Day by Day on the Island Princess thru Panama Canal

This will be a day by day for our 15 day Panama Canal cruise on the Island Princess. A little bit about us. We are a retired couple from Texas that are happily cruising our life away! I retired from AT&T in Oct. of 2016 and my husband, Jerry retired from Emerson Electric. We adore cruising and are one cruise away from being elite on Princess. Princess is our preferred cruise line and we are very loyal to it. We just feel it fits us!

 

We flew into LAX the day before our cruise and stayed at the Best Western Plus in San Pedro. They cater to the cruise crowd and I would say the majority of the people staying there were on the Island Princess. We took a Lyft to the hotel and it was super easy and quick - $26 with my 10% discount code I had. When we got to the hotel our room was not ready and so we stored our bags in their closet and walked a half block to “Ono Hawaiian Barbecue” to have lunch. It was FANTASTIC! I highly recommend it, but there was also a Taco Bell and an El Pollo Loco in the same area. There is all fast food in the hotel area. We had two other couples arrive that afternoon we were cruising with. We finally got a room at 4:00 pm (which was their real check in time – don’t expect to check in early – they are that busy)

 

For dinner. we took an Uber Plus for all 6 of us to eat at the San Pedro Brewing Company. It was $6.25 for all 6 of us. This was a fun place to eat and had happy hour specials we all took advantage of. After dinner, we asked our Lyft driver to stop at a Vons so we could pick up water, soda and wine. It only added $3 to our fare for his wait – well worth it! We were pooped, so we all went to bed after we got back.

 

The rooms are extremely nice at this hotel. Spotlessly clean and large! The bed was comfortable and had a flat screen TV with a lot of channels. The only negative was we were on the Gaffey street side and heard a LOT of road noise. I would recommend asking for an even number room to avoid the street noise if you are a light sleeper. The complimentary breakfast buffet was very good. It even had scrambled eggs and bacon & sausage. I was impressed. Usual other suspects for a complimentary buffet. Only fruit was apples & oranges, I really missed bananas!

 

They have a complimentary shuttle, but it fills up fast. We signed up when we arrived for our party of 6, or we would have had to take a cab. Their shuttle holds 7 and they only take 7 every half hour – so a lot do not get a shuttle ride. They said a cab was $10 – so not a huge deal for the late arrivals.

 

We were on the 10:30 am shuttle and arrived at the cruise terminal at 11:00. Breezed right thru checkin ( we are platinum) and were on the ship at 12:00 pm. We all dropped our bags in our room and went right to the Bordeaux dining room for lunch. It is our tradition to eat in the formal dining room on embarkation for lunch. I feel like I am on a cruise when they shake out the napkin in my lap and place the menu in front of me. Woohoo – we are on a cruise again! Our party of 6 tried everything on the menu and all agreed they were all great. I love the salmon with lemon aoli sauce and always choose it. Jerry tried the chicken cacciatore and Bud had the file medallions of beef. We were all happy with our choices. The desserts were trifle, apple tart or orange soufflé. I abstained, but the others tried them all and gave them a thumbs up!

After lunch we wanted to unpack and were happy to see all our bags by the door of our room. Our room steward came by and asked for special requests and he told me the mattress was a new pillow top. (He did not lie to me!) We got one of the sideways inside rooms on the Plaza deck and LOVE it. The closets are enclosed and we have two double closets – so lots of hanging space. The bathroom is smaller than the ones we have had before, but we will manage. I like the desk area too. We got all unpacked and it was time for muster drill at 3:15 pm. It was efficient and over in 15 minutes. We then went outside to watch sail away on deck 7. It makes me sad that they keep butchering these ships and taking away the full promenade deck experience. They took out Skywalkers and added rooms and when this was done it ruined deck 7 too. It also removed half of the casino and it is very tiny and cramped. I was really disappointed that there is no Craps table either. It was removed when they butchered the ship and reduced the size of the casino.

 

We went to our formal dining room at 5:15 for early traditional seating. We are so lucky to have snagged a gorgeous table for 6 by a window. We have a great head waiter and junior waiter and they took great care of us. The rolls on the table were still warm --- how heavenly! We again all ate something different. The Basa filet was very good and several had the prime rib. It was tender and cooked perfectly. For desert the flourless chocolate cake was very good. Jerry got the always available cheesecake. Ice cream flavors were butter almond, Nutella and mango sherbet.

