nansi

Since the cruise lines have advanced reservations, it shouldn't affect them (hopefully).

Same port.

We read about this the other day regarding the drought, but this is a whole other issue with the amount of ships in a waiting line! Let's hope by our Nov. cruise it's resolved. I hope NCL made their reservations! Although after reading this article, that may not matter! Thanks for sharing Karkies25!

You might want to check on the Miraflores website. Right now it looks like the museum and exhibition hall is closed and the only thing open will be the locks (obviously) and the iMax theatre for a movie. They don't give an re-opening date, but that may change by the time you sail.

Thanks Turles06. We have a 10am flight. Plan on keeping our luggage and walking off as early as we can (6am to be on the safe side). Since Joy is already docked from the previous day, we hope it won't be a problem to disembark early. Thinking of booking an Uber in advance to meet us (somewhere). It would be great if the Terminal was done by then, but it's not looking too promising from what I'm reading.

There are many different "Embera Village" tours and they go to different villages, some more "authentic" than others. Best to do your research before booking.

We realize the port is still under construction and they are using shuttle buses but where would we find a taxi (or Uber) when we disemark from the Joy on Dec 6th. We need to get to the airport pretty early.

We did it last July and we had a stop that included plenty of time for lunch. Great tour!

You might want to check with the cruise line to be sure, but I believe most of them dock at Skarfabakki.

I just did a mock booking on their website and there is a pull-down where it says "Where should we pick you up." Harbour-Cruiseship-Skarfabakki is one of the available choices. When you book, I believe they will tell you exactly where to meet the bus (at least they did when we booked). Hope this helps.

We did this tour with them (from our hotel) and it was really wonderful. Call the main office directly to find out the closest stop to the terminal. I believe their main office is located very close to the terminal and maybe you can pick up the bus from there.

Many of them are partial transits. They go through the first set of locks (Gatun) to Lake Gatun, then go back out the same way. The full transits go all the way through the second set of locks as well, all the way to Panama City. Look at the itineraries of the cruises you're interested in ....it should tell you exactly how far in they'll be going. If you do a partial transit cruise, you may be able to do an excursion at Lake Gatun which will bring you ashore to take a bus to Panama City for the day. You'd take that bus back from Panama City to Colon or Limon where you'd get back on the ship and continue your cruising. Hope this helps 😊

Always book direct whenever possible. Much easier to communicate with the company directly in case you have to change something (eg pick up time) or have a question. Eliminating the 3rd party always simplifies it and it's usually cheaper (or close to the same price).

We did this last July. We booked with ShuttleDirect for $30 pp from KEF to Skarfabakki Port (where ship docks). There were only 8 of us on this huge bus for this non-stop trip. It was perfect. Your other option would be to book with GrayLine (which is the bus company that ShuttleDirect used). We did this for our return trip from our hotel in Reyk for the same price. Definitely pre book. Taxi will be very expensive for this trip.

We are 2 couples traveling on this same cruise with you. We found this very interesting private tour to visit the Embera village for the day. For details go to www.emberavilliagetours.com. For 5 or more people the cost would be $145 pp. We are still up in the air about doing this. We've already done the locks tour and the Panama City tour a few years back with HAL, so trying to find something else to do. Let us know if you find anything else interesting.

Yes they are. They have a special line in the parking lot in front of the terminal. We waited over an hour on the line last July. Other people phoned the taxi company and were picked up right at the sidewalk, and others walked out the gate to the street where they were met by their drivers (short walk). Taxi rates for a trip within the city were very reasonable. To the airport VERY expensive.

Bergen is actually not that big in size for a city. We walked the entire city easily when we visited in June. We had friends that lived there and they showed us around for the day; no need for a hop on bus. It's a great city and you'll love it!

Taxi will be expensive. We used Gray Line bus company. They have pick-ups at some hotels and also at the regular bus stops. Book them online.

Furnicular is not a very long trip, a few minutes at the most. And you can stay up top as long as you want. There's a very nice place to enjoy food or drinks. Hope you have a clear day....if it's cloudy, you won't be able to see the town below very well.

My husband is from that area so I'm picking his brain. From the ship dock you can take the little ferry at the end of the pier (from HAL) to cross the river. Ask someone which "tram" will take you to "Central Station". From there you can take a train to any town you want to see in Holland. Public transportation is very organized and punctual all over Holland, as opposed to driving a car, where you'd be subject to traffic etc. Also virtually everyone in Holland speaks fluent English. Bruges is probably too far even if you take the "fast" (Snell) train (not the local). Closer by is Dordtrecht to the southeast (where my husband is from and is the oldest city in Holland) or the Hague which is to the north, maybe stopping at Delft (where Delft Blue is made) along the way. If Amsterdam is not on your cruise itinerary, he recommends seeing that city above all the others, but not by car. Also there is a lot to see in Rotterdam itself. Take the train to the Coolsingel, which is the center of town. From there you can walk to see the sights. You can take a sightseeing city tour bus or a river /canal tour.

Bergen and Alesund are right where you dock. Just get off and walk around. Bergen has a furnicular (spelling) that you can ride up to the top of the mountain overlooking the city. However if it's a rainy day, you may not see anything below due to fog. But there is a nice visitor center up to where you can eat or drink, so not a total waste. We didn't go to Eidfjord or Geiranger, so I can't help you with those. Lovely cities with friendly people! Just do some research ahead of time and do your own walking tour.

you just answered your own question.

You get what you pay for?

We were on the July 14th NCL out of Skarfabakki. We got to the port at 9:30 and they took our luggage at the curb. Then we spent more than an hour on the line to check in. Just make sure you find out how late you can check in so you get back on time.

Minimum fare: 690 kr (US$ 5.20). Each kilometre: 260 kr (US$ 2).