Panama Canal excursions?

[chefchick]

We have a Panama Canal cruise coming up next month and I am struggling to decide on excursions for the ports. Yes, I have looked at the boards and my roll call. To those of you who have done the full east to west transit...any suggestions? We normally are “private excursion” cruisers, but I am leaning towards ship sponsored ones because of the far away nature of most of the ports and our VERY limited Spanish language skills. It seems like most are poorly reviewed, or speak of many aggressive vendors, or include a lot of shopping or folkloric dancing (we are not fans of any of these)

 

Again, I realize I’m asking a lot, but would appreciate any suggestions.

[OzCanuck]

We did a tour that included lunch and an informative walking tour of Antigua (in Guatemala). Probably would have preferred "Antigua on your own". Easy to walk around, lots to see and do. Even though we had lunch at the top hotel restaurant (way high up in the hills) I would have preferred something with a little more local style.

 

In Nicaragua we just hired a pedicab to take us around to Corinto for a couple hours. Dude took us to his house. That was fun. Not much to see at the port. Probably would go to Leon next time, but doubt I'll return.

 

Costa Rica we did the crocodile safari (which was a bust - saw lots of birds but no crocs). Much more to see and do there (I've been before on a land vacation) but was travelling with my 6 year old so had to tailor appropriately.

 

Took a taxi to the fort and old town of Cartagena. Definitely worth walking around on your own here. Easy to navigate and lots to see. Quite beautiful.

[chefchick]

Thanks for the tips. We are considering “Antiqua on your own” as I’ve heard it’s a lovely city and there are plenty of walking tours we could download and try out. Do you know if the restaurants/cafes take US$ or CC? Can we get away with knowing very little Spanish? How aggressive were the vendors? I hate that. I would be happy to look at the shops, etc, if they weren’t such a hard sell. I know people are just trying to make a living, but it’s exhausting sometimes.

[Hlitner]

When we were in Antigua (2 years ago) we were able to use our credit cards for lunch and some store purchases. US Dollars are accepted at some venues (but with often a lousy exchange rate) but you cannot count on it. So if you do want to use US Dollars, make sure you ask before you buy...and know the proper exchange rate.

 

Hank

[OzCanuck]

We just got back from the PC cruise on the Westerdam. We loved the Guatemala and Nicaragua stops the most; our tours were to Antigua and Leon respectively. Both require a bus ride of between 45 minutes to an hour, with some bad traffic, so I strongly advise taking the ship's tours rather than doing it independently, to ensure you will get back in time - especially if you don't speak Spanish.

 

The vendors in Antigua were a bit more persistent than those in Mexico, but they were polite and backed off after a "no gracias". In Leon, there were also lots of vendors, but they were VERY polite, friendly and helpful, so no bother at all for us. We bought a couple of things and we were not immediately swarmed by others, as sometimes happens. I talked with one cashew vendor for quite a while after my $5 purchase and he could not have been more friendly and nice. However the vendors in Cartagena Columbia were by far the worst - the most persistent, and they did not take no for an answer. If you so much as look in their direction they will keep following you and pleading, begging, etc. - very uncomfortable. A couple of them got really rude - one for some reason loudly cussed out our bus using some very bad Spanish words (I speak a bit). I was super glad I was on a ship sponsored tour bus instead of doing it on my own.

 

Have a great time!

 

And you win the award for waiting the longest to make your first post! :D:D:):)

 

I found the vendors in Antigua to be relatively easy to deal with. I don't think they were particularly persistent, there were just a LOT of them. And if I heard that silly made-in-China flute one more time I was going to go nutty. We speak Spanish as well - but I found Cartagena no problem from the vendors. Maybe because it was a ship tour they were more aggressive. Or maybe because we were walking with a child. Not sure. We did have a magnificent lunch in Cartagena at a top boutique hotel. It was so cheap - under $40 for three people including beer and dessert.

[Hlitner]

We just got back from the PC cruise on the Westerdam. We loved the Guatemala and Nicaragua stops the most; our tours were to Antigua and Leon respectively. Both require a bus ride of between 45 minutes to an hour, with some bad traffic, so I strongly advise taking the ship's tours rather than doing it independently, to ensure you will get back in time - especially if you don't speak Spanish.

