equinox panama questions

[bostonfred]

Just made final payment on 1/11/16 cruise....has anyone been on this itinerary and can tell me about port. Where is it situated, is there some cruising into canal area,and what kind of area do we dock in...thanks, we need to start making serious plans....Fredo:D:D

[Photo_Traveler]

Hello Fred

 

The Equinox is too large to cruise in the canal. There are Ferry, Bus and Train tours offered through the Canal Zone by Celebrity. The Ferry gets you right into the canal. The Ferry tour also gives you an idea of the scale of the locks. It's expensive. But, it's worth the money.

 

The Port is Colon. In Colon, one does not venture from the shopping area unless they are in a cab or on a tour bus. It's a very rough District. In 2014, Rick the CD advised us that on the prior cruise an Infinity crew member came back stripped to his shorts. He had underwent quite a mugging.

 

Consult the YOUTUBE videos on Colon. Oh yes, drivers in Colon drive by the "Whomever Blinks First" principle. Traffic control near the port is almost non-existent.

 

We re taking the April 4th Equinox Itinerary.

[cb at sea]

Your cruise will NOT go into the canal at all...you will be docked at a pier, just outside of the canal....so if you want to see any of the canal itself, you will need to book an excursion. The pier has shops/flea market sort of stuff.....we spent about 40 mins. in there...not much tickled my fancy! And yes...it is a VERY bad area, once you leave the dock!!!

 

Our cruise was a partial transit, which took us thru 3 sets of locks....into Lake Gatun...where we stayed for several hours, before returning to the pier. We needed no excursions with that itinerary, as we had been IN the canal, with narrative.....We were not allowed to leave the dock area, and looking at the nearby town thru binoculars, I could see why...looked like a war zone!

 

If you want to actually see the canal and it's operations, you will need to pay the big bucks for a tour!

Edited October 16, 2015 by cb at sea

[wallie5446]

We did this route on the Equinox in Nov 2014. Exactly what is it you are not understanding?

 

The CO26 tour thru the ship is a 7 hr ferry thru all the locks. We had over 300 do it. Fantastic! And well worth the cost.

 

The area where the ship docks will be surrounded by a very high barbed wire fence with armed guards at the entrance. It is totally unsafe to venture out on your own.

Edited October 17, 2015 by wallie5446

[need2bespoiled]

For the record, as of this spring, 2016 there will be a set of locks that would allow Equinox to go through the Canal, or do a partial transit, but I still doubt your cruise would do this, as it is an added expense for the ship to do this.

 

I would think that one the new ships are launched we may see an S-Class repo through the Panama Canal.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[BillB48]

Bostonfred, the OP... The mall that is connected to the Pier area where you will dock in Colon is fine for wandering around, but as others have pointed out the rest of Colon is less than inviting. This is the stop to take a tour, whether you select a ship's tour or a private one... but don't strike out to discover Colon on your own!

 

If you want to see the Canal, the tour CO26 that wallie mentioned is an excellent choice. This tour will take you by bus to the Pacific side where you will board a smaller vessel. You then will lock through the two Pacific Locks and sail through Gaillard Cut. Really a great way to see a large part of the Canal. There are a number of other tours that can take to the locks (shore side) or to Panama City. For something completely non Canal related look into the trip to the Embera Village. Lots to do at this stop... just too bad Colon doesn't seem to be the prettiest of welcome mats.

 

The new locks are scheduled to be open in April 2016... at least that is what they are trying for. Whether or not that will come to pass will depend on how successful the repairs are to the leaks that "sprung" up on the new Pacific side locks.

[tbmrt]

We've been to Colon in the past and also wouldn't recommend venturing out on your own.

 

We are visiting Colon again in early December and have joined with our Celebrity Roll Call friends to take this tour with Roberto of Robtad's, a private tour operator who is quite reputable according to many, many reviews. He also was wonderful about emails, answering questions, etc.

 

 

His email: robtads2@hotmail.com,

(He also does other tours)

 

Thanks for having chosen Robtad´s to help you enjoy your stay in the port of Colon! This is a confirmation of your selected tour for December 5th, 2015 on the Celebrity Equinox. The tour that you selected is tour Option #2: Grand Tour (Two Oceans and Three Locks). I have set up the following itinerary for this tour:

 

0830 hrs: Pick up at Colon 2000 Shopping Mall. Upon disembarking at the Colon 2000 Cruise Port you and your party should proceed up the escalator, walk across the bridge and as you come down the escalator, I will meet you at the “Souvenir Store” located on your right hand below the banner of Theodore Roosevelt. I will be holding a sign with your name and the name of the tour company “Robtad´s” for you to identify me.

