Very new to cruising

[Annmarie H]

I just booked a cruise on NCL, Norwegian Sky to Panama Canal for 3/6/23. I need to book our excursions ASAP. I am looking at “Two oceans by Railroad “, or “Grand Tour”.  Which one would be better, and also which one will we be able to see some of the city where the cruise docks?  Thank you. 

[shipgeeks]

At what city does your ship dock?

[BillB48]

Welcome to Cruise Critic🙂. There's a bit to explain as I don't really know what you know about how this cruise operates as it is a "partial transit cruise."  In short a partial transit is when your ship will enter one set of locks, lock up to Gatun Lake and then after a brief period lock back down and proceed to Colon.  When the ship reaches Gatun Lake after locking up the first set of Locks, passengers who have booked tours through the ship will tender off the ship and meet their tour.  While you are on tour the ship will lock back through the same locks (in this case Gatun Locks) and sail the short distance to Colon.  The stop in Colon is primarily to pick up the passengers who are on tour.  The stop is usually only for about 3 hours and while there is a limited amount of time to visit the shopping mall at the pier there is not enough time for you to take any type of tour while docked in Colon.

 

I looked at NCL's description of Grand Tour at the Canal/Gatun Lake stop and it is horribly lacking of any useful information.  There is nothing about where the tour goes, any of the sights and the only items addressed were the tour lasted 7 hours with a snack.  Normally when cruise lines have a "Grand Tour" in Panama it usually involves a trip to Panama City that may include the ruins of Old Panama and the Casco Antiguo which is where the City was built after Old Panama was destroyed by Henry Morgan.  However, it is just not possible to tell if that is what this tour will be doing.

 

The train trip is a great excursion, but I really think it is more for a train buff who particularly likes the history attached to the Panama Railroad being the first transcontinental railroad.  Much of the trip is through undeveloped areas that skirt the Canal.  Except for a few short periods you really don't see much of the Canal, just some of the back waters of Gatun Lake.

 

In looking through the tours available for your sailing I noticed a tour called Shape of Panama.  From what little description they provide, this may be more of what I described in my description of NCL's Grand Tour, but it too was bereft of any real information.

 

One last mention about the ship docking in Colon.  Other than visiting the mall that is connected to the pier, there is absolutely nothing in Colon for a cruiser to do on their own.  You will be advised not to venture into Colon during your brief stop, it's sound advice.  There is no inherent danger traveling through Colon to return to your ship, it's just not a DIY tourist area.

 

 

[Annmarie H]

Thank you so much. I called the cruise tour consultant and was advised to try the Shape Of Panama. So that’s what we decided.