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algriff

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About Me

  • Location
    Lincoln, NE
  • Interests
    fishing, woodworking, lawn bowling
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Princess & Holland America
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Caribbean & Panama Canal

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  1. I thought I was on the Celebrity board..my bad, sorry
  2. This will be our first Celebrity cruise so just have a quick question...Is there shampoo and conditioner in the bathroom or should we bring our own? Thank You
  3. You are right..we did have some problems with the app on the smartphones, but all we did was reboot the phones and the everything would work just fine..we had to do that a couple of times.
  4. Don, sorry this doesn't meet your exquisite standards..I wrote it as I remembered things, so it is just a running commentary of the trip. I didn't force you to read it, and you can keep your suggestions.
  5. We did get off at Grand Cayman. and took a city bus for I think 2.50 each and it took a nice ride around 1/2 of the island and when we got back to the port area we decided to take another bus to see the other half of the island and it cost a bit more and was not as quiet..the bus was full and the driver would just keep cramming people in there so not as much fun, but we did get to see pretty much all of Grand Cayman.
  6. Yes we were on the Caribbean Princess
  7. We chose this cruise because 4 of the 6 people in our group had never seen the Panama Canal. The itinerary wasn't all that great but the canal was the highlight of the trip. The first stop was Falmouth, Jamaica. Nothing much to report here since we had all been to Jamaica before so got off walked around and back on again. Next stop was Cartagena, had never been here so booked a hop on hop off tour from the ship. Got on the bus at the pier, went a short way and then they told us that the people who were going to take a 90 minute walking tour would stay on the bus, the rest of us had to get off and get back on another bus to continue our tour. The tour has 14 stops and we were informed at each one that the next bus would be by in 30 to 35 minutes. So if you got off and did some things you may miss that bus and wait another 30 or 35 minutes for the next one. So since none of the stops were that interesting on one ever got off the bus and we just had a long ride. When we were nearing the port the bus stopped and we had to all get of and wait for another bus to go to the port and then we waited some more until another bus tour got there so their passengers could get on our bus back to the pier. The bus then took us back to a big parking lot (not near the pier) and dropped us all off and said there would be free shuttles back to the pier. So a lot of shuttles came and went but they were not for us and finally a few came by and they took us to the ship. So that was a wasted 40.00 tour and I would not recommend it to anyone...very disorganized. The Panama Canal was the next day..we entered the locks at about 6:30 AM, so if you want to see that part, get up early and eat later. If you want to get up to the front of the ship for the best view you have to go outside on deck 7 (Promenade) and walk forward until you get to the stairs, go up the stairs to deck 8 and walk to the front of the ship...you cam do this from either side of the ship. You will have to be early since a few other people figured this out but there was plenty of room for those who were there. You will get a great view of all 3 locks, watch the gates slide back to let the ship enter the lock and then fill with water as you rise up. I think you rise 80 feet or so total in the 3 locks and then you go out into Gatun Lake and cruise around for awhile and the do it all again. If you want to watch from the back of the ship, go to deck 15, walk all the way thru the the buffet and out onto the deck where there are some tables and chairs, but you can get to the rail at the very rear of the ship and watch from there. You can take a tour from the ship which uses the lifeboats from the ship to shuttle you to shore and then go on the tour...we did not do that so cannot comment on that tour. Those people who do that get back on the ship after it has gone back thru the locks and is docked at Colon. You will not have time to get off in Colon if you did not take that tour even though they said you may have an hour or so to get off and back on when we got there...there just is not enough time to get off and back on again. After another day at sea we got to Limon, Costa Rica and got off and found a small van that for 20.00 each took all 6 of us all over the place, thru all the city streets, out into the country side, even included a river tour to see monkees, sloths, alligators. He took us to the edge of a banana plantation and explained all how that was done, he spoke very good english and could answer any questions you had so it was a fun time. I think the entire tour was like 4 1/2 hours..you just have to find someone at the pier and negotiate a price. Don't sign up with the first group of guys waiting