Colon, Panama entry from my 12/24/05 Carnival Liberty review

[Richard Parker]

I thought I'd post the section on Colon, Panama from my full Carnival Liberty review. Let me know if anyone has questions.

 

12/29/05—Colon, Panama

 

The Panama Canal is one of the things that we wanted to be sure we saw on this trip. This is obviously no secret to Carnival, as reflected in the prices for the Panama Canal excursions. After repeated visits to the Panama Canal port of call board, I couldn’t really find a private tour that I was confident would show us the canal at a price significantly better than the official Carnival excursion, so we sucked it up and shelled out $175 each for the Panama Canal tour. We reserved it through the TV in our room on about the second day of the trip, which turned out to be a good idea. Brent, our cruise director, said later in the ports of call talk that this tour had sold out. I don’t know whether they had any luck finding additional spots for the people who waited till the last minute, but if you want to do this tour, I suggest you reserve it early in the week just to be sure. It also seems like we could have had it for around $160 each had we reserved online before the cruise. Just something to check into.

 

Our Panama Canal tour left at 7:00 and, like most of the Carnival shore excursions we have taken, it was a cattle call getting onto the buses. I believe there were 8 or 9 tour buses full of people on this excursion. Be sure to be on time. Our tickets said 7:00 a.m. and we were late getting up and arrived at about 7:15 and were on either the last or second to last bus. It would have been a lot of money for an extra 10 minutes of sleep. Our bus took us from the Atlantic side of Panama across the continent to the Pacific side where everyone from all 9 buses boarded a ferry boat. The bus ride across the continent took between an hour and an hour and a half. We didn’t really get a good look at the pier or the port because we got right on the buses at the ship in the morning, so I’ll address these on the return to the ship.

 

The first impression of Panama is that it seemed a lot more modern and Americanized than Costa Rica. I suppose this is due to the huge American influence on the Canal through the last century and the huge free trade zone in Colon. We were told that it was the second largest free trade zone in the world. Lots of businessmen drive from Panama City on the Pacific side to do business at the free trade zone in Colon every day. The free trade zone wasn’t really much to see other than an enormous complex behind walls with lots of warehouses. Our waitress, Noemi, said she tried to go there, but most of the stores wouldn’t sell to her and only dealt in wholesale. Colon had several McDonalds and many other American fast food restaurants. It was still obviously a developing country, but the modern American influence was apparent. The roads in Panama were also significantly better than in Costa Rica. Much of the bus ride across the continent was spent napping due to the monotony of any bus trip and the early hour of the tour.

 

We arrived on the Pacific side of Panama and boarded a ferry boat for our trip back through the Panama Canal. The boat was packed, but we were able to get a couple chairs on the middle deck on the front of the boat. This proved to be a good decision, as the ship became packed with people who were cramming into small places trying to get pictures and videos. I highly recommend getting to the tour early and getting to a seat somewhere near the middle of the boat. The seats near the sides will look better at first, but people will line the rails of the ship taking pictures and your memory of the Panama Canal will be the relative merits of your fellow guests’ backsides. From our seat in the middle, we were able to stand to take pictures when we wanted them and then sit back down to a relatively clear view. They had free Coke, Diet Coke and water on the boat and you could buy beer for $2. They also served a box lunch consisting of a turkey sandwich and a muffin. I heard lots of complaints about the lunch, but we were pleased with it given the circumstances of trying to feed that many people on such a small crowded ship. Don’t go into this tour expecting anything other than a sandwich to keep your hunger at bay and you won’t be disappointed.

