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@meadowlanderThank you very much. Fairfield Inn's package price is actually lower than Hampton Inn. Coincidentally, I am a Marriott member and would love the opportunity to earn some points. If anybody else had first hand experience with Fairfield Inn, I would like to hear it. Thank you in advance.

@meadowlander thank you for the input. I just checked out the Hampton Inn prices. It's actually quite reasonable. $309 for a night for this package comparing to $150 for regular price. So it's basically $160 extra. Have you used the Park and Fly package? I am curious about how the shuttle service is, especially on the return trip. Will we have to wait a long time at the cruise terminal for the pickup? Also, there will be 4 of us, so we will drive down together in 1 car but need 2 hotel rooms. Ideally we pay $309 for one room and the regular $150 for another room, but not sure if the hotel will allow that. I can call and ask the hotel, but if you or somebody else has actually used the package, then I would really appreciate a first-hand account.

@katesmum we are from Grand Island, NY, which is very close to Niagara Falls, so basically we are your neighbors across the border😀 We are planning to book a Carnival Venezia cruise at the end of Nov, and will do exactly what you are doing -- driving the day before, spending a night outside Manhattan, then driving to the terminal and park there the day of departure. While the idea of park&fly sounds good, I don't think it will be practical -- to carry all the suitcases onto public transportation will be a nightmare. If you take Uber/Lyft from the hotel to the terminal, the cost will probably be quite high and offsets whatever saving you get from not paying for the $45 a day parking at the terminal. When is your trip? I would love to hear what you decide and how your experience is regarding the pre-cruise hotel.

My wife and I just returned from a 10-day Panama Canal Cruise from HAL Eurodam. Puerto Limon was our favorite stop on this trip. We took an excursion with Relax Day Tour (Federico Shuster, a transplant originally from Austria, was the owner and the guide). I had done my research ahead of time and contacted 3 different tour operators – Relax Day Tours, Your Lucky Tour, and Port Limon. All 3 companies have similar tours with similar prices, but Relax Day's itinerary had a little longer boat ride and more time in the national park, and included the stops at a fruit stand and a Banana Plantation - clearly the best value. Plus Federico was the best with communications. His email response was very detailed. When I asked about bathrooms, he went through the entire trip’s schedule and listed the availability (and ranked their cleanness) of bathrooms on each stop. We picked Relax Day Tour and were very glad that we did. It was a group of 5 couples, with Federico as the guide and Eric as the driver in a late model van that was very clean and comfortable. Eric was amazing in his ability to spot wildlife even when driving. He pulled over to the side of the road multiple times to show us sloths, lizards, monkeys, toucans… Federico provides his commentary with a mix of European and Caribbean perspectives. The canal ride was great with a smaller group, as each person had a "water side" seat, and could freely move to the front or back of the ship. (12 people on a boat that normally held 20.) The driver of the boat would frequently stop and get closer to the bank or into very shallow water to give us better views of lizards and birds. It's such a contrast to several ship-organized excursions on the same canal where everybody was packed in like sardines. After the boat ride, we drove to a fruit stand and enjoyed samples of petite bananas, papaya, pineapple, roasted cocoa beans. Several of us bought fresh coconuts for $1 each. After we sucked the juice first, they cut open the coconut and dug out the meat for us. There was a gift shop onsite, as well as interesting plants behind the stand next to people's houses. There was zero pressure to buy stuff, and frankly there was almost no time to shop, as we just followed Federido and listened to him talking about each fruit tree. After that, we drove 30 minutes to a National Park, walking on a sandy path in the woods, while the ocean and its pounding surf was no more than 20 feet away. Sloths and monkeys were all over the trees. It was sprinkling a little at the time, but with the trees, we didn't really feel the rain, and the sandy path never got muddy or slippery. Federico and Eric walked with us for half an hour, and gave us free time to relax on the beach or walk further. After a total of 90 minutes at the park, we drove to a Banana Plantation. It's a weekend and it's closed. (Even if it were open, I don't know if we would be allowed to enter.) But we stood outside the fence while looking at the banana trees. Federico explained to us how the business and operation of banana growing and harvesting was done, which was very informative. Finally, we drove back toward the cruise terminal and were given the option to stop at a local supermarket to buy things or to see how daily life was for the residents. My wife and I chose to go straight back to the ship instead, as it had been a long day. We thoroughly enjoyed the entire 7 hours of the trip and highly recommend Federido and Relax Day Tour to anybody.

My wife and I will be on Eurodam departing 3/25/2023. Does anybody know if they still provide bathrobes in the cabin? If so, it will help us pack a little lighter. We are in plain Oceanview cabin, not in any fancy suite. I tried to search in the New To Holland America topic, but only found a couple of references by people who were staying in suites. Thanks.

If anybody has been on Eurodam recently, can you tell me how cold they set the temperature in the public area, especially in the main dining room? We have been to places that they keep it so cold that people would need to wear a sweater. If that's the case, then we will have to make sure to pack at least one set of warm clothes. (My wife and I will be on the March 25 sailing.)

My wife and I will be on Eurodam stopping at Port Limon on Wednesday April 1, 2023. This is an excursion offered by the ship at $140 pp, but it's sold out. I have not been able to find an equivalent tour offered by private operators -- to be fair, I am only aware of Your Lucky Tour and PortLimon.com (by Jorge Ramirez). If anybody knows another private operator that offers this tour and had good experience with it, I would appreciate a recommendatioin.

Following the thread... My wife and I are interested in this information as well. We always try to book directly with local tour providers instead of through the cruise line. Besides Mr. Whitaker, is there any other recommendation?

Folks, thank you so much for the detailed answers.

Hi, my wife and I will be on Eurodam March 25-April 2 trip. It will be at Panama Canal on March 31, but the itinerary description by the cruise line is a little confusing. Here is a direct copy&paste from the website: Enter Panama Canal Cristobal Arrive: 5:00 AM Depart: 5:00 AM Cruising Panama Canal and Gatun Lake Gatun Lake, Panama Arrive: 9:00 AM Depart: 10:00 AM Cruising Gatun Lake and Panama Canal Exit Panama Canal Cristobal Arrive: 1:00 PM Depart: 1:00 PM Colon, Panama Arrive: 3:00 PM Depart: 8:00 PM We are not familiar with the detailed locations of everything, but based on my understanding, all the excursions will depart the ship at Gatun Lake (9 AM according to the itinerary above), then rejoin the ship in Colon between 3 and 8 PM. Our questions are: 1. What time range is optimal viewing from the ship? 2. Even if the ship is in the lock between Cristobal and Gatun Lake, it's between 5 and 9 AM. Between getting up in the morning, breakfast, and getting ready to go on the excursion, we won't have time to see any of the canal. Is this understanding correct? It boils down to one key question: if we take an excursion and get off the ship at 9 AM and rejoin at 3 PM, are we missing all the good viewing? 3. Where exactly does the ship dock at Gatun Lake to let people off for excursions? 4. Also, just for my own understanding, on a partial transit, does the ship go through the Gatun locks, hang out in Gatun Lake for a while, then go back through the Agua Clara Locks? How far into the Gatun Lake does the ship usually go? Based on Google Map, the 5. One of the excursions we are looking at is a kayak trip. Its description is not very clear about exactly what's entailed. It talks about Agua Clara locks, but I am not sure if we actually paddle through the locks or we are just paddling in the lake for a while, then be taken to the Aqua Clara locks on land. And where is the area that we will be kayaking? If anybody has done this excursion, I would appreciate a detailed play-by-play. Thanks.