Panama Canal Transit - Use MyFriendMario?

[MHE]

My family (10 adults, 14 children) will be arriving in Colon, Panama aboard the Carnival Miracle February 6, 2008. Grandma & Grandpa would like to take the family on a Panama Canal excursion. The Carnival excursion is $175+ per person.

 

Many of you have recommended myfriendmario for other excursions. Has anyone used Mario for the Panama Canal Transit (actually partial transit)?

 

What do you recommend?

 

Our family is concerned about getting back to the cruise ship on time!

[Randy & Kathy]

Mario's tour took us to the canal, but not through it on some kind of boat. Try going to his web site, myfrindmario dot com and it explains his various tour options, has photo's and also gives you info on how to contact him with any questions. His CL007 tour that we opted for provided everything that had been promised, we would highly recommend him.

Randy

[vacruizer]

This is one tour I wouldn't use a private tour for - from what I understand transit time in the canal is highly variable depending on ship traffic and can run very long. Even the best tour operator can't get you back to the ship if you're "stuck in traffic" in the canal.

[grandad7]

Hey MHE, our family and friends are celebrating our 45th. and our friends 50th. anniv. on that cruise....about 20 or so of us. We like to snorkle, Myan visit and canal trip. Our group is having a potluck this Sunday 20th. to help the rest of our group get started. This will be our fourth cruise, but most of our group will be first timers. Mabey we could get our groups together on board? We are in small town central Illinois. grandad7

[Host Karen]

Hey MHE, our family and friends are celebrating our 45th. and our friends 50th. anniv. on that cruise....about 20 or so of us. We like to snorkle, Myan visit and canal trip. Our group is having a potluck this Sunday 20th. to help the rest of our group get started. This will be our fourth cruise, but most of our group will be first timers. Mabey we could get our groups together on board? We are in small town central Illinois. grandad7

 

You'll find the roll call for your cruise is the best place to discuss tour shares and onboard events.

 

Karen

[kaybeeeeeee]

Just did the Canal tour and beach with myfriendmario. Wound not suggest this. Take a cab to the canal, pay the few bucks for entry, see the canal then either do some shopping at the duty free zone in Panama or spend the rest of the day on the ship. Beach in Panama is a waste of time - lots of garbage floating in the water and and itself is hard as concrete. As for the tour, our tour leader spent most of his time drinking. The 8 of us didn't drink much so he drank pretty much everything he could get his fingers on and was quite drunk by the time we headed back from the beach to the ship. I would NOT recommend Mario's group.

[AlvaroLuis]

Beach in Panama is a waste of time - lots of garbage floating in the water and and itself is hard as concrete.

 

I can only think of one beach that would be 40 minutes (according to mario's website) away from the Canal and I'd have to agree with you... not even close to being a nice beach in Panama... Believe me, we have much better than this!

[LouWho]

Was on the Carnival Liberty 6/17 Panama stop and did the Mario tour to the Embre Indian Village, Canal and waterfalls. Go through the ship. The tour itself would have been good, but they just cram too much into the time you have and have everyone freaking out at the end to get back to the ship. We were so tight for time that we arrived at the canal 10 min AFTER we were to be on the ship. We had 10 min at the canal only and arrived to the ship 7 min. after it was to set sail. Now- they did monitor and knew that Carnival tours were running late and that we would be ok, but that is not a relaxing tour at all. They wasted time waiting on people to show up that never did and then spent way way way too much with 1/2 our group at the waterfalls while the other 1/2 sat alone in the hot sun with no water and no one who could speak English or answer any questions truthfully. People were VERY upset by the end and most didn't tip. After we returned we got an e-mail that they knew the tour was a bust and we could take another one for free. There's an offer we can really use - maybe in another 40 years I'll get back there. Another group on the same tour with Mario didn't even get to the canal and they weren't even refunded the ticket price of the canal portion but were told the ticket had been bought. That's a lie because our tickets were purchased in mass quantity months earlier - so they could have been used by another group.

 

I would seek another option for a tour. But, I wouldn't plan to get a cab and go anywhere - take a tour of some sort. When you dock within a couple blocks you'll be in total ghetto and NOT safe.