 

The Canal itself was amazing. Our boat went through with a tugboat and 2 sailboats that were around 40 feet. This made me particularly jealous as I am a novice sailor, even given the limitations of living in Missouri, and wanted desperately to be crewing one of those boats rather than on our lumbering ferry. Oh well. I’m not going to try to give many details about the Canal itself. I’m sure there is no shortage of websites devoted to Panama Canal facts and lore that will give you far more accurate details than I. I will try to say what we did see and were able to do. First, we were able to muscle our way to the side of the boat and touch the side of one of the locks. This is supposed to bring good luck and grant you a wish. We also saw a Celebrity cruise ship and a huge auto carrier pass us in the canal after the locks before we reached Guatan Lake in the middle. IT was interesting to hear the prices for Canal passage. I can’t remember how much they said it was for our ferry boat, but the cheapest any ship can pass for is $500 and they said that would basically be a 3 passenger dinghy. Every ship that transits the canal must be piloted by an official Canal pilot, even the smallest vessels. The 2 sailboats with us were said to have had to pay around $1500 each for passage. The most expensive ship to go through the Canal is one of the Princess ships, which must pay somewhere in excess of $250,000 every time it goes through the Canal. They told up that the country of Panama collects around $1 Billion per year in Canal tolls and profits around $500 Million per year on the Canal. Panama is a country of 3 Million people and they told up that 40% of those live below the poverty line of around $400 per month. It struck up as odd that there is that much money coming in from a single source and so many people are still so poor. And I am positive that the information I gleaned from this tour is enough to make me an expert in Panama finance so I can comment on the country’s financial policy. Just kidding.

 

So, our boat took us through the locks on the Pacific side, to the manmade lake in the middle of the country that is 84 feet above sea level. Instead of taking the boat back down the Guatan locks on the Atlantic side, we got out in the middle and got back on to our buses to ride back to the pier. I’m not sure why they had us do it this way instead of simply boarding on the Atlantic side where the ship was and going halfway through the Canal before taking buses back. I guess it was nice to see more of the country, even though it meant spending extra time in the bus.

 

We arrived back at the ship a couple hours before we were due to leave. There is duty free shopping at the pier and you can venture out into the city if you dare. It didn’t seem too dangerous and as I said, it is a pretty developed city. There were a lot of tourists walking around in the city outside the pier complex. We chose to get back on the ship and get some food.

 

Overall the time in Panama was great. The Canal is something that we felt we had to see while we had the chance. The tour was a bit expensive, but after we heard the prices that they have to pay to get the ship through, it didn’t seem so bad. The country was beautiful and it was truly an experience to actually go through the Canal and hear all about its history and how it works. The tour wasn’t as exciting as our Costa Rica tour, but I think that was more a function of doing so many different things in Costa Rica as opposed to the singular focus on the Canal in Panama. Still, I think that when I look back on this trip, the more memorable of the two will be the Panama Canal.

 

The ship departed on schedule a little after 4:00. We got out of the harbor and there was a ton of ship traffic, which was interesting to watch. After we got just outside of the harbor, our ship stopped and I saw the crew members on the bridge looking toward the port with binoculars. After 20 or 30 minutes, a pilot boat came speeding out of the harbor toward our ship. Apparently some of our passengers had missed the ship and they were bringing them out to meet us. We watched as either 4 or 6 people were loaded from the pilot boat to a stairway that came out of our ship. I have no idea what the story with these people was, but I was certainly glad it wasn’t me.

 

We were exhausted that night, but found time to soak in the hot tub before dinner. Again, we had a great dinner in the dining room and I think this was the night that we went to the Piano bar for a while. The singer was OK, but not as engaging as the others we have had before. There was more of a laid back lounge vibe as opposed to the higher energy sing along scene that we have seen in the past. It wasn’t really our style, so we stopped by the dance club for a drink. My wife hated the décor of the Hot & Cool dance club, but we found a seat and enjoyed a drink while watching the dance floor struggle to get going that early in the night. (This was probably right around 11. I did stop by later, after midnight, one night and the dance floor was full.) Again, we just didn’t have the energy for a full night of partying and dancing, so we headed back to the room and called it a night.

 

I know this review is very slow in coming, but rest assured that it will eventually all get posted, whether anyone is still interested or not. If I’ve missed anything that anyone has questions about, let me know.

