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Panama Canal - Best & Worst Ports?


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We are planning to take a full transit Panama Canal cruise sometime within the next 2 years. Please share your thoughts on the Panama Canal ports you have visited. Your opinions will help us to determine which cruise itinerary will be the best fit for us.

 

Which ports did you find to be the most interesting and enjoyable? Also, which ports had little to offer or required traveling long distances to reach a decent destination? We don't enjoy getting off of the ship and simply browsing the port shops at the pier. We tend to enjoy taking in historical sites; so, ports that offer them would merit our consideration. Ports that ONLY offer beaches, zip lining or water activities do not interest us very much. Mobility is not an issue and walking for extended periods of time is not a hindrance for us. TIA

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Each of the ports you seek info have boards of their own. A little reading around will reveal tons of discussions about each port.

I absolutely understand that there are forums for the individual ports. However, there are numerous cruise lines and they do not necessarily offer the same port visits. My hope in posting a new thread was that several people would respond with opinions that would help me to narrow down which ports to definitely include on our cruise. With that information, I can then narrow down my search to find the cruise lines that offer those ports.

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Our Panama Canal cruise is early January 2019 and while I cannot yet comment on ports from personal experience I can write on why we chose our itinerary. We have only cruised on Princess and are happy to continue to do so. We live in southern New Mexico so leaving from LA is easy for us --where do you want to depart from? The most important factors for us are that we be able to visit old Panama City; have a full transit of the old locks that have such a fascinating history; and visit long enough in Cartagena to do a walking tour of the old city with "Dora". The other ports are icing on the cake. We like cultural and natural history excursions and finding them in some ports is a challenge! So what will we do in them? Puerto Vallarta will probably be to take a taxi to the old town and wander around or to do a food tour --still researching! Huatulco is primarily a beach location so may do a boat tour with a swim. San Juan del Sur, a tender port, in Nicaragua offers multiple opportunities for colonial architecture, lakes, islands etc but we will probably go to a nature preserve on a coffee plantation. Puntarenas in Costa Rica is the most perplexing for me as I have lived there for two weeks on a biological research station and have experienced the country in a most authentic way -- our solution is to select to visit the Macaw Sanctuary. ( One thing I suggest you do is to look at the excursion opportunities from a Pacific port like Puntarenas and an Atlantic port like Limon, especially the time to get to a location). We typically do independent small group tours but on this cruise I feel more comfortable in some locations to do Princess tours. We will have a good time on whatever we select to do. While I do read reviews and opinions I feel it more important to research.

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Ok, here is my two cents... who knows I may even get change! IMO the star of the show is the Canal and to buttress your trip through the Canal I would look for an itinerary that includes a full day stop in Panama in addition to the cruise. You would be surprised at the number of Canal cruises that do not stop in Panama. You can use the Panama stop to either add on to your Canal experience go off on the history of the area and sightseeing type tours.

 

I am not going to include any Mexican ports because I am basically neutral on them and there is an off chance you may have already had experience in that part of the word. Also I think you start to find more of the sun sea and sand tours start to show up.

 

On the Pacific coast Guatemala's Puerto Quetzal might appear to be a sleeper type of a stop as there really isn't anything in the port area. Look at a tour to Antigua, there you hook up with walking tours and such on your own if that is what you like. The ship's offer transportation to and from and you fill in your time as you wish in Antigua. It's in the mountains so the temps are a real treat.

 

Staying on the Pacific, Puntarenas is pretty much a perennial stop, think just about everyone stops there it seems. This is more of a sightseeing stop with a number of different tours to different points of interest depending on what your looking for. You would have to take a tour here as there really isn't a whole to do in town... not all that large. Some ships call at Caldera, that is just a different facility in the same general area, just not in Puntarenas.

 

The last place is on the Atlantic coast and just about everyone stops there is Cartagena. The city offers a lot with the walled city, La Popa Monastery and the remnants of Spanish Colonial fortresses. Shouldn't be hard to find interesting tours either from the ship or private. Search for Mr. Emerald or Dora... seem to be well liked.

