Transportation to port

[Rob-Bob]

We are booked on the Jewel in March 2022.  We fly into Panama City and NCL is providing us with bus transfers for $100 each for round trip - airport to ship.  This seems pretty pricy.  Does anyone know what the best way to do the ride to the ship (and back) and what other prices might look like (Uber, taxi, shuttle etc.).

 

The bus rides are not my favorite thing to do anyhow.  Waiting in line, time consuming getting everyone in and off the bus, crowded.  Private car is usually a lot better alternative. Just wondering how available and at what cost.

 

Thanks for any advice you can give me. 

[CruiserBruce]

In most places, we use taxis, Uber or private car services, because, as you point out, they are the far better deal.

 

However, there are many stories around suggesting, for ease and safety in Panama, the cruise line's bus might be the better choice. We made a similar choice arriving in Lima, Peru at 11pm, in preparation for a cruise the next day. In this case, Holland America transfers meant a greeter and a arrived taxi ride to our cruise line arranged hotel, and a bus for the much longer ride to the port the next day. Much more comfortable in the situation.

[Essiesmom]

Considering that You are flying into Panama City but appear to be boarding the ship in Colon, a distance of approx. 45 miles, I think the price is reasonable, especially since it is round trip.  I hope I'm wrong, and you really do transit the canal rather than a partial transit...Fuerte Amador has always been a tender port, which might make boarding interesting...EM

Edited February 11, 2021 by Essiesmom

[njhorseman]

24 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Considering that You are flying into Panama City but appear to be boarding the ship in Colon, a distance of approx. 45 miles, I think the price is reasonable, especially since it is round trip.  I hope I'm wrong, and you really do transit the canal rather than a partial transit...Fuerte Amador has always been a tender port, which might make boarding interesting...EM

Their cruise starts in Fuerte Amador, not Colon, but it does appear to end in Colon.

 

I thought they building a cruise ship in Fuerte Amador. I have no idea whether it ever happened.

Note: Per this website, the new cruise pier opened in May, 2019:

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/panama-city-port-584

 

In any event given that the cruise ends in Colon I would definitely use the cruise line transfers for the trip back to Panama City.

Edited February 11, 2021 by njhorseman

[Heidi13]

You didn't mention which port you are boarding.

 

If boarding in Colon, which is on the Caribbean side, you should be aware that it is not recommended to leave the confines of the port. Personally, $100 is cheap to enhance your safety and is not too unreasonable for a trip across the isthmus.

 

If boarding in Fuerte Amador, the price is steep, but then the cruise line is responsible for driving you out to the tender and I would hope taking care of the luggage from the airport.

[Rob-Bob]

Thanks for the replies.  We board at Fuerte Amador and get off at Colon.  I am very unfamiliar with both of these.  I have never been to Panama City.  I did put in a fare estimator in one site and it showed $50 to Amador and $105 back from Colon.  $155 total round trip for 2 so I guess NCL's $200 round trip for 2 is not too bad.  Might be good for the piece of mind.

 

We are getting the airfare through NCL as well.  This is a first for us.  We have always done all transportation on our own.  It is always an adventure getting everything to go smoothly.

[BillB48]

I assume you are flying in the same day as you board the ship.  If that is the case I think NCL's deal is not bad at all.  Another fly in the ointment is the completion of the ship passenger terminal at Ft. Amador has not been completed yet and the last word I received was they did not have a definite date of completion.  If the port completion comes to fruition, you will be a trailblazer for the rest of us.

 

On a side note, looks like NCL has taken up the Canal's offer of a free transit for cruises originating at the new passenger terminal  at Ft. Amador.  So maybe things will shake out over the next year

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, BillB48 said:

I assume you are flying in the same day as you board the ship.  If that is the case I think NCL's deal is not bad at all.  Another fly in the ointment is the completion of the ship passenger terminal at Ft. Amador has not been completed yet and the last word I received was they did not have a definite date of completion.  If the port completion comes to fruition, you will be a trailblazer for the rest of us.

 

On a side note, looks like NCL has taken up the Canal's offer of a free transit for cruises originating at the new passenger terminal  at Ft. Amador.  So maybe things will shake out over the next year

Looking at the passenger terminal on Google Earth I have to believe it could be completed, or at least sufficiently completed to be usable, in a relatively short time. Since I have no idea of the date of the Google Earth image it may be even closer to completion than we can see from that source.

[BillB48]

I see what you mean, just looked at Google Earth.  It does look fairly near completion even without knowing the date of the image.  I suppose it is understandable that my contact down there does not have the most up  to date info.  Movement by the general public has been on the restricted side of things.  At one point you could only shop between certain hours on certain days with men on particular days and women on other days.  Until recently there were complete lock downs on the weekends, so taking in the latest construction projects was not a priority.

[DAllenTCY]

I'm looking forward to the same trip as OP.  I've flown to Panama City once before sailing the next day from Colon on RCCL.  

 

The bus ride was not bad at all.  We left from the airport and stopped at about 3-4 hotels on the way.

It was a nice highway with views from time to time of the canal. There was a bathroom break along the way at a nice mountainside resort.

 

Colon looked very slummy, but the port was clean and easy to get through.

 

David

 

 

[pghflyer]

Following. I usually never do cruise line flights, transport, or excursions.....and spending $100 each ($50 each direction) for the slower mass organized fixed-time transport is giving me similar heartburn (we couldn't afford to NOT take the NCL BOGO airfare deal at $300 total for 2 from east coast US).  Price isn't terrible (taxis probably half that amount) for the mileage all things considered.