[palmtre2]

Thanks again Richard!!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Lovely review. Enjoyed reading it.

[CrazyMums]

Richard,

 

Thanks for the review. We'll be on the Liberty on 2/18 and were considering this tour. I asked on another thread (no response yet), but hopefully you know the answer. Is smoking allowed on the Ferry or is there a smoking section? It's a very long tour and I'd never make it for the 7 hours. Thank you.

[Richard Parker]

I don't know whether smoking is allowed on the ferry. Actually, now that I think about it, it seems like I did see one guy smoking on the ferry, but it seemed like he was not supposed to be smoking where/when he was. I don't know whether this was a rule or whether people were just not happy that he was smoking around them in such confined quarters.

 

I wouldn't let that stop you from taking this tour. You get on the bus at the ship and ride for 1.5 or 2 hours and then get off to get on the ferry. If you needed to, you could smoke at this point before boarding the ferry. Then, the ferry ride is not too terribly long. Certainly no more than 3 or 3.5 hours. Then you get off the ferry and board a bus. Again, you would be able to smoke here if you needed to.

 

It's a great tour and there are anough breaks that you should be OK even if you are not allowed/able to smoke on the ferry.

[CrazyMums]

I don't know whether smoking is allowed on the ferry. Actually, now that I think about it, it seems like I did see one guy smoking on the ferry, but it seemed like he was not supposed to be smoking where/when he was. I don't know whether this was a rule or whether people were just not happy that he was smoking around them in such confined quarters.

 

Richard, thank you for responding. I'm still trying to get a definite answer to my question and posted it as a new thread - 9 views but no responses. I doubt that I would spend that much money and be "miserable" and I would not be comfortable smoking in confined quarters. I know it bothers a lot of people.

 

A question about the tour itself - you said the ferry was packed. Were the 8 or 9 buses all from the Carnival ship or were there other ships in port that day? There is another review (from another cruise line) where they said there was plenty of space on the ferry. Thanks again.

[I'mGrammy]

What a nice review. We are planning a cruise in December. Is Colon , Panama (Cristobal) near the canal? And did you have to get yellow fever shots to go on your excursion? Thanks for your input.

[Richard Parker]

There was not actually a shortage of space on the ferry itself. As far as I could tell, all the buses that got on to our ferry were from the Carnival ship, but I'm not 100% Sure. I do know that the excursion talk on the TV said that the tour was sold out and they were looking for ways to get more people the opportunity to go. So even if your ship is the only one in port that day, be ready for a crowd. (But don't let that deter you.) As I said, we were outside on the deck and wanting to see as much as possible. It was crowded, but not unbearable. There were some people who stayed inside the ferry and from what I could see, there was plenty of room in there. It just depends on what you want to be able to see and how long you want to be able to see it. I certainly was never afraid that the boat was overloaded, but there are only so many "prime" viewing locations and everybody wants to be in those same places.

 

Grammy: We had no special shots for our tour. I can't remember it even being mentioned by anyone as a consideration, so I suppose they have the diseases under control. From what I understood, Colon is near the canal on the Atlantic side, but our tour took us by bus to the Pacific side and picked us up in the Guatan lake in the middle of the country, so we never actually got to see how close the Atlantic entrance to the canal was. Sorry I can't be any more help.

[blanca2]

What a nice review. We are planning a cruise in December. Is Colon ' date=' Panama (Cristobal) near the canal? And did you have to get yellow fever shots to go on your excursion? Thanks for your input.[/quote']

 

We are booked on the Mercury from San diego on Dec 8, 2006, Would you possibly be on the same one?

[VTCRUISER75]

We too will be sailing on the Liberty on Feb. 18. I found your review to be very helpfull. Thanks for taking the time.

I thought I'd post the section on Colon, Panama from my full Carnival Liberty review. Let me know if anyone has questions.