 

We went to the evening trivia and got 19 out of 20 and won! Our team of 6 is a diverse group including teacher, librarian, pilot, HR mgr., engineer and sales. We each have our own niche and did well with these general knowledge questions! The prize was a bottle of their cheap ship champagne, but we asked for trinkets instead and got magnetic chip clips and neck pouches.

 

We then checked out the casino as the welcome aboard show was at 9:30 PM. The casino was DEAD! The whole ship is very quiet and we have not experienced crowds at all. We have not been on the Island before, but have been on her sister ship, the Coral. So we had a general idea of they layout. She is in great shape and we like most things about her. It is odd to have the Lido Buffet in the very front of the ship. I am still trying to remember that. I like the layout of the buffet.

 

The Princess theater is very hard to get around in. It has no side aisles, only 2 center aisles. So getting out is a SLOW process and you just have to resign yourself to getting up and down to let people in your row. It is pitched very steep, so the line of sight to the stage is very good. It is a very intimate theater. The cruise director is Simone Smith. She is a beautiful woman and is from Canada. I think we will like her. Her staff seems to be high energy and ready to have a good time. The Princess singers and dancers did one number which was very good. The comedian for tonight was Rollin Jay Moore. He was okay, we will go see his show and see if he gets better.

 

The other choice for tonight were the usual suspects. Welcome aboard dance party. The band, Gemstone were in the Wheelhouse bar. Ray Coussins played piano in Crooners. Purple Haze band was in Explorers, so plenty of live music.

We were pooped so we went to bed after the welcome aboard show. If you have specific questions about the Island I will try to answer them. I am not going to post pictures as I do not want to waste minutes waiting for them to load. We have 4 sea days before we get to our first port – Puerto Quetzal/Antigua on 2/8.

 

Stay tuned!

Thanks for posting your review.

Thanks for your review. This cruise is on our list so we will be tuning in.

 

Cheers.

We are on this cruise beginning March 15. Leaving from San Francisco. Looking forward to reading your posts.

 

 

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Thanks for the review. FYI, the Island and Coral never had a Skywalker so there was nothing to remove. Skywalker on the Grand was removed due to structural stress and potential problems.

 

I agree that the removal of the Universe Lounge to add cabins makes the back of the ship look butchered. Friends had the new cabins and loved them.

Looking forward to the rest of the review as it progresses. BTW, we also thought that the Best Western Plus was great place to stay in San Pedro.:)

Thanks for the review. FYI, the Island and Coral never had a Skywalker so there was nothing to remove. Skywalker on the Grand was removed due to structural stress and potential problems.

 

I agree that the removal of the Universe Lounge to add cabins makes the back of the ship look butchered. Friends had the new cabins and loved them.

 

That's good to hear, Pam; a group of six of us have three of the new Vista Suites on Aloha Deck in early April.

Appreciate your postings and look forward to reading more. Very interesting!! Look forward to seeing it "up close and personal" during our early March sailing through the canal. We will be on the Island Princess, sailing Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco. Departing Feb. 28. So, hint, hint, hurry up with your full report so we can learn much more from you in the next three weeks before we depart for our first visit to the Panama Canal, Colombia, Central America, etc.

 

Picked up last week from the library and am getting ready today to finish reading the David McCullough book titled "Path Between the Seas". Fascinating!!! It's really a very special history in the context of the shrinking world at that time as railroads and canal were being built, etc. And, the health and weather conditions there were really challenging. Love reading more about what an accomplishment was this project and all related historic and engineering aspects.

 

Below are some graphics showing the cover of this book, a picture of its author and then three different visuals from that period of the construction and its early use. Great to be learning so much more about this period of time and what it took to make it all happen.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 47,325 views for these postings.

 

 

From the Bing website's visual library, here are some pictures of the book cover, the author and three samples of the canal construction and its early use. Looking forward in early March to seeing it all "in person", "up close and personal", etc.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for posting...have a great cruise!

 

 

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We are planning on doing the 19 day round trip on the Island (April 2018) so I am interested in what you experience.

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your cruise!

 

Have a wonderful time :)

We are planning on doing the 19 day round trip on the Island (April 2018) so I am interested in what you experience.

