Is Panama Canal Shore Excursion worth $175?

I tried searching for a thread on this, but had no luck.

My family and I are doing an 8 day Carnival "exotic Caribbean" cruise in December that will take us to Belize, Costa Rica and Colon, Panama. This is not a Panama Canal transit cruise.

While in Colon, Panama, we were interested in booking the Panama Canal transit excursion, but found out that it's $175 each. That's one expensive day! So, I'm asking you, fellow cruisers:

1) Is it worth the $175? (My feeling is that it is, since we may not go back there and I believe the Panama Canal is one of the world's foremost engineering wonders.)

2) Would you take children on the tour? (The price is the same for kids) My kids are 4 and 8.

Thanks in advance!

Laurin

I had a great long answer typed and then the board messed up. AARGGH!!

If you are talking about the excursion where you transit the entire length of the canal by boat, then yes, this excursion is worth $175 but I would not recommend it for kids.

I did this at the end of February. The sites were amazing - it's hard to visualize or write down exactly how this canal was engineered and how it runs. If you can't do a full transit on a cruise ship, this excursion is the way to see how the canal works.

That being said, it is a very hot and long excursion. Our transit took about 6 hours, sometimes it can take as long as 12 hours depending on what other ships are trying to transit the canal that day (plus afterwards you then have the very long bus ride back to the ship). Since the ferry is so small, larger ships have priority for the locks over the ferry so the ferry may have to wait for a spot in the locks. We were lucky and only had to wait about an hour at one.

The only thing to do on this excursion is see the canal. The ferry is open air (it does have shade) with basic chairs to sit on. No tv to watch, no games to play, nowhere to lay down if you get tired. Food and drinks are provided but it is basically a turkey sandwich and a muffin. There isn't anything to occupy kids with onboard for more than a short period of time, much less several hours.

Here is my review of the excursion from my cruise review:

The tour started with a bus ride to Gamboa to pick up the ferry. We got to see lots of beautiful foliage plus a three-toed sloth and howler monkeys. Picked up the ferry at Gamboa just north of where the Chagris River enters the canal. We were provided lunch (a turkey sandwich and a muffin) plus all the water and coke we could drink – and were encouraged to constantly drink. The view was breathtaking as we got to see the navigational systems, small boats and large ships, and all three sets of locks. It was very hot – so hot somebody got sick and had to be taken off by ambulance once we were in the 3rd set of locks – they didn’t stay in the shade and didn’t drink enough water. You could even see where the fresh canal water changed over to the salty Pacific Ocean Water. On the drive back, our guide showed us a cashew – very different than what we see in stores. We were the last tour back on the ship.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply, wrp96! That's kind of what I suspected about bringing the kids on the Panama Canal tour. I think they'd be bored to tears!

We took this excursion in March with our 13 and 18 year old daughters. I agree with the previous poster -- a long and hot day -- but fascinating and I'd do it all over again. The only negative was the long bus ride to get to the ferry -- it took as long as the ride back. I think we spent three hours on the bus (total) and three hours on the ferry.

The girls read their books and played Suduko the entire time, but every now and again I would insist that they look up. I expected that when we booked the excusion, and decided to do it anyway -- I figured it was a $300+ per person excursion for the two adults. I just couldn't leave my kids on the ship all day without us, although they undoubtedly would have been fine.

I don't know if I'll ever be back in the canal, and I really wanted to see the whole thing, so to me it was worth it. But my kids are old enough to entertain themselves and resist any urge to whine.

Even if it's not the ferry, I'd recommend that you take an excursion to see some of Panama. Colon was not a port I wanted to spend any time at all. I've read good things about the Embera Indian excrusion, and kids might enjoy it.

The only negative was the long bus ride to get to the ferry -- it took as long as the ride back. I think we spent three hours on the bus (total) and three hours on the ferry.

That was one of the good things about being on a ship that actually went into the canal, our bus ride to the ferry was less than an hour.

We just did this tour in April with our kids ages 14 and 10 and our friends' kids ages 14 and 8. The adults all loved the tour. The kids said it was boring...gee, what a surprise.

They felt that after they'd seen the locks from our partial transit of the canal on our ship, that they'd seen enough.

It was definatley a long and hot day. I agree with the above posters - the bus ride is long - about 1- 1 1/2 hours each way. The ferry that we were on did have an air conditioned area but I wouldn't dream of taking young kids. They'd be bored, you'd be stuck, and wondering why you'd just spent alot of money when you could be at the ship's pool relaxing. Travel with youngs kids isn't always easy and you really have to pick low impact excursions or they'll be miserable, hot, whiney....I guess we've all been there!!

That said, I'm glad I have my picture actually touching the canal wall. I liked the scenery throughout and would love to do a full transit someday.

Good luck!

