Excursions in Panama Canal - misleading website

[zahav1]

Princess.com website is showing Panama excursions for the 10 days Panama Canal cruises - one way - cruises. They do have a disclaimer on the bottom of the excursion list but I had not noticed it till I called them up. They may have Panama excursions for the 10 day round Ft. Lauderdale trips. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION before booking and make sure it's what you want. If you want to visit Panama via an excursion then before you make your reservations I would suggest to call Princess directly and talk to them.

[itzmered]

Sorry I am not understanding what you are saying :confused: Are you saying they have excursions listed but are not really offering them :confused:

[Pachutabelle]

I'm sorry but I am not quite understanding the problem either.

[Pam in CA]

Princess.com website is showing Panama excursions for the 10 days Panama Canal cruises - one way - cruises. They do have a disclaimer on the bottom of the excursion list but I had not noticed it till I called them up. They may have Panama excursions for the 10 day round Ft. Lauderdale trips. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION before booking and make sure it's what you want. If you want to visit Panama via an excursion then before you make your reservations I would suggest to call Princess directly and talk to them.

I have no idea what you're talking about. I've taken several Panama Canal cruises and booked tours once they opened for booking in my cruise personalizer. If you're looking at the general shore excursions list, that's what MIGHT be offered. There are never any guarantees that any of them will be. The FAQs explain clearly that you should check your cruise personalizer to book tours.

 

If a specific excursion is critical for your enjoyment, you might consider a vacation in Panama instead of a cruise.

[grandmato4]

I am sorry to hear you didn't understand when you booked your cruise from Acapulco to FLL. Since the majority of your day will be spend traveling through the canal you are only sceduled to be docked in Colon for a few hours in the evening. Most of the tours in Panama are lengthy and would not be possible with the limited amount of hours you are docked in Colon.

[zahav1]

I had thought the information was clear on my posting. I had searched the princess website for Panama Canal cruises, found one going one way from Acapulco to Ft. Lauderdale. Then I went into the excursion section of that cruise and checked out all the ports. One port listed as Panama Canal (I know they have stopped at a pier at Lake Gatun on other cruises), under that port there was the excursion list, about 10 or so. But, I neglected to look way on the bottom, with tiny type, stated that these may change, etc. I then booked our cruise and never asked Princess for more information. When we got our cruise personalizer the Panama Canal excursions did not show. I don't think we'll cancel, but just feel that they were not clear enough on their website.

 

Going for a special trip to Panama is not an option. :rolleyes:

[cruiseryyc]

Always read the fine print; ports of call and excursions can be changed or cancelled by the cruiseline at any time.

[Tikibird]

I had thought the information was clear on my posting. I had searched the princess website for Panama Canal cruises, found one going one way from Acapulco to Ft. Lauderdale. Then I went into the excursion section of that cruise and checked out all the ports. One port listed as Panama Canal (I know they have stopped at a pier at Lake Gatun on other cruises), under that port there was the excursion list, about 10 or so. But, I neglected to look way on the bottom, with tiny type, stated that these may change, etc. I then booked our cruise and never asked Princess for more information. When we got our cruise personalizer the Panama Canal excursions did not show. I don't think we'll cancel, but just feel that they were not clear enough on their website.

 

Going for a special trip to Panama is not an option. :rolleyes:

There's a thread in the Panama forum with more details. There is construction going on in the Gatun area and Cristobal post has been changed to Colon. Two Panama experts, Richard and Bill are giving more information here. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1289823

 

Which ex-Acapulco cruise are you looking at? We are on the April one. I can book shore excursions for all posts except Panama and my cruise is a tad over 5 months away but they technically don't open shore excursions for booking until 120 days prior.

[Loonbeam]

We had this issue in AK as well. Basically the city pages list every possible excursion for every possible itinerary on every possible ship, but they don't make that as clear as they should. Because we were close to end of season, when we got into the details, one of the options we were excited about was not avail.

 

The Coral and Island do partial transits and stop in Gatun Lake, with an assortment of excursions there. I don't think all of the full transits do, if any. If doing the Canal in a smaller boat is something you might be interested, you could consider switching to the partial transit.

 

 

 

 

 

I had thought the information was clear on my posting. I had searched the princess website for Panama Canal cruises, found one going one way from Acapulco to Ft. Lauderdale. Then I went into the excursion section of that cruise and checked out all the ports. One port listed as Panama Canal (I know they have stopped at a pier at Lake Gatun on other cruises), under that port there was the excursion list, about 10 or so. But, I neglected to look way on the bottom, with tiny type, stated that these may change, etc. I then booked our cruise and never asked Princess for more information. When we got our cruise personalizer the Panama Canal excursions did not show. I don't think we'll cancel, but just feel that they were not clear enough on their website.

 

Going for a special trip to Panama is not an option. :rolleyes:

[Katie333]

I confess I didn't understand the original post either, but with the added explanation it makes sense.

 

I never take the sample excursions as gospel but I think Princess will try to accommodate whenever they can, sometimes (most times) it's because of circumstances beyond their control as another poster said. Mind you, I book privately and avoid any issues with available or not really available.

[fdpevey]

Just as a note of encouragement - my husband and I took the Alcapulco to Puerto Rico cruise through the Panama Canal in 2007. It was extremely port-intensive and the day in transit through the Panama Canl gave us time to relax AND to enjoy the experience of travelling through the canal. It will take the ship the entire day to get from one side to the other.

 

Please don't let any availability of excursions in Panama pull you away from the cruise - both experiencing Central America and travelling through the Canal are wonderful experiences.