Travel time for Canal Tour - RCCL CO26

[amapola]

I'd like to know the travel time on the bus for the canal ferry tour. I thought I had read the bus ride was just over an hour on the new highway, but later I read it took two hours on the bus each way, and two hours on the ferry. :confused: Can anyone who's taken the tour recently clear this up for me? I'm pretty sure this will be our one and only time to the Canal, but I'm not sure it's worth 4 hours on a bus :eek: to go through the locks. Thanks for any input! We've already purchased this excursion, but I'm really having second thoughts. :o

[BillB48]

The two hours one way on the bus was certainly not outside the realm of possibility before the new highway was opened last year. On the new highway travel times can be under an hour each way. The ferry trip through the Pacific Locks and Gaillard Cut will run close to four hours. Forget about the second thoughts...... I hope you will enjoy it!

[sunsetbeachgal]

We did the tour small ferry tour from the Island Princess last month-not sure of your itinerary, but our ship went through the first three (Gatun) locks, anchored in Gatun Lake and disembarked passengers for tours-including this one. If this is the one you are referring to, this is the timimg:

 

We dismbarked around 8:30 or 9 AM, had a very short tender ride (10 minutes or so) to the Gatun Yacht Club. Then we got on a bus for an approximately 1 1/2 hour bus ride to the start of the ferry (note: bus was air conditioned but no bathrooms until you got to the ferry). The ferry ride took about 4 hours. There is no set time as you are at the mercy of the locks system. It was interesting and the experience of going through locks on a small ship versus a large one was quite different! Then you disembark near Panama City and take a bus back to the ship (ours was docked in Cristobal). This ride was on the new highway, and took about 1 1/2 hours. We got back to Cristobal around 4PM.

[amapola]

Thanks both for the info. Sunsetbeachgal, we're on the Jewel of the Seas, which docks in Colón and doesn't go through any of the locks. I bet it was quite exciting to have the two different lock experiences.

 

BillB48, thanks for the reassurance. That's a lot better time distribution than what I was thinking! :)

[iluvcruzin]

I recently took this tour when cruising on the Jewel. Plan on being gone about 7 hrs. The Bus ride really isn't that bad. There is a tour guide onboard which will provide lots of interesting information to pass the time. We started at the Gamboa docking facility and ended up at Panama City. The ride back on the highway was quicker but it was over an hour returning. Don't have second thoughts about booking. The tour was really worth it. You will see where they are building the new locks that will be operating in 2014. It was a very interesting tour.

[amapola]

Thanks! I'm really quite excited about this trip :). Less than a week away, yay!