Enchantment of the Seas out of Colon, Panama

[karpems]

We are looking for our yearly cruise and came across the this trip(Jan 3, 2010). Looks like a great itinerary. Anyone ever leave from Colon, Panama? Experience with this itinerary? How far is the port from Panama City?

 

Stops are Colon, Panama; Cartagena, Colombia; Santa Marta, Colombia; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; Kralendijk, Bonaire; Colon, Panama.

[ajd187]

I looked into that one, it does sound neat.

 

However according to RC's web site, the cruise is geared towards Latin America customers, so Spanish is the primary language spoken on board. Not an issue if you're s Spanish speaker, but I'm not so we would probably avoid that one.

[jst]

We sailed on Enchantment in April from Panama to Ft.Lauderdale. Panama City is approx 2 hrs by road from Colon, and a great city to visit in itself. Columbia is really great, very old cities with lots of interest especially if you like to do city tours. Cartegena has a walled section which is the old city, and the whole city is really interesting to see. It is correct that when this ship sails from Panama returning to Panama, it turns into an immersion cruise with Spanish the primary language. The menus are in both languages and your daily compass will come to you in English just like normal, it's just that announcements will start in Spanish first, then English instead of the other way around.

Enchantment is a beautiful ship with a fantastic friendly crew, and if you like Latin music and the dances that go with it, it is a wonderful cruise:)

One other thing if you haven't seen the Panama Canal, it is very easy to do a tour to Miraflores Locks if you go in a day before (highly recommended), as they have several tours on Sunday morning by a tour company called My friend Mario, who will also pick you up at the airport and then on Sunday transport you to the ship, if you are not doing an RCCL transfer.

We can also recommend the Veneto Grand Hotel if you go in early. We did the RCCL transfer and it took an hour and a half on their bus and we were at the ship by 12 noon.

If I can answer anymore questions for you, just let me know.:)

[Mocorobabe]

187....It's 41 miles from PTY to Colon, about a two and one half hour trip depending on traffic getting out of PTY and hangups in the small towns and tie-ups on bridges and dams you cross.The cruise is great once you get to Colon port.

[karpems]

Thanks! I don't think the spanish part would bother us. I think we are going to book this cruise. We spent a week in Panama last year and had an amazing time. Any excuse to go back is how we feel!

[jst]

We are like you Karpens, we have booked the repositioner again in 2010:)

[BillB48]

One thing that may help the transportation from Panama City to Colon is the highway was opened at the end of April. While the distance will be about the same, traffic should move quickly and shave a little off the 1.5-2hrs drive.

[lacruiser]

We sailed this itinerary on it's maiden sailing back in December. It was a unique experience! My husband and I both speak Spanish, so the immersion aspect was not a problem for us; however, at that time they did NOT have any of the shore materials available in English. The compasses were available in both languages, just not the shore handouts. There were some glitches that have probably been sorted out by now, including embarkation (which was a total zoo; much worse than San Juan) and some transportation issues to and from Colon. We had quite the time with RCI in order to get ground transportation arranged to Colon and back! Sounds like that's a non-issue now, though. We loved the itinerary, and the ship as well. Some real highlights included fireworks as we departed Panama and Cartagena, and we entertained visiting dignitaries from both those countries. (I say "we" since we saw a lot of them in the CL). We arranged our own city tour in a taxi in Cartagena with a driver who assured us that he spoke English. (Yes, we both speak Spanish, but I'm not totally fluent and the Colombian accent was really hard to understand.) TUrned out that he only knew about 2 phrases... So, if you arrange your own tour and want an English-speaking driver, make sure you engage him in more conversation prior to leaving!;) We really enjoyed the trip, and we also stayed at the Veneto and had a wonderful experience there. Buen viaje!

[ajd187]

That is good to know that they also speak English on board, one more reason to do this cruise some time!

[jebl]

I did the repo last April. If you go check out TACA airlines. They are Costa Rican and we had a wonderful flight and free adult beverages. Very good service.

 

For transfer from PTY to Colon we used My Friend Mario. We had the original Mario (the father) and he is great.

 

Most of the live music onboard was Latin. A little of it is nice but after about the 4th night I had about had it.

 

In Costa Rica there is not much to do unless you take a tour. The Tortuguera Canal trip is wonderful.

 

Santa Marta didn't seem to have much so we stayed on the ship. Loved all of the other ports.