 

One last thought for the stop in Panama, presently a stop in Colon (docked) and a stop at Ft. Amador (tendered) are the options. Really makes no difference in regards to which tours are available from which facility, same tours are available from either facility. Now if your trip is far enough in the future then a pier may be ready for Ft. Amador eliminating tendering. If that is the case, Amador would be the better choice.

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Our Panama Canal cruise is early January 2019 and while I cannot yet comment on ports from personal experience I can write on why we chose our itinerary. We have only cruised on Princess and are happy to continue to do so. We live in southern New Mexico so leaving from LA is easy for us --where do you want to depart from? The most important factors for us are that we be able to visit old Panama City; have a full transit of the old locks that have such a fascinating history; and visit long enough in Cartagena to do a walking tour of the old city with "Dora". The other ports are icing on the cake. We like cultural and natural history excursions and finding them in some ports is a challenge! So what will we do in them? Puerto Vallarta will probably be to take a taxi to the old town and wander around or to do a food tour --still researching! Huatulco is primarily a beach location so may do a boat tour with a swim. San Juan del Sur, a tender port, in Nicaragua offers multiple opportunities for colonial architecture, lakes, islands etc but we will probably go to a nature preserve on a coffee plantation. Puntarenas in Costa Rica is the most perplexing for me as I have lived there for two weeks on a biological research station and have experienced the country in a most authentic way -- our solution is to select to visit the Macaw Sanctuary. ( One thing I suggest you do is to look at the excursion opportunities from a Pacific port like Puntarenas and an Atlantic port like Limon, especially the time to get to a location). We typically do independent small group tours but on this cruise I feel more comfortable in some locations to do Princess tours. We will have a good time on whatever we select to do. While I do read reviews and opinions I feel it more important to research.

Thank you for responding with your plans for your Princess cruise. It appears we have a lot in common as your plans for Panama City and Cartagena are something we'd likely do in those ports.

 

Limon or Puntarenas has been a quandary for us, but now I will give the port times more consideration while during my research.

 

We spent a week in Puerto Vallarta many, many years ago so it isn't a priority port for us. I don't know how much time you have in port, but we found exploring the Malecon area didn't take all that much time. Our visit to the Old Town was only long enough to grab a few photos. For some reason, we felt uncomfortable there. We did find areas outside of the city center much more to our liking. We thoroughly enjoyed the day we had lunch at an authentic Mexican restaurant located near a stream that was outside of the city. Many of the areas outside the city were lush and beautiful when we were there during the month of May.

 

We're trying to decide if Cabo San Lucas is a port we should consider since friends who have been there have recommended we make it a priority port.

 

Since we have no preference for where we begin or end our cruise, our options seem limitless. So, again, thank you for your insight. I hope you thoroughly enjoy your cruise.

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Ok, here is my two cents... who knows I may even get change! IMO the star of the show is the Canal and to buttress your trip through the Canal I would look for an itinerary that includes a full day stop in Panama in addition to the cruise. You would be surprised at the number of Canal cruises that do not stop in Panama. You can use the Panama stop to either add on to your Canal experience go off on the history of the area and sightseeing type tours.

 

This is the type of information I am looking for. Thank you!

 

I am not going to include any Mexican ports because I am basically neutral on them and there is an off chance you may have already had experience in that part of the word. Also I think you start to find more of the sun sea and sand tours start to show up.

 

You are correct on that assumption.

 

On the Pacific coast Guatemala's Puerto Quetzal might appear to be a sleeper type of a stop as there really isn't anything in the port area. Look at a tour to Antigua, there you hook up with walking tours and such on your own if that is what you like. The ship's offer transportation to and from and you fill in your time as you wish in Antigua. It's in the mountains so the temps are a real treat.

 

Antigua, got it!

