Panama Excursions?

My wife and I will be going this March.

We were thinking of doing one of three tours.

1) Panama Canal tour

2) Grand tour

3) Portabello and Locks tour.

We want to do something related to the locks but we don't want to spend a full 8 hours there if we don't have to. If anyone can help give any advice on these it would be great. Basically we are wondering if you would recommend any of these tours and why? We think we would book through the ship, just because of the whole left behind thing, and we would just need some adivce is all. Thanks in advance

Hard to believe no one answered you on this one!

My husband and I did this one with Celebrity:

Panama Canal Tour - CO26 - Colon, Panama

After a 1-hour narrated drive to Balboa, the ferry will travel through the Miraflores Locks, along Miraflores Lake, through the Pedro Miguel Locks and through the Gaylard Cut. Your canal experience concludes at the pier in Gamboa for a 1 hour bus ride back to the ship. Lunch buffet included.

We enjoyed this enormously, we saw some of the countryside, and also the canal. We spent quite a bit of time on the boat in the canal, but I know the whole day was not that long - the brochure says 6 hours. It was a long day, but well worth it - it's truly a marvel. Our tour guide was also excellent.

Hard to believe no one answered you on this one!

 

My husband and I did this one with Celebrity:

 

Panama Canal Tour - CO26 - Colon, Panama

After a 1-hour narrated drive to Balboa, the ferry will travel through the Miraflores Locks, along Miraflores Lake, through the Pedro Miguel Locks and through the Gaylard Cut. Your canal experience concludes at the pier in Gamboa for a 1 hour bus ride back to the ship. Lunch buffet included.

 

We enjoyed this enormously, we saw some of the countryside, and also the canal. We spent quite a bit of time on the boat in the canal, but I know the whole day was not that long - the brochure says 6 hours. It was a long day, but well worth it - it's truly a marvel. Our tour guide was also excellent.

Rob&Nancy,

Thank-you for this review. I've been trying to figure out if it is worth $310/for two people. Do you know which ship you were on? The excursion lists 4 possible ones. I'm not sure if one is better than the other. Below is the quote from the Celebrity site.

I'm sorry , I would have answered this but I was on a Panama Canal Cruise:p! Glad you bumped it back up. Honestly we were on a cruise the time you asked this question!! I assume you are on a cruise that only stops in Panama?? If this is the case I would certainly reccomend the Panama Canal tour. It will give you a chance to see some of the countryside, but you will also get to the best part of the Canal. Not that the entire Canal is not worth the trip, it's just that the Canal you will see will be the most dramatic in a visual sense. You will be in the Pacific Ocean for a short time, I imagine you will sail under the Bridge of the Americas, then on to Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks. When you transit the Gaillard Cut, which is where the bulk of the excavation took place in the construction of the Canal, you will have to think back that the original cut was only 300' wide. Now it is a minimum of 750' and is wider than than that in most places, it truly was a monumental task. A side note, more soil has been removed from the Canal since it was built, than was removed in the original construction.

It should be a great cruise and hopefully you will want to return and do a full transit, you will see it all from a different perspective. This is a destination you can easily do more than once!

Everything BillB48 just said - exactly what I would have told you! It is the best part of the canal, and a great sampling. We thought it was worth every penny.

We sailed on the Constellation. Best of luck!

If you have a choice of ferry boats pick the Islamorada, which is a refurbished rum rummer owned by Al Capone back in the day. It's smaller than the regular ferry boat and not as crowded. We had a wonderful time going through the locks next to an enormous cargo ship in the next lock. You really get a better feel for the rising and lowering of the water than you would on a cruise ship. It was a wonderful excursion and worth the money.

If you have a choice of ferry boats pick the Islamorada, which is a refurbished rum rummer owned by Al Capone back in the day. It's smaller than the regular ferry boat and not as crowded. We had a wonderful time going through the locks next to an enormous cargo ship in the next lock. You really get a better feel for the rising and lowering of the water than you would on a cruise ship. It was a wonderful excursion and worth the money.

Thank-you for the tip on the boat to chose.

TravelZoo recently announced a PC Cruise aboard the Norwegian Star for 14 nights for $599. Departures for 2013 are from L.A. and Miami.

They are imposing an average "tax" of $350 (per person!!) to cross the Panama Canal. "Just So You Know":

Capacity of the Star is 2,348 passengers. Ship's tonnage is 91,000.

It costs a ship of 90,000 tons $200,000 to cross the Canal.

Multiply 2,348 passengers by that $350 "Canal Fee" and you get $805,000.

What this means is that Norwegian is gouging(?) their passengers on this

"fee tax" to make a $605,000 profit per cruise excursion when crossing the Panama Canal. WOW!!

Still, $950 (base plus Canal fee) for 14 nights is a good price, not counting

the daily gratuities fees they impose, etc. But, the Canal fee and the profit

mongering by Norwegian does seem to be quite excessive.

