Coral - Independent Canal Tours

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Karin

Guest
Looking for local independent tour group for the ocean to ocean experience. We usually book our own tours which are half the cost and usually twice the length of time. Any input would be appreciated.
Karin
 
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Einstein

Guest
Just my =twocents worth but we chose NOT to want to risk the chance of missing the ship while in the canal so we booked the ocean to ocean thru Princess. We usually try and arrange our own excursions as well but this stop was just to iffy to take the risk. Wish U luck in finding a outside solution. :thumb

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MimiSail

Guest
You probably won't have enough time to do an independent ocean to ocean tour.

The Coral goes through the Gatun locks, lets off ONLY those passengers who have excursions booked through the ship (no one else can get off on the tenders in Gatun Lake), and then goes back through the locks and to the port of Colon (also called Cristobal), which is where people who do not have ship excursions can get off.

When we were on the Coral a couple of weeks ago they told the people getting off for excursions that the ship may not get to Cristobal until 3 or 4 pm. Even if you could et off the Coral earlier, like noon-ish, you probably wouldn't have time to do the tour--our ocean to ocean excursion took a good 8 hours.

So you might be able to do another tour on your own, but I really don't think the independents are as well developed/publicized as in other ports.
 
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Lisa

Guest
I agree with Mimsail....only passengers who have booked excursions through the cruiseline are allowed off the ship once it passes through the Gatun Locks....and this is controlled by the PCA (Panama Canal Authority). Passengers not booked on ship's excursions are required to stay on board while the ship exits back through the Gatun Locks until the ship docks in Colon.
 
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BB

Guest
We shy away from independent tours for very good reason.
On our cruise thru the Panama Canal two weeks ago on the Coral, the captain announces that one of the busses had broken down and the ship would be waiting for those passengers. We waited about an hour.
If you were on an Independent tour and the bus broke down, well you'd be in deep doo doo.. they don't wait for you!!
 
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CruiseAholic

Guest
Very good point BB, I remember in August 2001, on the Millennium, the ship was enroute to Alexandria, Eqypt. Due to the propulsion system on that class ship, which is it seems constantly experiencing problems, we were told we were arriving 2 hours late in to Alexandria.

Passengers with ships tours had nothing to worry about, the tours to Cairo were still a go, those to Luxor were cancelled and the passengers re-booked, if they so desired, on Cairo tours.

Those who did independent tours, had absolutely no idea if their guides would be waiting. Some were, some were not.

Also, of those who did independent tours, the company they used, which was supposed to have an english speaking guide with them, left the guide in Cairo, the driver spoke no english and they got stuck in traffic and made it back to the Millennium with only minutes to spare.
 
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Raven

Guest
BB speaks the truth - we were on the bus that broke down 2 weeks ago!!! They got everyone back to the ship about 8 pm or a little later........departure had been set for 7pm but the ship waited. At least I wasn't worried about missing the ship and learning Spanish as a first language ;)
 
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Karin

Guest
Hi!

I see you had a bus problem on your tour! That's two complaints about the same thing! Hummmmmm! I'd love to hear what date you were in Panama, which tour you were on, what happened, and what the ship did about it.

We were on the Ocean to Ocean tour and they put us on an old broken bus with a sticky accelerator, hardly any breaks, broken windshield, a driver that did not have control of the bus on the road back plus other stuff. It was such a scary experinece. They told us a sticky accelerator is nothing major ....right! After a lot of complaining they ended up only refunding half of the cost but we're going to Princess, Carnival Corp and others to see what can be done.

The ship also charged us additional port charges on board because they changed ports. What a shock that was.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Karin
 
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KS Sunflower

Guest
We went on the Ocean to Ocean tour on the Coral Princess in January. The bus was very nice. Actually, the man who runs the Ocean to Ocean was on the bus with us. He said he likes to check things out, at least weekly to see that everything is working alright. He also was on the boat with us through the entire tour.
Regarding the additional port charges. We were also charged $8.50pp on our shipboard account, but I noticed on our last credit card statement that it had been credited back to us. I didn't contact anyone to get the credit, it just appeared. Seems like it would be easier if they hadn't put it on our statement in the first place.

KS
 
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