[Another Cruise]

I am so shocked! We just went with Mario in April and loved it. We saw the Canal, went to the Falls, the beach, everything and got back 30 minutes before the ship left. We were late leaving--thanks to those of you who book a tour and then don't show up and bother to tell anyone!!!--. We even had someone fall and get hurt at the Canal and he was the one who took care of her and got her back to the van. I am really shocked at the comment about the driver being drunk. Did you tell Mario? He has worked to hard to build up his business and reputation to keep someone like that driving for him.

[tammyp1]

On June 14, 2007 our group of 8 people participated in Mario’s CL007 tour to the Panama Canal/Indian Village. Our tour leader was Lori and there were approximately 25 people on our bus. Roberto was Lori’s assistant

 

Our initial impression of Lori was not good. She seemed arrogant and rude, not warm or friendly. Lori was clearly not interested in taking a bunch of vacation guests on a tour. Nevertheless, we had no choice at this point so we went along with it. We did not let Lori know her demeanor was unpleasant so as not to cause any friction for the rest of the day.

 

Not even 10 minutes into the tour, Lori, was who was giving information about the town, proceeded to make many racist remarks about the Carribean Blacks and African Americans who live in Colon, Panama. It was very uncomfortable for everyone on the bus.

 

Although we have taken many private tours of this sort in many countries and the custom is to pay at the end, Lori then demanded payment about 30 minutes into the bus ride. We thought it unusual but given our position, felt we had no choice, so we pleasantly paid. Now we know why she collected in advance.

 

We arrived at the canoe drop off point about 9:30. It was at this point that we learned we were not going to the Panama Canal first as the tour description on the website indicates. Lori told us it was OK to leave our belongings on the bus since we would be back on the bus at 12:15. Since there was no other instructions or communication from Lori, we took what she said as truth.

 

After a nice motorized 15 minute canoe ride, we arrived at the Indian village. The Indian demonstration was interesting. The Indians were very friendly and pleasant to visit with. I’m not sure how much was staged, but it looked good.

 

About 11:45 it began to rain heavily. (I realize this is not Lori’s fault) At this point, Lori decided she was going to leave and take anyone who wanted to go with her to a waterfall. Again no further explanations. She said she would be back in 30 minutes. Given that the estimated arrival time back at the bus was 12:15 and we were at least a 15 minute boat ride away, our family decided to wait at the Indian village along with 8 others from the bus (16 total). We believed Lori was going to walk down to the river where there was a little waterfall for the people to stand under. (We now know after talking to others that went to the waterfall that she proceeded to reboard the canoe’s and travel by boat and walk thru the jungle about 45 minutes each way to get to the waterfall.)

 

The rain stopped about 12:00 and we waited patiently for Lori to return. We believed Lori would be back within 30 minutes of her departure. About 1 hour into our wait, we began to ask Roberto when Lori would be returning. For the next hour whenever we asked Roberto that question, we were told she was on her way and it would be 5 minutes. Roberto had a cell phone and told us he was in communication with Lori. Needless to say after 2 hours of waiting, we were very unhappy. At this point we were worried if Lori was ever going to return for us and if we would be able to catch the Carnival ship before it left Panama.

 

Finally, we spotted Elvis. (We did not know Elvis, but he showed up to the Indian Village in the same type of shirt as Roberto) Believing that Lori had abandoned us permanently, we begged Elvis to take us with him on his bus so we wouldn’t miss the ship. After some negotiating, Elvis agreed to take us back with him. Unfortunately the others in our group had some members of their family with Lori and some members at the Indian village and although very upset, they were afraid to separate any further from their family for fear of leaving some of their family stuck in Panama. They were very stressed and upset also.

 

At this point we are getting nervous about getting back to the ship by the required 3:30 boarding time. Elvis left the Canoe pick up point at 1:50 and assured us that we had time to see the Panama Canal. The bus ride to the Canal was to be 1 hour and then an additional 20 more minutes bus ride from the Canal back to the ship. Although tight on time, we agreed to trust Elvis since he was much friendlier than Lori.

