Panama Cruise 10-20-11 (Partial passage)

[BudapestLady]

Any suggestions for private tour companies in the following cities: Limon, Costa Rica; Cartagena, Columbia and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We are are group of 6 that don't want to do the ship excursions. Been there - done that. After our fabulous tour with a company in Roatan, we just can't do the ship thing again. Spoiled for life.:cool:

[Talisker92]

I do not fault anyone for arranging their own tours. I/We had been to some or all of the ports at one time or other.

Being lazy, we did opt for the ship tours. I am sure you can find private parties also.

The most memorable were tubing on the White River in Ocho Rios, white water rafting on the Revatzon (sp) River in Costa Rica, and the horse and buggy ride we took in Cartagena.

The stories and pictures are on our website http://www.stevekathytravels.com

[aussiegirl]

We did the partial Panama Canal cruise on the Island Princess in April 2010 and did privately-arranged port tours at both Cartegena and Ocho Rios. I would highly recommend both of the tour guides that we used:

 

We arranged a private tour of Cartegena with Jacinto Jimenez ( J.J.) Taborda. He can be reached through his email address at: jacinto-200@hotmail.com. You can read more about him at:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g297476-i4451-k3278053-o20-Tour_Guides_in_Cartagena-Cartagena.html

 

We arranged a trip to Dunn River Falls and tubing on the White River in Ocho Rios through Peat Taylor. He offers a variety of tours and we had a great time on the one we took. You can find out more through his website: http://ochoriosjamaicatours.com/

[Loonbeam]

You should check the various ports of call forums for best info.

 

We haven't cruised that itinerary yet, but have been in touch with Lee Miles in Cartagena to start and he seems very knowledgeable and organized...

 

I'm holding off on others except for maybe Ocho Rios until I see the ship schedule (we're on the run before yours, because of the really short time in Aruba I am thinking ship tour for safety)

[geoherb]

We did one private tour on our Island Princess cruise last month. It was in Costa Rica with J.J. One of our rollcall members arranged it and the two of us joined the four in her group. We went to the sloth sanctuary and did the canal cruise as our two major activities. I was very glad we were in a small private excursion after the big tour buses showed up at the sanctuary. I don't know how those people got much out of their experience, whereas we had a great guide and a very upclose experience.

 

We did the Princess excursion to the mud volcano in Cartagena. It was well run and worth the price. We also took the Princess snorkeling excursion in Aruba because the ship does not stay there very long. It was also worth the price.

[J & G]

You should check the various ports of call forums for best info.

 

We haven't cruised that itinerary yet, but have been in touch with Lee Miles in Cartagena to start and he seems very knowledgeable and organized...

 

I'm holding off on others except for maybe Ocho Rios until I see the ship schedule (we're on the run before yours, because of the really short time in Aruba I am thinking ship tour for safety)

 

If you are looking for someone in Ocho Rios, you might want to contact Trevor Hudlin (cooltrevh@yahoo.com). We have toured with him in the past, as have many of our friends, and he is the BEST! Jamaica is not our favorite place for several reasons (mainly agressive vendors - selling all sorts of "products"....), but we want to go back just to tour with Trevor. He really knows and loves Jamaica, is well-respected, and gives probably the best tour we have EVER been on.....he's a hard act to follow.

[BudapestLady]

Thanks to all of you that gave me some great information on recommended tour groups.

[starboardcruiser]

We used Lee Miles in Cartagena, and it was a very memorable (and reasonably priced) experience!

 

One of my favorite excursions from my Panama Canal trip was the "Costa Rica Favorites with Lunch", so don't discount ship tours entirely. That one was fantastic! :)