Panama City - Post Report Question and Answers
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Panama is a good place with challenges. You need to have the right language and people skills to navigate this city. - Dec 2021
Previous post reports had mentioned poor customer service so much that I had built it up to be terrible in my head. Upon arrival, I thought it was much better than it had been described, but after a year here I would concur that customer service is generally bad, with the caveat of you just have to get used to how it works. You will need to clearly ask for what you want and call over servers when you need them, otherwise they generally won't go the extra mile. You will also get cashiers who roll their eyes at you for interrupting their conversation and hardly say a word to you. It's not that you're a gringo, they're like this to locals, too. Just kill 'em with kindness. Occasionally you'll be surprised with some really great service and it makes you appreciate it even more. - Mar 2017
We met a lot of awesome people here. - Jun 2015
Despite is facade of being like Miami, one only has to scratch the surface slighlty to realize that this is a third world country. Power and water outages regularly occur on a weekly basis. Despite the prevalence of high rises, construction standards are below U.S. standards and many cannot be leased for Embassy housing. Maintenance problems are a regular occurence. On the positive side, you can find many types of different restaurants and products in the gorcery stores. There is also interesting flora and fauna to watch. I also enjoy watching vessels pass through the Panama Canal. - May 2015
The traffic can be very bad in the city, but if take a zen view and not be attached to when you arrive you will get less aggravated by the chaos. - Sep 2011
Panama offers an intriguing political/economic situation and world-class amenities with third-world management. - Apr 2010
if you have any dietary needs or special medical needs, make sure to bring everything with you~ - Dec 2009
The housing prices are going up here, and the market is being flooded with condos with a supposed ocean view. Many people are disappointed to find that their beach side property has no beach. There might have been good deals here before, but now they are rare to come by. - May 2008
I had been to Panama in the 80's and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now it seems different, much more commercialized, with people out to make a buck anyway they can. It gets old very quickly. We will not return and I would never consider it a good place to retire. We've enjoyed our other four tours in Latin America but this stands out as a major disapointment. - Apr 2008
