Panama Canal (Cruise Into Canal) Port Reviews

I love the locks. If you don't have an excursion, you don't debark.

Bucket list item. Must experience it! Take the $6 each way taxi to the beach.

We enjoyed the process of going through the canal and we booked the two oceans by railway excursion. The actually train ride was fantastic. However they had us go get in line at 10:15 at the Stardust theater to get our number to disembark the ship for the tender. That itself was a little cluster of disorganization once we got seated with our tender number they called them out and we got in line. It was noon before we got on a tender. They then put us on the bus and took us to the aqua Clara Lakes center. Which was supposed to be a museum and observation area. It leaves a lot to be desired. Yes you can observe the boat floating in the lake from their observation area. At this point it was almost 1 o’clock we had had breakfast at 9 AM in order to get in line to get off the boat on time for our excursion. There was nowhere to purchase food at the observation center they did have a vending machine but there were six other buses there and you couldn’t get near it. Also the bathrooms were unusable at the center they had no running water to wash your hands and the sewage was over pouring from the toilets. After an hour there we got back on the bus and headed to the train station. We loaded the train at about 130. They did give us a snack which consisted of chips and peanuts and a cup of coffee you could also purchase other snacks and bar beverages. The train ride was about 45 minutes and was very beautiful the highlight of the day for sure. Once we arrived in Panama City we were met by our bus driver who took us to a shopping market and gave us 30 minutes. It’s now 3:30 and we have had chips and peanuts. With no place to buy any food. There is a small convenient style store next to the shopping market where we were able to get more chips and water. As we’re getting back on the bus we get handed a “sandwich” which is turkey I think on a hotdog bun. We drive another 30 minutes in the bus stopping so people can get out to take pictures of whatever landmark they are pointing out and we are all starving. At this point I have a headache from no real food. We then get taken to a duty free shopping area there is a restaurant but we only have 30 minutes of time before you have to be on the bus and you’re told by the restaurant they can’t guarantee that we will get our food that quickly especially since there were five other buses there. I honestly would’ve been fine with the train ride and going back to the boat we were actually 30 minutes late getting back to Colon and had to basically run to the ship. At this point it’s 8 pm in the dining room and the Buffay are closing in an hour and a half so no time to freshen up just go get something to eat quickly. What should have been an enjoyable day was not because of lack of food.

Kind of underwhelming. Was expecting to do old locks.

Very interesting experience. I’ve been through smaller locks before, but these are massive. Very smooth change in water height in each lock.

This was amazing, going thru the locks and learning about the history and seeing the activity and traffic from all the ships.... true engineering gem.

I have always wanted to see the Panama Canal and this was an entertaining and relaxing way to do it.

This was an unforgettable experience. Be ready to take pictures. I didn't take an excursion but I heard from others that did and they said that it was a great experience.

We stayed on the ship to go through the Locks. Great way to see. However, next time, I think I would do the train excursion. Heard lots of good reviews from other passengers.

Interesting to watch