Colon (Cristobal) Gatun Locks Excursion Reviews

This was a great tour. The locks were amazing and the Indian village trip was excellent. But be warned you will get wet on the boat trip to the village.but an awsome experience.

Provider: Independent Operator

In Panama, the Coral Princess docks at Gatun Lake and only allows passengers who have signed up for a Princess tour to leave the boat, as per Panama Canal Authority regulations. The boat returns back through the locks and then docks in Colon, where passengers on Princess cruise tours are able to reboard. We signed up for a short tour Gatun Lakes Cruise and Locks so we would be able to give our son a nap before he got overtired. Unfortunately, we were not informed until the day before Panama when it was too late to switch tours that there would be a substantial gap between when our tour ends, and when we would be allowed to reboard the ship. We were told at the end of the tour that we would be allowed back on the ship in an hour when it docked. The ship arrived on time one hour later, but no one was allowed to board for another hour, and the Panamanian authorities would not tell us when we would be allowed to board. That led to two very long hours standing outside of an elevator at the port in Colon with a screaming toddler who needed to nap. If we had known about this gap ahead of time, we would have either chosen a longer tour with the Embera Indians or simply disembarked in Colon and taken a cab from Colon to the nearby Gatun locks (although if you are planning this, please check the operating hours at Gatun locks, since I don't know what time they close, and the docking time for the Princess boats at Colon can vary based upon canal traffic). People without children who take short Princess tours in Panama are not likely to experience significant problems with the delay in reboarding the ship, since there is a very affordable supermarket and several restaurants with free wifi in the Port of Colon. The Princess Gatun lake cruise that we took was not very good, since there was very little wildlife (two monkeys and one sloth) and no other ships on Gatun lake. Wildlife and ship traffic are not guaranteed and on another day people might have more luck seeing interesting things on this tour but overall we were disappointed that our only Princess tour was the most disorganized tour we took on this cruise, and we would not want to utilize cruise tours in the future. Travelers with disabilities or those with small children should note that there are approximately 150 steps to climb to reach the viewing platform at Gatun. There is a platform on ground level for visitors with disabilities, but you can't really see much from there. Parents can, however, take turns with one supervising children on the downstairs platform, and the other climbing the stairs to watch the locks in action. People with disabilities may prefer taking a Princess cruise tour that brings you directly to Miraflores locks, which has a restaurant, a museum explaining the history of building the Panama Canal, and an elevator. Miraflores was chosen to be the visitor center because it is located closest to Panama City, but Gatun generally has more ship traffic so you have more of an opportunity to see the locks in action at Gatun. Princess passengers who want to travel to Miraflores should book this tour prior to departure to ensure that it isn't sold out, since passengers will be unable to travel to Miraflores independently. You can also cancel tours on the boat (I believe they require 24 hours notice for a full refund) so please consider booking a Princess tour if you think you might want to travel to Miraflores.

Provider: Princess Cruises

at this port you need to book an excursion.

Provider: Celebrity Cruises

I really enjoyed the Locks. We saw a few ships going through the locks and it was fascinating. This was the best part of our cruise in my opinion.

Provider: Celebrity Cruises

A must see! It only took about 30 minutes to see how things work and we got to see some huge ships go through, very interesting.

Provider: Independent Operator

We wathced three ships transit the Gatun Locks and then visited the observation area for the new lock construction. Very well put together tour and truly worth the cost if operation of the canal is of interest to you.

Provider: Celebrity Cruises

Definitely checked going through the Panama Canal off the bucket list!

Provider: Independent Operator