Is There Plenty To Do?

[SailAways]

We will be doing the Panama Canal next year in late April - a 17 day cruise on the Sun Princess.

 

Will there be plenty to do without booking excursions? By this, I mean, is there plenty of walking areas in each port, or do you need to get away via another mode of transportation to find interesting sites and shopping areas.

 

We prefer to not book excursions, and just "fly by the seat of our pants" so to speak. So far, we have had great luck doing this, but the Panama Canal cruise is a completely different vacation than we have done previously.

 

Any help or suggestions surely will be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Nitemare]

Depends on the ports. The Canal is fascinating to watch from the ship, but where else are you stopping?

[SailAways]

Depends on the ports. The Canal is fascinating to watch from the ship, but where else are you stopping?

 

Our ports are Ft. Lauderdale, Aruba, Colon-Cristobal, Panama Canal, Puntarenas-Costa Rica, Huatulco-Mexico, Acapulco-Mexico, Cabo San Lucas-Mexico, and San Diego, Seattle. (We are familiar with S.D., and Seattle).

 

We are very excited about simply being able to go through the Canal - Everything else is a bonus.

 

Thanks for your help.:)

[VikkiGarcia]

Puntarenas is a ugly industrial looking port. There are vendors along the beach right next to the peir with great merchandise and good prices. There are no shops or activity vendors because this port gets such few ships. English speakers are somewhat hard to find. All of the "sights" to see are out in the rainforest and most are at least an hours drive from port. So even if you were to find a cab/taxi I do not know where they would take you. We booked an independent tour company to take us ziplining and show us the jungle. This was the only port on our Panama Canal cruise that I did not feel you could "wing it".

[SailAways]

Puntarenas is a ugly industrial looking port. There are vendors along the beach right next to the peir with great merchandise and good prices. There are no shops or activity vendors because this port gets such few ships. English speakers are somewhat hard to find. All of the "sights" to see are out in the rainforest and most are at least an hours drive from port. So even if you were to find a cab/taxi I do not know where they would take you. We booked an independent tour company to take us ziplining and show us the jungle. This was the only port on our Panama Canal cruise that I did not feel you could "wing it".

 

Thanks Vikki.

This Port sounds like a good place to stay aboard the ship, enjoy a snack on deck, take a nap, then fully take in the beauty of the ship.

We won't be doing zip lining through the jungle! We would probably scare the animals along the way.

Nice to know that we will be able to do our own thing at the other ports.

Thanks again for the good information. Any other tips would be appreciated too.

[VikkiGarcia]

Make sure to check out the vendors that set up along the beach. Puntarenas and Cristobal Peir were the best shopping the whole trip. Puntarenas had lots of handicraft nicely done items, really cheap. There was a guy who painted our ship on various sizes of driftwood. They had the ship name, date, Panama canal cruise handpainted. When I showed people back at the gangplank to reboard, they all got out of line to go back up the peir to buy one.

 

Huatulco has a great beach right there at the port. Sit in the sand, order drinks, swim next to the ship. It is a great place for a beach day.The water is a really beautiful blue.

[Sue L]

Hey Vikki

 

I love all the handicraft type of things, can you tell me anything else either in Costa Rica or the Cristobal Pier area about the handicrafts and how much was something like the ship painted on driftwood?

 

Sue

[coo359a2]

Viki, would you please tell me what company you used and their contact info for the zipline tour you went on in Puentarenas . I have found a lot of info on ziplining out of Limon but not Puentarenas. Thanks

[VikkiGarcia]

Sue: The driftwood painting was $10. We did not do much bargaining at these two stops because we felt everything was already priced real well. Puntarenas we got a framed painted feather. The feathers have detailed rainforest landscapes painted on them. I think that was $5. There was a man carving items out of a local dark wood. We bought a small box for my father. I think that was $6. Alot of people were buying coffee. There was a woman weaving, making shoulder bags out of this colorful thread. It really reminded me of an american arts and crafts fair without the outrageous prices.

Cristolbal peir had many handicrafts that were panama canal themed. My son got a canal themed chess set for $10. A painting of the bridge of the americas on a small mirror for $6. This was also the place to buy the baskets made by the Panmanian Indians. They were amazing. The Indians have a stand with college students studying their tribe to interpret and quote prices. These seemed to be the most expensive things on the peir. Baskets seemed to start around $20-$100. We bought 2 small ones that a guy pointed to his daughter as if to signal that she had made at least one of them. It was very educational to have my kids see this native group. My daughter was caught off guard to see women without tops on.

 

COO: We booked through the original canopy tour at Mahogany Park. It took alot of emails back and forth beacuse it is not obivious that they will do transportation from the peir. It ended up being the same amount as booking through the ship. We could not book through the ship because my daughter was not 12. I did see the group that booked through the ship it was less than 20 people. I think the age skew of the passengers left only a few to do ziplining. If your ship offers it you might want to consider using them. I did stress out a bit being so far from the ship in the middle of nowhere hoping we made it back in time. If you go through the ship it won't leave without you. Not surprising this was the only stop the ship left late for excursions to come back.

[SailAways]

Vicki, your answers have been very helpful, so I will toss one more question your way.

 

Could you tell me which of these ports, if any, on the Panama Cruise are tender ports?

 

Thanks so much for all of your help. You have given us really great info, and I truly do appreciate your time and effort.

[VikkiGarcia]

Sail : You might want to look up your itinerary through the cruiseline. It should state what you are doing in each port. Cabo is only tender. Acapulco had a peir but NCL was using it so we tendered there. Anything else feel free to ask. I know I had a real hard time getting info prior to our trip.

[SailAways]

Sail : You might want to look up your itinerary through the cruiseline. It should state what you are doing in each port. Cabo is only tender. Acapulco had a peir but NCL was using it so we tendered there. Anything else feel free to ask. I know I had a real hard time getting info prior to our trip.

 

Vikki: I do have the itinerary, but so far, no indication of any tendering. I guess I will just have to wait and see, as other ships being in ports do change things. I don't like the idea of tendering, but it can be handled.

 

I have gotten a lot of info about the ship, on other boards, but specific info about doing the canal comes a little slower. Of course, our cruise is next year, so we do have time. Planning is half the fun of the cruise for me.

 

Thanks again.

SailAways:)

[Sue L]

Hey Vikki, thanks for the great info. I am the same way I can't bargain with the people who are selling the handmade things. I am an artist and I can appreciate the work involved. Last year we were in Roatan and they had a flea market area set up on the street near the pier. DH and I walked through and I found a handpainted gourd and when you opened a cutout area, inside was a handpainted nativity scene. Absolutely gorgeous. I asked the girl how much and she told me hestitantly $5. I couldn't believe it. I think she expected me to come back with a counteroffer and was quite surprised when I said great and proceeded to buy all of the ones she had. I went home with beautiful and unique gifts and she was so happy!!! Those are the kind of souveniers that make my trips.

 

Sue

[VikkiGarcia]

Sue: It sounds like you will love the shopping at Puntarenas and Cristobal peir. After seeing the items at these two stops almost everything in Aruba, Acapulco, Cabo seemed like pure tourist junk. Nice to buy something with the name on it to show you were there but that's about it. If you go to see the cliff divers in Acapulco there was a young guy there that sold seashells with cliffdivers painted on the side. They said Acapulco and the year on them too. I think they were $3-$5. I had just spent an hour at the "handicraft market" and these beat anything they had there.

[Katiekakes]

Did you use cash to pay for your purchases? Would they accept a charge card, or is it best to rely on cash?

[VikkiGarcia]

We did all our shopping in cash. I did not see vendors anywhere that could process credit cards. We brought $1000 dollars cash. Nothing bigger than a $20. Everyone gave us change in US cash. We brought as many small bills as possible. We kept it in an envelope in the room safe and restocked ourselves before each port.

[Pudgesmom]

Thanks Vikki.

This Port sounds like a good place to stay aboard the ship, enjoy a snack on deck, take a nap, then fully take in the beauty of the ship.

We won't be doing zip lining through the jungle! We would probably scare the animals along the way.

Nice to know that we will be able to do our own thing at the other ports.

Thanks again for the good information. Any other tips would be appreciated too.

 

Please don't miss Costa Rica because the port is ugly and you don't want to go ziplining! The countryside is beautiful and there is so much to see and do. It sounds like this might be your only stop in Costa Rica.

 

Coach Costa Rica arranged a wonderful tour for us ahead of time according to our interests. We had a 14 person van for our family of four, an English-speaking guide, and a driver. They even arranged a tour of the University of San Jose (we wanted to go there and were catching a flight home) and a meeting with a professor. We also requested and got a fabulous lunch a typical Costa Rican restaurant. The van was right on time and the price, while I can't remember it exactly, was very reasonable.

 

Beth

[edste]

We used our american express card without any difficulty. Puntarenas is a beautiful place to visit. We saw the volcano and tabacon spa and en;joyed every minute of it. A great cruise.

enjoy

[SailAways]

Please don't miss Costa Rica because the port is ugly and you don't want to go ziplining! The countryside is beautiful and there is so much to see and do. It sounds like this might be your only stop in Costa Rica.