 

Well here we go again. The 1 hour estimated ride turned out to be 1 hour 30 minutes and we arrived at 3:20 at the Canal. After 1 hour on the bus, I began asking Elvis how much longer and was told 5 minutes each time. I continued to ask each 5 minutes and was continually told the same 5 minutes. Needless to say, although Elvis was very nice, we had lost complete confidence in his time estimating skills. His 1 hour estimate turned out to be 1 hour 30 minutes. We then doubted his other estimate of 20 minutes to get from the Canal to the ship and we were terrified at this point that we were going to miss the ship. Elvis convinced us to at least run up and look at the Canal since we were there. We reluctantly agreed. Therefore our tour of the Panama Canal consisted of a very stressful 2 minute look and a race back to the bus.

 

Most of the people on both of the buses were very interested in seeing the Panama Canal which was the significant reason to take this tour. Clearly no one got an opportunity to see the Canal comfortably.

 

I have been on four cruises. Each and every time, the cruise ship has left port exactly on time. Usually, the cruise lines stick to a tight schedule. In fact, on this cruise, they left both Mexico and Costa Rica exactly at the scheduled departure time. Therefore, hoping the ship will leave port late is not good business practice. Missing the cruise ship departure would have been devastating. Aside from missing several days of our vacation, with no hotel, plane tickets, etc. unable to speak the language and children with us, the thought of not getting back in time was painfully stressful. Even though Mario’s group believed the ship was leaving late, the extraordinary stress on the passengers does not fit with an enjoyable excursion.

 

I imagine there have been plenty of successful tours based on other comments on this website, but it appears those people were just lucky. Mario’s group is supposed to be the experts, but yet there is no apparent time schedule or system to stay on track. Nor is there any organized communication with the guests. Lying is not acceptable.

 

The worst part probably was that no one seemed concerned. From our perspective, this tour appeared to be business as usual. No unusual traffic jams or apparent unforseen incidents. Mario’s web site promises to have the bus back to the ship at 3:20. We arrived at 3:55. Only 5 minutes prior to scheduled departure and 25 minutes late for the ships required boarding time.

 

We were very disappointed. We had planned this vacation almost a year ago and were looking forward to visiting the Panama Canal. Not only were we upset about not getting to see the sights, we were truly scared.

[Vernoncruise]

Thank you for posting this. I think I am going to cancel my tour with Mario. It's just too risky...

[Jade13]

On June 14, 2007 our group of 8 people participated in Mario’s CL007 tour to the Panama Canal/Indian Village. Our tour leader was Lori and there were approximately 25 people on our bus. Roberto was Lori’s assistant

 

Our initial impression of Lori was not good. She seemed arrogant and rude, not warm or friendly. Lori was clearly not interested in taking a bunch of vacation guests on a tour. Nevertheless, we had no choice at this point so we went along with it. We did not let Lori know her demeanor was unpleasant so as not to cause any friction for the rest of the day.

 

Not even 10 minutes into the tour, Lori, was who was giving information about the town, proceeded to make many racist remarks about the Carribean Blacks and African Americans who live in Colon, Panama. It was very uncomfortable for everyone on the bus.

 

Although we have taken many private tours of this sort in many countries and the custom is to pay at the end, Lori then demanded payment about 30 minutes into the bus ride. We thought it unusual but given our position, felt we had no choice, so we pleasantly paid. Now we know why she collected in advance.

 

We arrived at the canoe drop off point about 9:30. It was at this point that we learned we were not going to the Panama Canal first as the tour description on the website indicates. Lori told us it was OK to leave our belongings on the bus since we would be back on the bus at 12:15. Since there was no other instructions or communication from Lori, we took what she said as truth.

 

After a nice motorized 15 minute canoe ride, we arrived at the Indian village. The Indian demonstration was interesting. The Indians were very friendly and pleasant to visit with. I’m not sure how much was staged, but it looked good.

