Volendam to Panama

[Steve Q]

My wife and I have previously sailed on both the Oosterdam and Zuiderdam. We are very interested in the Panama cruise on the Volendam on 3/23. Now, I have read some awful reviews of both Colon and Puerto Limon. Has anyone been to these destinations? Could you please offer some comments?

 

As an alternate, we could also choose the Maasdam to the Southern Caribbean (some similar ports) on 3/25 or the Ryndam to Mexico and the Sea of Cortez on 3/23. Could someone offer their thoughts on these possible alternatives? Are these ships as nice?

 

thanks

[Jo1859]

We are currently looking at the same ship for a cruise in late October. We have visited Puerto Limon before - not really much to do except to walk to the park ( a short distance from the ship ) and look for sloths in the trees. We have used it as a base for other tours.

Colon - we got off the ship and went on a tour - informative - to a point - our tour guide had a limited amount of English and it rained. Unfortunately, we walked PAST some of the places I would have liked to see - the one museum we went to had a lot of stuff from "Carnival" in it and that was interesting. I doubt that I will get off the ship if we go on this cruise.

If your cruise stops at Curacao - yes - get off and explore!!!! Jo1859

[gizmo]

I loved Puerto Limon and would like to visit again. We took a private tour.

 

Colon was terrible. To clarify, we did not take a tour. The ship docked in a gated area that had some shops. There were no tours available when you docked. I don't know if you can arrange a private tour. The ship's tours all left early that morning from Gatun Lake. We opted to stay on the ship and go back through the canal locks. We didn't regret doing this since we saw a lot of the canal that afternoon.

 

The Volendam is a beautiful ship. I have sailed on this ship 5 times.

[doone]

I have to agree with Gizmo here, I loved Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. Be sure to give their coffee a try, I am still ordering coffee from Costa Rica, its the best. I did the tour from the ship of the tortegura(sp) canal and I have to tell you, that's one of the best excursions I have ever done. If you decide to do this excursion, be sure to book it early in the morning as the animals tend to seek shade as the day goes on because of the heat.

[Len3]

This will be our first with HAL - we're on the Volendam, March 13th. We've booked through HAL, "The Canal Experience to Colon" - it takes about 7 hours so we're not concerned with anything else in Colon. For Limon, we're going with a private company. Look under "Ports of Call" to see the info. What we selected is tour A2 with Carlie Soto - highly recommended by CC members.

[Himself]

I have done that cruise a couple of times on the Rotterdam and enjoyed it. We did not stop at Colon but we were docked most of the Day in Gatun Lake.

I liked Puerto Limon and most who went on tour raved about it. By the way, I have not done this tour on the Volendam but I have done cruises to other places on the Volendam and I just love that ship.

[Himself]

I have done that cruise a couple of times on the Rotterdam and enjoyed it. We did not stop at Colon but we were docked most of the Day in Gatun Lake.

I liked Puerto Limon and most who went on tour raved about it. By the way, I have not done this tour on the Volendam but I have done cruises to other places on the Volendam and I just love that ship.

[TMJplus1]

We're doing the Panama Canal on the Zuiderdam in April. I'm trying to decide on whether to take a shore excursion or just stay aboard the ship while it docs in Colon and disembark to do a little shopping. I've heard the "Canal Free Zone" is a can't miss for duty free shopping. Do any of the excursions include this trip? I can't really tell from reading the descriptions. We aren't interested in a "historical" shore excursion where we spend the whole day on an air conditioned coach. We are more adventurous travelers and like to enjoy the local flavor rather than hit all the tourist stops. Any advice? Thanks.

[lyndtv]

We took this cruise in January. We didn't book a trip in Panama. The canal is amazing. Once we docked at Colon we did go to the duty-free area for about an hour. It was OK but everyone was strongly advised not to leave the area which has a lot of police and military. People who went to Panama City enjoyed the trip very much as did those who went to the Indian villiage.

In Costa Rica we took the trip to the aerial tram in the rain forest. It was an excellent trip. The guide and driver were very nice and the rain forest is spectacular. Of course it rained most of the day. They sell rain ponchos for $10. It is a 2 hour ride and the side of Costa Rica that the shp docks on is very poor and run down. It's the Pacific side that has the big hotels and condos. I don't think I would have ventured very far from the ship if I hadn't been on a side trip.