Coach Costa Rica arranged a wonderful tour for us ahead of time according to our interests. We had a 14 person van for our family of four, an English-speaking guide, and a driver. They even arranged a tour of the University of San Jose (we wanted to go there and were catching a flight home) and a meeting with a professor. We also requested and got a fabulous lunch a typical Costa Rican restaurant. The van was right on time and the price, while I can't remember it exactly, was very reasonable. Beth

 

Thanks for this tip. :)

[Pudgesmom]

You're very welcome. I hope you enjoy your trip through the canal, etc. It was a wonderful experience for us!

 

Beth

[breenw]

I agree with Pudgesmom - don't miss seeing Costa Rica. We did the very same itinerary that you are doing and it was one of our favorite ports. We did a private tour with a guy named Mauricio and his uncle. There were 8 people total and they took us around the countryside to see the rainforest, shopping, we saw lots of wildlife and we went to an authentic restaurant that the locals frequent. It was a fantastic day and it cost about $30 per person for the whole tour.

 

Huatalco is a nice small port that you can walk around at. There is a beach right next to the pier that you can relax at. We actually docked there and spent alot of time on the beach.

 

In Acapulco we saw the cliff divers with a private driver that we hired right at the pier. I personally didn't particularly care for Acapulco but we did enjoy the cliff divers show. We also docked in Acapulco.

 

I would definitely recommend staying on the ship if you are doing a full transit through the Panama Canal. I guess I look at it that if you are going on a PC cruise, then part of the reason you booked it was to see the canal????? If you get up really early and go to the front of the ship, you can get some great shots and really see what is going on. I personally thought the experience was incredible. In the evening we stopped at Cristobal Pier and they let us get off the ship and go directly into a big warehouse building to do shopping. You didn't walk very far - just directly off the ship. They said it was because that area is very dangerous and they didn't want passengers walking around anywhere.

 

In Cabo San Lucas - this is a great port. We did tender at this port but it was a very easy process. We chose to do a whale watch in the zodiac boats which was incredible! But, this is a port that you can easily walk around the shopping district and not plan an excursion. It is very beautiful there.

 

In Aruba, we rented a Jeep and got a map and drove around the island at our own pace. There is alot of shopping that is available there also and it was close to the ship. (We docked in Aruba also).

 

All in all, I would highly recommend that you DO NOT stay on the ship at any of these ports. After all, you are going to have alot of sea days as it is, so it was be a shame (in my opinion) for you to miss what these ports have to offer.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our 14 night Panama Canal cruise and are looking forward to repeating that experience again in the very near future.

 

Hope the info helped!

[DEL67]

We did a canal transit a few years ago stopping in Puntarenas and Colon.

 

Since we wanted to see a little of Costa Rica, I found a tour company on the web and rented a van for the day. Our driver took us to the Poas volcano and to a zoo. It was a long ride, but the country was beautiful and we enjoyed it.

 

Colon is not a port where you want to wander around outside the secured port area. There are shops in the port area, but if you want to see anything else, you would need to go on a tour.

[SailAways]

Thanks so much to each of you for giving us some great ideas.

 

April seems so far away, but I know that before I realize it, I'll be wondering what to pack.

 

We are very excited about the cruise, and with your input, it will be just that much better.

 

Great ideas and suggestions.

 

Thanks again. SailAways:)

[dansu]

Huatulco is beautiful. We spent a week there last January. The soft sand clean beaches with crystal clear water. We could see the fish swimming around us. The 2 small towns were very quaint, the people friendly, and not expensive to shop. Not your average commercial tourist trap, although they did raise their prices the day the cruise ships were in port. Ran into Monty Hall wanting to make me a good deal on silver bracelets. Trip Advisor has a forum for Huatulco. Huatulco is a bay and the area surrounding it, not a town. The 2 towns are Santa Cruz and La Crucietta.

 

Word of advice if you take a taxi, always ask for the price before you get in. It should run you less than $4.00 plus a tip to get from the port to La Crucietta, and it's authentic market place. Big on painted pottery and silver jewellery.

 

Coffee beans we bought on the beach were fantasic. Vendors are licensed to sell their wares on the beach, if you say no thank you, they will go away. Hair braiding on the beach really inexpensive.

 

Good snorkelling.

[mim100]

Hi there....we're also cruising the Panama in April on the Zuiderdam and will be going to many of the same ports, including Puntarenas...the zipline didn't appeal to me but there's an aerial tram, gondola- style, holds 8 people and glides along at a speed more to my liking, up in the canopy....can't wait !!!