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Colon, Panama - dockside - what to do and what to see?


miss prairie girl
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Good afternoon, We are cruising on the Caribbean Princess and will be in the Panama Canal Zone arriving at 5:00 am and leaving at 3:30 pm.

 

Some people have advised not to book an excursion if this is our first visit to the Panama Canal.

 

I see that our cruise ship first stops at Gatun Lake and only those who have booked select excursions may leave the cruise ship.

 

Our cruise ship then stops at Colon where passengers may disembark and explore the dockside shops. We understand that there are no tours to be had at Colon.

 

So, my questions are: 1) Are there any recommendations for what to do or see at the dockside Colon shops area? 2) Does anyone know how long our cruise ship is dockside at Colon?

 

Thank you!

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If you look down the board, you will see many discussions on this topic.

 

You will be docked for only 2 or 3 hours while the ship recovers the pax that got off on shore excursions in Gatun Lake. That is why there are no excursions out of the port. And there isn't much you could see in that limited time, except the market on the dock.

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At the Cristobal docks there is really nothing to be had save for a few vendors tents. Personal opinion here, the passage back down through the Agua Clara Locks won't be that different than your passage up to Gatun Lake, so I would really recommend you take another look at the excursions and see if there is not something you would not rather be doing. I would be glad to expand on any of the excursions you might consider.

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If you look down the board, you will see many discussions on this topic.

 

You will be docked for only 2 or 3 hours while the ship recovers the pax that got off on shore excursions in Gatun Lake. That is why there are no excursions out of the port. And there isn't much you could see in that limited time, except the market on the dock.

 

Thank you, CruiserBruce!

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At the Cristobal docks there is really nothing to be had save for a few vendors tents. Personal opinion here, the passage back down through the Agua Clara Locks won't be that different than your passage up to Gatun Lake, so I would really recommend you take another look at the excursions and see if there is not something you would not rather be doing. I would be glad to expand on any of the excursions you might consider.

 

Thank you.

 

Princess has a 6.5 hour excursion to the Embera Indigenous Village. While the river travel will be interesting, I am a little concerned that the visit to the people will be less than authentic. Have you participated in this excursion....? and your opinion.....? Thank you.

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Thank you.

 

Princess has a 6.5 hour excursion to the Embera Indigenous Village. While the river travel will be interesting, I am a little concerned that the visit to the people will be less than authentic. Have you participated in this excursion....? and your opinion.....? Thank you.

 

There are many threads on the Embera village as well here. People generally seem to be very impressed with the whole visit.

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If you decide to stay on the ship after your Lake Gatun stop, the ship will have many fewer passengers on it, which make the trip back OUT of the lake less crowded....you will see all the stuff you probably missed upon entering the Lake...as folks will be jammed packed against the railings all morning. Plus, you'll have the AC on the ship to escape to...it's so freaking HOT and HUMID in Panama!

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If you decide to stay on the ship after your Lake Gatun stop, the ship will have many fewer passengers on it, which make the trip back OUT of the lake less crowded....you will see all the stuff you probably missed upon entering the Lake...as folks will be jammed packed against the railings all morning. Plus, you'll have the AC on the ship to escape to...it's so freaking HOT and HUMID in Panama!

 

I was going to make the exact same observation until I read this comment. This is valuable information, since knowing that a lot of pax will be off the ship only to be collected at the other end, I can save my outside viewing for the return trip - as I am not planning an excursion. Perhaps on the inward leg I can actually have a hot tub to myself... one can dream!

 

BTW prairie girl, looks like I am on your cruise!

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I was going to make the exact same observation until I read this comment. This is valuable information, since knowing that a lot of pax will be off the ship only to be collected at the other end, I can save my outside viewing for the return trip - as I am not planning an excursion. Perhaps on the inward leg I can actually have a hot tub to myself... one can dream!

 

BTW prairie girl, looks like I am on your cruise!

 

In this case I would only partially agree. While it would be a great opportunity to fill in the blanks if you were transiting the old locks, having been through the new locks, I think taking an excursion would be the better value. Having done two full transits of the old locks, and one partial, I still find it fascinating. But one full transit of the new locks, and I wouldn't jump to do it again. Interesting, yes. But not enough to do it time and again. EM

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I was going to make the exact same observation until I read this comment. This is valuable information, since knowing that a lot of pax will be off the ship only to be collected at the other end, I can save my outside viewing for the return trip - as I am not planning an excursion. Perhaps on the inward leg I can actually have a hot tub to myself... one can dream!

 

BTW prairie girl, looks like I am on your cruise!

 

Yes! I saw your name on the Roll Call! Welcome! Another Canadian!! Looks like a fun group!

We are going to have to nail down some details here pretty soon, so we aren't disappointed later! Happy Sunday!

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