Panama canal - ports?

[SISer]

I am looking at various Panama Canal cruises, I notice that most do not stop in Panama, and just transit the canal. Is Panama City a must see? Which ports, if any should I look for on a full transit Panama Canal cruise?

[PoohUnderstands]

Go into the Princess web site and pick the cruise that is Panama Canal, Coral Princess, 15 days, for February, 2010. Pick the February 5th cruise and look at its itinerary. It makes a stop for Panama City. Panama City is a modern town and a historic town; interesting, but it wasn't one of my favorite locations, but interesting. I really liked this itinerary with its stops in Mexico and Cartagena, one of my most favorite cities of the Caribbean.

 

Also if you do a RT Panama Canal out of Fort Lauderdale, once you are in Gatun Lake there is the train tour that takes you along the Canal to Panama City where you make a stop at the Miraflores locks and see alittle of the city of Panama, mostly the outskirts.

 

Pooh

[BillB48]

The ports that are usually listed for stops in Panama are Cristobal/Colon and Ft. Amador. Cristobal/Colon is really the same place, just different parts of the city of Colon. Ft. Amador, this is on the Pacific side, is the nearest Panama City and is a tendered stop.

 

The majority of the tours go to the Pacific side, (Panama City area) really doesn't matter at which port you arrive. Arriving on the Caribbean side, (Cristobal/Colon) there is a new highway crossing the Isthmus and it is a much easier drive.

 

As far a being a must see, that really depends where your interests are. Lots of colonial history etc. There are also tours that show your native cultures and of course tours that center around the Canal. It is a great stop but too hard, make that impossible to do it justice in one visit!