alwalaska

22 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

But they are also common stops on cruises that do not visit the canal.  And people tend to not visit this board unless they have a question about the canal.

I think the stops in Nicaragua are often cancelled…. EM

Thanks.  Yeah, it looks like a cruise has not made it to Nicaragua since the COVID shutdowns.  My fingers are crossed, but I'm not booking it until at least one ship makes it there.  The Coral Princess (our ship) is supposed to go in July, so here's hoping.  It is the only new port for us and it looks interesting, so I'm hoping we make it.

I did post this question in all of the different areas too.  People frequently post in the Mexican Riviera area that Huatulco should be posted here and not there since most Riviera cruises don't stop there.  Hopefully, I get some info somewhere. 🙂  

Our cruise stops at the following ports:

• Puerto Vallarta
• Huatalco, Mexico
• San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua
• Puntarenas, Costa Rica
• Fuerte Amador, Panama
• Aruba

Does anyone have recommendations on a good location for the following activities?  Even better, do you have a specific tour operator or do it yourself way to accomplish it? 

• Horseback riding
• Snorkeling 
• Ziplining with an option for people the other people who don't want to zipline.
• UTV type thing, but something with 1 driver and one passenger or everyone as passengers. 

In Costa Rica, I'm hoping to see sloths, but the sanctuaries seem pretty far from the port. We do have a 12-hour day there.

Thanks!!!

Our cruise stops at the following ports:

• Puerto Vallarta
• Huatalco
• San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua
• Puntarenas, Costa Rica
• Fuerte Amador, Panama
• Aruba

Does anyone have recommendations on a good location for the following activities?  Even better, do you have a specific tour operator or do it yourself way to accomplish it? 

• Horseback riding
• Snorkeling 
• Ziplining with an option for people the other people who don't want to zipline.
• UTV type thing, but something with 1 driver and one passenger or everyone as passengers. 

In Costa Rica, I'm hoping to see sloths, but the sanctuaries seem pretty far from the port. We do have a 12 hour day there.

Thanks!!!

Our cruise stops at the following ports:

Puerto Vallarta

Huatalco

San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Fuerte Amador, Panama

Aruba

Does anyone have recommendations on a good location for the following activities.  Even better, do you have a specific tour operator or do it yourself way to accomplish it? 

Horseback riding

Snorkeling 

Ziplining with an option for people the other people who don't want to zipline.

UTV type thing, but something with 1 driver and one passenger or everyone as passengers. 

In Costa Rica, I'm hoping to see sloths, but the sanctuaries seem pretty far from the port. We do have a 12 hour day there.

Thanks!!!

11 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Each of those ports, except  Nicaragua,  have their own ports boards with tons of info on possible activities. Fuerte Amador is covered on this board.

 

Of those, I would snorkel at Aruba.

Thanks.  I was hoping to get opinions on comparisons here since the port was labeled Panama Canal and not Panama and most of these are common PC cruise stops.  I'll post the same thing in every port thread that is on my cruise.  Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Our cruise stops at the following ports:

Puerto Vallarta

Huatalco

San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Fuerte Amador, Panama

Aruba

Does anyone have recommendations on a good location for the following activities.  Even better, do you have a specific tour operator or do it yourself way to accomplish it? 

Horseback riding

Snorkeling 

Ziplining with an option for people the other people who don't want to zipline.

UTV type thing, but something with 1 driver and one passenger or everyone as passengers. 

In Costa Rica, I'm hoping to see sloths, but the sanctuaries seem pretty far from the port. We do have a 12 hour day there.

Thanks!!!

On 2/17/2024 at 11:14 AM, cruisetravel8 said:

Hi!  Is new cruise terminal open yet?  Or, do we tender?  We're on Emerald Princess departing March 6, 2024.  Also, is there free shuttle to/from Albrook Mall?

Hi. How you had a great cruise.   Do you have any info on shuttles or if we can catch an Uber at the port? 

On 4/29/2024 at 12:19 PM, Turtles06 said:

And here’s the black lighthouse on our northbound transit last year on the Gem (with the new Atlantic Bridge in the background) 

 

I was just looking at my 2017 photos and saw the pillars for that bridge and was thinking that the full bridge should be there by now. Kind of cool.

