Has anyone done the "Two Oceans by Railroad" excursion in Panama?

Question

What did you think of it? Would you do it again?

Answer 1

YES, we did the railroad ride a few years ago from a cruise on a Princess ship.  I don't remember what the tour was called by we got off of the ship AFTER it had gone through the Atlantic side locks into Guten Lake; took a tender boat to shore; boarded a bus and went to the train station.  The train was an old vintage train that had been restored and featured a lot of wood panels.  The trip was nice because the train tracks go through the jungle, but also in many places are right in sight of the canal.  There was also an observation platform at the end of each coach so you could go outside and see without having to take pictures through the windows, and also to get fresh air.

The train ride was about an hour in each direction.  At the Pacific side we again boarded a bus and went to the locks, saw a short film presentation and then watched a ship go through the locks from the ground.  Unfortunately for us there was one of those frequent heavy showers so we couldn't stay outside very long.  After the locks there was an additional bus ride to see from afar Panama City (across the bay) and also see the Bridge of America (think that's the right name) across the canal.

Then after seeing a few more sights on that end we went back to the train station for the ride back (about an hour) and when we got back our bus went on a tour of what used to be the US compound before dropping us at the port.

It was an expensive trip/tour (Over $100 a person) but I thoroughly enjoyed it and now I never have to go see any more of Panama.  But I did enjoy going through the locks and will if we can do the Panama canal trip again, but not the train trip because I have seen it twice, once going and again coming back.