I took the 19-day in November/December. Great cruise. A lot of Elite, a lot of very old (80's with many in wheelchairs and scooters; according to the CD, average age was 74, including a baby) passengers. The pools were essentially empty. Zumba by the pool had a lot of people. Only three of us booked the Sanctuary for the cruise. Ports were terrific. I took a mixture of Princess and private tours. Loved the lectures by a retired British naval commander about WWII. Enjoyed the Crab Shack and the Bayou although it was noisy from the "cafe" area. Thought food and service were excellent.

 

The Canal authorities kept changing our arrival and departure time in the Canal so a lot of people were disappointed and frustrated when only one tour in the Canal actually left the ship. ALL of the others were canceled. I was fortunate to be on the tour, the evening we anchored to the new locks.

Thanks Gwen! I'm looking forwarding to reading more about your cruise.

Day 2 – Sea Day 2/4

 

We lost an hour last night, but I slept soundly. It is as quiet as a tomb on the Plaza deck. I did not hear ONE thing last night. It also was very calm seas, so no wave action on our floor at all. I was up at 6:30 and snuck out to go walk for 45 minutes. Instant frustration as there is no walking track, deck 7 doesn’t go all the way around. So I had to settle for small laps on deck 15 that was overlooking the MUTS and pool. It was very wet out, not sure if it had rained all night or not, but was very gray out when the sun started to try and come out. I found my hubby in the Patisserie. This is the shameful substitute for an International café they have on this ship. It is a tiny coffee bar with 3 small trays of miniature goodies. A woman was having a hissy fit, shouting at the employees, “Where is the International Café on this ship?” I decided to try and help and explained to her that there was not one on this ship and if she wanted breakfast sandwiches or the other items, she would have to go to the Lido deck. A very unhappy camper! I got a latte and Jerry some brewed coffee and went to the room to take a shower. There was NO ONE up! It is still eerily quiet on this ship!

 

We went for breakfast in the Bordeaux dining room and got a table for 2 by the window. Again, very few in here. I ordered poached eggs on 6 grain toast and Jerry got his over easy. I know there is a 15 minute wait noted for poached eggs, but it took them 25. We had a nice couple close by from Minnesota and enjoyed the wait. But my poached eggs were hard boiled. I was not happy and did not want to wait while they remade them. So, I had toast for breakfast. I also had a banana, so I will not starve! Jerry’s was cooked perfect. I will not order poached eggs again. Our friends all ate in the buffet for breakfast and raved about it. We will try the buffet in the morning!

 

We met our friends in the library/card room at 9:00 to play Hand & Foot Canasta. I am so in love with this area of the ship. A very extensive library of books to borrow. Comfy cushy chairs to read in and LOTS of tables to play cards, dominoes or mahjong. They even have a gorgeous view of the ocean too. Whoever designed this area gets an A+! Better than any other ship we have been on and we will be spending lots of time here. The girls beat the boys! We then went at noon to eat lunch in the buffet. I was so impressed with the bright cheery atmosphere and the layout is superb. Almost as good as the Royal Princess. We all found lots to eat and almost everything was tasty! We decided to all meet for trivia at 2:00 PM and I went to go line dancing/cardio class. Greg taught it and he was a lot of fun and got everyone moving and sweating!

 

Other activities in the morning were Zumba with our cruise director, Simone. Pickleball, morning trivia, Effy seminars, spa seminars, Princess Pop Choir and signups for the Scavenger hunt, scrapheap challenge, and Egg drop. For the afternoon, more trivia, Mini Olympics, The Man Who Knew Infinity movie in the Princess theater, flash mob class, more jewelry seminars and sales galore.

 

Tonight was our first formal night and the majority (90%) complied to the letter of Princess rules. Almost all men had on a suit. I saw no tuxedos. The variety for women was the usual from ball gowns to glitzy tops and black slacks. At our seating I saw no one who did not comply. This cruise is an older, more mature group and I think that has a lot to do with it. The menu for tonight did not reflect a true formal night dinner. I think on these longer cruises they really only have the better food at 2 of them. Tonight, they had Tiger shrimp, lamb chops, Red Snapper, beef filet medallions (same as embarkation lunch) and veal pasta. We had all of these covered and I tried the pasta. It was rich with red wine and I liked it. Marilyn finished mine off and wished she had ordered it instead of the red snapper. The maître d was cooking bananas foster tableside and so all but Jerry had that for dessert. It was nothing to write home about. I do love the homemade ice cream that Princess serves – it made the bananas taste better!