 

12/29/05—Colon, Panama

 

The Panama Canal is one of the things that we wanted to be sure we saw on this trip. This is obviously no secret to Carnival, as reflected in the prices for the Panama Canal excursions. After repeated visits to the Panama Canal port of call board, I couldn’t really find a private tour that I was confident would show us the canal at a price significantly better than the official Carnival excursion, so we sucked it up and shelled out $175 each for the Panama Canal tour. We reserved it through the TV in our room on about the second day of the trip, which turned out to be a good idea. Brent, our cruise director, said later in the ports of call talk that this tour had sold out. I don’t know whether they had any luck finding additional spots for the people who waited till the last minute, but if you want to do this tour, I suggest you reserve it early in the week just to be sure. It also seems like we could have had it for around $160 each had we reserved online before the cruise. Just something to check into.

 

Our Panama Canal tour left at 7:00 and, like most of the Carnival shore excursions we have taken, it was a cattle call getting onto the buses. I believe there were 8 or 9 tour buses full of people on this excursion. Be sure to be on time. Our tickets said 7:00 a.m. and we were late getting up and arrived at about 7:15 and were on either the last or second to last bus. It would have been a lot of money for an extra 10 minutes of sleep. Our bus took us from the Atlantic side of Panama across the continent to the Pacific side where everyone from all 9 buses boarded a ferry boat. The bus ride across the continent took between an hour and an hour and a half. We didn’t really get a good look at the pier or the port because we got right on the buses at the ship in the morning, so I’ll address these on the return to the ship.

 

The first impression of Panama is that it seemed a lot more modern and Americanized than Costa Rica. I suppose this is due to the huge American influence on the Canal through the last century and the huge free trade zone in Colon. We were told that it was the second largest free trade zone in the world. Lots of businessmen drive from Panama City on the Pacific side to do business at the free trade zone in Colon every day. The free trade zone wasn’t really much to see other than an enormous complex behind walls with lots of warehouses. Our waitress, Noemi, said she tried to go there, but most of the stores wouldn’t sell to her and only dealt in wholesale. Colon had several McDonalds and many other American fast food restaurants. It was still obviously a developing country, but the modern American influence was apparent. The roads in Panama were also significantly better than in Costa Rica. Much of the bus ride across the continent was spent napping due to the monotony of any bus trip and the early hour of the tour.

 

We arrived on the Pacific side of Panama and boarded a ferry boat for our trip back through the Panama Canal. The boat was packed, but we were able to get a couple chairs on the middle deck on the front of the boat. This proved to be a good decision, as the ship became packed with people who were cramming into small places trying to get pictures and videos. I highly recommend getting to the tour early and getting to a seat somewhere near the middle of the boat. The seats near the sides will look better at first, but people will line the rails of the ship taking pictures and your memory of the Panama Canal will be the relative merits of your fellow guests’ backsides. From our seat in the middle, we were able to stand to take pictures when we wanted them and then sit back down to a relatively clear view. They had free Coke, Diet Coke and water on the boat and you could buy beer for $2. They also served a box lunch consisting of a turkey sandwich and a muffin. I heard lots of complaints about the lunch, but we were pleased with it given the circumstances of trying to feed that many people on such a small crowded ship. Don’t go into this tour expecting anything other than a sandwich to keep your hunger at bay and you won’t be disappointed.

 

The Canal itself was amazing. Our boat went through with a tugboat and 2 sailboats that were around 40 feet. This made me particularly jealous as I am a novice sailor, even given the limitations of living in Missouri, and wanted desperately to be crewing one of those boats rather than on our lumbering ferry. Oh well. I’m not going to try to give many details about the Canal itself. I’m sure there is no shortage of websites devoted to Panama Canal facts and lore that will give you far more accurate details than I. I will try to say what we did see and were able to do. First, we were able to muscle our way to the side of the boat and touch the side of one of the locks. This is supposed to bring good luck and grant you a wish. We also saw a Celebrity cruise ship and a huge auto carrier pass us in the canal after the locks before we reached Guatan Lake in the middle. IT was interesting to hear the prices for Canal passage. I can’t remember how much they said it was for our ferry boat, but the cheapest any ship can pass for is $500 and they said that would basically be a 3 passenger dinghy. Every ship that transits the canal must be piloted by an official Canal pilot, even the smallest vessels. The 2 sailboats with us were said to have had to pay around $1500 each for passage. The most expensive ship to go through the Canal is one of the Princess ships, which must pay somewhere in excess of $250,000 every time it goes through the Canal. They told up that the country of Panama collects around $1 Billion per year in Canal tolls and profits around $500 Million per year on the Canal. Panama is a country of 3 Million people and they told up that 40% of those live below the poverty line of around $400 per month. It struck up as odd that there is that much money coming in from a single source and so many people are still so poor. And I am positive that the information I gleaned from this tour is enough to make me an expert in Panama finance so I can comment on the country’s financial policy. Just kidding.

 

So, our boat took us through the locks on the Pacific side, to the manmade lake in the middle of the country that is 84 feet above sea level. Instead of taking the boat back down the Guatan locks on the Atlantic side, we got out in the middle and got back on to our buses to ride back to the pier. I’m not sure why they had us do it this way instead of simply boarding on the Atlantic side where the ship was and going halfway through the Canal before taking buses back. I guess it was nice to see more of the country, even though it meant spending extra time in the bus.

 

We arrived back at the ship a couple hours before we were due to leave. There is duty free shopping at the pier and you can venture out into the city if you dare. It didn’t seem too dangerous and as I said, it is a pretty developed city. There were a lot of tourists walking around in the city outside the pier complex. We chose to get back on the ship and get some food.

 

Overall the time in Panama was great. The Canal is something that we felt we had to see while we had the chance. The tour was a bit expensive, but after we heard the prices that they have to pay to get the ship through, it didn’t seem so bad. The country was beautiful and it was truly an experience to actually go through the Canal and hear all about its history and how it works. The tour wasn’t as exciting as our Costa Rica tour, but I think that was more a function of doing so many different things in Costa Rica as opposed to the singular focus on the Canal in Panama. Still, I think that when I look back on this trip, the more memorable of the two will be the Panama Canal.

 

The ship departed on schedule a little after 4:00. We got out of the harbor and there was a ton of ship traffic, which was interesting to watch. After we got just outside of the harbor, our ship stopped and I saw the crew members on the bridge looking toward the port with binoculars. After 20 or 30 minutes, a pilot boat came speeding out of the harbor toward our ship. Apparently some of our passengers had missed the ship and they were bringing them out to meet us. We watched as either 4 or 6 people were loaded from the pilot boat to a stairway that came out of our ship. I have no idea what the story with these people was, but I was certainly glad it wasn’t me.

 

We were exhausted that night, but found time to soak in the hot tub before dinner. Again, we had a great dinner in the dining room and I think this was the night that we went to the Piano bar for a while. The singer was OK, but not as engaging as the others we have had before. There was more of a laid back lounge vibe as opposed to the higher energy sing along scene that we have seen in the past. It wasn’t really our style, so we stopped by the dance club for a drink. My wife hated the décor of the Hot & Cool dance club, but we found a seat and enjoyed a drink while watching the dance floor struggle to get going that early in the night. (This was probably right around 11. I did stop by later, after midnight, one night and the dance floor was full.) Again, we just didn’t have the energy for a full night of partying and dancing, so we headed back to the room and called it a night.

 

I know this review is very slow in coming, but rest assured that it will eventually all get posted, whether anyone is still interested or not. If I’ve missed anything that anyone has questions about, let me know.

[palmtre2]

Crazymums - buy some Nicorette gum. I do this if I have a flight that goes too long, it does work.