Panama Canal local tours?

[desertmoon]

We're taking the Island Princess this fall and need advice on the Canal and

Colon. We usually prefer booking our own local tours, but the ship's guide says that they only transfer passengers via tenders into Colon if you take a

ship's tour. At 5pm the ship then docks in Colon, but that's just a 3-hour stop,

just long enough to hit the gift shop and avoid going into town after dark.

Are there local tour alternatives or are we limited to the ship's offerings?

[Colo Cruiser]

We're taking the Island Princess this fall and need advice on the Canal and

Colon. We usually prefer booking our own local tours, but the ship's guide says that they only transfer passengers via tenders into Colon if you take a

ship's tour. At 5pm the ship then docks in Colon, but that's just a 3-hour stop,

just long enough to hit the gift shop and avoid going into town after dark.

Are there local tour alternatives or are we limited to the ship's offerings?

 

 

No you are limited to ships tours only and thats only who they will let off in Gatun Lake.

Like you said by the time the ship docks it does not leave much time. :(

Unless you can fit in a local tour at the dock from someone.

Edited August 31, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[hpeabody]

Cruise Critic has a Panama Canal Board. You may find it useful

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=89

[skynight]

We're taking the Island Princess this fall and need advice on the Canal and

Colon. We usually prefer booking our own local tours, but the ship's guide says that they only transfer passengers via tenders into Colon if you take a

ship's tour. At 5pm the ship then docks in Colon, but that's just a 3-hour stop,

just long enough to hit the gift shop and avoid going into town after dark.

Are there local tour alternatives or are we limited to the ship's offerings?

Partial Transit?

The ship enters the Atlantic locks early in the morning and once through the ship sits in Gatun Lake all day. Only passengers that have booked a Princess tour can disembark in Gatun Lake. A tender takes them to the dock of a small yacht club where they join their tours. After the tour they are dropped off at the pier in Colon. There are no private tour alternatives.

 

Those not on a Princess tour are on board while the ship sits in Gatun Lake. Later in the afternoon the ship exits the Atlantic locks and docks at the Colon pier. There is a warehouse there with shopping inside. There really isn't much time for a private tour once docked in Colon. While the itinerary states the ship will dock at 5pm, that is a flexible time, it could be earlier, depending on when the ship gets the approval to exit the lake.

[cb at sea]

You want to be with a ship's tour here..it's not safe at all.

[BroncoLvrs]

Enjoy your cruise! I am sorry you won't get to enjoy Panama. We had one of our best excursions ever with Emberá Village Tours. It was a private tour and we had no safety concerns at all.

[Pam in CA]

I've taken several different tours in Panama over the years. Best was the ferry/small ship through the Canal. IMHO, the train is a waste of money since there's so much vegetation and trees between the tracks and the Canal that you see very little. Plus, if you are on the "wrong" side of the train, you see even less since those on the other side hog the windows.

 

As said, only ship's tours are allowed to disembark in Gatun Lake. Independent tour operators are not allowed anywhere near the small dock (has nothing to do with Princess) plus the delay in Gatun Lake to disembark all passengers would add significantly to the cost of the cruise due to additional fees (which are passed on to the passengers.) The timing through the locks both ways is pre-set and any delay could prevent the ship from going through the locks to Colon by hours.

[BillB48]

Princess tours are your only option at this stop as others have pointed out. The three hour stop in Colon does not give you time to take a tour since anything you would want to take a tour of would certainly be longer than that three hour window. Now if you just want to hit the mall that is connected to the pier, "usually" there is enough time for a little souvenir shopping.