Panama railroad tour

Can anyone share their comments on the Panama railroad tour? I have seen the locks from land many times so I think sailing through Gatun locks would be enough for me...without going through the other Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks. DH isn't sure about the Indian tour.

Thanks

Marcia

Can anyone share their comments on the Panama railroad tour? I have seen the locks from land many times so I think sailing through Gatun locks would be enough for me...without going through the other Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks. DH isn't sure about the Indian tour.

Thanks

Marcia

My DH & I took the Panama Canal Railway tour from the QM2 on December 22. We were in the "vintage" railway car, the one used by the executives to commute from Panama City to Cristobal. The car is gorgeous! Exquisite wood, Art Deco lighting fixtures, large windows for unobstructed views, and immaculate interior. We had a wonderful guide, Maria, who met our ship, took us for a short bus ride to the train, and then narrated while we rode the hour or so it took to get to Panama City. She was very knowledgeable, informative, and it was a most interesting ride. The trip is beautiful. We had a stop at Miraflores lock with a sightseeing and photo opportunity, ferried by bus from the train and then back again. When we arrived in Panama City, we took another bus trip with lots of sightseeing and one stop, a most enjoyable ride. Back on the train again, we enjoyed a box lunch, a visit from Santa and his helpers, and another pleasant ride back to Cristobal.

Although the trip was expensive, compared with other shore excursions, we both thought it was well worth it. It was one of the highlights of a wonderful cruise with nine ports.

I would recommend it to you without hesitation.

Hope this helps. :)

GG

As Grammer Godess says this is a good tour. We just did this on the Carnival Freedom the week of Jan. 17th. Would I take this tour again, probably not, but then again I really don't plan on going back to Panama, we are more of the beach type people. The tour was very informative and glad we spent the dollars for a safe comfortable day. Now I have one more thing to check off my to see list in my lifetime. :)

Here is what I wrote after we returned in Feb 07, in response to others who had questions.

We just returned from the Western Caribbean (Panama, Costa Rica and Belize) and took the Two Oceans by Railroad excursion. Since we like to explore on our own, I tried to book the train myself, but they will not do it. So if you want to take the train from Colon to Panama City you must book through the cruise line.

We only booked this excursion through the cruise line as it was the only way to ride the train. If we were to return to Panama, we would try to hire a car and driver for the day.

I hope to answer a few of the questions posted about this excursion.

1. Yes, there are bathrooms.

2. You do get to see the canal. You do not see the locks on the train, but you can see ships traveling on the lake. If your excursion includes Miraflores, you will go the visitor center and possibly see ships going through the locks.

3. Try to reserve the Dome Car and sit on the top level - you can see so much more!

4. On our excursion there we so many people!!!! They took us to Miraflores which was a highlight for me.

5. They took us to a shopping center - go figure - to buy trinkets. Not my favorite thing to spend time on when we only have a few hours in port. I wanted to see more of Panama not shopping.

6. Be aware that Colon is not a tourist city. On the tour, everything is very safe. The bus ride to the train is an experience as stop signs and traffic signals are up for decoration only. Makes for a good story!

7. Bring food. You will not have the opportunity to eat anything until you get back on the train and at that it is chips and crackers.

While we enjoyed the experience, we only booked through the ship because it was the only way to take the train and we were uncertain of the driver options in Colon.

For the remainder of of Ports of Call we booked private excursions which were much better and more exciting! (I really do not like cruise line excursion because I feel like they are herding us from one location to another.)

Hope this helps!

Grammar Goddess...your railway tour sounds perfect..now I need to determine if the Holland America tour is offers the same things. Thanks for the information.

Marcia

We took this train in 2002 from Colon to the Pacific side. We rode in a dome car with views out the top. It was a comfortable and scenic ride and air conditioned. The views were great. We visited the Miraflores Locks visitor center, and got an excellent view of Panama City from across the canal and the big suspension bridge spanning the canal. We also saw old government and military builidings that were used by the USA when the canal zone was a US possession.

We agree with a previous poster that Colon was not a tourist-friendly city and not pleasing to the eye, but the train was safe.

DavidnSteph