Just So You Know.......

I have an idea that the $350 "Canal fee" just might be the total government fees and taxes that are charged on any cruise, not just for the passage through the Canal. Panama Canal cruises generally have higher fee and tax charges which is a reflection of what the ship is charged to go through the Canal in part. I was just looking at Princess and while their fee and taxes are not quite as high as the NCL figure, they are over $300 pp. So on balance it doesn't seem like a bad total price. The Panama Canal does charge the cruise ship $134 per berth, even if the berth is not occupied. Subtracting the 134 from the 350 leaves 216 to grease all the other outstretched hands along the route.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Thanks for the info Bill. It seems that the Panama govt has all cruise lines over a barrel knowing how much money they take in on each cruise. The fact that Princess is also charging over $300 supports my post that now, ALL cruise lines are gouging us on those fees, LOL I do understand that a cruise line is all about profit, but a half a million profit on the Canal fee? Once again, LOL

Thanks for the info Bill. It seems that the Panama govt has all cruise lines over a barrel knowing how much money they take in on each cruise. The fact that Princess is also charging over $300 supports my post that now, ALL cruise lines are gouging us on those fees, LOL I do understand that a cruise line is all about profit, but a half a million profit on the Canal fee? Once again, LOL

To put things into perspective . . .

ALL cruise lines are looking for every possible way to increase revenue while trying to keep competitive rates.

Most importantly, the business of the Canal is moving freight, i.e. containers, etc., and not people. The cruise transits are a very VERY small part of the Canal business, and frankly, some folks at the Canal would say they are more trouble than they are worth. Cruise ships are given, and they pay for, priority status, so they are assured of a slot and are pushed through the Canal in minimum time without needing to tie up, or wait for long periods. So the "Panama govt", or ACP as the case may be, really doesn't have anyone "over a barrel".

Regards, Richard

Thank you Richard for your very informative post. You obviously know more

on the subject than I. I simply posted on the (little, haha) research that I did

on the subject, which was new territory for me. I will consider the case closed

and more educated than I was. I am new (today) to Cruise Critic (have been on 3 cruises) and looking forward to learning more information from more seasoned Cruisers. Thank you again and have a great day!

JPL619 - Welcome to Cruise Critic! It IS expensive to use the Canal and since the Canal was turned back to Panama it has become very profitable. Panama has been designated as the 2nd wealthiest country in Latin America, in part, but only in part, because of the Canal. Panama's central location, the fact that the Canal makes it the "crossroads of the world", a booming international airport, the second largest free port in the world (second only to Hong Kong), enormous infrastructure projects (including the Canal expansion) all contribute to a booming economy. The economic boom, the devaluation of the US $, the high cost of oil all contribute to inflation which mans the fees charged to use the Canal increase along with everything else. Regardless of how the cost of using the Canal is factored into cruise ticket prices, to be able to experience this marvel of engineering that has been running smoothly now for almost 100 years, is a not-to-be-missed experience!

Regards, Richard

TravelZoo recently announced a PC Cruise aboard the Norwegian Star for 14 nights for $599. Departures for 2013 are from L.A. and Miami.

They are imposing an average "tax" of $350 (per person!!) to cross the Panama Canal. "Just So You Know":

Capacity of the Star is 2,348 passengers. Ship's tonnage is 91,000.

It costs a ship of 90,000 tons $200,000 to cross the Canal.

Multiply 2,348 passengers by that $350 "Canal Fee" and you get $805,000.

What this means is that Norwegian is gouging(?) their passengers on this

"fee tax" to make a $605,000 profit per cruise excursion when crossing the Panama Canal. WOW!!

Still, $950 (base plus Canal fee) for 14 nights is a good price, not counting

the daily gratuities fees they impose, etc. But, the Canal fee and the profit

mongering by Norwegian does seem to be quite excessive.

Just So You Know.......

Accusing NCL of "gouging" the passengers indicates a lack of knowledge in how the cruise lines assess fees. These cruises stop at several ports and must pay fees for each port they visit and that includes Panama Canal fees.

The itinerary below shows the stops made by one of these cruises.

Sun 08-Dec 8:00 am SHIP ARRIVES AT MIAMI, FLORIDA,

If you price this same type of cruise on other lines, you will see that most are much higher than NCL.

Also -- The port fees and taxes in Mexico are among the highest in the world. Just so you know !!!

JPL619 - Welcome to Cruise Critic! It IS expensive to use the Canal and since the Canal was turned back to Panama it has become very profitable. Panama has been designated as the 2nd wealthiest country in Latin America, in part, but only in part, because of the Canal. Panama's central location, the fact that the Canal makes it the "crossroads of the world", a booming international airport, the second largest free port in the world (second only to Hong Kong), enormous infrastructure projects (including the Canal expansion) all contribute to a booming economy. The economic boom, the devaluation of the US $, the high cost of oil all contribute to inflation which mans the fees charged to use the Canal increase along with everything else. Regardless of how the cost of using the Canal is factored into cruise ticket prices, to be able to experience this marvel of engineering that has been running smoothly now for almost 100 years, is a not-to-be-missed experience!

