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Panama Cruises via Colón

Panama Canal
The fascinating city of Panama
Two Ocean railroad journey

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Colón

Panama Canal, wild nature and native peoples

Panama is synonymous with the Panama Canal. While Panama connects Central America to South America, the Panama Canal, which opened in 1914, connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean, reducing shipping time with this channel that connects 160 countries and 1,700 ports around the world. Hailed as an engineering marvel, the artificial waterway with its elaborate lock system is one of the great achievements of the 20th Century.
Arriving on an MSC Caribbean and Antilles cruise into Colón, Panama’s gateway city, you’ll encounter the irresistible juxtaposition of ancient and modern, artificial and the natural, as enormous computerized container ships transiting the canal slice through primeval rainforests teeming with fluorescent frogs and elusive wild cats.
 
MSC Cruises excursions offer plenty of exciting things to see including:
 
• Panama Canal
• The fascinating city of Panama 
• Two Ocean railroad journey
 
Book an MSC excursion to hop on a ferry that will take you the length of the Panama Canal, through lakes and locks and past the Centennial and Americas bridges. Finally, you will arrive at Pacific port at the entrance of the Panama Canal, for a 90-minute bus ride back to your ship. 
 
Hop off the ferry and take a tour of Panama City the capital of Panama. Panama city was the first settlement founded by the Spanish along the Pacific coast. The city offers a blend of Colonial architecture mixed with modens 21st century buildings. An MSC Cruise will not only take you to Panama City, but also to Casco Antiguo, also known as the Colonial City. Casco Antiguo was originally the captail of Panama and it is full of historical buildings such as the Cathedral, the national theatre and the Las Bovèdas walkway. End the excursion by visiting the Agua Claras Locks and see how the Panama Canal operates on a daily basis.
 
Feeling adventurous? Travel from one ocean to another in only one hour by embarking on the Two Ocean Railroad journey. This train leaves from the Caribbean coastal town of Colon and arrives to the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. The one hour journey has many different scenery changes and is sure to be a highlight of your cruise holiday.

Must see places in Colón

Discover our excursions

    Republic of Panama

    A captivating exuberance
    A captivating exuberance

    Encompassing cloud-forested highlands, glorious palm-fringed islands, vibrant indigenous cultures and Central America’s most ebullient capital city, a holiday to Panama offers a surprisingly varied landscape for such a small country.

    This slender, serpentine nation has a unique history: from the loot-laden mule trains of the Spanish Camino Real to the scything open of the rainforest by the world’s most famous canal, Panama has long proved valuable as a shortcut between the Caribbean Sea and Pacific waves. 


    Constituting a biological crossroads, too, the isthmus boasts an even greater density of plant biodiversity than Amazonia. 

    Panama’s compact size means the vast majority of its sights are easily accessible. 

    On a cruise to Panama you’ll encounter the irresistible juxtaposition of  ancient and modern, artificial and natural: vast computerized Panamax container ships transiting the canal slice through primeval rainforests teeming with fluorescent frogs and elusive wild cats, only half an hour by dugout from where Emberá villagers practise subsistence agriculture. 


    Visiting the country’s fringes and little-visited interior, you can explore archipelagos and untracked jungle, basing yourself in small towns, friendly villages and remote eco-lodges, and from Volcán Barú – Panama’s highest peak – you can witness the unique and breathtaking sight of the sun rising over both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.