What places do you recommend on Coral Panama Canal?

[Go-Bucks!]

We love to do shore excursions, but also love to just go to the beach and veg all day. We're considering just going to the beach for Aruba and Huatulco, but aren't sure. I would appreciate it if anyone who has been to these ports would please share their opinions about whether you might do a shore excursion or just go to the beach. If a shore excursion, which one did you like? Thanks.

 

Ports:

Aruba

Cartagena, Colombia

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

Huatulco, Mexico

[captainron]

Hi,

Did the Coral reposition to YVR from FLL in 2006. In Aruba we did a pair of dives on two wrecks and in Huatulco just lay on the beach adjacent to the pier.

At the beach restaurants/palapas, watch out for the price gouging though on the margaritas...USD$8.50 and you don't get a lot for your money.

 

Ciao for now!!!

[Papermaker]

We were on the Coral Princess for the April 5th roundtrip Panama Canal cruise so only Aruba and Cartagena ports are the same on your cruise. Since we are not beach people per se and had never been to either location, we took the basic "see everything" tours in both ports. We had excellent guides on both and very much enjoyed the experience. You definitely want to tour the Fort and La Popa Monestary in Cartagena. The Aruba tour gives you the choice of one hour at Palm Beach or one hour shopping at the end of the tour.

[travelingman]

The following are some excerpts from write-ups others have done.

 

The marina was now filled with side-to-side moored pangas (skiffs) whose owners were not shy about pitching their services. These included everything from simple spins around Santa Cruz Bay to a three-hour tour of all five bays with snorkeling, beach, shopping and dining stops included. Prices began at about 20 very negotiable U.S. dollars. In truth, the boats seemed well cared for, and I would have had no hesitation at all to charter one of them. Their proprietors' English seemed decent enough, and, as I looked from the marina dock to the hordes of people filing out from our ship to get on their much more expensive tours (most of which offered little more, many of which offered far less, but all of which were more costly).

 

Bay Tours

This is the most amazing tour by far. You will admire the best Huatulco has to offer. Take time to contemplate the unsurpassed beauty of our beaches and bays, the underwater parks and the rock formations that give us the Bufadero, the Stone Face and the Organo Bay. You will get the chance to swim, snorkel and enjoy diving on the coral reef, plus music, games and seafood.

 

There is a tour company with a stall at the end of the pier. We had booked in advance with them but you could "do it on the day" We did a Customs and Traditions Tour

 

We were there March 14. Walk all the way to the end of the pier into the harbor area. There are small boat/panga guys for hire. Four of us hired one for $20 to take us over to la Entrega beach and come back for us in two hours. Not many people from the ship were there. The water was warm and there is decent snorkeling along the reef to your left. You can rent a chair/umbrella for $5 and they will bring you beers and drinks on the beach. We had a very pleasant time there. Don't pay the boat guy until you get back.

 

Also if you go to the Mexican Reviera forum under the Ports of Call section and do a search for Huatulco you should find several mentions of things to do there.

[loriva]

We did the R/T in December, so again can only comment on Aruba and Cartagena. In both places, we arranged private tours via operators recommended by past cruisers on the "Destinations" boards--Bully in Aruba and Leland Miles in Cartagena.

 

Aruba has gorgeous beaches. The island is dry, so not what a lot of people think of as tropical. So you might really enjoy a beach day there.

 

Cartagena has too much history, culture, and wonderful archtecture to spend the day at the beach in my view. In addition to the fort and La Popa, the old city has great sites including the Gold and Inquisition museums.

 

Have a great trip!

[Miss Jolly]

We walked around Aruba and then took one of the taxi/tour services (around the island) that are not far from the ship. It was economical for our family of four and personalised as to what we saw. I would recommend this. We loved our sail excursion from Princess in Huatulco. Have a super time - wish I was going too.

[Go-Bucks!]

Thank you all for the suggestions. Makes planning easier when you get recommendations from those who have been there. :D

[wethreecruzers]

Thank you all for the suggestions. Makes planning easier when you get recommendations from those who have been there. :D

 

We just returned last week from the full transit Panama Canal cruise on the Coral. I have port pics posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/karagines as well as my review on http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=775705.

 

Maybe that will help you. Enjoy!

 

Karen

[mauiedin87]

We returned a week ago from the 19-day L.A. to L.A. partial transit Panama Canal cruise and it's the excursions that we'll remember the most! Having reserved them on-line 120 days ahead of time, we were able to get the ones we wanted. Many of them were totally sold out by the time we got on the ship. The ones we liked best were: Highlights of Huatulco, in Acapulco the Botanical Garden and Bird Sanctuary, in Puntarenas the Eco Jungle Adventure (fantastic), in Puerto Quetzal the Auto-Chapin Drive Through Animal Reserve (beyond our wildest expectations), in Puerto Vallarta the Fiesta and Tequila Tour (great). We did not book excursions in Puerto Amador (and wish we had, namely the aireal tram!), Cabon San Lucas, Puerto Corinto (a very poor port), or Zihuatanejo where you can just walk into the small town. The only port stops where there are beaches fairly close to the dock are Huatulco, Puntarenas and Zihuatanejo.

[MQU]

In Pananama we went to the Embera village in the canoes. This was one of the best excurcions. The people were very friendly the their baskets are really a work of art. If you go on this , take extra cash to buy crafts.