 

We then went to the Princess theater to stake out seats for the 7:30 PM showing of the new Production show called Encore – A Little Elegant Night Music . We had seen this on the Caribbean Princess and told everyone it was a must see! I was happy that we had great singers on this ship too. The guest soprano was Jennifer Fair and she had a beautiful voice. There was not a single seat left by 7:15. We went to the csino afterwards and Jerry was really lucky at 3 card poker. He got 4 of a kind with the dealer and walked out with $375! Lets not talk about my luck!

 

You could also have gone to an Effy drawing, danced to Purple Haze or Gemstone. Majority Rules Game show and the champagne reception was held in the atrium.

 

We turned in about 11:00 PM. Another sea day tomorrow!

Thanks to all for the nice comments and thanks for setting me straight about how this ship got butchered up! I am saving the patters so if you have an questions - ask away! The internet is fast in my room so I am trying to post early in the morning.Day 3 – Sea Day/ Superbowl Sunday

 

I started off the morning with my walking partner, Ron. We settled on Deck 7 and just kept making u-turns! We walked our hour together and the time flew by. I went by the Patisserie and brought Jerry his morning coffee and I got my skinny decaf latte. A quick shower and we were in the Bordeaux dining room for breakfast. We sat a large table of 10 and enjoyed getting to know them. I had a sunny side up egg this morning (learned my lesson!) and a piece of 6 grain toast. My fruit starter was bananas and prunes. Jerry had watermelon and his standard over easy eggs, link sausage and English muffin. The special was poached eggs over spinach with cheese sauce. No way was I even trusting them with a poached egg again!

 

We met our friends, Ron and Peggy in the card/library room at 9:00 and Peggy and I are keeping our winning streak alive! We waxed the boys AGAIN!!! We also are teaching Marilyn to play and she played the last 2 rounds with my excellent tutelage sitting beside her. We had the added treat of whale & stingray watching all morning too. We saw one large pod of whales go by and a lot of spouts. The stingrays put on an aerial show that is quite thrilling, shooting straight out of the water.

 

We went to the Lido Buffet for lunch and it was barbecue day. Being from TX, I was skeptical, but it was really good! The beef was so tender and the sauce was great! I sampled an unusual pizza too – I can’t remember the exact name – but it had fresh tuna, hot chili oil, red onions and artichokes – sounds awful, but it was yummy!

 

Other activities for the morning included the infamous shopping show, Zumba, knitters & natters, Ping pong, Make a poster for Panama Day, pickleball, spa seminar, line dancing, trivia, Effy drawings, flash mob class and the infamous Holiday store at sea.

 

We went to trivia at 2:00 PM and we WON!!! We got 17 out of 20! We are now 2 for 2! We all got their fancy flashlights! Woohoo! We left there and headed to the Explorers Lounge to stake out our seats for the Super Bowl! The art auction was going on. This is one of the mysteries of the sea to me why normal people would go on a cruise to buy artwork?????? They do ply you with cheap ship champagne – maybe they are all drunk???? It is amazing to me to see them sell so many paintings and most I wouldn’t hang in my house if they gave them to me!

 

They are showing the Super Bowl in 3 places. We will be getting an NFL feed – so NO commercials. There was lots of boos last night when Simone told us in the Princess theatre that it would have no commercials. It will be shown on MUTS, in the Casino and in the Explorers lounge. We bought our squares for the football pool in the casino for $10 per square. I hope we win! They are supposed to have special tail gate snacks and drink specials. Should be a fun time! I will let you know tomorrow!

 

This afternoon you could also have learned the Merengue, had a Spa Pamper party, listened to the enrichment lecturer who is a forensics expert talk about the “Lady Killers”. This was recorded and will be on our TV. One of the couples at breakfast said he was an excellent speaker. His name is Ron Bowers. I will watch the re-run when I am relaxing before I go to sleep. The afternoon movie in the Princess theater is Jason Bourne. Arts & Crafts – Mola Pouch (whatever that is).