On 4/21/2024 at 9:52 AM, Cruise Starter said:

Has anyone else had problems linking another Booking number (to create shipmates for booking dining) within the new App or on the Ocean Ready webpage?

 

https://oceanready-personalinfo-ui.prod.ocean.com/

 

I cannot find within the App where I might do that and when I attempt to link the Booking number of my daughter and her husband on the Ocean Ready webpage, it keeps returning to the page to input the booking number without linking the bookings.  
 

It was far easier to complete this on the old App. There seem to be as many problems with this new App as there were with the previous one.

Yes.  I too am having this problem with the web page, but it is too early for us to make reservations, so I didn't know if this added to the problems or not.  I just wanted to try things out so that I could get the dining reservations as soon as we made the final payment.

9 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I just happened upon this page on Princess.com Personalizer.  I’ve done it before but thought it was moved to the app.  
 

Login

Check in

Dietary Requests

…Distilled water

…Low salt

 

i don’t see a place to write specific allergies.

 

I'm having a hard time with the website today.  I will try again and point you to where I added my allergies if I can find it again.  I can't even get to the dietary requests section today.

@mrell345 Thank you for the review and photos.  Did you do a ship tour or through a 3rd party company?  If 3rd party, which one did you use?

Thanks!

On 4/7/2024 at 7:35 PM, JRay21 said:

On Princess I did the “Rural Communities and Traditions” tour and it was fantastic. Here is the description: Get a feel for how local people live and work on this wonderful off-the-beaten-track half-day excursion. Designed to provide you with a glimpse into traditional Mexican life, you will first explore Piedra de Moros, a community kitchen where you will learn how to make perfect tortillas and tamales before tasting the food. See how the famous Teotitlan del Valle rugs are made from scratch in an interesting demonstration. Shop for embroidered items before moving on to a medicinal plants garden to observe a wide variety of healing herbs, citrus and banana trees. Continue on to Pueblo Viejo to a plot devoted to cultivating nopales (the healthy and tasty prickly pear cactus) with the opportunity to try some of its many different forms of preparation. Then settle down for a palm-weaving demonstration, after which you will be able to shop for more regional gifts before heading back to port, enjoying the stunning Sierra Madre mountain range in the distance.

 

I would absolutely do it again if they offered it on my next cruise. 

Hi. Can you please tell me more about your experiences on this tour?  My typical experience with Princess tours is they load everyone onto a bus stuffed into every available seat. Then after driving a distance, you all get off of the bus where you walk to place 1, stand around and wait for everyone to catch up.  Hear about place one, walk to place 2 (at a fairly rapid pace) then wait for everyone to catch up, hear about place 2, and repeat.  The other type I've seen is where you load and unload the bus multiple times which takes forever each time since there are so many people.

There are a couple of ports on this cruise where I'm tempted to give the Princess tours another try, but I don't want to be disappointed again.

On 2/3/2024 at 4:46 PM, Kathyvenice said:

I have the same question for my upcoming cruise in may 2024.  

Please come back after your visit and tell us about it.  We don't sail until Feb 2025.

On 4/21/2024 at 10:15 AM, Dermotsgirl said:

What if your dietary requirement isn't there, such as low salt ?

The web version of the app has an "other" box that can be filled in.  That is where I put my citrus and rolled oats allergies because they are too abnormal to show up on anyone's lists.

On 4/20/2024 at 4:59 PM, dickinson said:

May I ask why send an email and then at the MDR let them know about the allergies?  What is the purpose of the email?  Could one just let the MDR know on the first night?  I am asking because I will travel with someone who can not eat dairy.  Thanks.

1) It allows the cruise line to plan for how many people will be sailing with special dietary needs. 2) When I've added the info to my account (used to be email, now I used the web version of the app to add the info to my reservation), it is in the computer system and easier for the busy people in the dining room to look something up than try and enter all of the information into the system. 

On 4/8/2024 at 3:46 PM, Paula_MacFan said:

Agreed -- it took me about 10 seconds to open the app and look under Profile. 

I'm glad I used the website.  I don't have "popular" or "normal" allergens and there is no way to list other items from what I can see here.  On the website, there is an Other box with a freeform entry. 

