Anyone take Myfriendmario tours?

[nybumpkin]

the email i am using is www.mario@myfriendmario.com

You shouldn't put "www" in the front of the e-mail address - it's just mario@myfriendmario.com. The "www" is causing the problem.

[travelingran]

You shouldn't put "www" in the front of the e-mail address - it's just mario@myfriendmario.com. The "www" is causing the problem.

 

thank you so much. that makes sense. i will try again

[carguy50]

GO on this tour ....it was the BEST of our holiday.....Mario is great and if time gets tight they will cut out the waterfall, but you will get back to your ship on time

[lrtjs5]

We are leaving on the Freedom in the morning and will be touring with Mario on Tues. so I will report when we get back! I am so excited!!!

[4cruizers]

We are leaving on the Freedom in the morning and will be touring with Mario on Tues. so I will report when we get back! I am so excited!!!

Can't wait to hear your report. We leave on July 4, not soon enough.

[abb4k]

Our HAL cruise is scheduled to enter the Panama Canal at 5am, spend an hour in Gatun Lake (9-10am), exit Panama Canal at 1pm, and then docked at Cristobal from 2-7pm.

 

At which of these points would we get off the trip to join up with Mario for one of his tours?

 

Thanks!

[billie111]

My DH and I have booked a Panama Canal Tour for January 2010.

I have been looking for a tour that takes us through the canal, through the locks and into Gatun Lake.

Does anyone know of such a tour available?

 

I checked with myfriendmario, but it appears that he drives everyone to the locks via minibus - he doesn't cruise the canal.

 

Any suggestions from any of you seasoned cruisers?

 

Thanks in advance!

[BillB48]

Our HAL cruise is scheduled to enter the Panama Canal at 5am, spend an hour in Gatun Lake (9-10am), exit Panama Canal at 1pm, and then docked at Cristobal from 2-7pm.

 

At which of these points would we get off the trip to join up with Mario for one of his tours?

 

Thanks!

 

You can't in this case. When you tender off the ship in Gatun Lake, all the cruise lines only permit passengers who have booked ship's tours are allowed to disembark. There really won't be enough time for Mario or any other tour when the ship docks in Cristobal but there is a nice shopping area at the pier. No independent tours at this stop on the partial transits.

[BillB48]

My DH and I have booked a Panama Canal Tour for January 2010.

I have been looking for a tour that takes us through the canal, through the locks and into Gatun Lake.

Does anyone know of such a tour available?

 

I checked with myfriendmario, but it appears that he drives everyone to the locks via minibus - he doesn't cruise the canal.

 

Any suggestions from any of you seasoned cruisers?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Since your cruise will not be going into the Canal your only option would be to take the tour called something like "Canal by Ferry." This tour will not involve Gatun Locks. This tour would take you to the Pacific side where you will lock through the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks. Once you clear Pedro Miguel you will be in Gatun Lake even though it is at the south end of Gaillard Cut, which is part of the Lake. You will get to see the two bridges that span the Canal as well as the Cut. This is the same tour that is offered with the partial transits. It is a very scenic part of the Canal and you get to see some of the country side on the bus ride.

[sharoncruises]

We'd like to hear from anyone who has done this tour ~ how much hiking is involved in the rainforest? We have a group of 20, some of whom are older, inactive, or bad knees, etc. who can't walk for extended periods. Mario stated in his email "one hour of hiking" in the rainforest which would be too difficult for some of us. Wondering if we should switch to the Locks/Indian Village tour? The question on that one would be how difficult is it to get in the canoe for the less mobile folks? Any advice from anyone who has done either of these tours would be greatly appreciated!

[2Canucks]

I sent Mario an email to mario@myfriendmario.com a few days ago and haven't received a reply back. I got an email "received notice" so I know he "read" our email... but we haven't received a tour info reply email from him as of yet. How long does this usually take? Does he use another email as well?

 

Also has anyone been late getting back to the ship from one of Mario's tours? We wish to do the Embera Indian Village and Gatun Locks combo tour but so far we haven't had an word back from Mario.

 

Thanks in advance for any info you can share with us.

 

Pat :)

[crzycick]

On the site it says he has trouble emailing people who have certain email addresses. Maybe you could try like a hotmail or gmail account? I emailed via gmail and had a response within a couple of days

[2Canucks]

All's well...Mario replied to my email and we're booked!

 

Can't wait to do the Embera Indian Village & Gatun Canal tour as we went through the locks in 2008 and it will be neat to do this from the land side too!

 

Pat :)

[cruisinMAP]

We'd like to hear from anyone who has done this tour ~ how much hiking is involved in the rainforest? We have a group of 20, some of whom are older, inactive, or bad knees, etc. who can't walk for extended periods. Mario stated in his email "one hour of hiking" in the rainforest which would be too difficult for some of us. Wondering if we should switch to the Locks/Indian Village tour? The question on that one would be how difficult is it to get in the canoe for the less mobile folks? Any advice from anyone who has done either of these tours would be greatly appreciated!

I am interested in the answer also as I am traveling with my mother (85)who, although quite active, would not be able to walk a long time. Also wondering about the ability to get into canoe. Sound like interesting tours. Thanks

[4cruizers]

I sent Mario an email to mario@myfriendmario.com a few days ago and haven't received a reply back. I got an email "received notice" so I know he "read" our email... but we haven't received a tour info reply email from him as of yet. How long does this usually take? Does he use another email as well?

 

Also has anyone been late getting back to the ship from one of Mario's tours? We wish to do the Embera Indian Village and Gatun Locks combo tour but so far we haven't had an word back from Mario.

 

Thanks in advance for any info you can share with us.

 

Pat :)

I would email him again. We just did this tour in July and it was probably the best excursion of our cruise. We had plenty of time to spare, even for a little shopping.

[4cruizers]

I am interested in the answer also as I am traveling with my mother (85)who, although quite active, would not be able to walk a long time. Also wondering about the ability to get into canoe. Sound like interesting tours. Thanks

They do help you into the canoe, but you are getting in a canoe so there is nothing real stable. My husband, who is 45 almost slipped and fell. I will say it was probably our favorite excursion of our cruise. We did not go through the rain forest, just went to the canal and the Indian village. We got tons of pictures.

[2Canucks]

I would email him again. We just did this tour in July and it was probably the best excursion of our cruise. We had plenty of time to spare, even for a little shopping.

 

 

I did email him again and Mario did reply... so we are booked & confirmed for this tour. :D We're really looking forward to doing this tour and thank you for letting us know that you had plenty of time to shop afterwards...always a Good Thing!! ;)

 

Pat :)

[sharoncruises]

I am interested in the answer also as I am traveling with my mother (85)who, although quite active, would not be able to walk a long time. Also wondering about the ability to get into canoe. Sound like interesting tours. Thanks

 

Thanks for your reply 4cruizers. I got an email back from Mario regarding the Locks and Rainforest Tour ~ he can drive slowly and make stops instead of hiking for those that are less mobile, so we'll be booking this tour. Although the Indian Village sounds even more interesting. Decisions, decisions, decisions!?!

[4cruizers]

Thanks for your reply 4cruizers. I got an email back from Mario regarding the Locks and Rainforest Tour ~ he can drive slowly and make stops instead of hiking for those that are less mobile, so we'll be booking this tour. Although the Indian Village sounds even more interesting. Decisions, decisions, decisions!?!

We really enjoyed the Indian Village and got tons of great pictures. A lot of the people in our group said that was probably one of the best excursions.