 

(Writing this portion at 5:15 AM next morning)

 

They had a really nice buffet of food for the Super Bowl. Guacamole & Pico de gallo with chips. Meatballs, chicken wings, pigs in a blanket, chili and popcorn. They were also selling a lot of buckets of beer – Pay for 4 and get 5. Explorers Lounge was packed. 5 of our 6 watched till half time. Lucky Peggy went to the casino and won $400 betting 30 cents a bet on a penny machine. She was very happy! We did not eat the game snacks so at half time we wanted some real food. We went to the Lido buffet and walked thru the MUTS area. It was packed too and they had the same food buffet there by the pool. It was getting chilly and a lot of people were taking advantage of the blankets.

 

The Lido buffet had very few people in it. They had a wonderful station set up to cook fresh scallops, salmon filets or beef tenderloin fillets. I had the scallops and Ron had both the scallops and the salmon. The scallops were wonderful – sweet and cooked perfectly. I had some zucchini sautéed with mushrooms. They had made garlic toast that was a nice change also. For dessert, I had a tiny piece of pecan tart that was heavenly. Bud was the only die hard football fan that did not leave. He thought the snack food would make a good dinner!

 

Jerry and I decided to go play 3 card poker in the casino as we could watch the game in there – it was on all the TV’s. It was my turn to be lucky. I won $100. Jerry switched to the slot machines and he left $125 up. 4 of us decided to go the 9:45 show in the Princess theater. It was a great female singer, Jacqi Michaels. She featured the great female singers thru the decades. She started out with one of my favorite Beyoncé’s hits, “Rolling in the Deep” . I sing with the 5-time World Champion Sweet Adeline chorus, Rich-Tones from Richardson, TX and we had just competed in Las Vegas with it as one of our 4 songs in our finals package. We also do “Born this Way” and Lady Gaga had sung that one on her half time show. Jacqi did a Patsy Cline tribute that was really good too! I hope we can catch her again before she leaves in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. We were all pooped and went to bed after the show. The other evening activities included a Rock & Roll dance party & a Rock & Roll split the room game show. I would have really like to have gone to the game show, but we wanted to hear Jacqi sing and I am glad we did.

 

Another sea day tomorrow. I hope it is as clear and sunny as today was so we can continue to whale watch. The pool was packed today. Stay tuned!

Thanks so much, Gwen, for keeping us posted on your trip. My DH and I are doing the San Francisco - Ft. Lauderdale transit this coming October on the Coral.

 

This is really giving me a good feel of what to expect.

 

Hope the rest of your cruise is outstanding. :)

Gwen,

Thanks for your reviews and offer to answer a specific question.

If you have a chance to look around the ship, I am curious about the aft Emerald Deck after the remodel.

If you are standing on the open aft Emerald Deck, can you look into the balcony of the last cabins? I know before the remodel, that last balcony was very open to the deck and not at all private. It looks to me like there is now more of a steel wall there, making the deck and balcony a little more private.

Thanks and hope you are having a great trip!

Edited February 6, 2017 by HimAndMeGoCruising

Day 4 – Monday 2/6/17

 

Another early morning hour walk with Ron to start my day right! We are now going Southeasterly as the sun was already up at 6:00 AM. It is much warmer and muggy. Much easier to work up a sweat today. We both go to wake up our spouses and will meet for breakfast at 8:00 am in the Lido Buffet/Horizon Court. There is such a wonderful assortment of food and it is so fresh and so tasty. I cannot imagine anyone not finding something they would like.

 

After breakfast, we go to the card room to play Hand & Foot canasta. The girls win the first game (again) and the boys get the bright idea of swapping chairs. I’ll be damned if this didn’t work for them as they broke their losing streak in the new positions! We did not see whale one today. I guess we are out of the waters they are in now. If you are on this cruise – definitely watch the day you are near Cabo San Lucas. We were in Cabo while on our 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise in December, 2016. While in port we went on a whale watching excursion with Pez Gato and saw 4 pairs of whales that morning. We played cards till lunch time and met Bud & Marilyn in the Horizon court for lunch. With 6 people, we have found it is easier to do the buffet, then everyone can find something they like. After lunch we all go different directions and agree to meet at 4:30 for trivia.

 

This morning your other choices for entertainment were Zumba, trivia, line dancing, spa seminars, art seminar, Princess Pop Choir rehearsal, pickleball, and poolside tunes with Purple Haze. I am amazed that the poolside chair hogs did not make this cruise. I have seen no saving of loungers by various books and towels at any time. Granted, this is a MUCH older crowd on this cruise, but very civilized! The beautiful weather has them all full, but no chair hogs!

