Two Oceans By Railroad Excursion

[sundancer1]

Has anyone gone on the "Two Oceans By Railroad" excursion offered by Carnival Cruise Lines? My husband and I are deciding if we should sign-up for this excursion while in Colon. Any details you can offer, positive or negative would be appreciated.

[DonMar]

In February we took the Two Oceans by Railroad excursion. Since we like to explore on our own, I tried to book the train myself, but they will not do it. So if you want to take the train from Colon to Panama City you must book through the cruise line.

 

While I think riding the historic train was nice, I think we could have spent our money more effectively. If we were to return to Panama, we would try to hire a car and driver for the day.

 

Below is the text to a post that I wrote a while back, in response to some questions about the train.

 

 

I hope to answer a few of the questions posted about this excursion.

 

1. Yes, there are bathrooms.

 

2. You do get to see the canal. You do not see the locks on the train, but you can see ships traveling on the lake. If your excursion includes Miraflores, you will go the visitor center and possibly see ships going through the locks.

 

3. Try to reserve the Dome Car and sit on the top level - you can see so much more!

 

4. They took us to Miraflores and asked you to watch a film about the locks - I did not watch the film as I was there to see the canal, not a film.

 

5. They took us to a shopping center - go figure - to buy trinkets. Not my favorite thing to spend time on when we only have a few hours in port. I wanted to see more of Panama not shopping.

 

6. Be aware that Colon is not a tourist city. On the tour, everything is very safe. The bus ride to the train is an experience as stop signs and traffic signals are up for decoration only. Makes for a good story!

 

7. Bring food. You will not have the opportunity to eat anything until you get back on the train and at that it is chips and crackers.

 

8. On our excursion there we so many people!!!! I am not one for being herded.

 

While we enjoyed the experience, we only booked through the ship because it was the only way to take the train and we were uncertain of the driver options in Colon.

 

For the remainder of our Ports of Call we booked private excursions which were much better and more exciting for us!

 

Hope this helps!

[luvscruising2007]

How much time did you spend at Miraflores? We are going to see the canal, so we would rather spend more time there, but would also like to see something of Panama.

[DonMar]

How much time did you spend at Miraflores? We are going to see the canal, so we would rather spend more time there, but would also like to see something of Panama.

 

 

We spent about 45 min to an hour at the locks - from what I remember. It went by very fast. Years ago one could walk up to the locks and canal. Now they have it all fenced off - I would liked to have walked along the canal, but I understand the need to safety measures.

 

From the locks we went to the Bridge of the Americas (Pacific side at Balboa) to take photos.

 

Enjoy!

[Brneyznfl]

Does anyone know if the trains have A/C?

 

How would I go about reserving a seat in the Dome as someone suggested? Is it first come, first serve?

 

Thanks!

[65Cardinal]

DonMar's review and advise is right on. We did the tour off a Celebrity ship but it was essentially as he described. We thought it was good value even though it is expensive. The dome car is a must, even though it is extra.

 

Two years later we took another Celebrity ship through the canal and saw the train which brought back good memories.

 

Go for it.

[65Cardinal]

I neglected to answer your questions.

1. Yes the dome car has a/c and is very comfortable. It would be very hot without a/c.

2. When you reserve the tour you have a choice of dome car (extra $) or regular car.

[Brneyznfl]

Thank you all for the helpful responses. :)