 

About 11:45 it began to rain heavily. (I realize this is not Lori’s fault) At this point, Lori decided she was going to leave and take anyone who wanted to go with her to a waterfall. Again no further explanations. She said she would be back in 30 minutes. Given that the estimated arrival time back at the bus was 12:15 and we were at least a 15 minute boat ride away, our family decided to wait at the Indian village along with 8 others from the bus (16 total). We believed Lori was going to walk down to the river where there was a little waterfall for the people to stand under. (We now know after talking to others that went to the waterfall that she proceeded to reboard the canoe’s and travel by boat and walk thru the jungle about 45 minutes each way to get to the waterfall.)

 

The rain stopped about 12:00 and we waited patiently for Lori to return. We believed Lori would be back within 30 minutes of her departure. About 1 hour into our wait, we began to ask Roberto when Lori would be returning. For the next hour whenever we asked Roberto that question, we were told she was on her way and it would be 5 minutes. Roberto had a cell phone and told us he was in communication with Lori. Needless to say after 2 hours of waiting, we were very unhappy. At this point we were worried if Lori was ever going to return for us and if we would be able to catch the Carnival ship before it left Panama.

 

Finally, we spotted Elvis. (We did not know Elvis, but he showed up to the Indian Village in the same type of shirt as Roberto) Believing that Lori had abandoned us permanently, we begged Elvis to take us with him on his bus so we wouldn’t miss the ship. After some negotiating, Elvis agreed to take us back with him. Unfortunately the others in our group had some members of their family with Lori and some members at the Indian village and although very upset, they were afraid to separate any further from their family for fear of leaving some of their family stuck in Panama. They were very stressed and upset also.

 

At this point we are getting nervous about getting back to the ship by the required 3:30 boarding time. Elvis left the Canoe pick up point at 1:50 and assured us that we had time to see the Panama Canal. The bus ride to the Canal was to be 1 hour and then an additional 20 more minutes bus ride from the Canal back to the ship. Although tight on time, we agreed to trust Elvis since he was much friendlier than Lori.

 

Well here we go again. The 1 hour estimated ride turned out to be 1 hour 30 minutes and we arrived at 3:20 at the Canal. After 1 hour on the bus, I began asking Elvis how much longer and was told 5 minutes each time. I continued to ask each 5 minutes and was continually told the same 5 minutes. Needless to say, although Elvis was very nice, we had lost complete confidence in his time estimating skills. His 1 hour estimate turned out to be 1 hour 30 minutes. We then doubted his other estimate of 20 minutes to get from the Canal to the ship and we were terrified at this point that we were going to miss the ship. Elvis convinced us to at least run up and look at the Canal since we were there. We reluctantly agreed. Therefore our tour of the Panama Canal consisted of a very stressful 2 minute look and a race back to the bus.

 

Most of the people on both of the buses were very interested in seeing the Panama Canal which was the significant reason to take this tour. Clearly no one got an opportunity to see the Canal comfortably.

 

I have been on four cruises. Each and every time, the cruise ship has left port exactly on time. Usually, the cruise lines stick to a tight schedule. In fact, on this cruise, they left both Mexico and Costa Rica exactly at the scheduled departure time. Therefore, hoping the ship will leave port late is not good business practice. Missing the cruise ship departure would have been devastating. Aside from missing several days of our vacation, with no hotel, plane tickets, etc. unable to speak the language and children with us, the thought of not getting back in time was painfully stressful. Even though Mario’s group believed the ship was leaving late, the extraordinary stress on the passengers does not fit with an enjoyable excursion.

 

I imagine there have been plenty of successful tours based on other comments on this website, but it appears those people were just lucky. Mario’s group is supposed to be the experts, but yet there is no apparent time schedule or system to stay on track. Nor is there any organized communication with the guests. Lying is not acceptable.

 

The worst part probably was that no one seemed concerned. From our perspective, this tour appeared to be business as usual. No unusual traffic jams or apparent unforseen incidents. Mario’s web site promises to have the bus back to the ship at 3:20. We arrived at 3:55. Only 5 minutes prior to scheduled departure and 25 minutes late for the ships required boarding time.

 

We were very disappointed. We had planned this vacation almost a year ago and were looking forward to visiting the Panama Canal. Not only were we upset about not getting to see the sights, we were truly scared.

