99Cruiser

On 3/6/2021 at 7:37 AM, hobbyfarmer2 said:

Remove towels reserving deck chairs on pool deck after half an hour or so.  Sick and tired of going to breakfast and seeing every deck chair reserved with no on in them and a couple of people in the pool.

I've removed towels and when the person comes back I say there was nothing on the chair when I got there 🙂

It was funny on one cruise my wife decided to play trivia and I had some work to do so instead of sitting in the cabin I took my laptop to the lounge  where trivia was and sat in the back to do work.  An older lady came up to me and said "that's cheating".  I said excuse me, I'm not here for trivia, I'm just sitting in the back working.  She said "my team will sit next to you to make sure you don't cheat".  I said ok, but I don't have a trivia answer form AND, the money it costs to be on the internet isn't worth the $1 coaster you can win.  She ended up sitting next to me and kept watching me.  I asked since she was so interested in what I was doing if she wanted to help me with my spreadsheet 🙂

Hot Dogs from the Grill

13 minutes ago, STREETKING said:

Did you take it, was it for a specific cruise or could you pick your own itinerary?

There were a few dates but unfortunately I won't have enough vacation time built up to use it.

On the last day of my cruise a few weeks ago I got an note in my mailbox for a 10 day cruise at $299 plus $1000 in casino credits.  I guess when you gamble and win a lot on the ship they want you back to get their money back.

2 hours ago, EastBay Cruisers said:

Thank you for the review ! That was very helpful.  We're leaving for the Canal in 2 weeks, and we appreciate the information on the best shipboard locations for viewing the Canal transit.  -- EBC

That location was the best place.  Some people said when they got to the door there was the do not enter and they just went anyways and nobody said anything.  Even the ship photographer was on that deck taking pictures / videos. 

We had this same issue last year.  We got to Anchorage about 4, found a near by coffee shop that was opened 24 hours and booked our own train ride to Whittier.  The train left about 9AM and we got to Whittier around 11 and went straight onto the ship. 

2 hours ago, SVBing said:

What days  are the formal nights on?

I believe it was the 2nd and 7th.  They were both sea days

These forms have always been helpful for me so I decided to write my first review.

A little about us.  We are both in our late 40's and elite on Princess and have been on over 30 cruises.  We have sailed on Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Viking Ocean.  We had been on this  s itinerary before but wanted a trip with sea days as we like to relax by the pool.  It had been almost 20 years since we did the canal and it's such an amazing thing.      

We landed in Fort Lauderdale early in the morning and was at the port by 9:00AM and figured we would have a long wait in the humidity prior to check in. We were wrong and they began the check in process around 10AM and we had our key cards in hand by 10:20. We were in the preferred check in lounge for about 30-45 minutes and around 11:15 it was announced we can get on the ship but couldn’t get into the cabins. We went to the grill (I love Princess Hot Dogs) and had a nice relaxing lunch and around 12:30 an announcement was made we can go to the cabins. Since we had taken a red eye we took a nap for a little while prior to the boat drill. After the boat drill we were relaxing on our balcony and the sky decided it was going to open up and the rain came HARD.  Coming from California we are not used to the hard rain storms.  

Dining

Food is such a personal thing and I am not picky and found the food to be very good. I love the grill and had it most sea days but did have the pizza a few times and it was much better than the past few cruises. My wife had the buffet most lunches and thought the selection and food was good. It was never hard to find a place to sit but it wasn't always easy to find a waiter to get a drink.  For dinner we had late traditional sitting and the food was good to excellent except for one night when all of us (we were at an 8 top) thought the food was just ok.  We never had breakfast so I can't comment on how it was. 

Cabin

B-637 This cabin is a bump out (I believe that is what it's called) and was in a great location near the elevator / stairs and only 2 decks below the pools. Our cabin steward Raul was great.  He met us the first day and asked if we had any special requests (we like ice in the bucket at all times and pool towels since we prefer to shower with them) and never had an issue.  We had a light bulb out in the cabin and told him in the morning and by the time we got back after he made up the room it was fixed. 

Enrichment Activities
We didn’t attend any of the talks about the canal and I guess you can put the Art Auction in this category and that was ok / good. The auctioneer didn’t spend a lot of time speaking about the artist or artwork and was more eager to sell the art but they were fun to attend.