We just did this tour in April with our kids ages 14 and 10 and our friends' kids ages 14 and 8. The adults all loved the tour. The kids said it was boring...gee, what a surprise.

 

They felt that after they'd seen the locks from our partial transit of the canal on our ship, that they'd seen enough.

I think that's the OP's dilemma, the Carnival ships don't actually enter the Canal, they just dock at Colon, so they won't get to see any of the canal at all - unless they do this excursion.

That was one of the good things about being on a ship that actually went into the canal, our bus ride to the ferry was less than an hour.

Our ship went through Gatun locks, and then we tendered to shore for the bus ride to the ferry. The Gatun Lake marina and Colon are not that far apart, so there shouldn't be a big difference in travel time either way. Maybe we just hit bad traffic on our bus trip -- it appeared to be morning rush hour.

I think that's the OP's dilemma, the Carnival ships don't actually enter the Canal, they just dock at Colon, so they won't get to see any of the canal at all - unless they do this excursion.

Yes, that is my dilemma! DH and I have definitely decided that we're doingthis tour and our 4 year old is going to stay in the kid's club that day, but we're still up in the air about our 8 year old. We are taking her out of school for this cruise and really want her to see the canal and be able to report back to her class about it.

Thank you all for your comments so far! I'd especially love to hear additional comments from anyone who has taken a 6-10 year old child on this tour.

Yes, that is my dilemma! DH and I have definitely decided that we're doingthis tour and our 4 year old is going to stay in the kid's club that day, but we're still up in the air about our 8 year old. We are taking her out of school for this cruise and really want her to see the canal and be able to report back to her class about it.

 

Thank you all for your comments so far! I'd especially love to hear additional comments from anyone who has taken a 6-10 year old child on this tour.

So now we're NOT going to leave the kids on the ship and are instead thinking about the Two Oceans By Railroad tour. I think the kids will enjoy that more.

I've read this thread with interests as I am torn about what to do in Panama. We are on the Legend over Christmas this year and have excursions booked for the other two stops. We'll be travelling with a 5 year old and a 1 year old.

Thinking the Canal passage is not the thing to do now after reading this.

Any thoughts on other tours that would be good?

We won't be leaving the kids on board (I don't think you even can leave a 1 year old on the ship - not that we'd consider this anyway).

 

1) Is it worth the $175? (My feeling is that it is, since we may not go back there and I believe the Panama Canal is one of the world's foremost engineering wonders.)

 

rin

That's they way I felt when I did the tour back in February. Yes it's on the expensive side but it Is the THE Panama Canal and I'm grateful to be able to experience it because I may never be this way again.

I think kids might enjoy it.

I would definitely spring for the tour to see the canal. It seems to be a shame to sail to the canal and then not see it.

You can justify the 175 excursion cost by the fact that if the ship transited the canal (or entered and returned at Gatun), your cruise fare would be 100 to 200 more to cover the ship's canal fee.

So now we're NOT going to leave the kids on the ship and are instead thinking about the Two Oceans By Railroad tour. I think the kids will enjoy that more.

I read this thread with great interest! I am in a similar situation.....We will be sailing on the Carnival Legend over Thanksgiving and the only way to see the locks is via a tour.

I was also thinking about the Ferry BUT after reading threads (GOTTA LOVE CC!!) I was thinking that this will not be great for my kids (16, 14, 10 & 9) and it is a LOT of money to spend and not be enjoyed.

I am also thinking that the Two Oceans by Railroad will be a better option.

If anyone else has some info/opinions/updates to add to this thread I would be most greatful!!

I will be doing the Partial transit next march on the Brilliance...Is it still worth the money to take the tour, even after going through one of the locks?

I will be doing the Partial transit next march on the Brilliance...Is it still worth the money to take the tour, even after going through one of the locks?

To me it was definitely worth it, but my purpose of the cruise was to see the Panama Canal. When Brilliance went through the Gatun Locks I was up in the bow for most of the transit of those locks and it was amazing to see how little clearance Brilliance had. BUT, then I continued through the Canal on the ferry and it was just a completely different view seeing the actual length of the canal, how they navigate it (not just the lock portion), and everything. Much more amazing.

In 2003 we did the Exotic Caribbean and docked in Colon. From there we took a cab for $40 for four of us to the Gatun Locks and were lucky enough to view a ship passing through the locks from the viewing arena.

This year we did the Grand Panama crossing. It was amazing. Never say never. If you know you will NEVER be back, the ferry is probably the way to go, otherwise I would wait for a future cruise.

Our transit took about 6 hours, sometimes it can take as long as 12 hours depending on what other ships are trying to transit the canal that day (plus afterwards you then have the very long bus ride back to the ship). quote]

 

That kinda worries me about it possibly taking 12 hours.....i know its a RCCL excursion, but the ship's supposed to leave cristobal at 7pm, and if it takes 12 hrs, we wouldnt be back at the boat till like 10pm. i wouldnt expect the ship to wait 3 hrs........would they cut the excursion short if that were the case?