 

For the afternoon you could enjoy a dance class learning the Celtic Step, beginning juggling class, the old favorite – Dicey Wooden Horse Racing, a Master art print seminar, Acupuncture spa lecture, the afternoon movie – “Now You See Me”, elevator roulette and Snowball Jackpot bingo. Arts and Crafts was my choice and we got a very nice journal kit to make. We were told we got a great deal as there was supposed to be a charge for it, but they forgot to put the price in the Patter, so we got it for free. Mine turned out really cute and I enjoyed visiting with all the ladies at my table. I had a little free time afterwards so played a little 3 card poker – no luck.

 

At 4:30 we met for trivia and came in second. There were 2 questions on 80’s music groups that we were totally stumped on! It is really hard to find a table for 6 at trivia if you do not get there really early. This bar has an afternoon cocktail special of Buy one full price and get the second for $1 and I think 75% of the ship shows up for it.

 

For dinner, we had some Panamanian specialties on the menu. I tried the yucca fritters and they were very good. They were stuffed with a ground spiced meat and served with a chimichurri type sauce. We all ordered the beef with Bernaise sauce. It was very good. The other choices were Kingclip for the fish and a Panamanian hot pot with assorted shellfish. Bud & Marilyn celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary and they were sung to and served the yummy chocolate celebration cake complete with lighted candle. Bud is such a sweetheart, he brought Marilyn a beautiful orchid wrist corsage to dinner. She is picking out an emerald necklace in Colombia for her anniversary gift! We will all help her spend Bud’s money!!! Bud was excited about seeing (as he calls them) “The Dancing Girls” after dinner. At 86, Bud can still appreciate a fine pair of legs and his eyesight is NOT failing him at all when it comes to pretty young women! We all race to the Princess theater for the Production show, “Do you Wanna Dance?”. We have figured out if you want 6 seats together at the 7:30 show – you must arrive before 7:00 PM. So we get close up seats in honor of Bud and enjoy a great show. The female and male lead singers on this cruise are exceptional!

 

Your other choices for evening entertainment included the MUTS movie – “Now you see me 2”, Music & dancing with Gemstone, Big Band Ballroom dancing with the Island Princess orchestra in the Wheelhouse bar, Passenger feud gameshow and late night disco with DJ Elite.

 

We lose an hour tonight – so I am not sure I will make it up in the morning to go walking. I am really tired tonight so we go to bed at 10:00 – which is now 11:00 with the time change. The one blessing we have is how QUIET this ship is. We do not hear a thing down on the Riviera deck and the seas are like glass, so we have no wave action at all. Our bed is VERY comfortable and my steward, Antonio must have been telling me the truth about the new mattress. The pillows are a little too soft for my comfort, but I am making do. At home, I have a good memory foam pillow that I love. Wish I could bring it along!

 

For those interested in how the internet is working – I am finding it fastest in my cabin on the Riviera deck. It is super slow in the Princess theater in the evening. I have also had good luck in the atrium getting a good connection on deck 5 by the Patisserie.

 

Another sea day tomorrow – stay tuned! I am researching the questions that have been asked – I will post answers when I get them!

Thank you so much for your review! I don't usually comment on posts unless I think I have something to add, but I am enjoying your review so much - and particularly love that you give us details about what other activities were available. My cruisin' buddy and I have been thinking about doing this cruise, and you are making it sound very enticing!

Thank you so much Gwen for your fantastic reviews! I do have a question about the laundry. Does it take actual money or ships card? Also, is there laundry detergent on board or do we need to bring our own? Can't wait for our trip:)

To HimandMeGoCruising - I went to the Emerald deck and it is a fantastic view- but all you can see is the wake of the ship. No looking into any balconies

 

 

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For those interested in how the internet is working – I am finding it fastest in my cabin on the Riviera deck. It is super slow in the Princess theater in the evening. I have also had good luck in the atrium getting a good connection on deck 5 by the Patisserie. Another sea day tomorrow – stay tuned! I am researching the questions that have been asked – I will post answers when I get them!

 

Appreciate these continued excellent postings and your sharing of these many details. YES, look forward to reading more!! Keep it coming.

