NCL-Panama cruise RR vs Ferry Excursion

[Lydia B.]

Happy New Year to Everyone.

 

Looking for some input. Down to deciding between two excursions for the Panama Canal tour. Our NCL ship only goes half way through the canal.

 

But we can either do the RR excursion which has history and runs parallel to the Canal

OR

Do the Ferry that takes us to the Pacific via the canal.

For those who have done one or the other, or have heard some feedback, can you please let me know your choice and why?

 

Thanks so much, Lydia of Ohio

(I have also posted this in the Panama port forum, but not a lot of activity there.

[Con5421]

We did the panama canal on a little ferry it was nice, but i think it will be better to do one lock on a big ship. It's nice to see ships take the locks from the visitorscentre. if you like to see picutere's let me now i will give you my blog only it's in dutch.

[drvalo]

I have done neither but had also considered those two excursions. I heard reports about both a couple of weeks ago, however. Take these reports for what they are.....

 

Three people (a couple and a single) who took the ferry loved it. That particular day the excursion took about 12 hours. The ship waited for those PAX in Colon as they were late in returning. They thought it was very educational and interesting, although the seating was uncomfortable and the food for just ok. All said they would happily do it again however.

 

Two other people took the train. One liked it, but I don't have other details; the other absolutely hated it and said it was the worst excursion ever and the description was misleading as all she said she saw were trees (probably an exaggeration).

 

We stayed on the ship and listened to the narration on board. They open the front bow crew deck for PAX, so are you pretty close to the action. We were also invited to one of the forward facing suites for the afternoon. We felt like we had a good experience with all the comforts of the ship and after the reports we heard about those two excursions we thought we made the right decision to stay on board.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited December 31, 2015 by drvalo

[Rosethorn40]

We took the train when we did the partial transit a few years back, and really enjoyed it. The train runs parallel to the canal, not down the middle, so yes, one side will see the water, the other side will probably see trees, traffic etc. (Sit on the right hand side). The Panama train was the first coast to coast railway, predating the USA transcontinental railroad and the Panama Canal. You will go to another lock (Sorry, name escapes me) and possibility get to watch a boat go through a lock (Depends on ship traffic).

 

Husband is a train nut and I do like them too. We got the premium seats in the dome car and had a great guide (Uncle Marty) who had fascinating stories of the history of Panama. If you don't like trains or history, and are sitting on the left hand side, you probably won't care for it.