Panama Canal choices, choices, choices

[MICHARCH]

We are booked San Diego-Ft Lauderdale on a March sailing but are in a real quandary over which excursions to sign up for in advance. How can we choose based on a few paragraph description to places that we have never been to in a country that we are unfamiliar with?

 

Are all excursions in Mexico safe, for instance? Can we make changes to add or take away an excursion on board if we later decide that it's not for us? If we do not sign up for an excursion at a particular port, what else is there to do except stay on board?

 

Any tips or info is appreciated a great deal.

[Krazy Kruizers]

If you prepurchase excursions before you cruise -- you can cancel them on embarkation day without any penalities. After that you have to read on the excursion papers that will be in your cabin when you can cancel an excursion with only a 10% penalty. After that deadline -- you lose the entire cost.

You will not find any more information on those excursion form that will be in your cabin -- in fact -- it gives even less information.

If you want to more about a certain excursion - then you will need to go see the people at the shore excursion desk and hope that they can anser any questions you may have.

Also -- check out the PORTS here on this site -- and ask questions there about excursions that you are interested in.

[peaches from georgia]

 

....If we do not sign up for an excursion at a particular port, what else is there to do except stay on board?

 

Any tips or info is appreciated a great deal.

There is plenty to do even if you don't sign up for an excursion. You can walk around the port by yourself, explore that port on your own, go to lunch in a local restaurant, find one of the many taxis or vans who will be waiting at the terminal and ask them to give you a tour of their island or if you know a particular spot you would like to see then ask them to take you there.

 

Go to the port thread for each port, read the posts and see what people liked doing and look into local tour operators that some of the posters recommend.

 

But by all means you don't need to stay on the ship. We rarely book an excursion yet see plenty on our own in each port and enjoy the day.

[Jemima]

Yes, you can add or change or drop excursions onboard. There are deadlines, often 24 hrs., for changing or dropping and there is a 10% deduction for dropping. The deadlines are stated in the shore excursions leaflets you'll get the first day. There may also be a 10% loss when changing, but that's not happened when we've switched excursions. (Maybe if you are going to a much less expensive one.) Reimbursements go on the shipboard accounts as credits.

We were on the Statendam eastbound in November. We originally had excursions in all but two ports. We ended up cancelling two and also not taking a third (too late to cancel). We were having problems with the heat/humidity. The only excursion we ended up taking was Hualtulco. We did talk to lots of people who did more excursions. Except for the one Panama incident, we heard nothing bad regarding safety.

Hualtulco is nice. There's a beach right there and there are lots of shops at the pier. We did a city tour which was ok and which included a light lunch (the description said snack, but it was lunch). This is a semi-created port so it is "nicer" than more real Mexican places, but mostly authentic. You are fine here on either a tour or just shopping or going to the beach.

Puerto Vallerta - We've been there several times, so chose to spend a little time in the pier shops and mostly stayed on the ship. We recommend an excursion if this is your first time.

Chiapas - We opted out of our tour, but didn't hear any negatives from those who took excursions. There is a tiny bit of shopping and Mexican dancers right at the port, but otherwise nothing nearby. Take an excursion.

Panama City - This is a tender port and it took a long time to get all who wished ashore. The captain even had to make an announcement for people to be patient. If you want to go ashore either take an excursion or be prepared to wait quite a while for a tender. I did hear of a bad experience with several people who took a taxi on their own. The party and taxi driver were stopped at a check point in Panama City and apparently had some difficulty being allowed to return to the tender pier.

Puerto Quetzal - We rarely do long or all day tours and opted out here. There is a wonderful shopping area right at the port with lots of interesting stalls. We spent a whole morning there and really enjoyed it. Most did one of the all day excursions to Antigua and we heard mostly very good things.

Cartegena, Columbia - Ok, we weren't feeling up to this after a full day of going through the canal the previous day. It was also way to hot/humid for us. I felt bad about this as I really wanted to go to old town. Most people took an excursion. Reports on the old town excursions were mixed. The port area is a huge commercial cargo area. It is a fairly long walk to the cruise terminal, but it is very nice there. I suggest an excursion here.

[cb at sea]

You really should get a guidebook on the ports you'll be visiting...it will tell you about everything of interest, including any "safety' issues you might encounter. After you read the guidebook, then you'll have a better idea of what the excursions might be like.

The "port of call" boards can be quite helpful, too. Just do a bit of research!

[catl331]

You should also join your Roll Call to see what others are planning in various ports, and possibly join a small group of fellow CCers.

 

Go to http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=86 and find your ship and sailing date, then post there to introduce yourself. Go to the Meet & Greet if one has been planned! :)

[jtl513]

I checked and saw that the only HAL ship going from FLL to S.D. in March is the Statendam on Mar 4th, so this would be your roll call:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1277459

[SwissMyst]

Huatulco: Agree, just a quiet low key stop- good sea side out door cafes. We did the bird watching in the very lovely golf course area, which also drove us around the various resort and residential complexes - very nice.

 

Puerto Chiapas, Mexico: we did the Argovia Coffee Plantation and Flower Farm and loved everything about this tour - it was a bit pricey but definitely worth it for the scenery getting there and the lovely tour and lunch at the Plantation. We wish now we had filled up our suitcase with their bags of coffee, rich, deep and elegant.

 

Puerto Quetzel: the day trip to Antigua should not be missed if you are in this part of the world. Wonderful walking city full of colonial architecture and stunning volcano views. Great places for dining.

 

Panama City: Miraflores Locks by Night was a good intro to this whole operation, but lousy timing of trip, tenders and waiting totally fouled up dinner that night - left too early and got back too late. Plan accordingly - good day to have that always yummy HAL room service club sandwich and french onion soup in your room before you go

 

Cartegena: historic center walking tour was good, free time to explore. The narrow streets are shady at least on one side because it is hot here.

 

CAUTION - CARTEGENA: Don't believe the HAL shore excursion Cartegena Grayline guide when he says shops displaying their Grayline also logo warrant their purchases. Apparently this is a total scam as we sadly found out after the stone we purchased fell out of its pendant setting a few weeks after we got back and Grayline in the US didn't know anything about any "warranty". Nor is HAL responsible because they only warrant their own shops, but the do need to know their shore excursion agents are scamming their passengers. If you are serious about emerald shopping, do stick with either the shops on the ship or the HAL authorized shops in Cartgena, but this will mean having to take only a few of the shore excursion to go to this out of the way shopping center.

 

Great trip -- loved the Statendam itinerary - San Diego to Fort Lauderdale