What to do in Puntarenas????

[breenw]

What do you recommend doing in Puntarenas? I see lots of comments on shore excursions for Limon, but not much for Puntarenas? Any suggestions from all you pros???????

[bobnsandi]

[quote name='breenw']What do you recommend doing in Puntarenas? I see lots of comments on shore excursions for Limon, but not much for Puntarenas? Any suggestions from all you pros???????[/QUOTE]

Since we are stopping there on our upcoming
Panama Canal cruise, the happy bunch over
at the Meet and Mingle have been much discussing
that port and activities.

Also, I saw a good description of a local tour
on the Ports of Call->Costa Rica, just down
several pages.

Our M&M:

[url]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=16211[/url]

Info about one local tour:

[url]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=83794[/url]

I did a little Googling, and found:

[url]http://www.letsgo.com/CORI/09-CentralPacificCoast-37[/url]

Also, if you go to Royal Caribbean's website and follow
the links to "destinations", you can find a writeup
on Puntarenas connected to the Panama Canal
section.


Hope this helps.

[VikkiGarcia]

Make sure you do some shopping at the stands along the beach. This stop has a great selection of items. Lots of regional and handmade things. Plus the prices were great. This stop had the best shopping on our Panama Canal cruise. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[bobnsandi]

[quote name='VikkiGarcia']Make sure you do some shopping at the stands along the beach. This stop has a great selection of items. Lots of regional and handmade things. Plus the prices were great. This stop had the best shopping on our Panama Canal cruise. If you have any questions feel free to ask.[/QUOTE]

A little off-topic, but it is probable that people visiting Puntarenas are
probably doing a Canal transit:

Which cruise line were you on?

How was the Canal transit handled? We are more interested in
riding on the ship and viewing the transit. Will the ship
stop and let off passengers for land excursions during the
transit?

Appreciate any information you may have.

[DEL67]

We stopped in Puntarenas two years ago while on a Panama Canal cruise. Like you, I could find little out about Puntarenas. After some research I found that there were beaches and nature preserves within a reasonable distance. However these were not practical because my husband is disabled and uses a wheelchair.

After more research, I found a company that would hire us a van with a driver for the day. We (5 of us) went to the Poa Volcano and then to a zoo/preserve that was reasonably accessible. Both were enjoyable, but they were a long drive from Puntarenas.

[VikkiGarcia]

Bob: We were on Legend of the Seas 10/03/04. The trip and ship were great. For the first time through the canal I recommened staying on the ship for the full transit. The only people who seemed to do excursions when we stopped in the canal were people who had done the same route before and wanted to see something different.

[bobnsandi]

[quote name='VikkiGarcia']Bob: We were on Legend of the Seas 10/03/04. The trip and ship were great. For the first time through the canal I recommened staying on the ship for the full transit. The only people who seemed to do excursions when we stopped in the canal were people who had done the same route before and wanted to see something different.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the information.

Sounds like you had a great time, and we are certainly looking
forward to our (very soon!) trip.

Were you Eastbound or Westbound? Does it make
a difference?

Is there a preferred "side" when you transit the
canal? We figured out that you are generally
travelling either North or South, so I guess
the question is whether the "east" or "west" side
is more interesting. We are travelling "north"
and our balcony cabin overlooks the starboard
(right) side. Will be be OK for the whole transit,
or should we walk around and try other viewing
areas of the ship?

Since you were on the Legend, any advice concerning
the ship? Any particular food that you enjoyed or would
rather avoid in the future? Entertainment? Good quiet
spots on the ship to hang out?

Well, that is a pretty extensive list of questions, thanks
for any advice you can provide.

Also, please note that we have a "meet&mingle"group,
the link is above. If any of the posters there are completely
off-base, we would certainly like to know in advance
if we're getting incorrect information.

Again, thanks for your reply.

Bob Swanson