 

Tammy,

 

This is terrible! We would never have waited two hours for anyone. Did you attempt to call the owner of this tour company? I can't believe a "guide" said she would be back in 30 minutes and was not back 2 hours later!!! what did the owner tell you later (I assume you e-mailed?)

 

Also, how did the others on your tour ever make it back to the ship on time since you were clearly on somone else's tour bus (same company I assume?) while the others were not yet back from the waterfall?

[tammyp1]

I emailed Mario after we returned home. He apologized and offered to take us on a free tour next time we came to the same port. He also offered to refund 1/2 of the money I paid him, but only if I came in person to Panama to collect it. How convienent. I imagine if I did ever show up, the story would change. Everyone who works there that I have dealt with is a liar. He didn't seem phased by my complaints and I suspect this type of tour problem is typical for My Friend Mario tour company. Of course they know very few people from the cruise ships return so they only have to get your money once.

 

The others on our tour did make it back on ship, but only because luckily the ship left an hour later than scheduled. Had the ship left on time, they would have surely missed the ship since they returned to the ship after the scheduled departure time.

[Another Cruise]

I suspect this type of tour problem is typical for My Friend Mario tour company. Of course they know very few people from the cruise ships return so they only have to get your money once.

.

 

 

I'm not questioning your story, but It was NOT typical for our tour. I read so many reviews about Mario before we booked with him and I never read any bad comments. Had you read about him on CC? I just I noticed you only have 7 posts and almost all of them are complaints about Mario. Just wondering if you had read all earlier comments about him. I think if our tour had been this bad we would have asked for our money back once they got us back to the pier! Sorry you had such a bad experience.

[Bruin Steve]

Since this thread has made its way back up near the top, I figured it would be a good time to relate my experience...

 

We were on the July 7, 2007 sailing of the Carnival Liberty and had booked the CL007 tour with Mario well in advance.

 

Then, I read the postings on this board from Tammyp1....Actually, all of the participants on our roll call read the posts and a good deal of discussion ensued as to what to do...

 

We had booked with Mario because of a fairly good history of positive posts on these boards...We decided to stick with Mario...

 

And we were glad we did...

 

When we got to the end of the little bridge where you disembark, Mario and his entire staff were there to greet us...including Laurie and the other guides (All of whom spoke excellent English BTW, largely because most seemed to be Americans or Brits--native English speakers--who had lived for some time in Panama)...We were checked in...and when the group was assembled, we were led to our minibus...

 

The tour jammed a lot in, but we never had any fears about not making it back to the ship...We returned with plenty of time to spare...

 

Laurie was an EXCELLENT guide...Truly a nice person and very well versed in local attractions, cultures, etc. ...We never sensed one note of arrogance...and certainly none of "racism". She was very aware of the postings on this board and seemed to go out of her way to explain...but no explanation was really needed...it's a shame she had to go to such lengths...Nothing in her speech or actions should have given anyone rise to question her...When we first encountered the Embara Indians, it was nice to see them embrace her...Clearly she was respected and loved by these people...

 

The tour took us first to the Gatun Locks for a good look at a ship passing through the locks...

 

Then we went off to a spot to meet the Embaras and their "canoes" (hollowed out logs with outboard engines)...and we took a very long and beautiful ride across a major lake and up a river to a spot where we exited the canoes and hiked through some MAJOR mud to a waterfall where we enjoyed a refreshing swim...We walked the entire way there right with Laurie...and she was extremely pleasant company...

 

After the hike back, we got back in the canoes and boated to the Embara Village (not the more commercial, staged one the ship excursions take you to, but a very nice little village that was hosting our tour only)...We were given a handicrafts exhibition, served a really tasty lunch of fish and plantains, then some dancing and a little time to buy some of the Embara's crafts...

 

Then it was back to the canoes and to a different, closer landing, where the bus picked us up and took us back to the ship...

 

During the bus rides, Laurie passed around Empenadas, Cookies, Sodas...all included...and gave us each a free souvenir--a tote bag or keychain...

 

It was an absolutely fabulous tour...and for a mere $75 per person for a really full day...

 

I would encourage anyone and everyone to take this tour...any time...