Tour in Colon, Panama

[Cojobro]

Has anyone taken the ferry tour through the Panama Canal? We are going in March and this tour is $175.00 and I would like to know if it is worth the price.

We are 2 families of 4 so that's a lot of $$$$$$. I don't want to miss it though if it that good. If anyone else has any other suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Thanks again, I've gotten some great feedback from my other post.

[mrdood]

Lots of reviews in the Panama forum....

[Wennfred]

Has anyone taken the ferry tour through the Panama Canal? We are going in March and this tour is $175.00 and I would like to know if it is worth the price.

 

We are 2 families of 4 so that's a lot of $$$$$$. I don't want to miss it though if it that good. If anyone else has any other suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Thanks again, I've gotten some great feedback from my other post.

 

 

I have done that in the past, not worth the cost. Best bet is to take a Transcanal Cruise and see and enjoy the whole thing. I rather swim with the Dolphins for that price.

 

One more word to add, the last time we went, I think 2005, everyone on the ship was given a flier that said, Please say close to the ship and dont venture off into the Side Streets. Colon Panama is a pretty Dangerous place for tourist.

 

Fred

[direfun2000]

Has anyone taken the ferry tour through the Panama Canal? We are going in March and this tour is $175.00 and I would like to know if it is worth the price.

We are 2 families of 4 so that's a lot of $$$$$$. I don't want to miss it though if it that good. If anyone else has any other suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Thanks again, I've gotten some great feedback from my other post.

 

 

Do the 2 Oceans by railroad. It was great and we got an upclose look at the locks and saw 3 ships pass through. JMHO.

[BigDoug]

Has anyone taken the ferry tour through the Panama Canal? We are going in March and this tour is $175.00 and I would like to know if it is worth the price.

We are 2 families of 4 so that's a lot of $$$$$$. I don't want to miss it though if it that good. If anyone else has any other suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Thanks again, I've gotten some great feedback from my other post.

We did this tour in March 2005. It is a long tour and a little expensive but it was well worth it to us. You board a bus in Colon and travel to Balboa on the Pacific side. Here you will board a ferry that will take you through the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks. The tour guides were excellent and very knowledgable. You will literally be close enough to touch the walls of the locks. After the locks, you will travel on Gatun Lake to Gamboa. Here you will reboard the buses for the trip back to the ship. You are provided with lunch, water and soft drinks while on the ferries. This excursion will last 6 - 7 hours. It will not leave much time for shopping afterwards. If you need to shop, then don't take this excursion. You can find some of our pictures here: http://travel.webshots.com/album/317572476ZggfZy?start=36

[whale-watcher]

lots of different opinions on this tour. We loved it...here is the review I posted in another thread:

 

We were just on a partial transit on the Coral Princess, and elected to take the "Panama canal by boat" excursion. 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. Although it was amazing to transit the Gatun locks on the coral princess, it was an equally wonderful but very different experience being in the smaller ferry for the second two sets of locks (we could actually touch the walls of the lock chamber and feel the temperature difference as the water level dropped). It really was the best of both worlds!

 

After leaving the small boat in Panama City, there was another 1.5 hour motorcoach ride back to the Cristobal Pier in Colon. 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.