 

The vendors in Antigua were a bit more persistent than those in Mexico, but they were polite and backed off after a "no gracias". In Leon, there were also lots of vendors, but they were VERY polite, friendly and helpful, so no bother at all for us. We bought a couple of things and we were not immediately swarmed by others, as sometimes happens. I talked with one cashew vendor for quite a while after my $5 purchase and he could not have been more friendly and nice. However the vendors in Cartagena Columbia were by far the worst - the most persistent, and they did not take no for an answer. If you so much as look in their direction they will keep following you and pleading, begging, etc. - very uncomfortable. A couple of them got really rude - one for some reason loudly cussed out our bus using some very bad Spanish words (I speak a bit). I was super glad I was on a ship sponsored tour bus instead of doing it on my own.

 

Have a great time!

 

I am not going to defend what you call "persistent vendors" but simply post some facts. Different countries have their own mores or culture and you will find, what we might consider, annoying vendors in many places of the world including Asia, Africa, some parts of Europe, Central America, Caribbean, South America. etc etc. In many of these countries the poorer residents need to hustle to make a living since they do not have a welfare system that allows them to sit at home watching TV. For us, we have few problems because we do not take ship tours (or any other large group tour) which makes the group a large target for vendors who figure the tour groups are easy pickens :).

 

One needs to simply smile and say "no gracias" and you might find yourself having to do that more often then you would prefer...but it is what it is! We live in Mexico for 10 weeks a year where this is also not unusual. On the other hand, I respect many of these folks for being out on the street trying to make a living...rather then just putting their hand out and waiting for their government to toss money in their hands.

 

Ask DW about Cartegena (we have visited that city 3 times) and she (an American senior) will tell you that she enjoys the city...especially the European influence that shows in some of its architecture and traditions (we will often sit at an outdoor cafe...just like we do in Italy, Spain, etc.).

 

You mention feeling "uncomfortable" and that is your own issue and all too common among many Americans. It is part of the reality of traveling to many parts of the world. Take some time to learn about their culture and how to deal with these type issues and you have started to become a more adventurous and seasoned traveler. Stick to large group excursions, populated with similar thinking folks, and you will never get beyond these kind of issues. When I was relatively young I lived in a foreign country (Japan) and was able to view the so-called "Ugly American" as they tried to impose our culture on locals. It taught me a valuable lesson (regarding international travel) which has stayed with me for the past fifty years...since those days. One should try to enjoy and understand the local culture rather than try to impose our own values on folks that have no clue as to those values...and why should they? They are in their country...and its our goal as tourists to learn how to work with their culture....not change them to ours.

 

Hank

[chefchick]

OzCanuck (I appreciate your reply) could you share the name of the restaurant you enjoyed? Hiltner, I have read your comments on this and other boards many times and I feel like we would enjoy each other company as travelers, and I hope to someday meet you onboard a cruise. We booked this cruise rather last minute as we both “happen”to have several weeks off in a row and a Panama Canal Cruise has been on the bucket list for a while. Again, we generally are “go with the flow”cruisers but the semi difficult nature of this itinerary (ports are not generally walk off and go)along with the language barrier has me a bit stumped. I appreciate all comments and hope for more input!

[crunchii]

I posted the review of my recent Panama Canal cruise here a while back.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2597566

 

Scroll down a bit for port reviews.

 

I also posted more detailed review and lots of photos of each port on my blog as well, if you're interested. (Well, not all of them though. I need to finish posting...)

[Golfwidow100]

We did the full transit last year and would recommend the ships excursion to the Pura Vida Gardens in Costa Rica. The guided tour around the gardens was very informative and the views were stunning. We saw plenty of birds too which was a nice bonus,

[Colfireman]

We have a Panama Canal cruise coming up next month and I am struggling to decide on excursions for the ports. Yes, I have looked at the boards and my roll call. To those of you who have done the full east to west transit...any suggestions? We normally are “private excursion” cruisers, but I am leaning towards ship sponsored ones because of the far away nature of most of the ports and our VERY limited Spanish language skills. It seems like most are poorly reviewed, or speak of many aggressive vendors, or include a lot of shopping or folkloric dancing (we are not fans of any of these)

 

Again, I realize I’m asking a lot, but would appreciate any suggestions.

May I ask what date and ship you will be on? We are sailing on the Eurodam April 18 and have booked some privates as well there may be space available.

 

Greg

Edited March 28, 2018 by Colfireman
added detail.

[ottahand7]

I agree with GolfWidow on the Pura Vida Gardens in Costa Rica. I just posted a few photos and a review of it on my thread Oosterdam March 4-20 earlier today. I also have a review of the horse farm in Corinto with photos. Both thumbs up.

[Floridiana]

Cartagena is fascinating. I agree that the vendors there are much more persistent than in other places. We were in a large ship's group with some free time. When we left the main plaza to walk in the side streets, no vendors any morel. The shop owners did not bother us at all.

