Panama Canal Excursion Advice

[advocado]

Taking the Maasdam through the Canal in January. Can you recommend any excursions that you have enjoyed? Ports:

Cartagena

Puntarenas

Chiapas

Hualtco

Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas. Don't care. Been there;done that.

[Lvteks]

Read McCullough's "Pathway Between the Seas." Better than any Canal excursion.

 

Blessings,

 

Gail

[cruz chic]

I took an aerial tram ride in Puntarenas and it was awesome. Not sure if it is still offered as this was about 1 year ago. I took a "city tour" in Cartagena. I found Cartagena to be a bit scarey.

 

The Panama Canal is amazing. You will enjoy it.

[BumperII]

Taking the Maasdam through the Canal in January. Can you recommend any excursions that you have enjoyed? Ports:

Cartagena

Puntarenas

Chiapas

Hualtco

Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas. Don't care. Been there;done that.

 

Puerto Chiapas: This is a new port with a fantastic facility right at the dock including a fine restaurant. This was the warmest welcome we recieved with marimba music and dancing. They have free exhibitions of dancing and marimba inside the main pavillion as well as several fair market shops. Security was outstanding. Police escorts cleared traffic for our bus. Don't miss the Charro festival. Outstanding display of horsemanship, dancing and marimba music and a taste of the local food. Souvineers were available for fair market prices. We were sent off with dancing and a fireworks display accompanied by the most beautiful and poignant marimba music. This is the nicest port we have ever visited.

 

Puntarenas: We took the narrow guage railroad and canal boat ride. Fantastic, but don't expect air conditioning. This is a restored railroad from the 1800s, and we loved it. The canal boat tour led us to all manner of birds, monkeys and reptiles. It included a buffet of fresh fruits and complimentary beer or beverage of choice, as much as you care to consume.

 

Hualtco: We took the five bays boat ride on a catamaran. Bring along a swim suit and take a dip if you care to. Complimentary adult beverages as well as water and soft drinks. Beautiful ride.

 

Cartagena: Old town Cartagena is beautiful, but I wouldn't bother getting off the ship. Our excursion was ruined as we were hounded by dozens of aggressive peddlers selling counterfiet merchandise. They drowned out the tour guide. This is actually only about a 1 1/2 hour tour with three hours devoted to tourist trap shopping.

 

Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas: Ditto:o

[chasetf]

My comments are below.

Taking the Maasdam through the Canal in January. Can you recommend any excursions that you have enjoyed? Ports:

Cartagena (Never been there)

Puntarenas (We did a wildlife boat tour thorough waterfowl preserve. Saw lots of interesting birds, and other wildlife.)

Chiapas (Never been there)

Hualtco (We did a river rafting which was pretty tame until we got to the ocean. Still was fun and good scenery)

Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas. Don't care. (I agree... Cabo we just go ashore for a while and wander around. Acapulco .. if you have seen the cliff divers, you have seen Acapulco) Been there;done that.

[advocado]

Read McCullough's "Pathway Between the Seas." Better than any Canal excursion.

 

Blessings,

 

Gail

Read it. Marvelous!

[advocado]

My comments are below.

Thanks. Pretty much what I thought. The Canal is the thing. Period.

[advocado]

Puerto Chiapas: This is a new port with a fantastic facility right at the dock including a fine restaurant. This was the warmest welcome we recieved with marimba music and dancing. They have free exhibitions of dancing and marimba inside the main pavillion as well as several fair market shops. Security was outstanding. Police escorts cleared traffic for our bus. Don't miss the Charro festival. Outstanding display of horsemanship, dancing and marimba music and a taste of the local food. Souvineers were available for fair market prices. We were sent off with dancing and a fireworks display accompanied by the most beautiful and poignant marimba music. This is the nicest port we have ever visited.

 

Puntarenas: We took the narrow guage railroad and canal boat ride. Fantastic, but don't expect air conditioning. This is a restored railroad from the 1800s, and we loved it. The canal boat tour led us to all manner of birds, monkeys and reptiles. It included a buffet of fresh fruits and complimentary beer or beverage of choice, as much as you care to consume.

 

Hualtco: We took the five bays boat ride on a catamaran. Bring along a swim suit and take a dip if you care to. Complimentary adult beverages as well as water and soft drinks. Beautiful ride.

 

Cartagena: Old town Cartagena is beautiful, but I wouldn't bother getting off the ship. Our excursion was ruined as we were hounded by dozens of aggressive peddlers selling counterfiet merchandise. They drowned out the tour guide. This is actually only about a 1 1/2 hour tour with three hours devoted to tourist trap shopping.

 

Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas: Ditto:o

 

Thank you. Thank you.