Coral and getting off ship in Gatun Lake

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wile1170

Guest
My Dad and I are going on Coral for the April 13th cruise, and had intended on getting off the ship in Gatun Lake, taking a taxi to the Gatun Locks to watch the Coral come back through from the land.....but from what my Dad is saying the brochures mention are that the only way you can get off the ship in Gatun Lake is if you take a tour.

I am hoping that some of the past Coral cruisers can provide some insight on this to let us know if they were able to get off the ship in Gatun Lake without being on a tour.....Hopefully this is possible because we were in PC last November and took the tours we had wanted too at that time....so we'd like to "adventure" on our own this time around....
 
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Kathy & Dave

Guest
We were on the Coral 3/4. You do have to have a ship's tour in order to get off at Gatun Lake.

Kathy
:)
 
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CruiseDiva

Guest
You can't get off the ship in Gatun Lake unless you are on a tour. We did one a couple years ago on Crown Princess and were picked up at the ship by the tour company's boat--no one went ashore in a ship's tender. Even if you were able to go ashore there on your own, we didn't see any taxis near the Canal zone and you'd have a difficult time arranging transportation. I strongly advise not looking for "adventure" in Panama!!!
 
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sunnyv

Guest
Safety is a major issue in Panama and when we were on the 3/4 Coral we did do a ship's tender to shore to meet our tour (We did the Dome train, great tour!). When the ship goes back thru the Gatun Locks and docks at Cristobal passengers can get off but it's later in the afternoon. There was a very nice terminal building there which is where our tour returned us.
 
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Lisa

Guest
So, if you take the train tour, you should be up early to watch the ship go into Gatun Lake through the locks as you will not be on board to watch the ship exit the locks, correct?
 
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wile1170

Guest
Thanks to all of you for your responses....less than a week to go until the cruise...so now it's time to start getting anxious.... My Dad and I will take a tour off the ship in Panama and hopefully take one that times the return canal transit with the tour being at the observation deck at Gatun....we'll keep our fingers crossed....
 
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