cruizinfools

Per our itinerary, the Mckinley Explorer from Anchorage to Denali stops in Talkeetna for 20 minutes (arrive 12:15, depart 12:35). Can anyone tell me what this stop is for? I am thinking it is possibly only for those whose destination is Talkeetna and/or to pick up additional passengers? Doesn't seem like that is enough time to get off the train to look around a bit and then re-board. Is that even allowed? :confused:

We are going to Alaska the 2nd week of September and I have no idea what to pack. This will be my first cruise in a cold region and my living in Southern California I don't have a lot of cold weather clothes.

Us as well! Live in Palm Springs and first cruise to a cold region. Our Noordam cruise begins on 9/17, flying to Anchorage on 9/14 for the land portion first. Although this thread is helpful, still struggling with what clothing to take.

Any chance 99Cruiser you are on the same cruise? If so, come join our roll call! Have a great cruise and if you figure out what to take, let me know! :D

Thank you for these information. These tours which you mentioned, are they ship excursions or private tours which can be hired at the dock of online?

If you are interested in using a private tour in Colon, I highly recommend Robtad's. You can contact Roberto at robtads2@hotmail.com. He does a variety of tours and you can also 'create' a tour to your liking. Send him an email and he will respond with all the choices. In November 2015, I organized a tour to the old and new locks through him. We had about 40 people from our roll call take the tour and everyone was very pleased. His prices are very reasonable and are discounted as your group size increases. Although other people that work for him may be good, I specifically asked for him to be our group's guide as he was highly recommended (you should be able to search this forum and find other mention of him besides me :)). He is very knowledgeable and entertaining. He actually works for the canal. Let him know I 'sent' you! BTW, if he doesn't get back to you within a day or two, resend the email. Sometimes he has email issues.

Marilyn

We need a LIKE button

I second that motion!! :cool:

Cruizinfools, I got the detailed email from Roberto and have posted it for our Roll Call. We really are interested in the same tour that you did, except now the locks are finished so the description is old! No ptoblem!

 

Patty and Ron

Great! Hope you are able to get a group together and enjoy your tour and time in Panama!

Marilyn

What was the charge per person and how long was the tour? Can you provide me some details?

I apologize for the delay in my response....somehow I missed your post even though I am subscribed to this forum and receive daily updates. :confused:

I may be too late, but following is Roberto's description of the tour we took. Keep in mind this is from quotes given approximately a year ago:

Option #1: Gatun locks and the New Locks Construction Site. First we will take the 25 minute journey to get a first-hand view of the Canal at Gatun Locks. In this tour you will get to see the ships passing thru the largest set of locks of the Canal (Gatun). At Gatun Locks there is a small visitor’s pavilion ($5.00 entrance fee) and you will be able to see and understand how a ship is raised up 85 feet (26 meters) in three steps from sea level (Atlantic Ocean) to the level of what was once the largest manmade lake in the world, Gatun Lake. If you are lucky, you will also see the first ships that started their transit on the Pacific side being lowered back down to sea level.

After this we will travel 15 minutes to visit the area where the new set of locks is under construction to the newly inaugurated Visitor’s Pavilion overlooking the construction site of the new set of locks ($15.00 entrance fee). This Atlantic Locks Observation Center is suspended 60 meters above sea level and 50 meters above the Canal and it has natural trails that visitors can use to wander into the rainforest. From here the visitors have a splendid view of Gatun Lake, the Canal and the future as the construction of the new set of locks is ongoing. This is a three hour tour and the cost will vary depending on the amount of people that join us: $160 (1-4 pax); $40/pax (5– 7 pax); $35/pax (8-13 pax) and $30/pax (+14 pax).

Our price was $30 pp since we had nearly 40 participants (it only takes 14 to get this price). The entrance fees are collected before arriving at each location and Roberto/assistant will pay for the group and you will be escorted in as a group. Thus each participant needs to have $20 cash in addition to the price of the tour. BTW, our tour took closer to 5 hours. This may have been partly due to our large group, but Roberto was never in any hurry and allowed everyone as much time as they wanted to observe and ask questions.

Hope this helps. If you do contact Roberto, he does have several different tour options which may/may not include the canal. He will also price a custom tour for you if he doesn't offer exactly what you are looking for.

Good luck!

Marilyn

Hello Patty,

 

I have sent Roberto an email using the robtads2 email BillB48 mentioned. I indicated you had sent him an email and no response - I will let you know if I hear back from him. When I was working with him last year, he was very responsive. There was one time that it took him several days, maybe even a week to respond.

 

Marilyn

Patty, heard back from Roberto:

"Yes, I am still in business, but I have been encountering different problems with my computer and I am not receiving many of the emails that are sent to me, thus I am unable to respond to them. Can you assist me and inform her to resend her email?

Thanks and Best regards,

Roberto"

I contacted him using this email: robtads2@hotmail.com

Good luck!

Marilyn

I sent an email to robtads2 and have heard nothing. Can someone tell me if he is still in business? Thanks!

 

Patty

Hello Patty,

I have sent Roberto an email using the robtads2 email BillB48 mentioned. I indicated you had sent him an email and no response - I will let you know if I hear back from him. When I was working with him last year, he was very responsive. There was one time that it took him several days, maybe even a week to respond.

Marilyn

Great to hear that there is a good tour available. I am new to cruise critic and don't think I am ready to organize a tour' date=' yet. Maybe next cruise. I hope someone does take on this task and lets me know what I can do to help.

