Worst ship's tour - Panama Canal from the Reflection Jan. 26 sailing

[Aunt Tina]

We sailed on the Reflection Jan. 29 and because we had a lot of OBC we signed up for the Panama Canal tour through two locks for $169. It was a popular tour - about 10 coaches were scheduled on two ferries. Although our bus arrived last - we were the second bus to offload passengers on the ferry. A Panama Canal agent stopped the loading process because the ferry pilots had not arrived. All the other bus passengers were told they had to stay on the buses until the pilots arrived. During the nearly two hour wait they did not have beverages or bathrooms. Finally some of them were allowed off the bus to use the one toilet available quite a distance back from the buses - where the line was an hour long. People were not able to wait - and used the outside! One man fell and was bleeding - but there wasn't a first aid kit available. I saw tour guides on the ferry throwing drinks to the tour guides on land - but not to the passengers standing next to the bus. The truck delivering food to the ferries arrived but were not able to deliver the food and sat and waited. We were afraid to eat the food after it sat all that time.

There needed to be better coordination and timing of the logistics of this tour. Celebrity may not have control of the pilot's arrival, but expecting passengers who had been riding on the bus for almost an hour, then wait two more before getting off is not realistic . They need an alternate plan - which includes bathrooms and beverages (which had been advertised as included).

The experience of transiting the locks was great - but I would really hesitate to take this tour unless you are willing to chance being a "prisoner" without a bathroom or beverage.

[cb at sea]

Ah...that's pretty bad. Staying on the ship isn't a bad idea, especially on "partial" transits. You see all you need to..and have the comfort of the ship. Panama isn't a developed country really...at least..not on the tours you pay dearly for.

[Fouremco]

Brutal. I hope that everyone gets the full refund that they deserve.

[gerelmx]

Did you file a complaint on Celebrity? I would ask for at least one compensation

[Luvcrusn]

Some "genius" probably thought that between the heat and humidity and no beverages no one would require a bathroom. The whole scenario you described is awful. Sorry.

[Cruise Raider]

Yikes ... that sounds awful. I've been on a few really really bad ship arranged tours and this one sounds like it is right up there with them. I am hoping you got some of your money back. It might come back to you via Celebrity, but the tour operator ultimately is the one that pays for it ... one way or another. But, I do realize that the money is just part of the issue ... they had wasted your valuable time in this port. :(

[Carole2313]

Is this the “Wonders of Engineering Canal Locks and Culebra Cut Cruise”? $169 each to wait in the hot sun for two hours without water and peeing in the bushes, I booked this excursion for our cruise March 12! DH was so excited about this excursion, it’s the reason we booked the cruise. Do private tour companies do a tour? What did X say? Did you get a refund?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Algebralovr]

We were advised a number of years ago that we would probably not enjoy the tour thru the canal - that the vendors often did not provide "a Celebrity Experience ".

 

Some day, I'll manage a cruise through the canal.

[judgeender]

Very different from the tour we had in December from Reflection. We also did the canal tour through Celebrity. We had no wait to board the boat (we were on the bigger of the 2 boats that did the tour that day). Lunch was good. The weather was extremely hot, but the tour was very good. The tour guide provided a lot of narration. We did have to "wait" in the canal before entering the locks for the ship that was going to accompany us, so the pilot was able to take us up toward the new locks while we waited (he told us they don't often get to do that). It was a very long day and if I recall we got back shortly after the "all-aboard time", but the Reflection didn't leave until all the buses were back. Sorry your experience wasn't as good. You should definitely let Celebrity know.

[Traveling Library]

Is this the “Wonders of Engineering Canal Locks and Culebra Cut Cruise”? $169 each to wait in the hot sun for two hours without water and peeing in the bushes, I booked this excursion for our cruise March 12! DH was so excited about this excursion, it’s the reason we booked the cruise. Do private tour companies do a tour? What did X say? Did you get a refund?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We did this on a different cruise via the ship. I'm glad we did. Our little ship that took us thru the locks was delayed in going thru the locks because a larger freighter had precidance. Thus we were VERY late. The cruise company held the ship for us and the other 6 buses. I would only do this trip thru the ship . We're adventurous but it's not worth missing the ship.