On 4/5/2024 at 10:12 PM, CPs4591 said:

Thanks this is helpful.  Sure wish someone else who has been through this could help as well.  I mean I assume there are dairy free “milks” on board that I can get with coffee or room service, but are there?  Is there GF toast and bread?  Maybe someone who has been through this will see this thread.  Thanks for the help, though.  

I haven't sailed Princess in a while and my allergies are different from yours, but I was watching videos on YouTube and they showed a whole section of gluten-free pastries and muffins at breakfast and at least one gluten-free dessert was shown each day.  Every cruise I have been on they recommend that you not eat in the buffet if you have allergies, but mine are mostly annoyances, not life threatening. At the buffet, someone can get a chef to help you with ingredient info. I'm sure there is at least one non-dairy "milk" on board, but if you want a specific brand or type, I would recommend bringing your own. Although this is a really old email address, you can and reach out to dietaryrequest@princesscruises.com with your questions.

On 4/6/2024 at 10:36 PM, MacMadame said:

But not from smelling it. They'd have to eat it.

Actually, that is not true.  One of my daughter's friends when growing up could not go to restaurants that served certain types of seafood because the oils (or something) can become airborne and he would have very serious life-threatening reactions.  When they went on a school trip, he had to stay on the bus for one restaurant because there was a last-minute substitution of places and he couldn't go into the restaurant.  Luckily, his mom had packed a ton of non-perishable meals for him just in case. 

1 minute ago, cruisetilidrop said:

Also keep the keep the numbers and pin. During COVID I had to cancel a trip I paid with gift cards. Luckily I kept the paper hard copy. The money is refunded to the cards not a check back to you.

Thanks!! That is really good to know.  

@chrysalis Thank you for the menus.  Were you able to see all of them at the beginning of the cruise, or did you capture them on different days?

Once I have gift cards, do I need to give the info to my TA to may payments, or can I do it online on the Princess site?

26 minutes ago, KeepCalmBearOn said:

I think you can't just consider drive time when comparing airports, but the time from when you step off the plane until you are at your destination.

 

For example, at LAX, it can be a very long walk from your gate to baggage claim and then if you want to use a taxi of Uber, you have to transfer to a secondary lot for pick up. Overall it is very time consuming. Add to that that LAX is undergoing massive construction projects and LAX is a bigger disaster than it normally is.

 

LGB and SNA are small airports and very easy to maneuver through. I'd choose either one before LAX. SNA will give you the most flight options.

Good to know.  Thanks.  We had a surprisingly easy time at LAX this past Feb (but we stayed at an LAX hotel with a shuttle, rather than trying to get an Uber and all), so I wasn't as "anti" big airport as I normally would be.

17 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

They won't be, but basically Long Beach Airport is the physically closest airport to San Pedro-- about 20 minutes in normal traffic. That being said, service to and from Long Beach Airport can be limited-- if a flight gets cancelled or delayed you don't have other options like you would at larger airports. 

 

John Wayne and LAX are each about 40-45 minutes away but are larger with LAX having the most choices in airlines and flight times out of the three. 

 

If you have a direct flight from where you are into Long Beach and you can come the day or two prior and you feel good about it-- good option. Small airport that takes minutes to get through and close to the pier. 

 

If you want flexibility and the ability to adapt to changing things like delays or cancellations, LAX or John Wayne would be the way to go. 

Thanks.  We live in the midwest at a small airport, so very little is direct. Also, for this trip, we'll have a companion pass, so Southwest will most likely be the cheapest and all of the surrounding airports when I checked different dates (ours aren't out yet), were within $10 of each other. 

We do not plan on flying in the day of the cruise.  I'm wound a bit too tightly to be able to handle doing that. 🙂

I'm guessing since Long Beach is so much closer, the Uber or whatever transport we take to our hotel will be less expensive too hopefull.

23 hours ago, ccqueenanne said:

I got this 3-pack on Amazon and they even fit my husband's big boned wrist.I've used them multiple times already.

These look like they have square holes and the pictures of the medallion look round.  Does the medallion stay secure in this?

If price, airline choice, and route are all about equal, which airport would you choose for heading to San Pedro for a short hotel stay and then a cruise, and why?