This is going to be a great trip for us!

:)[/quote']

 

Have you checked out your 'roll call' as BillB48 suggested in a prior post on this thread? That is where you can find out if anyone on your cruise is organizing any private tours and you can opt to participate (or not). Also, you don't have to organize a group of people from your cruise in order to plan a private tour with Roberto (Robtads). He will be happy to plan a private tour just for your party whatever the size. Generally, with most private tour operators, the larger your group, the cost per person goes down. And/or there may be a minimum/maximum number of people for a tour to operate. Have a great cruise!

Marilyn

If you are still monitoring this thread, I would highly recommend Robtads. Roberto and his crew gave us a fantastic tour to the old and new locks. I organized a group of almost 40 people from our Equinox 11/9/15 roll call for this tour. Everyone was very pleased with the tour. Roberto is working on a web site but I believe the only way you can currently contact him is via his email: robtads2@hotmail.com. He offers many other tours in and around the canal and other areas of interest. If you email him he will send you all the possibilities. He was very easy to work with and responded to all my emails (I bugged him many times :D) in a very timely fashion. Good luck!

Marilyn

His email address is in this post....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=48491833&postcount=1

Yep, that is the email address I used!

Hi Bill, 2 years later, but I just emaile Roberto and got a very quick reply, I was wondering how it went? Were you pleased overall? Was the lunch spot good and do you remember the name of it? Thanks for any info. Mike

Hello Mike, we visited Colon in November and I organized a tour with Roberto for our CC group (nearly 40 of us!). We did not do the tour you are asking about but thought I would just let you know that our tour was great! We did a '4 hour' tour to the old and new locks. Roberto actually was our tour guide and was in no hurry at all and extremely knowledgeable. He, his father, and grandfather have all worked for the canal. Everyone in our group was very happy with the experience. I think we ended up taking about 6 hours of his time rather than 4 because he took time to answer all questions at both places and made sure everyone had plenty of time to see everything, take photos, etc. I would highly recommend him and if we ever happen to go back to Colon, I would certainly plan another excursion with him.

Hope you enjoy whatever you do! BTW, he did tell me he is working on getting a website.

Marilyn

We just returned from 11/9/15 Equinox cruise. I worked with Roberto of Robtads on a excursion to see the old and new Panama Canal locks. We had a group of 39 people from our roll call signed up for this tour! It was great and everyone had nothing but good things to say about Roberto and the tour. When I first contacted him, we had a party of 10 or less. As our party grew, he continued to work with me and adjust our transportation needs. I don't believe he has a website. You can reach him at robtads2 at hotmail dot com. Good luck!

BTW, this is just one of several tours Roberto offers. He will also customize a tour for you.

we are on the the equinox feb 1 cruise. can anyone recommend a good independent tour operator from this port. ship excursions seem quite pricey

We just returned from 11/9/15 Equinox cruise. I worked with Roberto of Robtads on a excursion to see the old and new Panama Canal locks. We had a group of 39 people from our roll call signed up for this tour! It was great and everyone had nothing but good things to say about Roberto and the tour. When I first contacted him, we had a party of 10 or less. As our party grew, he continued to work with me and adjust our transportation needs. I don't believe he has a website. You can reach him at robtads2 at hotmail dot com. Good luck!

I fished in Loreto for several years, and got to know the town and people pretty well, but recently have only been there on some HAL cruises. It is a small town with a few botique type hotels and a couple of bigger ones. Their main tourist attraction is fishing, but they have some other tours available.

 

If you google "Loreto BCS tours" you should get some contact information and can go from there.

 

On our cruises, there were a few tour operators and several taxi drivers at the marina selling tours. Also, several panga operators were there offering boat rides. Their prices were good.

 

I will be there in January on the Crown Princess.

Really good info - thanks again! I just sent an email to Loreto BCS ECO tours. They have a tour that sounds perfect and half the price that Princess is charging.

We have been to all the major ports on the Mexican Riveria. Have never been to Loreto and La Paz. Really looking forward to seeing each of those ports. Even if they are smaller places, I am sure we will enjoy them. We love Mexico! Thanks again!

Thanks swedish weave! The website doesn't seem to be updated with very recent info, but I will try to contact them

I know this a relatively new port or not often visited port, but surely others on this board have been there........

Has anyone booked a tour to Coronados Island through a private company rather than the cruise line? We will be in Loreto in early October. Princess has a tour but as always it is a bit pricey. Through these boards I have been very successful at booking tours for past cruises and am hopeful someone has done a tour and can provide a reference. In my search of this forum I have not found anything specific about this type of tour. The Princess tour includes a short ride in a panga boat, lunch, snorkeling at the island, and a guided nature walk. I am looking for something similar.

Thanks,

Marilyn

I feel like I am #4 of BMG. :)

:D As every one else has said, your efforts are very much appreciated. I am not too happy with being right above those exposed balconies and lifeboats, it is really going to make watching for flying fish difficult! Just need to keep reminding myself I will be on a cruise; although somewhat important, the cabin is not the main draw.

Thanks so much!

Marilyn

Hi Lusitanica,

I am giving in.......could you point out cabin 10209? :o I have tried to figure it out from all your other postings, but I am not sure I am correct. Are you sorry you started this??? You'll be happy to know I shared this thread with my 10/2 roll call! :rolleyes:

Thanks,

Marilyn