Shore excursions questions

[CattyMom]

Hello fellow cruisers! I have enjoyed this board for the last few months and finally decided to join. DH and I will be on the Zaandam Southern Caribbean & Panama Canal Sunfarer Cruise next month and have a few questions about which shore excursions to take. Any comments about the Sarapiqui Jungle River Cruise in Costa Rica andPanama Railway-Domed Car to Colon would be greatly appreciated. Also what recommendations do you have for tours in Aruba and Curacao? Thanks to all of you on this board for all the great information and tips!

[gizmo]

Hi Cattymom,

 

I haven't taken the dome car in Panama but it is highly recommended by many people.

 

I took the Trolley Train in Curacao and enjoyed it. It was a nice tour of the town. I then stayed in town and did some shopping. We also got a couple of drinks in a place along the water (I think it was called the Iguana) and watched the bridge open and close. Many have done the dophin swim.

 

In Aruba we spent the day at the beach.

 

Check out the Port Of Call boards for more information.

[JimVrhovac]

Curaco:

 

Swimming with Dolphins was fantastic. Link to some pictures:

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/jimvrhovac

 

They do it in open water area rather than a pool. They have an artificial reel built and they now have a program when you can scuba dive with them in the open water.

 

Dolphin Academy is the facility and have to book directly with them. If want more information email me.

 

JIm

[Joanandjoe]

Don't forget to check the port of call boards, and go back as far as about a year ago (so you have the benefit of remarks by last year's cruisers). There's lots of information there.

 

If your Panama stop does not include at least a partial transit of the Canal, you might want to take the ferry, if HAL offers it. You take a bus from Colon to Panama City, then board a ferry, and go through the Miraflores and Gatun locks. Going through the canal, rather than just viewing it from a train, is an experience not to be missed. We took this expensive ($154 in 2003) tour on the Celebrity Horizon, and thought it was the highlight of the trip.

 

There are threads regarding the train trip on the Panama board.

 

Based on recommendations on the CC board, we and two other couples whom we "met" on these boards took a van on the pier in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica to the Tortugueras Canal, a banana plantation and, for everyone except us, a chocolate factory. It was great, and cost about the same for six of us as for a ship's excursion for two! The CC port boards have great suggestions. In Roatan we took their advice and went to the beautiful Sante day spa; while we took a Nativeway stingray cruise in Grand Cayman instead of the ship's tour. We did Cozumel on our own, again based on CC advice; so the ferry was the only ship's tour we took.