 

Just finished last night the reading of the 617 pages of David McCullough's "Path Between the Seas". WOW! The details for what was involved a hundred years back is pretty amazing. And to think that most of the poured concrete for these huge locks and most of the steel hardware is still performing is very amazing. Great engineering to build this canal, especially under the challenging topographic and tropical conditions that existed there in that jungle situation.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 169,571 views for this posting.

Thank you for your cruise updates.

Gwen,

 

Thank You so much for the reply! That is perfect, since we will be staying in one of those balconies so that is great news!

 

We are enjoying your reviews and look forward to the updates.

Thank you so much Gwen for your fantastic reviews! I do have a question about the laundry. Does it take actual money or ships card? Also, is there laundry detergent on board or do we need to bring our own? Can't wait for our trip:)

 

We live right next to a laundry and it ONLY takes your cruise card for both the coins you need to use and also for the soap and supplies. You cannot use cash for anything in there - cruise card only! Hope that helps!

Day 5 – Tuesday 2/7/17

 

Another early morning hour walk with Ron to start my day right! It is still warm and muggy. Much easier to work up a sweat today. We both go to wake up our spouses and will meet for breakfast at 8:00 am in the Lido Buffet/Horizon Court. Afterwards we play hand & foot canasta – the boys get the bright idea to swap chairs and I’ll be damned if it didn’t work. They finally won!

 

Other events this morning were Zumba, ping pong, Culinary demo, trivia, Gemstones around the World, art seminar, Pop choir rehearsal #5, $500 blackjack tournament, basic photo seminar, pickleball and a hair show. Ron Bowers, the enrichment lecturer continued with the “O.J. Simpson case”.

 

We checked out Alfredo’s – it is a lunchtime free venue that is held in Sabatini’s. They have 4 different pizzas to choose from and they are personal size. Jerry is still hacked that they do not have sausage pizza. I write it on every email we get after our cruises, but no one has listened to his pleas! After lunch we all go our separate ways. They are having some good clothing sales and Peggy and I check that out and buy some nice $10 tshirts. I have found the quality of the Princess tshirts to be very good. They are a higher quality than the cheap ones you find in port. Peggy buys a $10 watch too.

 

This afternoon you could enjoy pool games (it is beautiful outside and the pool is packed), 60 artworks in 60 minutes, texas holdem, wrinkle remedies, art & crafts – part 2 of the mola pouch, spa seminar and the movie on MUTS – The Proposal.

 

We all meet at 2:00 for afternoon trivia. We did not win because for every question we missed, we had one person with the correct answer and we talked them out of it! We had a good laugh seeing every correct answer crossed out and a wrong one in its place! We hope to do better in the future!

 

At 3:30 pm, Jennifer Fair, the classical soprano and star of Encore had a lovely show in the Princess theater!

 

This evening we had a great dinner in the formal dining room. Our groups favorite appetizers included Honey & Rum roasted pineapple, Gazpacho (some of the best I have ever tasted), beef & vegetable hot pot soup with empanadas and Black bean soup. Main dishes included pan seared Red Snapper with chili & cilantro, Chili spiced Szechuan shrimp, Red wined braised short ribs, Island jerk chicken and my favorite – Roasted pork belly! Tonight we celebrated the 11th wedding anniversary of Bud & Marilyn. We all shared in the lovely chocolate cake and took lots of pictures.

 

Rollin Jay Moore, the comedian had 3 shows in the Princess theater. The 7:30 show is always PACKED. We barely got 4 seats together. Marilyn & Bud were too tired for the show. He was really funny and we enjoyed him a lot. He is from Charleston, South Carolina and had a lot of Southern humor which we appreciated. The Yes/No Gameshow was right after this and is always so much fun to watch.

 

This cruise had the special on photos that you could pay $199 for all your photos. For a 15 day cruise it is not a bad deal if you haven’t had pics in a while. Tonight, they were even set up to take photos at sundown which was a really beautiful backdrop. They are having a lot of creative back drops, so people are getting their money’s worth! We donated a little in the casino, I cannot win at 3 card poker this cruise, but I did ok at the slots.

 

Tomorrow is our first port day – we will be in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. Almost everyone will be going 90 miles into Antigua. We are doing that so stay tuned for my port report!