 

I checked my photos later and found that the street vendors were dressed alike; looks like somebody hired, outfitted and provided them with the cheap trinkets they were selling.

[kazu]

We did the full transit a full years ago.

 

the ports that are supposed to be a dud as some like to say turned out to be enchanting.

 

but to do that you need to go beyond the HAL tours.

 

All but one of our tours on this were private. There was no worry of missing the ship at all.

 

If you can score my guide in Guatemala or Cartagena, you will have a fantastic time.

 

I did a live thread at the time. If you can skip through the Bon Voyages and stuff you will see some info that might be helpful. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2193855

 

Just in case it is of help.

 

BTW - we were in Cartagena long before the ship tours. We had NO issue with vendors other than a few and we just said, gracias pero no. But we were a small group. And our guide was a huge help.

 

The city is beautiful but you can not see it all unless you have ways to get around.

[OzCanuck]

OzCanuck (I appreciate your reply) could you share the name of the restaurant you enjoyed?

 

It was in the Hotel Capellán, right off the Parque del Centenario. Restarant was called Clero. Try the pulpo!

[Turtles06]

OP: my wife and I did a full transit of the Canal last year (Miami to LA) on the NCL Jewel. We did a mix of private shore excursions and ship-sponsored tours, the latter including Antigua on Your Own from Puerto Quetzal, and to León from Corinto -- those two precisely because of the distance from the port, as others have mentioned above. I don't know your itinerary, but (if you will be visiting these places) I would strongly recommend you consider private tours in places like Cartagena and Costa Rica with the reputable operators you'll find here on CC. You'll be in far smaller groups, see more, and you really don't need to worry about not speaking Spanish. We had fantastic tours.

 

In case this may be of help to you, here's the link to my very detailed trip report, with specific information on each of the ports and the tours we took there (I'm sorry that you can no longer see most of my photos, thanks to Photobucket holding them [and those of many others here on CC] hostage):

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2456255

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did ours, it was fabulous! (And I hope you've had a chance to read The Path Between the Seas.)

 

 

(white-faced monkey, Costa Rica, by turtles06)

[chefchick]

Thanks to all the responses (CC is great). We will be boarding the NA on April 14 in FLL and taking her all the way to San Diego. The big draw for us is, of course, the canal, but these ports look interesting and I guess I’m going to have to dig a little deeper and see where private vs ship sponsored excursions make the most sense.

[IndyDenise]

I am not going to defend what you call "persistent vendors" but simply post some facts. Different countries have their own mores or culture and you will find, what we might consider, annoying vendors in many places of the world including Asia, Africa, some parts of Europe, Central America, Caribbean, South America. etc etc. In many of these countries the poorer residents need to hustle to make a living since they do not have a welfare system that allows them to sit at home watching TV. For us, we have few problems because we do not take ship tours (or any other large group tour) which makes the group a large target for vendors who figure the tour groups are easy pickens :).

 

 

 

One needs to simply smile and say "no gracias" and you might find yourself having to do that more often then you would prefer...but it is what it is! We live in Mexico for 10 weeks a year where this is also not unusual. On the other hand, I respect many of these folks for being out on the street trying to make a living...rather then just putting their hand out and waiting for their government to toss money in their hands.

 

 

 

Ask DW about Cartegena (we have visited that city 3 times) and she (an American senior) will tell you that she enjoys the city...especially the European influence that shows in some of its architecture and traditions (we will often sit at an outdoor cafe...just like we do in Italy, Spain, etc.).

 

 

 

You mention feeling "uncomfortable" and that is your own issue and all too common among many Americans. It is part of the reality of traveling to many parts of the world. Take some time to learn about their culture and how to deal with these type issues and you have started to become a more adventurous and seasoned traveler. Stick to large group excursions, populated with similar thinking folks, and you will never get beyond these kind of issues. When I was relatively young I lived in a foreign country (Japan) and was able to view the so-called "Ugly American" as they tried to impose our culture on locals. It taught me a valuable lesson (regarding international travel) which has stayed with me for the past fifty years...since those days. One should try to enjoy and understand the local culture rather than try to impose our own values on folks that have no clue as to those values...and why should they? They are in their country...and its our goal as tourists to learn how to work with their culture....not change them to ours.

 

 

 

Hank

 

 

 

You know Hank I really like your postings but this one above is uncalled for.. you really sneakily insult the poster this was directed to.

 

Maybe that wasn’t your intention ..but as someone reading your posting with zero monkeys in this circus it sure looks like it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums