Embarking Ship in Colon

[j&bcruzing]

My family and I will be embarking NCL Jewel in March in Colon. We are flying in a day early. We had thought about staying at the Radisson Colon 2,000 Hotel & Casino. Is this hotel a safe place to stay or not? If not, where would you recommend?

[BillB48]

The problem with the location is the hotel is within the shopping complex that adjoins the cruise terminal.  The Colon 2000 cruise terminal is walled off and provides some limited access from the rest of  Colon.  You probably have read on this board and other places that Colon is not a place for the casual visitor, so once you are at your hotel, that is where you will stay.  It would be fine to take a tour to the Locks Visitor Center at Agua Clara, but then you would in a cab with a driver to get through Colon. Definitely not the place for DIY touring.  The point is you would need to stay at the hotel and shopping center until it was time to board the ship.  The shopping center is not filled with nice restaurants or other places that could provide entertainment.

[j&bcruzing]

1 hour ago, BillB48 said:

The problem with the location is the hotel is within the shopping complex that adjoins the cruise terminal.  The Colon 2000 cruise terminal is walled off and provides some limited access from the rest of  Colon.  You probably have read on this board and other places that Colon is not a place for the casual visitor, so once you are at your hotel, that is where you will stay.  It would be fine to take a tour to the Locks Visitor Center at Agua Clara, but then you would in a cab with a driver to get through Colon. Definitely not the place for DIY touring.  The point is you would need to stay at the hotel and shopping center until it was time to board the ship.  The shopping center is not filled with nice restaurants or other places that could provide entertainment.

Thanks for replying. Currently we are not for sure when our plane will arrive, so we might not need too much entertainment but I understand what you are saying. Would we be able to walk to the port the next safely?

Edited August 18, 2022 by j&bcruzing
Correction

[BillB48]

Yes, the hotel, shopping area are basically connected and all in the same area.  There is an elevated walkway to cruise terminal itself.  Maybe a picture is worth many key strokes!  Most everything in the foreground of the Radisson is the shopping mall, the cruise terminal is on the lower left and is connected by the elevated walkway.  The picture was taken from the ship.

 

 

[j&bcruzing]

2 hours ago, BillB48 said:

Yes, the hotel, shopping area are basically connected and all in the same area.  There is an elevated walkway to cruise terminal itself.  Maybe a picture is worth many key strokes!  Most everything in the foreground of the Radisson is the shopping mall, the cruise terminal is on the lower left and is connected by the elevated walkway.  The picture was taken from the ship.

 

 

Thanks the picture does help out. I think it would be ok for a few hours but I wouldn't want to stay there several days.