right when you get off the ship. So the ship itself is showing its age..we had a balcony cabin on deck 10, and the walls of the balcony are paint spattered as well as the floor, they don't clean the glass under the railing very often so hard to see thru, so we cleaned it ourself by leaning over and washing it good. The room itself was very clean, not very big but OK. The International cafe is on deck 5 and they used to have free coffee but not any more, and of the regular coffee and specialty coffee has a charge but all the little sandwiches and dessert and stuff is still free, so still fun to there and sit around and chat. We had made reservations for the Coral ding room at 5:20 every nite for the 6 of us so we went down there the first nite just before 5 when the ding room opens, found the man in charge and saw a nice table for 6 by the window and asked if we could have that table so we got it and then asked if we could have it every nite and was told that was not possible. So the problem is that at 5PM people start showing up that do not have reservations as well as those that do and they just start putting people at any table. We finally got him to agree that if we showed up at 5 every nite he would give us that same table, but do not be late since he would not hold it past that. So we ended up having to eat at 5 every nite but for the table by the window and the waitress we had (her name is Criselle) it was worth it. If yo can get her table (she usually has 3) you will enjoy her very much...good luck. And as a side note, eating that early is not all that bad because the show in the theater starts at 7:30 and if you are not there by 7 you may not find a seat. It was packed every nite and by 7:15 the was not a single seat left. So eating early may be a good option..we were usually done in time to go to the theater and get good seats for all 6 of us with no trouble..that was between 6:45 and 7 PM. We tried to eat breakfast in the MDR on the first morning but it was so slow and everything came out cold, so we went to the buffet for breakfast after that. When to get off the elevators that are by the buffet (deck 15) if yo go left or right yu will see a sign for either Steamers Seafood or Planks Barbeque..Those are not open any more but you can go there and eat and it is usually less crowded that the buffet seating. And they also have another buffet in there towards the back end of the ship where you can get custom made omelets in the morning and just about anything else. Or you can go to the main buffet and get your food and then head back towards the aft end of the ship and find lots more seating there. Just remember if you go into the buffet on one side of the ship you cannot get around to the other side without going back out by the elevators or out the other end by the swimming pool. For a very quiet place during the day to go sit and read or play cards, go up to deck 19 to Skywalkers nightclub. You can only take certain elevators that will go to deck 18 and then you walk up a long ramp to deck 19. Incredible views and lots of comfy places to sit. At the forward end of the swimming pools on deck 15 is the Salty Dog Grille and Slice..great for hamburgers/hot Dogs, Pizza and other things. I will say that the Ocean Medallion works very well (we had heard so many stories about how bad it was to use and all that). When we got to the port I had not taken our pictures but had filled out all the other info so the lady took our pictures, was gone for 2 minutes and handed or medallions to us. We connected all our group of 6 together and we could find each other no matter where we were on the ship. And when you walked up to your cabin the door automatically unlocked and you just went on in. The are big pictures of the ship by the elevators and you just press your medallion on the symbol and you can find the other sin your party or you can click on any floor and find out what is there and then you can hit "take me there" and it will give you a route to take to get to where you want to go. Actually it works quite well and is very easy to use. I can't think of much more so hope you have a great cruise..if I can answer any more questions I will certainly try.
  8. I thought I read somewhere that there is a "Steamers Seafood" or maybe called "Planks & Steamers" on the Caribbean Princess. I think someone said you could eat breakfast and lunch there but dinner was a 12.00 charge. I looked at all the deck plans and cannot find such a restaurant so is there one and if so where is it, and has anyone actually eaten breakfast or lunch there. Always looking for little out of the way places. Thanks
  9. Tell me more about the chefs table..what is it, how many people can do it, is there a cost involved, etc. Thanks for all the info on this cruise..we will be going on the Feb 10 Panama Canal cruise. One other question...did they do surf & turf one night and if so is there an extra charge? Thanks
  10. Thank You..now maybe I can figure out our dining times
  11. Should have said showtimes on Caribbean Princess cruise on Feb 10.
  12. Can anyone tell me the showtimes for the Feb 10 Panama Canal cruise...Thanks
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