tour. The stop at Miraflores Locks is a visit to the Lock and not a passage through it. If you are looking for something where you may see some wildlife, then the Monkey Watch and Canal Nature may be something you are interested in. The only thing you may wish to consider in the Panama Canal Experience by Boat is this tour will take you over some of the same territory you are going to cover on your full transit the next day. Depending on how much Canal you want to take in the PC Experience by Boat may seem like a bit of duplicaton. Actually it is a great comparison to view the operation and see the size of the locks from the perspective of a smaller vessel and the next day retrace some of your route on a Panamax vessel. That can be a great comparison and you will see things differently on both trips, however I certainly can understand wanting to pack as much as you can into your stop and the transit.

 

Hope you enjoy the cruise!

[GradUT]

We did a partial transit in April on the Island Princess and took the small boat from Gatun Lake through the remaining 3 locks toward the Pacific Ocean. The tour that you are considering sounds like exactly the same tour, but in the reverse order. We really enjoyed this tour and are so glad we did it. You get such a different perspective on going through the canal when you are on a small boat as opposed to going through on the cruise ship.

However, if you are expecting air conditioning, plush chairs and sumptuous food, then this is not the excursion for you. The seating is outside (although there is a very small air conditioned room) in plastic chairs. The deck is partially covered, so you can choose to sit in the sun or shade. The buffet lunch consists of pasta salad, sandwiches, fruit and banana muffins (which were really delicious). All of the drinks (water, soda, beer) are complimentary and there was plenty to drink all day.

As I said before, the perspective of being on a small boat was great; we had excellent commentary throughout the tour from one of the guides and we actually got close enough to the sides of the canal to touch--which was really cool.