[Aunt Tina]

It was the Wonders of Engineering Tour. Unfortunately doing a private tour would be a problem with the scheduling through the locks - and the cost. Our ferry paid $3500 to transit the two locks. I complained to Solomon, the shore excursions manager as the passengers from all the buses were in a huge line trying to get back on the ship and it was beyond the all aboard time. He acted like he didn't know much about what happened. Friends who were kept on the buses said they got a 30% refund after complaining at the shore excursions desk the next day. We were lucky to have gotten on the ferry - with bathrooms and beverages. My purpose in putting this out is to warn people of potential difficulties with the trip and encourage Celebrity to have a Plan B. The area along the Canal is a restricted area - if the passengers can't board for two hours they need to consider alternate times/waiting locations and someone in charge who is there and can monitor the situation. When you combine the time you are expected to arrive in the theater to leave the ship, the wait for your number to be called (ours was 30 minutes), the wait for your bus to load and leave (ours had to return to the ship to drop off passengers on the wrong bus), the 45 minute trip on the bus to the ferry, then the two hour wait - it I a very long time between bathroom opportunities - and a lot of hurry up and waiting!

[FloatSomeMore]

Thank you for your insight. We are on the Infinity in April and are still exploring excursions. You confirmed doubts we had about this particular tour. We will enjoy the canal from our Aft balcony!

[ratherbtruckin]

We were on this tour a few years ago and had an abysmal time. I do not need the bathroom regularly, but I was dying for one by the time I finally got to visit one. As someone else said, it isn't just the bus ride, it is the theater, waiting in line to disembark, waiting in line to board the bus, sitting on the bus waiting for it to leave, the well-over-an-hour bus ride due to trying to get out of the city at rush hour, the waiting to get off the bus once at the ferry, the waiting then to board the ferry, and then having to wait because 100 to 200 people are all in the exact same situation and need to use and extremely small bathroom. But the worst was the bad weather we experienced and the inability of the ferry to provide any protection. I am an avid outdoorsman and hunt, fish, hike, and bike in all 4 seasons and all types of weather and this was pretty rough. You have a smaller ferry type boat packed to the gills with cruisers and the torrential rains start. There simply wasn't enough room for everyone to fit under cover. They passed out cheap 50 cent ponchos, but still 20 percent of the passengers were out in the torrential rain with thunder and lightning. Temperature is at probably 90 degrees with 100% humidity so after a short amount of time those plastic ponchos turn into there own little greenhouse. When you were able to find a spot to stand under cover you were literally pushed up against people like the good old fashioned lifeboat drills where you stand outside six rows deep pressed up against each other. BTW, not to belabor the bathroom point, but getting to the bathroom through a throng of people who aren't giving an inch was next to impossible. And I kept thinking I can't believe I paid a ton of money for this. Next time I'll just give someone a $10 bill and a baseball bat and they can rough me up. That was one of my first cruises and I quickly learned my lesson with ship based excursions. The canal was neat, but next time I'll do it one a cruise ship. I'm sure if you got good weather that would help, but the bathroom situation is tough regardless of the weather.

[CruisingTheWaves]

wow, listening to all this, I would be absolutely miserable. no thanks, looks like I won't ever be going through the locks while aboard a cruise!

[Host Jazzbeau]

This is the problem with Celebrity's decision not to do a Partial Panama Canal itinerary. With the ship staying in Limon all day, the only way to experience the canal is by taking a shore excursion. Princess ships go through the Gatun locks, giving every passenger the experience for free [yes, I know it's 'included in the fare'] -- and then also offering the ferry ride from Gatun Lake through the rest of the Canal to the Pacific. Because the excursions leave from the ship in Gatun Lake, the time between leaving the ship and boarding the ferry is much shorter. Of course if the ferry doesn't sail on time any excursion will be affected, but in a situation like OP experienced at least the Princess passengers would have experienced sailing through part of the Canal. This [and Alaska, because of Glacier Bay] are the two itineraries where I would prefer Princess over Celebrity -- and this one is fixable if Celebrity chooses to do so.

[Turtles06]

wow, listening to all this, I would be absolutely miserable. no thanks, looks like I won't ever be going through the locks while aboard a cruise!

 

You will if you take a cruise that includes a full transit of the Canal. I highly recommend it — simply awesome!

 

OP: very sorry about your experience, it sounds awful.

[phoenix_dream]

You will if you take a cruise that includes a full transit of the Canal. I highly recommend it — simply awesome!

 

OP: very sorry about your experience, it sounds awful.

Agreed - a full canal transit on Infinity is amazing! So sorry to the OP and others who had such a miserable time on this excursion.