shore excursion in Panama Canal on Volendam?

[Paja]

We are trying to decide whether to do the railway/bus tour or the tour boat tour. Looking at the other board about shore excursions, there seems to be a real difference of opinion about the "ferry" tour. I am wondering if all the cruise lines use the same boats. Some people say they loved the boat tour, others said washrooms and air conditioning weren't working, and that it was a very long day. We are traveling with my elderly parents and don't want to tax them with this kind of experience. So has anyone done the small boat transit of the canal through HAL? Thanks!

[WindyCity]

We have the train shore excursion booked upon recommendation of some cruise friends who have taken it - I will post about the train trip once we get back home on Dec 16. We booked the domed train portion, since that was highly recommended.

[the2ofus]

I did the Train Excursion in the domed car last Spring. The domed car is nice because it gives you a broader view. The less pricey cars will still give you a good view though. It was expensive but was a very smooth ride in a nicely air-conditioned, nicely restored 1960s era railroad car. Nice upholstery and lots of finished wood accents.

 

We were taken from the ship by a large open 'party boat' a short distance to the shore where a bus transported us to the train. At the other end of the canal we had a reasonable amount of time to shop and take pictures before heading back again. There was a knowledgeable and interesting guide who filled us in on thesights and the history of the canal as we traveled.

 

One suggestion - when entering the railroad car, choose the left-hand seats as you face the back of the train. This will place you on the side of the train nearest the canal as you travel along. That way you won't have to be trying to look past other people's heads to see the sights.

 

There are a few steep steps to get up into the top of the dome car but I think most elderly folks could manage them with a bit of help. There are also some seats in the lower front part of the dome car, with the same glass roof above them.

[jhannah]

We also chose the "ocean to ocean" train ride. It was great! I figured I could see enough of the locks working from the ship, so didn't care to take the small boat through. I'm glad we took the train.

 

We had dinner companions who took the tour over to the Embera Indian village. They said it was awesome.

[RSGS315]

We did the bus/ferry excursion on another cruise line in March.

 

We had done several total transits, in both direction, in the past, but we loved the expierence of going through the canal on the small ferry.

There were 4 other small boats in the locks with us, and we were close enough to the wall of the canal that we could touch it.

It was a good sized ferry, but still small compared to an ocean liner. We enjoyed sitting on the upper deck and the narration was wonderful.

I highly recommend it.

 

Ginnie

[chris2x]

We did the tour on the ferry. We took the bus to the ferry and had a n informative tour guide. We enjoyed the trip, but I think you can often get a wide variety of opinions on the same trip. It was a longer day but it was not strenuous in any way. There were certainly many older people on our trip (heck, I am in my 40s and most of the passengers on the cruise were older than me).

 

Now granted the locks at one end lock the same as the locks at the other, but the perspective is a bit smaller from a small boat. The biggest thing that surprised me about the canal was how small it seems. Going through the cut where 20,000 people died when the French were building the canal I was fascinated with how small and park-like the terrain seems now.

 

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Chris Christensen

Amateur Traveler podcast