Entertainment
The production shows, singers and dancers were good but a few of the comedians were not very funny. Cruise Director Kevin and the Cruise Staff Jade, Lucy and Anthony were fun, outgoing, personal and made the cruise enjoyable. If there was a few negatives it would be on sea days they could have had a few more activities and it was disappointing that football was not on MUTS as it has been on many of our other trips. Also, the last day of the cruise which was a sea day the lido pool was closed for “scheduled maintenance”. Why would you schedule maintenance on the last day of a cruise?

Fitness Center
I used the gym almost daily and it was a decent size with plenty of equipment but it's not in a great location.  It's located on the 6th floor with no windows and I think this is one of the first ones I can remember that is not on a top deck with windows so you can look outside while working out.

Onboard Experience
The ship is in good shape for her age but a few places in the hall ways on the Baja Deck (Deck 11) that had a bad odor but thank goodness it wasn’t near my room and we would avoid that area and go the opposite direction to the stairs / elevator.

Service
Almost everyone we came in contact with were extremely friendly and helpful EXCEPT in 2 areas. 1) The Passenger Service Desk. They were very cold, no smile and it almost felt like you were disturbing them. We had gone to ask for change for a $100 bill to go on shore and we got a look like we were inconveniencing them. 2) Shore Excursion Desk. We were on the waiting list for an excursion and went a few times to see if there was a chance to get on and asked if we were to book a different excursion and got cleared from the waiting list if we can cancel the 2nd tour? Again you would have thought we were asking a lot as she said it wouldn’t be the preferred method as it may take a spot from someone who won’t cancel but if that’s what we want to do we can. We just wanted to make sure we got on one of the 2 tours. We didn't think it was asking too much.

Shore Excursion

Jamaica - Good Hope Estate Thrill Seeker - We had been to Jamaica before so didn't need to do the waterfall or any of the tourist stuff so decided on this tour as it would be FUN.  We did river tubing, ziplining, jumped off a cliff into the pool and they had a water slide.  They provide a good lunch and unlimited rum punch.  We had a small group (7 people) and we all got along great and had a super fun time.

Cantagena - Highlights of Cartagena - Again we had been here but we didn't do a tour last time so wanted to see some of the city.  It was a good tour and our guide was great but there was too much time at the shopping center and felt that was wasted time.

Canal Transit - We went to the front of the ship on the 11th deck.  In the early AM there was a sign that said do not enter but it was removed by 8AM and it was a GREAT place.  There may have been 15-20 of us so it was not crowded.  We were right under the bridge and the captain was smiling for pictures for us. 

Colon - Embera Indian Village - It was about a 45 minute bus ride and then about a 30 minute canoe ride to the village and it was a great experience.  BUT, be ware, this is in the rain forest and it DOWNPOURED on us the entire canoe ride back and we only had small backpacks and were worried about our phones and cameras getting ruined.  If you take this tour bring a poncho for yourself and plastic bag for your belongs just in case. 

Limon - Sloth Sanctuary -  They are so cute and move so SLOW.  You don't get to hold or touch them but get within a few feet of them.  They also take you on a canoe ride and we saw an alligator, turtle, sloth and howling monkeys.  

Grand Cayman - Dolphin Swim & Stingray Encounter - We had been to stingray city and swam with the dolphins years ago but it's a great experience.  The tour itself was great BUT our tour guide not so much.  He started out great talking about the island and history then he started to talk about a plant on the island that cures cancer but the government is keeping it a secret so it doesn't put pharmacy companies out of business.  He then fiddled with his phone and showed us a video about this plant.  It was just WEIRD and not something you want to hear about while on vacation.  

Disembarkation - We did self walk off and were off the ship by 8:15 and in an Uber by 8:30

Overall it was a great relaxing cruise, if there is one continuous complaint about Princess is every time you turn around they are trying to sell you something else with the exception of on deck. This is one of the first cruises I have been on that I either had to hunt down a waiter or go to the bar myself to get a drink while on deck. Normally the waiters are all over the place and this cruise they weren’t.

