Fuerte Amador - 11:59pm departure - Flight arrival time? Embarkation time?

[itsnevereasy]

I am considering an NCL Panama canal cruise which departs Fuerte Amador at 11:59pm. The ship docks that morning at 6am, so is it reasonable to expect my embarkation to begin around 12pm. For sightseeing purposes or to plan flight arrival times, how late might one be able to embark? Any estimates for taxi time/cost between PTY and the port? Thank you.

[Uff da]

I can tell you what we did, but this may not align with what you want to do.
We flew in 2 days early and stayed at the Radisson Amador. We booked a taxi service called Amber Moon Taxi Service online before we left. They were waiting for us outside customs and took us directly to the hotel. This was more like an Uber and not like a Yellow Cab. The car you get may not be super great, but you'll get there and our driver was great. Not very expensive from what I remember. Highly rated service. I found them on Viator but booked with them directly online. 
The next day we booked the half day City and Panama Canal Tour on Viator. We toured the city and they took us to the Panama Canal Visitor Center. This turned out to be the best thing we could have done. At the visitor center, they have a 3D movie of the making of the canal. Do not miss it. That movie greatly enhanced our experience going through the canal. We knew so much about it. Wonderful!
That night we took a taxi down to Fuerte Amador for dinner at a really nice seafood restaurant recommended by the hotel. So good! Expensive, but worth the splurge. There are plenty of places to eat, so don't worry about that. 
The Radisson had a shuttle that took us to the cruise port the next day. And that's it! Everything worked out great! 
 

[LoganTheCruiser]

Does anyone know the answer to this? I'm curious as well. NCL is showing the latest embark time as 5pm but the ship doesn't leave until 11:59pm, so if I showed up at 9pm, would they just wave at me for 3 hours and say nope sorry, goodbye? 

[IAcruising]

26 minutes ago, LoganTheCruiser said:

Does anyone know the answer to this? I'm curious as well. NCL is showing the latest embark time as 5pm but the ship doesn't leave until 11:59pm, so if I showed up at 9pm, would they just wave at me for 3 hours and say nope sorry, goodbye? 

 

I don't know. But is there a particular reason you would want to risk that very scenario?

 

I would expect that onshore staff goes home at 5 pm.

 

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by IAcruising