Full Canal Transit Excursion Turned Into 12.5 Hour Marathon

Just back from Coral Princess partial transit cruise. Partial transit means ship goes through one set of locks (Gatun), then drops anchor in Gatun Lake. An excursion is needed to complete full canal transit. This involves tendering to shore, bus to Gamboa, ferry through rest of canal + locks to Panama City, and 1.25 hour bus ride to Colon to meet up with ship. The excursion ticket says 7-10 hours, because you are at the mercy of the Canal Authority regarding going through the locks. But this tour -- taken by 250 of the 1800 passengers aboard Coral Princess -- took a ridiculous 12.5 hours because (1) the initial bus to Gamboa took 1.5 hours, including an unnecessary 45 min 'rest stop' and waiting 45 min with the bus engine idling to enter the secure ferry boarding area and (2) waiting forever to go through the locks. We got on the tender at 8:35 AM and arrived back to the ship at 9:05 PM, hence the 12.5 hour marathon. The Captain had to hold the ship over one hour past the scheduled 8:00 PM departure time to wait for the 250 of us to get back. He was not happy. I wanted a photo of the Canal opening into Pacific Ocean, but all I saw was darkness. We missed our dinner seating, missed to show, and returned exhausted, like a limp dish rag. It certainly was a memorable excursion -- but not exactly for all the right reasons. :o

It does sound like you had one of the marathon editions of that tour. However other than the 90 minute waits involving the bus, all the other delays were more than likely out of the control of the tour boat. As with airline schedules, many times the transit schedule is more like a wish list for the best possible outcome. There are just so many places were all the best laid plans happen to go awry. Your captain delaying the departure from Colon is not unusual either, that departure time is also tends to be on the wish list side of things. On the last partial transit I took we did not leave Colon until almost midnight.

Schedule a full transit on your next Canal trip and enjoy it from the comforts of the ship:D!

How common is this? We are going on the coral next week and have this excursion booked. I have an 11 year old and if there are that many delays, he will go nuts with boredom. Now I'm wondering if we should cancel it.

How common is this? We are going on the coral next week and have this excursion booked. I have an 11 year old and if there are that many delays, he will go nuts with boredom. Now I'm wondering if we should cancel it.

The experience of the OP is more of an exception than the rule, but it can happen.

Knighton:

The children on the ferry were miserable, but they were younger than age 11. Plan ahead to purchase a quality lunch and snacks, and bring something to do (deck of cards, etc) for your son. The food offered as a light lunch consisted of chicken on a stick, rice, vegetables, watermelon, and a banana muffin. Water was plentiful, but local soda pop was pretty bad.

Bill:

You once left Colon at midnight? Wow. No, I don't think we will be taking a two-week, one-way full canal transit cruise (i.e., San Diego / Ft. Lauderdale) anytime soon. Next cruise is 7-day Hawaii islands on NCL Pride of America.

We did this tour (from the Coral) a month or so ago and I thought the bus ride took forever...maybe 3 hours ? However, we didn't have to wait to get to the ferry and there was no extra waiting going through the locks. The provided lunch was "ok" enough that I wouldn't go to the extra trouble of taking a bag lunch. As I recall, they had coke, and maybe sprite ? Since I don't drink sugary soft drinks I didn't pay much attention.

Overall it was a good experience and you got to see the locks up close and personal (and actually touch the side of the canal if you desired). I'd do it again.

We did the ferry back in October when we were on the Coral. If I had known then what would happen, I would have opted for something else. Maybe I anticipated a better experience, but given the line of passengers at Shorex the following day, complaint forms in hand, I felt we got stuck with a poorly planned tour and guides who were not very helpful - plus a bus driver who thought nothing of speeding on the highway back to Colon, [bumped a truck and kept going], then jumping the curb as he entered the port. Yes, we did get a partial $$$. We got back shortly after 10:PM and our tour guide tried to hold us on the bus claiming the captain wanted us to remain there....until she could extend her hand to each of us.

We could not board the ferry due to a tanker that was unable to proceed through the canal, so we had an even longer bus ride to find the missing ferry. After sitting on the bus for a few hours, many demanded to be let off to use the facilities - one toilet for 5 bus loads of passengers....and no tissue! Ferry? Well, its condition left much to be desired; food was marginal, plus the staff was constantly in our face selling shirts, glasses, and beer.

What is in writing on the Princess web site was nothing like we experienced - thus the credit on our account. Others may have had better experiences, but I can only comment on what happened to us.

Darcy