Please let me know if you have any specific questions

I just got off the Island on Sunday and didn't find it to be over crowded at all.  Yes as the previous person mentioned there was a line around the atrium at dinner time but that was just people waiting for the doors of the dining room to open and 2 minutes after it was opened the line was gone.  We had traditional dining so I'm not sure of the wait for anytime dining. 

There was never an issue finding seating in the buffet and the lines at both the grill and pizzeria went very quickly.  

We never had an issue finding a seat in the main theater but there were a few shows in the Explorers lounge that had an overflow of people and you couldn't find a seat.  

Let me know if you have specific questions.

It would probably be best to put some on each but if the total bill is going to the same credit card it really doesn't matter

I just got back Sunday from the Island Princess and had a gift sent to me but also bought casino credits.  For the OBC, if you have anything left,  I would go to the casino and ask for that amount in chips and then you can cash them in and get the cash back.  There are no fees and it's much easier than waiting for the refund

I'm sorry you are probably not getting the answers you were looking for but we are all just being honest with you.

I've done the LA to Hawaii cruise twice and like others have said, unfortunately there are very few teens and your kids will most likely be bored.

We have looked at the tours and nothing really excites us. I get discounts on rental cars and can get one for under $40 picking up in Fort Lauderdale and dropping off in Miami so the shuttle would be more than that.

If we can get off at 7, we can Uber to the airport to get car rental and then go get breakfast before heading out and just sight see.

I'll be getting off the ship in Fort Lauderdale and my flight is at 3:00PM out of Miami so I am thinking about renting a car for part of the day but was wondering what time I would be able to get off the ship if we took our luggage off ourselves?

I figured I can Uber back to the airport and get the car and will have some of the day to do things in the area.

Give me some suggestions to do in Fort Lauderdale or Miami for the morning.

On a 10 day cruise I usually will tip the steward $50 the first day I meet him and ask the following:

• 6 pool towels per day. We usually go to the pool during the day, the spa before dinner and also like to use them to shower with
  
• Ice in the bucket at all times
  
• 2 patters
  
• Most importantly - whatever my wife wants....Happy wife, happy life.
  

I explain that I have prepaid the auto gratuities and if everything is good I will tip more at the end of the trip. I am a big believer in big tipping and never mind tipping a lot.

12:45 landing will be find IF....and that's a big IF your plane is on-time. If you are late by anymore than an hour you could cut it close.

23 days until the Island Princess

Thanks for the info, I will be on the Island for the first time next week, hoping to get some good forward view on approach to San Francisco (Golden Gate). Last time around on the Star, they left all forward viewing areas locked until after we passed the bridge, lots of unhappy people!

 

 

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Can you report back after your trip on how the ship and staff is?

Thank you

I always buy casino credit before I leave and do it for a few different reasons.

1) I'm a big gambler and don't have to carry the cash to the ship....and just hope I have to carry A LOT of it off the ship.

2) I purchase the credit on my Princess credit card so get double points. Because I pay off my card every month I always buy more credits than I actually need (bought $5k on my last cruise) and just cash them out in the casino and take the cash home....it gets me more points on my card.

I feel your pain! It was also painful to be on the cruise that ended early, and the one that was cancelled, and the one after that, and flying home to the US and back just 8 days apart.

 

I hope the Pacific Princess stays around for a long while. It perfectly fits a need that I’ve seen in the cruise industry by providing a slightly more premium experience for a slightly higher price, without putting it in the Azamara/Oceania price range. It proves that people are very willing to pay a little more to get that kind of old world cruising.

I follow your blog and was looking forward to meeting you and G.

We ending up sailing on a Viking ship (which was gorgeous) instead so we still got to go on vacation.

Sure appreciate all this useful information. We are booked on the Island for the Nov. 20 ocean to ocean cruise through the Panama Canal. Now we know not to book the sanctuary and to find a place to stand on the Promenade deck. - EBC

This is why I love Cruise Critic, you can ask for information / help and you will get many members that will give advise with details as to why you should or shouldn't do something.

To add to this question, is the

Does the Island Princess have a Sanctuary and would it be a good place to be to go through the Panama Canal?

Thank you

And besides the obvious - what additional compensation did you receive - at least 50% off a future cruise???;p

of course a refund (and refund on all out of pocket expenses) we were given future credit for the amount we paid for the cancelled cruise.