02/17 Princess Dropping off in Panama?

[originolsin]

I had a question that is confusing me a bit. I just got off of the phone with Princess-the intinerary looked strange to me:

 

Panama Canal 7am-330pm

Cristobal 4pm-730pm

But they also offer 6.5 hour tours-that is what drew my attention

 

 

They told me that we will go through some locks early in the morning, drop us off at Panama City and then pick us back up in Cristobal...My questions are:

Has anyone experienced this?

I hate the tours offered by Princess here, can we book someone like Mario for this?

Is booking our own excursion going to be tricky with this disembarking one place and embarking another?

 

Thank you all for any help!

[whale-watcher]

We are just back from this same cruise on the Coral Princess. The ship will arrive at the canal early in the morning, giving you the chance to experience the Gatun locks from the open decks. After transiting the Gatun locks, you can either stay on board, and watch again as the ship exits the canal and then proceeds to the Cristobal pier; alternatively, and ONLY if you have a princess excursion, you can tender off the ship in Gatun lake, go on your excursion, and then re-join the ship at cristobal pier.

 

We took the panama canal by boat excursion, which was long but wonderful. This involves boarding a motorcoach for a 1.5 hour ride to a yacht harbor on the other side of gatun lake. You then travel by small boat through the rest of the canal, including the other 2 sets of locks, all the way to Panama city. There we boarded another motorcoach for another 1.5 hour bus trip to cristobal pier. Other excursions are shorter and don't involve as much travel, but also don't give you the chance to see the entire canal.

 

You CAN'T use mario or any other tour guide for excursions from Gatun lake...it is the same for RCI as well...only people on ship organized excursions can board the tenders.

 

You can leave the ship on your own once you reach cristobal pier in the afternoon, but I am not sure there would be enough time to take a private excursion. There is shopping at the pier...we especially loved the Embera Indian baskets and tagua nut carvings which can be found just before you reboard the ship. There are also dancers, including both natives, and traditional Panamanian, and both were great.

 

Enjoy your cruise!