Panama Canal Cruise in Oct. - Looking for Suggestions

Hopefully this post is not too long but looking for ideas / suggestions for our port days (14 day cruise). We are 59 & 62 years old. Any good beaches near ports, how far, is the areas safe? Also any not to miss places or excursion ideas?

Ports visiting:

Carbo San Lucas, Mexico -- from noon-8pm

Acapulco, Mexico -- from 8am-5pm

Huatulco, Mexico -- from 8am-4pm

Puntarenas, Costa Rica -- from 9am-7pm

Cartagena, Columbia -- from 8am-5pm

Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions

KajunCruiser

Hopefully this post is not too long but looking for ideas / suggestions for our port days (14 day cruise). We are 59 & 62 years old. Any good beaches near ports, how far, is the areas safe? Also any not to miss places or excursion ideas?

 

Ports visiting:

Carbo San Lucas, Mexico -- from noon-8pm

Acapulco, Mexico -- from 8am-5pm

Huatulco, Mexico -- from 8am-4pm

Puntarenas, Costa Rica -- from 9am-7pm

Cartagena, Columbia -- from 8am-5pm

 

Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions

KajunCruiser

Try the Ports of Call forums for each of those ports. You will find lots of suggestions. You might give an idea of the kinds of things you like.

Snorkeling? Ruins? Museums? City tours?

Can't help with beach ideas but here is what we did on our reverse of your cruise:

Cartenega - i arranged a private tour. Interesting, but if I had it to do over I might just catch a taxi into the old part of town and wander.

Puntareanas- a fellow CCer arranged a day at a resort in the mountains ( so much cooler) which included zip lining.

Huatulco- I arranged a cooking lesson for a group from our rollcall. We made two types of mole and it was wonderful.

Acapulco - we didn't get off the ship as every excursion involved cliff diving ans having had my own unfortunate cliff diving incident in Cozumel years ago, I didn't want to relive it.

Cabo - we didn't stop there on our cruise but on a precious port stop, we had GREAT massages at Krystal Resort for an incredibly cheap price.

If you want details for any of these suggestions just let me know!

We called at a number of the same ports on our (fabulous) Panama Canal cruise this winter aboard the Jewel. My detailed trip report, including what we did in the ports, is here (sorry you can no longer see the photos, they have been blocked by Photobucket, as have those of many other folks):

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

In Cartagena last April we went with Dora: http://cartagenatour.com/

We'd love to go back, favorite port call of the trip.

Make sure you visit the ROLL CALL for your trip as others will be sharing some plans there.

Can't help with beach ideas but here is what we did on our reverse of your cruise:

Cartenega - i arranged a private tour. Interesting, but if I had it to do over I might just catch a taxi into the old part of town and wander.

 

Puntareanas- a fellow CCer arranged a day at a resort in the mountains ( so much cooler) which included zip lining.

 

Huatulco- I arranged a cooking lesson for a group from our rollcall. We made two types of mole and it was wonderful.

 

Acapulco - we didn't get off the ship as every excursion involved cliff diving ans having had my own unfortunate cliff diving incident in Cozumel years ago, I didn't want to relive it.

 

Cabo - we didn't stop there on our cruise but on a precious port stop, we had GREAT massages at Krystal Resort for an incredibly cheap price.

 

If you want details for any of these suggestions just let me know!

Thanks Clay I appreciate the suggestions

Make sure you visit the ROLL CALL for your trip as others will be sharing some plans there.

Thanks GaryCarla

I couldn't find a roll call so I started one myself and it is finally starting to get active

Thanks again

We visited all of those ports except Huatulco on our Panama Canal cruise last year on NCL Sun and did the following:

Cartagena - Old Cartagena Walking Tour excursion through the ship.

Puntarenas - Pura Vida Botanical Gardens excursion through the ship. This was an incredibly beautiful place. Was (and still is) one of my favorite excursions from any of my cruises.

Acapulco - Endangered Baby Sea Turtles and City Drive excursion through the ship.

Cabo San Lucas - We did not do an excursion here and just did the on our own thing. We did some souvenir shopping (great shopping near the ship) and then relaxed and had lunch at Tabasco's on Medano Beach. A very beautiful beach. Toes in the sand with drink in hand!

The link to my review with photos (including many photos of the canal transit itself) is below. Enjoy your cruise. It was on our bucket list and was one of our best vacations ever!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2420223

We did Panama Canal cruise on the Jewel in February - similar itinerary. I envy you with cruise ending in New Orleans :)

In Cartagena we booked tour with Dora (our guide was not Dora but one of her guides). We enjoyed the tour but next time we'd probably taxi into the old city and wander. Felt very safe there and it was interesting.

In Puntarenas we did the 8 in 1 tour with Giotours. It was really great and we'd do it again.

We were a group of 8, four couples in upper 60's and lower 70's. We booked the above tours for the 8 of us. It made it nice because we had more flexibility than with a larger tour group.

Thanks Clay I appreciate the suggestions

No problem! Just paying it forward.

Have a great cruise!

We did Panama Canal cruise on the Jewel in February - similar itinerary. I envy you with cruise ending in New Orleans :)

 

In Cartagena we booked tour with Dora (our guide was not Dora but one of her guides). We enjoyed the tour but next time we'd probably taxi into the old city and wander. Felt very safe there and it was interesting.

 

In Puntarenas we did the 8 in 1 tour with Giotours. It was really great and we'd do it again.

 

We were a group of 8, four couples in upper 60's and lower 70's. We booked the above tours for the 8 of us. It made it nice because we had more flexibility than with a larger tour group.

 

Could not book Giotours. Our ship arrives to late for the snorkel tour & leaves loo early for the sunset tout. Also I emailed Dora twice and still haven't received any feedback

Thanks

In Puntarenas - If you like birds like we do, go on the ship's trip to the Scarlet Macaw Sanctuary at El Manantial. They take in tame macaws that people have discarded and allow them to breed so that their youngsters can then go out into the wild when they want to. The adult birds wander around your feet and because it is in an open rainforest you might see other animals as well. We saw a sloth up in the trees and also some howler monkeys were easy to hear.