Any excursion suggestion for Panama full transit?

[Denis54]

Will do a full transit Panama cruise from FLL to LAX on January 31. Would you have any excursion suggestion?

 

Our stops will be in Aruba, Cartagena (Columbia), Fuerte Amador (Panama), Puntaneras (Costa Rica), Puerto Chiapas (Mexico)

 

Are these places safe?

[chrysalis]

Without a doubt.....Embera Tribe excursion.

[dalibi]

I agree the tribe and in Costa Rica the spa day at resort.

[OCruisers]

Island or Coral Princess would be my ships of choice for the Panama Canal. :)

 

LuLu

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[skynight]

Will do a full transit Panama cruise from FLL to LAX on January 31. Would you have any excursion suggestion?

 

Our stops will be in Aruba, Cartagena (Columbia), Fuerte Amador (Panama), Puntaneras (Costa Rica), Puerto Chiapas (Mexico)

 

Are these places safe?

 

Panama Excursion, Embera Indian Tribe, very nice. We have also done a Panama City Tour which was nice, but really no bathrooms. C.R., Aruba, and Panama are safe. I wouldn't go off on my own in Cartagena, but tours are fine. In Catagena if you don't wish to leave the port area there is a nice shop, an outdoor seating area, a tropical bird area, and wi-fi. I also wouldn't wander around on my own in Panama City. You can walk around Puntaneras without any problem. The ship docks right in the small beach town. Don't know anything about Puerto Chiapas.

[Jasperdo]

In Cartagena we took the ship's tour that included a guided tour of the historic Old Town with free time to explore on your own. Here are the photo's I took on that excursion:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytravelphotos/sets/72157631387774244/with/7922923182/

 

In Fuerte Amador we took the basic city tour that included a guided walking tour of Casco Viejo (Old Town), Panama Viejo (ruins of the older town), a museum, a drive through the former Canal Zone, and a drive through the newer part of Panama City. The pictures from that tour are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytravelphotos/sets/72157633372952827/with/8695519885/

 

And in Puntarenas, we took the ship's tour that included a boat ride on the Tarcoles River and a train ride on the historic Pacific Railroad. Here are the photo's from that one:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytravelphotos/sets/72157635345119223/with/9654436871/

 

We felt perfectly safe in all those ports. Have fun. This is a fabulous cruise.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Jasperdo

[Wehwalt]

I strongly recommend the canal boat, assuming you are tendering into Fuerte Amador, they will take you on a short bus ride then onto a boat that will take you through two of the locks. After passing through the second one, it will dock at Gamboa and you will take the bus back to the tender landing. If you are docking in Colon, it will pick you up there, take you to Gamboa and then you do the two locks from there and you ride your bus back from Panama City.

 

Seeing the locks from the vantage point of a small boat (I think it holds about 60) is very different from seeing it way up on a cruise ship.

 

Note that although Panama City is safe, Colon is not. Don't leave the secured area at the docks unless you are in a safe vehicle.

 

Cartagena is perfectly safe. My brother lived there, teaching English, for several years, and I visited him twice and had no troubles. Take a taxi to the Old Town, walk along the walls. There's also a shopping mall perhaps a five minute taxi ride from the ship, with a Carrefour supermarket.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Wehwalt

[Pam in CA]

In the Canal, I have taken a number of different tours on different cruises. The best was the boat that goes through all the locks. If you're interested in the Canal at all, this is the best tour as you'll see and experience the Canal up close as well as see the construction of the new Canal.

 

In Cartegena, I've done several different tours on different cruises. The worst and most expensive was the Princess tour. Because there are so many people on the bus, you see a lot less than you would on a private tour. The Princess tours stop at former jail cells where they sell overpriced, lower quality emeralds. Last year, I took a private tour organized by someone on my roll call with Lee Miles, "Mr. Emerald." Great tour. There were only a few of us which meant we could go to more sights. I saw maybe 2x as much as I had on the Princess tour and wouldn't hesitate to take it again. Yes, you stop at Lee's emerald store but the quality and prices are much, much better than in the "cells." I bought a gorgeous 3-stone emerald pendant as well as a pretty uncut emerald pendant for my daughter for a total of $600. There's a link on his site to tours. We took his CC-B tour:

 

http://www.destinationcartagena.com/privatetours/

[nml]

We just came back from the exact itinerary you are doing. Panama, we did the Embera village (ship tour), and I highly recommend it. In Cartagena, we booked a private tour through Lee Miles ( Mister Emerald) which we enjoyed (tour B on his web site). In Puntarenas, we booked a tour with VicTour, to see Carrera Park and the Mangrove. We also enjoyed that tour. In Puerto Chiapas, we just walked around the port area. There is a covered market, a bar and a outdoor pool.

[PugsRuleATL]

In September I was on a full transit on the Disney Wonder which included a stop in Cartagena. It's at truly beautiful city - both the old city and the more modern portions.

 

I am lucky enough to have a friend who has in-laws that live in Cartagena (they own a restaurant there, where we had lunch). This connection allowed us to organize an amazing private tour of the city during our stop.

 

I say this to share my pictures, so you'll have an idea what Cartagena is like.. And the canal, I suppose.

 

Here's the link to 1400 cruise pics: http://d.pr/6puh. The canal is all of page 4. Cartagena is the first 2/3 of page 5. Please enjoy!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[5326jan]

In Cartegena we did a private tour with Claudia Vidal. There were 8 of us. It was very good. Dora is also good. You can find their info on the Ports of Call Forum. Limit your group to 6-8 and get an early start. You'll beat the ships to the important sights and spend less time at the shopping areas.

 

In Costa Rica we (8 of us) did a fun zipline trip with Diego of Odyssey Tours. We went to Los Suenos which is a jungle zip. The ship does a "dry zip" which is like zip lining over a pasture. We were in the tree tops! It was really fun. We also did other things on the tour.

 

In San Juan del Sur we did the ship's tour as we couldn't find a private tour. It was not good. Our friends took a chance on a private guide the found and had a wonderful time. I wish we had trusted enough to go with them. Look for a post in the Ports of Call section on Nicaragua by "SAMMIDAWG". I feel sure they made a recommendation. We went March of 2013.

[Wehwalt]

In Cartagena, consider going along the "hook", the narrow peninsula that shelters the harbor. At the end is a Hilton, where you can have lunch overlooking the sea.

[geoherb]

In Cartagena, we took the Princess excursion to the mud volcano. It was a fun experience. We had time on the tour for some photo ops in the city before heading out into the country to the mud volcano and for a little bit of shopping in the city after.

 

The thing that struck me was that our bus had an armed military guy on board. I'm still not sure if his presence made me feel safe or worried because he was there.

[5326jan]

If you're not from California and have to kill the day before catching a flight, consider this tour: http://www.sunseekertours.us/ You'll get the full day of LA, Hollywood, Santa Monica Pier, etc. They picked us up at the port and returned us to our hotel at the airport. They also dropped a couple of people at the airport.

 

The nice thing is that your luggage is safely on the small bus (15-20 passenger), so it will stay with you for the entire day. We thought this would be a little cheesy but it was a great tour, fun guide, comfortable bus and good lunch at Mel's Diner!

Edited December 18, 2013 by 5326jan

[TrnrMom]

Hi,

We're at FLL waiting for our flight. We took independent tours recommended here, except for Panama since that's Princess' rule. Although a partial transit, we did a few of the ports you will do. In Aruba we did an island tour with Sonny Binns. He has a 24 person minibus and needs a minimum of 6 persons. In Cartagena, we had a 17 person tour with Marelvy. She is a wealth of knowledge & will change any preconceived notions you might have had about Columbia. For Costa Rica, we had a group doing Greenway's 6 in 1 tour of Limon, but they will also do tours out of Punta Arenas. See if Jackie is available - she was knowledgeable & funny.

 

Since we were a partial transit, we had the choice of staying on, or doing a ship's tour. We chose to continue the transit by boat because DH is fascinated by mechanical things. A word of caution here - ask a lot of questions to make sure this excursion is for you. We left the ship around 10:30AM but didn't return until 8:30PM (we had been told 7 PM). The ferry did not appear to be seaworthy - it listed to the port the whole time, & had rusted fire extinguishers. The lights, PA system & a/c did not work in our area. There was inadequate shade for the number of passengers who were boarded, with a good number of seats in the sun. The meal was served around noon, and there was nothing else until we returned to the ship. There was water, soft drinks & beer (for sale).

 

When we returned we were greeted by Princess staff who got a earful from several buses of unhappy passengers. Although we do not blame Princess for the weather, drizzle or delays going through the locks, one does expect that one will be safe, & that there will be contingencies for such delays. We had elderly & diabetic passengers with us. Fortunately there were no medical emergencies. While one cannot expect that things in Panama will be the same as on board a lovely cruise ship, it does seem like whatever tours are operated will be thoroughly vetted by the cruise line for quality and safety.