After this we will take the 25 minute journey to get a first-hand view of the Canal at Gatun Locks where there is a small visitor’s pavilion ($5.00 entrance fee) and you will be able to see and understand how a ship is raised up 85 feet (26 meters) in three steps from sea level (Atlantic Ocean) to the level of what was once the largest manmade lake in the world, Gatun Lake. If you are lucky, you will also see the first ships that started their transit on the Pacific side being lowered back down to sea level.

After this we will take the highway and travel 50 minutes to Panama City. we will then pass through the rainforest and take the Centennial Bridge to cross over the Canal at its highest point at Gaillard or Culebra Cut and travel from South America to North America, B4 passing thru the former Canal Zone area and then we will go to the Amador Causeway; 3 islands (Naos, Perico and Flamenco) that were united with much of the material that was excavated from the Canal at Gaillard Cut to see the skyline of city at its farthest point.

After this we will go into the Casco Antiguo or Colonial City. It was founded in 1673 as a replacement for the previous capital in ruins, which was destroyed two years earlier during the English Captain Henry Morgan’s attack. The Casco Antiguo is full of historic monuments such as the Cathedral, the national theater, the historic Golden Altar, the Presidential Palace, the Canal museum and we will stroll the historic Las Bovedas, which is a beautiful walkway where you can find the history of the French Canal engraved in the walls on the lower part of the walkway.

 

In this tour you will have the opportunity to also visit Modern Panama City B4 we return to the ship @1430 hrs. This is a six hour tour and the cost of this tour for the ten members of your party is $600: $60/pax (8-13 pax).

 

The name of our company is “Robtad’s” and we strive not only to meet the needs of our clients, but to surpass their expectations! All our tours are custom made and I can assure you that if you are not satisfied with any one of them, you do not have to pay us anything for the tours. No deposits are needed and all payments will be done in cash (U.S Dollars) upon finalizing the tour if you are satisfied. Panama´s official currency is the Balboa, which is a coin and it is equivalent to one U.S dollar. Panama does not have a paper bill and the U.S. dollar is used as our legal tender since 1904.

 

all I will need from you is a list with the full names of the members of your party at least one month B4 your arrival for me to present it to the Tourism Authorities. You can contact us at the following phone numbers: (507) 442-2499 office; (507) 6875-3683; mobile.

 

Hoping to meet you soon and to help you enjoy your stay in the port of Colon!

 

Best regards,

 

Roberto

[ClaudiaB]

I agree also with all the posts above.

 

We took the ferry tour. I don't remember the cost, but I'm sure it was over a hundred each. It wasn't a factor, since we figured we weren't going to be in the Canal area any time again soon, if ever, so we booked it. It was a cruise line tour, and one of the very few I highly recommend taking. Our tour ended up getting to the ship about 2 hours later than the ship was scheduled to depart! I feel quite sure that if we were on an independent tour, we'd have been stuck.

 

Anyway, it's a great tour and hundreds of people will likely be taking it. We loaded on full-size buses and drove through the country about 45 minutes until we got to our ferry boat site. We had to wait on the bus for awhile and people were getting off to find whatever restroom they could. That part of the trip wasn't very much fun but it had been a long ride. Very eye-opening as we drove through some areas that wouldn't have been safe to walk through. At all. Perhaps we had a false sense of security on the big bus, but I never felt afraid, just glad I was on a bus and not in a little car.

 

The ferry was fully narrated although we had a harder time understanding most of it. Didn't matter, we had read the book beforehand and the journey itself was the fun of it for us. We got to go through two locks, but on one we waited for at least 90 minutes. Apparently it's mostly first-come-first-served in the Panama Canal, so we waited for other cargo ships ahead of us.

Hence why we were late.

After the day, which included a buffet lunch (I wouldn't eat any of the creamy or mayo-based items - it's blistering hot out there---) we got off and onto another bus and rode a bit through Panama City and then back to the ship. We were tired and everyone needed a good shower!

On the ferry you're so close you can literally touch the sides of the locks as you pass through. Amazing as you go up and then down and then up and then down as the locks work and the ferry/ship passes through. I'm sure it's a much different view on a ship. I actually think I like the ferry experience better.

[TN Vol Fan]

Just wanted to confirm with TBMRT - use Roberto from Robtads Tours. We just got off Infinity 2weeks ago and used him for a guide. A great, safe tour with old locks, new locks, Miraflores town and then the old city at Panama City. One of the best tours ever. While we had the opportunity to walk close to the canal, our ship went thru the day before. Your's will not.

Robtads was less expensive than the ship's tours and we limited our # to 10 people for ease of travel.

We did get out of Colon right away, nothing there for us except the terminal shopping after we returned from our tour.

Definitely get a tour either thru the canal or one to allow you to walk above the canals walls. A highlight!

[hcat]

The flea market at this port is really grubby!

Cruise line excursion is the way to go!