That kinda worries me about it possibly taking 12 hours.....i know its a RCCL excursion, but the ship's supposed to leave cristobal at 7pm, and if it takes 12 hrs, we wouldnt be back at the boat till like 10pm. i wouldnt expect the ship to wait 3 hrs........would they cut the excursion short if that were the case?

The ship would definitely wait on the ferry excursion, that's part of the benefits of booking it through the ship. They wouldn't be able to cut the excursion short in the middle anyways. Don't worry. If you do the ferry you will get the full excursion and the ship will wait.

We will be on this excursion on Sunday, I'll let you guys know how it goes. We did decide to leave the kids (6&9) on the ship, but there are some family members staying behind as well.

Hi,

For those that have done this excursion, was there any time left for shopping? Any time in the morning at the pier or anywhere along the way?

Thanks,

Sunday November 5th

The Panama Canal: I was up by 6:00AM so that I could watch us go through the first set of locks. What a beautiful sunrise it was, watching the sun come up over the jungle and the canal. This was truly a special time to be up on deck.

They where also serving juice and coffee and rolls on deck for all of us early risers. (That’s right more food) I called Mom and Richard to get them up, but by the time they got to my viewing location we had already started going through the first set of locks. (7AM) We final got through the 3rd set of locks at 8:00AM and it was time to get some breakfast before we started our tour. At 9:45AM we boarded a tender in Gatun Lake to start our tour of the Canal.

This tour is called “The Canal Experience to Colon” It was a 7 hour tour. On This tour we experience the full wonder of the Panama Canal. We first had a 40 min drive through the Isthmus to Gamboa, where our tour boat was waiting for us to take us through the rest of the locks. We crossed the continental Divide. Enter the Pedro Miguel Locks, which lower our tour boat 28 feet on its way to the Pacific. We then sailed across the Maraflores Lake to the Maraflores Locks, which lower us another 56 feet, matching the level of the Pacific Ocean. At around that time it started to rain and I mean rain. A typical jungle thunder storm that lasted for about 15min and cooled everything down. Temp was around 85F with a light breeze. We did get a little wet but no big deal by the time we got off the boat we where dried.

About the boat we where on. It was a small tour boat that was cover with a tarp, that holds about 250 people. I say there was about 150 on board. They did have drinks on board and told us to drink lots of water. Lunch was supplied by the ship and was just a sandwich, that’s ok with us we could skip a big meal for a change. Also there was a little room on this boat for people that fond it too hot to sit outside that was air condition. Richard spend most of his time in there. Jake and myself did not find the weather too humid and enjoyed watching the boat going through all the locks.

It was a very nice day. Our tour ended at the port of Balboa in Panama City. Boy, the water at this port was dirty and polluted . You would think that the Panama authorities would spend some money cleaning up this port. After all they do charge a lot for ships to go through the canal. I was told it cost our ship $120,000 just to go through the first 3 lock before it turned around and went back to wait for us in Colon, Panama. After getting off in Balboa our bus was waiting for us for the 90 minute ride back to the ship. It was a nice drive but the country side we notice near small towns was very trashy. It seems like people just throw there trash anywhere along the road they want. Again you would think that the Panama government would do a better job in keeping there country clean. Yes I know it’s a third world country. But again with the money they are making on the canal you would just think they could clean things up a little. Or maybe the locals just don’t care.

We where back in Colon, Panama around 4ish. And where drop off right by the ship. There was a Shopping area with local things to buy. Nothing really caught my eye. But, Yes I did have to buy a $5.00 t-**** with the Panama Canal on it. Just another shirt I don’t need but had to buy. Ship left port at 7PM

Hi,

 

For those that have done this excursion, was there any time left for shopping? Any time in the morning at the pier or anywhere along the way?

 

Thanks,

I know there was no time before our tour for shopping, but that is because we tendered off the ship in Gatun Lake directly to the buses. There are no shops at the tender point in Gatun Lake.

Whether you will have shopping time at the end of the tour depends on how long it takes to go through all the locks. We had about 30 minutes shopping time at Cristobal pier before we needed to get back on the ship BUT if it takes a long time to go through the locks then you won't have any shopping time at all.

Hi,

 

For those that have done this excursion, was there any time left for shopping? Any time in the morning at the pier or anywhere along the way?

 

Thanks,

Yes there was, for me at least. There is a protected tourist area in which to shop at the cruise ship terminal. It isn't advisable to leave these tourist friendly area.

...I was also thinking about the Ferry BUT after reading threads (GOTTA LOVE CC!!) I was thinking that this will not be great for my kids (16, 14, 10 & 9) and it is a LOT of money to spend and not be enjoyed.