Panama Canal excursion help needed

[weston gal]

Our cruise stops in Colon next month. We will not be going through the canal. We were on a cruise that went through the canal previously but my husband got sick and we saw very little of the journey through the canal. We will be with another couple that has never been there. Our choices are: Gatlin locks and Balboa, Miraflora locks and Observation Center or Panama Canal tour by Ferry. Since we are seniors (late sixties, seventies) I don't think we will come back again. Would the ferry be a long tiring excursion? Which will give us a better and more scenic experience of the Panama Canal?

[BillB48]

Sounds to me that the ferry would be what you are looking for. While the trips to the locks either Gatun or Miraflores are nice nothing beats actually passing through the locks on a vessel. You really are fully involved in the process of going through the Canal and you will have the best seat in the house. I really don't think it will be unbearably hot, a breeze is not too hard find, shade and air conditioning are available on the ferry. January is a good month in Panama weather wise and you will be on the ferry for about 4.5 hours of the tour, the rest of the time is transportation to and from the ferry.

 

Except for being able to get a glimpse of the Canal in a few places such at the locks you really don't get to see much of the Canal other wise. The area where the bulk of the excavation took place during the construction of the Canal, Gaillard Cut practically can't be seen unless you are passing through the Cut on a vessel. The good thing is the Canal by Ferry tour will take you through some of the most scenic and key parts of the Canal. It will give you a good feel for what was completed almost a 100 years ago.

[weston gal]

Sounds to me that the ferry would be what you are looking for. While the trips to the locks either Gatun or Miraflores are nice nothing beats actually passing through the locks on a vessel. You really are fully involved in the process of going through the Canal and you will have the best seat in the house. I really don't think it will be unbearably hot, a breeze is not too hard find, shade and air conditioning are available on the ferry. January is a good month in Panama weather wise and you will be on the ferry for about 4.5 hours of the tour, the rest of the time is transportation to and from the ferry.

 

Except for being able to get a glimpse of the Canal in a few places such at the locks you really don't get to see much of the Canal other wise. The area where the bulk of the excavation took place during the construction of the Canal, Gaillard Cut practically can't be seen unless you are passing through the Cut on a vessel. The good thing is the Canal by Ferry tour will take you through some of the most scenic and key parts of the Canal. It will give you a good feel for what was completed almost a 100 years ago.

Thanks Bill. I think you are right. My friends wanted a short excursion so we thought Miraflores or Gatlun would give us a good experience of how the locks work. The Gatlun excursion goes to Portabello and the Miraflores excursion goes to Las Bovedos. Can you give me some insight to these choices. Thanks

want t

[patseacruiser]

I did the ferry this past January. It can be a little tiring but well worth it if you don't think you'll pass this way again. Make sure you have sun block, a hat, sunglasses and something to throw over your shoulders so you don't burn. You can get a seat under the shaded area but look around because you want to be able to get a good view also. Bring bottled water with you and although we had a buffet it was not very good and by the time I got there not much left either. I wish I had brought some crackers with me. Although it sounds like complaining - it's really not. I enjoyed it immensely and bought the $10 photo op which is a pictorial 'certificate' of the panama canal crossing.

[BillB48]

The shortest of the three tours would be the one to Gatun Locks and Portobelo. In all honesty it really won't be that much shorter time wise. I don't know whether you would go to Portobelo first and then to Gatun Locks or the other way around. Trip to Portobelo is on some secondary roads and it has been a looooong time since I have been out that way so I can't speak directly on how great of a ride it would be. Of course there is a lot of history there with the old Customs House and the surrounding ruins of the fort.

 

Miraflores Locks is really set up to be the showplace locks with a museum and nice equipment displays. Although Gatun Lock is the largest locks on the Canal it's visitor's accommodations are a bit more basic. There are some equipment displays and a visitor''s stand with someone to provide a description of the operation. The trip to Miraflores Locks and Las Bovedas will take you in to Casco Antiguo which is where the city was relocated to after the original city was destroyed. This area will give you a good look at the downtown in Panama City proper as well as the skyline of Panama City. This tour will take almost as long as the Canal by Ferry tour since essentially you will be covering a lot of the same territory. Namely you will drive across the Isthmus from Colon to get to the Pacific side, so a fair portion of your tour is transportation to and from.

 

I think you would find any of those tours worthwhile, I just know for me, I would find the Canal more of what I was looking for. Your visit to either Locks will pretty much be the only direct exposure to the Canal. If you can't fit it all in, you just may have to schedule another trip down there;):D!

