Cruisers: The other side of the coin

From the group of Facebook “Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) Latitudes Members” We are translating the following comment posted on Thursday, December 7th at 2:39 am by North American cruise passenger Jorden Marie Cruley, originally from Asheville, North Carolina, who arrived aboard the Norwegian Joy on Tuesday, December 5th: ” We finally arrive to the cruise ship terminal Fort Amador in Panama.

We stayed one night and then the whole day yesterday before continuing the channel. This is what I learned:

1. Terminal Cruises are not even close to offering full service. Yesterday we had a passenger disembarkation and boarding at the half-finished construction site/terminal.

2. They did not provide us with bus transportation to Perico Island during our full day stay and did not allow us to walk from the terminal to the shops because it was a construction site. Taxi charges $5 per person for transportation to shops/restaurants/trails half a mile away (if they offered us transport for that short distance). Taxi to the city is charged from 50 USD. Uber is available, but the Wi-Fi in the terminal was not working.

2.5 If you can get away from the port area, taxis are much cheaper cheap. We’re walking about a quarter of a mile and we were able to hire a cab that took us to Old Town for $5. They charged us $15 to return to Perico Island.

3. Passengers in transit (those embarking on a cruise in “back to back” modality in Panama), THEY HAVE On departure and return, they must formalize their passage through customs, but they do not have to carry their luggage with them.

4. It is highly recommended to communicate in Spanish. Most of the officials in terminal for cruises and drivers They speak English very poorly.

While our authorities have recently been bragging about their successes in attracting “tourists” through the cruise ship port, they should be reminded that cruise ship passengers are technically not tourists, but excursionists. Definition of tourist, according to World Tourism Organization, It is defined as: “those people who travel to a main destination other than their usual place of residence for leisure or business reasons, and who have a minimum stay of one night in that place.”

This is, for example, Dominican Republic In its tourism figures for the year 2022, it states 7 million tourists and one million passengers on cruise ships, which far exceeds our meager official statistics, which have been hovering around 2 million for years, if you can believe it.

Amen, it’s a pleasure passengers on cruises with the Amador cruise port It is not examined because it would certainly be in a very negative number. What Mrs. Cruley presented in her evaluations is very valid if instead of the existing hellish pantomime we intend to offer high-altitude cruise tourism on the isthmus.

Just like Tokumen, our two biggest places influx of visitors They are characterized by a notorious lack of customer service characterized by gangsterism, failures in all their offers and “I don’t care” from their officials who always have a list of excuses: what if Odebrecht, what if the previous government, what if rain or lack her, are we going to fix it soon, etc., offering terrible service that leaves a sour taste with those who still have the audacity to choose us.

A problem that must be solved in the short term is a disastrous practice “gringo pricing” of carriers, obligate the use of taximeters once and for all. Those who enjoy the privilege of “service in tourism” must pass a rigorous language test, especially English and, above all, a course of excellence in customer service, basic themes in other destinations where very successfully the carrier also wears the hat of a tour guide and offers its services with passion and dedication rare in our half.

Functional tourist administration It is measured not only by the obligatory vibrant year-on-year growth in the number of tourists, but also by excellent results in surveys on the satisfaction of tourists who express a desire to return and, furthermore, serve as volunteer ambassador of our attractions, increasing the number of tourists without the need for additional spending on advertising. A creative entity that maximizes the quality of our attractions creating new additional alternatives for continuous and strong continuous growth.

When it is reality, when mediocrity is not common the denominator of our actionsanother rooster crows.