Shore Excursions Rock on Panama Canal Cruise
By Joanne Pyles
AAA Central Penn

Experiencing the grandeur of the Panama Canal is an exhilarating vacation and taking shore excursions makes the adventure even more breathtaking. Based on a recent voyage on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s Brilliance of the Seas, here are just a few side trips worth taking.

• Panama Gamboa Aerial Tram
  This tour had a surprisingly great overview of the whole canal. The trip to the tram took about an hour with a stop at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, a positively top notch resort area in the middle of the jungle. The tram escort was very knowledgeable and really made the trip to the top educational and fun. At the top, we climbed ramps to the top of a seven-story tower. The view from the top was breathtaking. The widest part of the canal was directly in front, and we watched two ships pass each other. The weather was hot, but not as humid as expected. Good walkers would best enjoy this shore tour because the walk up the tower was difficult.

• White Water Rafting in Costa Rica
  This is one of the best shore tours I have ever taken. This trip had an age restriction of 60 from RCI, but one man received special permission to go. He didn’t need it; he was in good shape. I had done some white water rafting in Alaska, so if you’ve done that without any problems, think about this experience. We rode up into the mountains, with narrative about Costa Rica for about one and a half hours. They also addressed all of the safety issues, which is when I started to second guess myself. This trip was out of my comfort zone. We arrived at the start point and I was still very apprehensive and told the guide he scared me. He told me to relax and they would teach us what we needed to know. The next two hours were one of the best adventures I have ever had. We were in mostly class 4 and 3 rapids. After the first rapid, all the nerves were gone and so were the dry clothes. The water temperature was about 75 degrees.We started with six people in our raft, but finished with only five. One of the other rafts had an older woman who could not pull and they took one of our young 20-somethings to row. We actually did great, with one less! Our guide had us doing circles in the last two class 3 rapids. You will get wet. We wore old shorts, T-shirts and old sneakers. Sun screen was not recommended on the back of your legs, because of slipping out of the raft. A hot shower and hot food were included in the price of the trip and a CD of the trip was available for about $30.

• Jeep tour of Grand Cayman
  This tour was follow-the leader while driving a Jeep - great fun! I had been to Grand Cayman about 10 years earlier. The island still looked the same, and the water was beautiful. The Jeeps were in good shape, and we took turns with another couple driving. This was a great way to learn to drive on the opposite side of the road. No one in our tour turned into the wrong lane. We did get to see a resort on the windy side of the island, had a refreshment stop and met some other people from the ship who were spending the day there. They liked the pool, but it was too windy to use the beach Our tour ended at a hotel on the 7-mile beach and included a rum drink and use of the beach as long as we wanted to stay, with bus transfers back to the dock. The water at the beach was crystal clear and about 82 degrees. This tour was a great value and we even stopped in the Hell section of West Bay, Grand Cayman, and bought T-shirts that say "I’ve been to hell and back." What a great conversation starter.

Joanne Pyles is a travel agent at the Lebanon Office of AAA Central Penn