[weston gal]

The shortest of the three tours would be the one to Gatun Locks and Portobelo. In all honesty it really won't be that much shorter time wise. I don't know whether you would go to Portobelo first and then to Gatun Locks or the other way around. Trip to Portobelo is on some secondary roads and it has been a looooong time since I have been out that way so I can't speak directly on how great of a ride it would be. Of course there is a lot of history there with the old Customs House and the surrounding ruins of the fort.

 

Miraflores Locks is really set up to be the showplace locks with a museum and nice equipment displays. Although Gatun Lock is the largest locks on the Canal it's visitor's accommodations are a bit more basic. There are some equipment displays and a visitor''s stand with someone to provide a description of the operation. The trip to Miraflores Locks and Las Bovedas will take you in to Casco Antiguo which is where the city was relocated to after the original city was destroyed. This area will give you a good look at the downtown in Panama City proper as well as the skyline of Panama City. This tour will take almost as long as the Canal by Ferry tour since essentially you will be covering a lot of the same territory. Namely you will drive across the Isthmus from Colon to get to the Pacific side, so a fair portion of your tour is transportation to and from.

 

I think you would find any of those tours worthwhile, I just know for me, I would find the Canal more of what I was looking for. Your visit to either Locks will pretty much be the only direct exposure to the Canal. If you can't fit it all in, you just may have to schedule another trip down there;):D!

Thanks again for your help. One more question: On Trip Advisor someone reviewed the Gatun observation facilities, and said there were alot of steps leading to the top. Do you know if there is an easier way to get there because this could be a problem for my husband.

[BillB48]

Yes, there are a lot of stairs to the top and I don't believe there are any accommodations to avoid them. There is an area which the operation can be viewed from just after you enter the locks where there are some machinery displays set up. I don't know for certain what might be available in this area if you wished to sit. You can hear the commentary from the observation deck in this area as well. The only "downside"to this area is you won't have a full view of the upper chamber of the locks.

[ChelseaSailor]

We took the partial transit through the canal on the Zuiderdam. Then we took the ferry to the Pacific. It was worth the time. It is long day but not a hard one. The Bus is comfortable and the ferry has shade and a lot of seating.

ChelseaSailor

[GradUT]

I agree with ChelseaSailor--The trip through the ferry is a long day, but there is seating for the entire time. We did this tour on our Island Princess cruise, although I'm sure the tours for each cruise line are similar. The bus ride to/from the ferry boat is in a comfortable, AC bus. There is plenty of seating under the shade on the ferry and a small room with AC if you need it. (But no good viewing from there.) This might actually end up being an easier tour for everyone.

[weston gal]

I agree with ChelseaSailor--The trip through the ferry is a long day, but there is seating for the entire time. We did this tour on our Island Princess cruise, although I'm sure the tours for each cruise line are similar. The bus ride to/from the ferry boat is in a comfortable, AC bus. There is plenty of seating under the shade on the ferry and a small room with AC if you need it. (But no good viewing from there.) This might actually end up being an easier tour for everyone.

Thanks for the help. I am still waiting for my friend to get back from holiday travel to decide. It sounds like it would be a nice trip. How hot is it in January? We are from Florida so we are used to the heat, however, my friend has had a few skin cancers and is VERY worried about being in the sun for too long.

[GradUT]

We did this trip in the month of February and it was pretty darn hot and humid, but if you are from Florida, it's probably no different than a lot of weather you get in the summer.

 

Like your friend, I have to stay out of the sun and I had no problem doing so on the ferry trip. The boat has plenty of covered seating and I did not have to sit in the sun at any time.

[weston gal]

We did this trip in the month of February and it was pretty darn hot and humid, but if you are from Florida, it's probably no different than a lot of weather you get in the summer.

 

Like your friend, I have to stay out of the sun and I had no problem doing so on the ferry trip. The boat has plenty of covered seating and I did not have to sit in the sun at any time.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Were you able to enjoy all the scenery and get a good view of the locks from the covered seating area? What was the inside seating like?

[ChelseaSailor]

There was a great view of the Locks and Landscape. The ferry was steady you could walk to the sides, front and back for viewing.It was also no problem seeing while seated.

 

ChelseaSailor

[lakelorain]

We did the ferry and enjoyed it. Very relaxing way to see the canal. By going through on a ship the size of a ferry, you can fully appreciate the size of the canal.

You can sit outside or in air conditioning. Food was okay and is served inside. Fresh fruit was great.

It is a very casual atmosphere. If you get tired, you can nap on the bus on the way back.

[weston gal]

Thank you everyone for your help. Because there is not guarantee that you will see a ship going through the locks on the other excursions and based on all the positive suggestions, we decided that we should do the ferry and going through the locks and the canal.

[unclekritz]

Check out My Friend Mario, great excursions...we were there in Jan 2012