 

Staying on the Pacific, Puntarenas is pretty much a perennial stop, think just about everyone stops there it seems. This is more of a sightseeing stop with a number of different tours to different points of interest depending on what your looking for. You would have to take a tour here as there really isn't a whole to do in town... not all that large. Some ships call at Caldera, that is just a different facility in the same general area, just not in Puntarenas.

 

Hmm . . . still not sure about Puntarenas or Limon.

 

The last place is on the Atlantic coast and just about everyone stops there is Cartagena. The city offers a lot with the walled city, La Popa Monastery and the remnants of Spanish Colonial fortresses. Shouldn't be hard to find interesting tours either from the ship or private. Search for Mr. Emerald or Dora... seem to be well liked.

 

There are very few cruise lines that do not port in Cartagena, but I think we'll make it a port priority.

 

One last thought for the stop in Panama, presently a stop in Colon (docked) and a stop at Ft. Amador (tendered) are the options. Really makes no difference in regards to which tours are available from which facility, same tours are available from either facility. Now if your trip is far enough in the future then a pier may be ready for Ft. Amador eliminating tendering. If that is the case, Amador would be the better choice.

 

Thank you! I will investigate Ft. Amador.

 

Your response is much appreciated!

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Limon or Puntarenas has been a quandary for us, but now I will give the port times more consideration while during my research.

.

It's the time from the port to the main focus of an excursion that is the thing to consider. Limon may offer excursions more to your interest than Puntarenas simply based on travel time. Just keep researching :D:D

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Three full transits, and three stops at Puerto Quetzal. I love going to Antigua. Twice I did tours. the first was a ship tour, the second one organized on the roll call. Last time we took the 'transfer to Antigua.', and did a walking tour on our own. It is very Mayan. Definitely different from Mexican ports. Have done both Puntarenas and Limon. We did the same basic tour in each: Bus, train and boat. In Puntarenas the boat was on the Tarcoles River and we saw many crocodiles. In Limon, it was a boatride on the Tortuguero canals with guide pointing out wildlife. Every full transit must do either Cartagena or one of the ABC islands to satisfy the 'foreign port' of the PVSA. In Cartagena, did the carriage ride once and walking tour twice.

I disagree a bit with the above poster. Limon is an industrial port, and we spent more time on the bus to and from our tour than we did in Puntarenas. In addition, there is little souvenir shopping near the pier, if you need it. There is a long pier at Puntarenas and one entertainment is watching the tour buses back carefully down the pier to load and unload tour groups. There is also more shopping ashore near the pier. EM

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We are planning to take a full transit Panama Canal cruise sometime within the next 2 years. Please share your thoughts on the Panama Canal ports you have visited. Your opinions will help us to determine which cruise itinerary will be the best fit for us.

 

Which ports did you find to be the most interesting and enjoyable? Also, which ports had little to offer or required traveling long distances to reach a decent destination? We don't enjoy getting off of the ship and simply browsing the port shops at the pier. We tend to enjoy taking in historical sites; so, ports that offer them would merit our consideration. Ports that ONLY offer beaches, zip lining or water activities do not interest us very much. Mobility is not an issue and walking for extended periods of time is not a hindrance for us. TIA

 

Congrats on going full transit. We’ve done it twice and it is amazing. We’ll do it again too.

 

If it stops at Grand Cayman and you’ve never been there, then there is plenty to do there.

 

Cartagena seems like a given stop, but it’s not bad. The fort is worth a few hours.

 

One of our favorite stops of all time was Huatulco, in Mexico. We had an amazing guide and did some snorkeling there. We continue to look for trips to go back but so far, no joy.

 

 

Other Mexican ports now scare us except possibly Cabo, maybe PV.

 

Puerto Quetzal was ok, we did a good tour there but the transit to and from was interesting.

 

Any stop in Costa Rica is worth a look of you can get into the rain forest.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Cuervosar,

Where did you snorkel in Huatalco? We were just going to walk around on our own & not worry about beach time, because we've never had any very impressive snorkeling on the Pacific side in Mexico, but maybe we're missing something here?

Thanks!

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