Fodor's Caribbean Cruise Ports of Call by Fodor's

Author:Fodor's [Fodor’s Travel]
Language: eng, eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780804141734
Publisher: Fodor's Travel Publications
Published: 2013-11-25T16:00:00+00:00

Essentials

Currency

The U.S. dollar.

Telephone

You’ll find telephones inside Colón’s cruise terminal where you can purchase phone cards, a handy and inexpensive way to make calls.

Coming Ashore

Colón, Panama’s second-largest city, has little to offer of historic interest, and is simply a jumping-off point to the rain forest and a wide variety of organized tours. Infrequent cruise itineraries may include a day docked in Colón, rather than a partial canal transit. However, no matter how much time your ship spends in Colón, it is usually easier (and recommended) to take an organized shore excursion. If you don’t want to go on a ship-sponsored shore excursion, taxi drivers also await ship arrivals, and some can be acceptable private guides for $100 to $120 per day if you just want to explore Portabelo or San Lorenzo. However, as in any foreign port, before setting out with any unofficial car and driver, you should set a firm price and agree upon an itinerary as well as look over the vehicle carefully. It’s also possible to rent a car from either Budget or Hertz, both of which have desks at the Colón 2000 terminal.

Although entry time into the canal is always approximate, passenger ships have priority, and most pass through Gatún Locks early in the morning. Passengers booked on shore excursions begin the tendering process soon after the ship sets anchor, which can be as early as 8:30 am. Alternatives to excursions offered by your cruise ship are available from independent tour operators that can be arranged in advance through websites or travel agents. You will likely be informed that Panamanian regulations restrict passengers going ashore in Gatún Lake to only those who have booked the cruise line’s excursions; however, anyone who has a shore-excursion reservation with a local company should be able to leave the vessel. Before making independent tour arrangements, confirm with your cruise line that you will be allowed to go ashore after presenting your private tour confirmation to the shore-excursion staff on board the ship.

Colón 2000.

Two blocks from the Zona Libre is the city’s cruise-ship port, Colón 2000, which is basically a two-story strip mall next to the dock where ships tie up and passengers load onto buses for day trips. It has a supermarket, restaurants, two rental-car offices, and English-speaking taxi drivers who can take you on sightseeing excursions ($70–$100 for a full day). A second terminal opened in 2008 and became the home port for Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas, with the Panamanian government aggressively courting other cruise companies to set up shop here too. | Calle El Paseo Gorgas | 507/447–3197 | www.colon2000.com.

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