Panama tour train or tour boat

[merknerk]

Hi Everyone

We are counting down for our cruise in March and was wondering if anyone can recommend a good shore excursion that will show us a lot of the Panama Canal. We will be on the Equinox. If any of you have had any experience with any of these tours ( train or boat ) I would love to hear your opinion.

Any suggestions for Belize, Columbia or Costa Rica would be helpful also.These are all new places for us.

[backyardponder]

We were on the Equinox in February 2011. Personally we loved the full day boat tour of the canal. If you want to see the canal, that's the way to go IMHO. Bring sun screen and a hat, it can get hot. Most folks recommend not wandering around the port town yourself here. I agree.

 

In Colombia, we did a tour with Claudia Vidal, http://toursclaudiavidal.com/. She gets lots of great reviews on various web sites. She gave us a fantastic tour.

 

We pretty much stayed on the ship in Costa Rica since we had done an in depth 7 nights there a year before. We did wander around the town and felt quite safe. The port's vendor area was filled with lots of interesting local crafts.

[CruisingChick]

Hi, we also loved this cruise and did it back in 2009 on Constellation.

 

We took took a tour with Claudia Vidal in Cartegna.

 

In Costa Rica (our favorite) we did a tour with Charlie Soto at Okey Dokey tours. Here is the link: http://okeydokeytours.com/ We did tour A1.

 

In Panama we did a tour with My Friend Mario and while it was okay, our tour guide was not that that great. We were split into two groups and the other van had better tour guide. We did the Panama Canal and then all over rest of the city.

 

Have a great time.

[chief joe]

Did this same cruise couple years ago had a blast. Did the tour boat through the canal to pacific side enjoyed it very much especially going through locks. I you like coffee like us we did the coffee plantation trip in Costa Rico very enjoyable trip great lunch stop at hotel near coffee factory, nothing around port very seedy looking, in fact still buying coffee from them over internet. Used Mr. Emerald in Columbia find about him on ports board very enjoyable day. We did xanunmuich trip in Belize it was very good it took us to other side of the country which gave us a good look at country side. The ruins were very interesting especially the climb to top, good local place for lunch. Hope this helps any questions just ask.

[encoresue2]

We took the boat and loved it.......others on our cruise who took the train said it was pretty....but kind of boring after a while. I would recommend the boat...it is fun to watch exactly how the locks work...and to be on the lake with some of the HUGE other ships that go through. :)

[Runners]

Hi Everyone

We are counting down for our cruise in March and was wondering if anyone can recommend a good shore excursion that will show us a lot of the Panama Canal. We will be on the Equinox. If any of you have had any experience with any of these tours ( train or boat ) I would love to hear your opinion.

Any suggestions for Belize, Columbia or Costa Rica would be helpful also.These are all new places for us.

We took the train years ago while on a Princess cruise. They gave us a lunch and some entertainment. The views from the train were not so great due to the density of the plants. To be honest it got to be a bit boring.

[Wolfie469]

I took the ferry through from Gatun Lake. The little I saw of Panama City made me want to see more. It means more if you study the history of the Canal. Path between the Seas is one book worth reading.

[BillB48]

If you really want to a good part of the Canal take the boat tour. This tour is a partial transit of the Pacific Locks and Gaillard Cut, not that the whole Canal isn't something to see, but this is probably the "better" part.... just more to feast you eyes on.

 

The railroad on the other hand is nice and really great if you are a train buff, but it is not the best place to see the Canal.