Panama Canal Tours Pacific Queen — Attraction in Ancón

We had a party of 4 and advance booked the partial transit tour through our travel agent. Our tour was on Feb. 11, 2024. We were transported by bus from the Panama City tourist marina to a dock at Gamboa (approx 45 mins) where we boarded the Pacific Princess. We departed after a short wait for the arrival of the canal pilot. Gamboa is about at the midway point of the canal and we proceeded from there through the Gaillard Cut at the continental divide then through the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks to the Pacific Ocean end of the canal. Our boat "locked through" with a large cargo ship so we had excellent views of the lock operation for a large ship. After departing the last lock we went through the commercial port and had views of container ships being offloaded. The Pacific Princess has 3 decks, the top deck open sided with a canopy and the 2 lower decks enclosed and air conditioned with plenty of seating. A tasty hot lunch was served buffet style on the lowest level. Water and soft drinks were free at the bar. The boat is equipped with 6 unisex bathrooms. Overall the boat appeared well maintained and operated. Our guide Juan was a fount of info about the canal that was delivered alternately in English & Spanish. The total length of the cruise was about 8 hours but your experience may vary depending on ship traffic through the locks. The tour ended back at the Panama City tourist marina where the trip started. Overall we were very pleased with our tour and felt it was a good value. The boat seemed near capacity for our tour so it's probably best to...

Fantastic experience! You will love it! I went on the tour Saturday, December 14 and loved it. I want to share My experience. For the northbound tour, you have to arrive at Flamenco Marina by 7 AM. You will be Checked in by a roving employee. Also you will be checked in at the MAIN ticket office which opens Promptly at seven. You are given a colored armband Which is used very effectively for crowd control. The Pacific Queen is 120 feet LOA 25 feet BEAM three decks.(2 enclosed air conditioned, and one open air above) Seating capacity 300. My tour had 150 people. I had the privilege of having Louis as a narrator.OMG Listen to him he is wonderful!! Full of information and obviously loves his job and his country!! You are called to the breakfast and lunch by armband color. Very organized. The lunch (Green salad, pasta salad, and cookies )was served to you as opposed to you touching utensils. Drinks are complementary. You will be bused back to flamenco. HINTS: If you want to sit on the top open air deck, you really must arrive at flamingo much earlier, than suggested because Boarding is by first arrivals In-line. My tour of 150 people had 2 buses and 3 transport vans From Gamboa to flamenco If you can get on the van, that is preferable. Even though it’s A partial transit it is a LONG HOT day. Hydrate, hat and sunscreen. I hope that you ENJOY this great tour as...

The southbound partial transit tour on the Pacific Queen exceeded our expectations. Transiting the locks with a container ship in front and a car transporter behind and seeing the engineering, some of it more than a century old and still in use today, was quite an experience. Our guide, Luis, was extremely knowledgeable and explained everything in English and Spanish. The buffet lunch provided was very tasty and they also sell local beer. Couldn't really ask for...