 

Regards, Richard

Having done a full transit East to West in 2007 and anticipating our West to East full transit in April of next year, I rate the experience as UNFORGETTABLE and not to be missed, as Richard says. A definite "Bucket List Item" that should not be denied yourself. Forget what is on the top of your list now and book the Canal transit today!!!!

Has anybody used Mario's Tours in Panama, and does anybody have his contact info or website.

Thanks

lance32/aka Jon P

While I have not used him, a lot people have used him with mostly positive results. I have not seen him mentioned here much lately and don't know if that means anything or not. Give this email a try: viajesalmiza@hotmail.com I don't think the my friend mario web site is working.

I just used them for a tour to the Embera Indian Village. They emailed me from almizatours@hotmail.com. I contacted them via their website: http://www.myfriendmario.com

Jen

Has anybody used Mario's Tours in Panama, and does anybody have his contact info or website.

Thanks

lance32/aka Jon P

Jen - were there many people on your tour with Mario? Not many folks know about him. I've reviewed his website, but the Contact link doesn't work. His tours are still rated highly on TripAdvisor. In fact, they won a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence for 2013!

Odd it did not work, that is how I contact them originally. Use the email I provided instead. There were a good number of people on his tours. From the Equinox we had 18 people on the Embera Indian Village tour I was on. I know a large group with my roll call booked with Mario for a different tour and they had a good tour. My guide was not Mario but rather a man who is an Embera Indian who went to college in the US. Our tour was excellent. My tour did about 45 minutes at the locks and then on to the village. Mario's company had a list of everyone who signed up and put us in different small buses based on which tour you were on. It seemed professional and organized.

I just looked at the web site and you need to click on contact form, not just contact.

If you want a tour on a boat of the locks, only book with Celebrity. We had over 300 passengers on a Celebrity tour get delayed for several hours in the locks. My tour was visiting the locks visitor center on land.

Jen - were there many people on your tour with Mario? Not many folks know about him. I've reviewed his website, but the Contact link doesn't work. His tours are still rated highly on TripAdvisor. In fact, they won a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence for 2013!

I see you are on Equinox too. I will say that several people on my roll call had a very poor experience with Your Lucky Tour in Costa Rica.

Jen - were there many people on your tour with Mario? Not many folks know about him. I've reviewed his website, but the Contact link doesn't work. His tours are still rated highly on TripAdvisor. In fact, they won a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence for 2013!

Thanks so much for the info, Jen!

Thanks for the info Bill. It seems that the Panama govt has all cruise lines over a barrel knowing how much money they take in on each cruise. The fact that Princess is also charging over $300 supports my post that now, ALL cruise lines are gouging us on those fees, LOL I do understand that a cruise line is all about profit, but a half a million profit on the Canal fee? Once again, LOL

The last Royal Caribbean trip I took added about $125.00 for port charges and Fees, but looking at Princess, it added $310.00 for fees. That seems to balance because I found somewhere online that the Panama canal charges about $134.00 per bed (person?) to the cruise line to cross the canal. Given that this includes crew as well as passengers, I can see why the huge jump in fees. We are also paying to carry the crew that serves us to cross as well. The cruise lines are generally pretty tight lipped about exactly how much those costs are, but I suspect they are not gouging us like we think they are. Sure, they're making a profit, and why shouldn't they, that's their business, but I dont' think they are making a killing like we think they are. Its a lot of work.

We recently returned from a canal transit on the Celebrity Infinity, which included a port day in Colon before the transit. We arranged a tour with Roberto Whitaker and Robtad's Tours. In fact, I formed a group of about 24 on the roll call board and everyone raved about how good he was. I recommend him highly. His contact info is: e-mail: robtads2@hotmail.com; phone: (507) 442-2499 office; (507) 6725-7563; mobile.

Roberto was born and raised in the Canal Zone. His first language is English. He does tours on the side; his primary occupation is as an engineer with the canal. He knows his stuff and is incredibly nice.

We recently returned from a canal transit on the Celebrity Infinity, which included a port day in Colon before the transit. We arranged a tour with Roberto Whitaker and Robtad's Tours. In fact, I formed a group of about 24 on the roll call board and everyone raved about how good he was. I recommend him highly. His contact info is: e-mail: robtads2@hotmail.com; phone: (507) 442-2499 office; (507) 6725-7563; mobile.

 

Roberto was born and raised in the Canal Zone. His first language is English. He does tours on the side; his primary occupation is as an engineer with the canal. He knows his stuff and is incredibly nice.

I will second that. Roberto gives a great, reasonably priced tour. A very knowledgeable and personable guide.