Excursions in Panama and Costa Rica

[chiledog]

We are going on the Carnival Liberty in 6/9/07 what are the best excursions to do in Panama and Costa Rica? Thanks!

[Ashleezmom]

We are going on the Carnival Liberty in 6/9/07 what are the best excursions to do in Panama and Costa Rica? Thanks!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=198

[direfun2000]

We did the 2 oceans by railroad and loved it!!! Got to see at least 3 ships going through the locks. Very cool. In Pananma ONLY do a ship sponsored excursion. Colon is very seedy & dirty.

 

Costa Rica was cancelled so I am not sure but we had booked www.okeydokeytours.com Heard lots of good things about him and his tours.

[TennisLover]

We did the Panama Canal excursion through the ship. It was our best day of the entire cruise. Highly recommend.

 

We did the ship's aerial tram over the rain forest in Costa Rica. No big deal.

 

Obviously, I was on this cruise before I found Cruise Critic. Try the ports board for more info.

[Bruin Steve]

We are going on the Carnival Liberty in 6/9/07 what are the best excursions to do in Panama and Costa Rica? Thanks!

 

I won't be on this cruise until AFTER you...

 

But, I have a few general thoughts (I've already booked all of my excursions)...

 

First, it all really depends on what YOU want to do...I think if you asked 10 different people on here you might get ten different answers...

 

For Colon, we were, at first, pretty much set on doing the transit through the canal by ferry through the cruise line...But, the more we read, the more we realized it might not be for us...

 

Some folks seemed to love it, think it was an absolute "can't miss", fascinating...Others seemed to find it boring...a slow moving ferry taking hours to pass through a canal...

 

And, there's the dilemma: One man's heaven is another man's hell...

 

After reading some more...we decided to go with a private excursion: My Friend Mario (who seems to be often recommended on here) has a private full day tour to the Embara Indian Village and theGatun Locks...and we decided to go with that...

 

For Limon, we bounced around a lot of possibilities--including various "zip-line" trips...but ended up picking the cruise line's "Treetops and Water Experience" excursion--which seems to give us both an aerial ride AND a boat tour through the Tortuguero Canals...This is our "Jungle Day"...Of course, other people's criteria may differ...You may want to scuba or snorkel or sit on a beach somewhere or ride horses or visit a banana plantation...We're all different...and that's why there are so many choices...

[gulfwench]

DH and I will be on the Liberty on 9/29. We're also thinking of the Embera Indian Village and locks thru myfriendmario.com. Please post a review of this tour after you return from your cruise. Thanks.:)

[popsec]

We are going on the Carnival Liberty in 6/9/07 what are the best excursions to do in Panama and Costa Rica? Thanks!

 

In Costa Rica we went with Charlie Soto's tour to a banana farm and then a boat trip on the Tortuguero Canal. It was a great tour...we got to see sloths and was only $39 pp for a 3 1/2 hour tour. We had our own taxi driver and didn't have to travel in a big group.....it was really fun!

[chiledog]

One of the replies said do NOT take a NON-Ship sponsored tour, but a lot of cruise critic people say to use Mario. I think he has a great tour offering. Anyone use him? And is he safe since he is not ship sponsored? Thanks! I will post after I come back on June 17 and let you know how it goes.

[bills blasters]

We went with my friend Mario, and loved it. I felt completly safe.

I would do that over a carnival excursion anyday.

[rustytdog]

In Costa Rica, we took the coffee factory tour. Was very disappointed. The bus they use is small and cramped for a 2 hour trip each way up into the mountains. All we were shown was a closed coffee factory and then pushed into their gift shop to buy their coffee. Our tour was the last to arrive back at the ship and they had to hold the ship for us.

 

We also took the two oceans by train tour that took us to the canal. Enjoyed the train, but they bring you back on older busses. the tour guide convinced us they he was going to change one of the stops for something better which was nothing more than a trip over and expansion bridge and then took us to a duty free shop for shopping, which you can do immediately in port a Colon. I know, that several people on the tour with us complained to the shore excusion desk because when we went there, they already know about the changes and told us we would be compensated which we still haven't gotten. I do know there several passengers were injured on a bus accident with some being taken to the hospital and buses bring more back to the ship that was met by the medical staff. I don't know what tour it was.

[nybumpkin]

We went with Mario in Panama as well - canal and beach. We had a great time - probably one of the best excursions we've taken. Never felt unsafe. Mario picks you up right at the pier; you have to cross a walkway over to the shopping area to meet him (the ship's tours leave from right in front of the ship), but you don't leave the port area to meet him. We had a large group from Liberty on our tour - about 40 people - while others we knew did the Indian village and canal tour. If your cruise is like ours, there will be a fair number of people looking for Mario and his staff.

 

In Costa Rica we opted for the bus, boat and train tour through Carnival - our kids wanted to ride the train and I didn't see a private tour with it. Also a very good time.

[lhegs]

we were on this cruise last April. We did Charlie Soto's tour of the canal and the banana plantation. It was incredible. Charlie and his crew were so kind and accomodating. We had a blast. in Panama we did the tour through my friend mario to the indian village and the Panama canal. It was the worst trip I have ever experienced. We nearly missed the ship on the return and literally had 10 minutes at the Panama Canal. I would never recommend that tour at all. We had some friends shop the free zone and this was much better

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

DH and I will be on the Liberty on 9/29. We're also thinking of the Embera Indian Village and locks thru myfriendmario.com. Please post a review of this tour after you return from your cruise. Thanks.:)

 

 

We took the CL007 tour through them - and most of us actually thought we might MISS THE SHIP. The tour itself was nice - it just took them longer getting up the river to the falls than they thought (picture getting out a few times and PUSHING the canoe over SHALLOW spots). It is a long drive back to the ship. It would have taken only ONE flat tire, one traffic jam and we would have been WAVING as the ship sailed. We actually missed a HEAD ON collision by INCHES - an oncoming car swerved into our path, and pulled back into his lane at the ABSOLUTE last second. We got back to the ship with less than 15 minutes prior to the SCHEDULED sail time. We PINGED back into the ship system (with our S&S cards) at the same minute that the ship could have SAILED. Thankfully there was obviously a ship sponsored tour that ran late also!

 

The woman leading the tour said that they have NEVER EVEN BEEN CLOSE to having anyone miss the ship. She was somewhat worried, from what I could tell.

 

I am glad we did the tour - but would not do it again.

 

Tom

[Bernole]

We just got back a week ago from the Legend and we stopped in both places. I'll try not to repeat what others have said but I should point out again that it's a bad idea to go solo in Panama without some sort of escort. I've never been one to do excursions or tours, but several crew members all said the same thing, which was not to stray.

 

In Panama, we hired a cab. Now, there's people with cars (mostly parked outside) and cab drivers with licenses. Go with the licensed cab driver. You'll pay a bit more but it's worth it. We took the cab to the locks, he waited for almost 2 hours while we watched the ships go through (and we were able to hear the guided tour that carnival was selling as an excursion). Canal was interesting but I've no need to return.

 

Costa Rica was fun. I heard that ziplining is the highlight, but we opted for the Green Train and Pontoon excursion. I thought it was fantastic. Train through the jungle, pontoon ride through the jungle, fresh fruit buffet at the end. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly.