Island Princess 10-Day Panama Canal Review - Not quite LIVE ... but close

[SweetAngel]

Day 9 – The Promenade

 

After enjoying a sailaway with our Cruise Critic friends, I headed off to Wheelhouse Bar for my daily dose of trivia. Then I took a walk along the promenade. I really loved the Island Princess Promenade, so I will include lots of pictures here. For some reason, most of the ships I’ve been on do not have a sea-level track where you can walk around the whole ship (without going up or down stairs). Island Princess, which is designed even narrower than most ships, still has this wonderful promenade all the way around the exterior. There are lovely bay windows all along the way with views into many of the beautiful lounges, public rooms, and restaurants.

 

 

Sometimes I would just stop and stand along the rail, staring out into the big blue sea. This was my favorite spot for sunsets. (Our balcony was perfect for sunrise, but I had to cross over to the other side for most of the sunsets).

 

 

If your balcony was above this spot, you may have heard me singing softly.

 

 

Note the comfy wooden loungers with cushions (as opposed to white plastic). They were strategically placed all around the ship.

 

 

In the splash zones at the end of the ship, there are walls enclosing the promenade. All is lit brightly at night. The time on the clock tells me it’s time to meet JD for dinner.

 

 

And, now, at last: the Chef’s Dinner … the dinner to top all dinners! I felt compelled to take a picture of the menu.

 

 

For appetizer, JD had the Quail and Venison Saddle Terrine, Gingered Red Onion Compote, and Mesclun Salad.

[SweetAngel]

Day 9 – Chef’s Dinner

 

For my appetizer, I had the Twice Baked Goat’s Cheese Soufflé with Garlic Sabayon. I liked it a lot, but it was very rich.

 

 

Then I had the Wild Mushroom Cream Soup with Madeira-Marinated Sun-Blushed Tomatoes. It was nice enough. I am not a big fan of mushroom soup, but I do love tomatoes. As I have stated before, I really do love trying the wide variety of soups offered on this ship.

 

 

In between courses, there was a Strawberry and Thyme Infused Lemon Sorbet. This is intended as a palate cleanser before the main entrée, and it is a course in itself. I don’t think anyone at our table realized that, though, so JD and I were the only ones at our table served while everyone else watched, wondered, and waited for the next course. This additional course was one of my favorite parts of dinner, and the sorbet had such a delightful flavor.

 

 

For his entrée, JD ordered the Seared Diver Scallops in Citrus Butter Sauce, Warm Vegetable Juliennes, and Red Bliss Potatoes. The vegetables were crisp and fresh. Sorry, the picture is blurry.

 

 

I had the Herb-Roasted Pink Rack of Superior Lamb with Rosemary Essence and Boulangere Potatoes.

 

 

Then, the dessert … yes … even better than JD’s coveted Love Boat Dream …

I had the Menage a Trois. All I can say is mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

 

 

Menage a Trois consisted of three tiny desserts served together on one plate: Chilled Mini Raspberry Panna Cotta, Tiny Gateau Opera, and Honey-Hazelnut Semifreddo with Nutella Twist. The raspberry was my favorite but each one was absolutely delicious. JD probably thought it was funny how I’d take tiny bites and close my eyes to savor the flavor. Heavenly!

[m steve]

for 2 months and can't believe you are still posting. I guess we didn't take enough pictures.

[sha88]

for 2 months and can't believe you are still posting. I guess we didn't take enough pictures.

 

Isn't Angel terrific?:D This has been the most wonderful review and pictures especially since I am on this ship to the Panama Canal a week from today.

[SweetAngel]

Day 9 – Evening at Sea

 

After dinner, JD and I went to Princess Theater to see the comedian, Rondell Sheridan. Immediately I recognized him as the television father from “Cory in the House” and “That’s So Raven.” Having two teens at home, I have spent a good part of the last five years with this man in my living room every night. So to me, it felt like having a family relation on stage. JD and I even moved a little closer once we realized who he was. Plus, he had us laughing so much better than the last comedian that Princess had on stage.

 

NOTE – Never move during a one-act comedy routine. You will be made the butt of a joke … which we were. But when I told my kids about it, they thought it was pretty cool that Cory’s Dad actually spoke to me.

 

Adrian Zmed even showed up to watch the comedy show; walked right in the main door and came down to take a seat up front. Rondell, of course, noticed and pointed him out too. It was a good show. After the show, I did notice that Adrian slipped into a nearby stage door rather than follow the audience out of the theater.

 

Directly following the show (at 9:15pm) was a 50’s & 60’s Sock Hop Party in Universe Lounge. JD and I stopped in our cabin to find something special to wear. Since we didn’t know about the theme parties ahead of time, we hadn’t brought anything special. We made-do pretty well, though. JD found a white t-shirt and jeans. I put on a sweater and a long black skirt that circled out wide when I danced. I also tied a long black stocking in my ponytail to give the effect of a scarf.

 

When we got to Universe Lounge, there were cute little decorations with Cadillacs and juke boxes hung up all around. The Cruise Directors were all decked out in the most darling costumes, greeting everyone at the door.

 

 

As late as we arrived, we were still able to find a table-for-two in the front row. The party started just as we sat down. It began as a show, with the cruise directors all coming out on stage in high energy and doing a little singing/dance routine. I loved it!!! They behaved as if they were the Princess dancers themselves, doing the Jitterbug and acting in character while performing the Hand Jive. It was great!

 

 

After that number, they spread out and pulled people up on the stage to dance with them, encouraging everyone to come on up. There was a good variety of 50’s & 60’s dance songs with a slow Elvis number (I Can’t Help Falling in Love) thrown in.

 

Then there was an Elvis contest with three previously selected contestants. The three had to take turns lip-synching, playing guitar, and showing their moves while the audience voted on a winner. It was really funny because one of the three was an exact Elvis look-a-like who we had all nicknamed “Elvis” earlier in the cruise.

 

 

We all thought Mr. Elvis had the contest won … that is, until the little old lady came out and went absolutely wild. She was hilarious. And she won by a landslide.

 

 

Then, everyone on stage was coupled up and made to compete in a twist contest with a balloon. The goal was to keep the balloon between your bodies while twisting without using your hands. It was very hard to do, and most of the couples were eliminated within the first minute. The couple that won, however, was part of our Panamaniac Cruise Critic Group. So we were all thrilled and showered them with thunderous applause.

 

 

In the blink of an eye, the party was over. An hour is such a short time for a party … but still plenty more to do onboard tonight.

 

So on we moved ...

 

Crooner’s Bar is in the middle of the ship, above the Atrium, and there is a nightly piano player, usually Roger Carr, who takes requests. Whenever I walked by, I would pause to listen to a song or two. Tonight I had my camera with me …

 

[DeerMe]

Your handle sweet angel couldn't be more appropriate. I sat down with my DH last night and went through all your pictures and posts. He was just enthralled with your pictures and said I must find out specifically what camera you are using. I know you said it's a cheapie Kodak but could you please be more specific?

 

We are going on a 19 day Panama Canal on the Coral Princess form Ft Lauderdale to Vancouver in April and the information you provided is just invaluable.

 

I want to say that while many people are giving you much well deserved praise I don't think you realize how much this has meant to some of us. I am in a wheelchair and will not have the opportunity to get to many of the places you went because of the lack of accessibilty. Your pictures and comments really made me feel like I had been there and for this I thank you. I also believe I might be able to line up some transportation with Lee Miles for a small tour of Cartegna so again thank you.

 

I only hope you have gotten half as much joy as you have given posting your amazing travel journal.

[lovetocruise1960]

Angel, thanks for the wonderful post. I keep getting alerts on my email and every time I click on this I remember how much fun everyone was!

 

Thanks a million for such a detailed account of "our" cruise.

 

Sara - A happy Panamaniac:D

[mrsshebu]

I couldn't agree more - this has been such a wonderful review - we leave on the Island on the 18th and every time I read a post I want to jump up and down with excitement!

[SweetAngel]

I sat down with my DH last night and went through all your pictures and posts. He was just enthralled with your pictures and said I must find out specifically what camera you are using. I know you said it's a cheapie Kodak but could you please be more specific?

 

My camera is a Kodak Easyshare MX1063. It's a pretty good everyday camera, fits nicely in my pocket. It's not so good in dark light. The zoom lens is decent, but only to a certain point. The digital zoom is completely worthless. Sometimes my lens cover sticks, and I have to pry it open. Sometimes I have difficulty getting the camera to turn on. Sometimes I curse at it.

 

Thank you for the kind compliments. I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

[SweetAngel]

Day 9 – International Crew Show

 

At 10:30 pm was the International Crew Show. I know it’s late (and after a full day in Jamaica too!), but definitely see this if you can. There are so many amazingly talented crew members on Island Princess. You will be impressed!

 

As we were waiting for the show to begin, the Cruise Directors came around passing out handfuls of balloons to everyone saying, “Blow these up.” That’s it, no further instructions. There were SOOOOOO many balloons, a handful for everyone in that entire theater. So we blew …

 

Then … well … what would YOU do with a bunch of balloons?

 

 

Exactly. It didn’t take long for hundreds and hundreds of balloons to go volleying through the air. I had never seen anything like it! What fun!!!

 

One of the balloons that landed in my seat had a message on it.

 

 

The balloons added a light, festive atmosphere that set the perfect mood for the humorous talent show. One thing for sure, it was a good way to wake up anyone who might have been sleepy. I thought it was such a creative idea, so I asked JD to take a picture of me with the balloons flying all around.

 

 

One of the highlights of the show was a cute little skit by the Cruise Directors. NOTE – The show is rated PG-16.

 

 

This last picture is not so great, but I included it so that you could see the Head Cruise Director, Paul, in a tutu.

 

[SweetAngel]

Day 9 - Room Service

 

After the International Crew Show, JD and I were completely exhausted. What a long, long day it had been. We were a little hungry, though, so we decided that it was finally time to try out the room service menu. Selections are limited, basically sandwiches and desserts.

 

 

Although the sandwiches were pretty ordinary, JD and I were both very happy with our desserts. I had a tasty custard, so yummy.

 

 

JD had a slice of triple layer chocolate cake, which he enjoyed as much as I enjoyed my custard.

 

 

And so … FINALLY … we ended Day 9.

[Colo Cruiser]

Glad to hear Rondell is still around. He is great!!

[Solara]

Sweet Angel,

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this review, it's fantastic. We sail on the Island in April (same itinerary) & I can't wait.

 

[doatrip2]

Thanks for the great review.

[SweetAngel]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this review, it's fantastic. We sail on the Island in April (same itinerary) & I can't wait.

 

:) Maybe I'll even finish this review before you sail. :)

[SweetAngel]

Day 10 – Final Sea Day

 

Today, JD and I decided to try out the dining room for breakfast. All the locations and times for meals are listed on a separate pamphlet that you receive on Day 1. Hold on to that pamphlet since the daily times are not listed in the Princess Patters.

 

NOTE -- The special meals: English Pub Lunch, Island Night Buffet and themed lunch buffets are listed in the Princess Patters.

 

 

One difference in the dining room is that you have a choice of juices beyond orange and apple. I chose cranberry juice. Then, for starters, I ordered a fruit plate … which seemed to be made just for me … in the shape of an angel.

 

 

JD ordered a bagel sandwich.

 

 

For the main meal, JD ordered soft boiled eggs, something we didn’t see offered in the buffet.

 

 

I had an omelet made to order, some bacon, and a cup of herbal tea.

 

 

This was my first omelet onboard since I refused to wait in Horizon Court’s omelet line. Sometimes it’s nice to relax, be served, and avoid the lines upstairs (although, as I said before, lines on this ship were all very short … except for the omelet line). My omelet was perfect.

 

Service at breakfast was pretty ordinary. I think the waiters had more tables to cover than they did in the evening, and thus they needed to move around quickly. As far as selection, it was nice to have a few choices not offered in Horizon Court.

 

I had thought the atmosphere in the dining room might be a bit more pleasant than Horizon Court, but it was just as noisy and crowded. At least, in Horizon Court, you could choose your table … which for us was usually in view of the water. In the dining room, we were placed at the front entrance with a view of people walking back and forth.

[Solara]

:) Maybe I'll even finish this review before you sail. :)

I hope you do! Thanks again!:)

[LOUBLOU]

Dear SweetAngel and JD. DeerMe suggested our roll call group read your reviews. It has been a wonderful and enteraining evening. I appreciated your positive attitude and gracious comments. Real and refreshing. DeerMe has been organizing our meet and greet and we are excited to meet her and DH. We have cruised Princess 3x, Royal 2x and Hal 1x. We really like Princess and Royal. The beds were excellent on Hal and that's the best we can say about them for now. We leave in 6 weeks and our family(3 - 18yrs olds) and friends travelling with us are all very excited. We will take your advice and add more to our trip by packing our good attitudes :D too. We are all Canadians from BC. Where is JD?

Hope you 2 can get closer together more often eh!

 

Thanks again for posting and making your cruise come alive for us too.:)

[billet]

Wow you just saved me a fortune. Now I don't even need to go on the cruise. thank you for the great illustrated review. I will however still go in April just to make sure your photos are accurate :)

[SweetAngel]

We are all Canadians from BC. Where is JD?

 

JD is from Wasaga Beach, Ontario -- not too far from Toronto.

[SweetAngel]

Day 10 – Final Afternoon

 

 

After breakfast, JD and I went to the very well-attended Hilarious Cooking Show … not your typical cooking demonstration, but very funny. One of the talented singing waiters from last night’s crew talent show even made a reappearance - to the delight of the crowd.

 

 

 

I left the cooking show early to attend the final Line Dancing Review with Assistant Cruise Director, Lauren at 10:30. We did a bunch of the dances that we learned over the last 9 days, and Lauren even gave us cheat sheets of all the dances so that we could remember them later.

 

Then, at 11:15, I went to my daily trivia challenge. Still no prizes for me. JD had won two different items by now – a shopping bag and a hat (‘cause he did trivia onboard while I was out on excursions).

 

There was an English Pub lunch in the Bayou Café today and a dessert extravaganza in Horizon Court, but we missed them both. We ate our final lunch hanging out by the pool on Lido Deck. Too bad this last day was cool and cloudy … but still oh so much nicer than where we would be heading tomorrow.

 

At 12:30 was the Princess Cup Golf Putting Final. The other seven finalists and I all gathered to see who would win the championships. JD came as my caddy. Luck was really with me today – I shot much better than ever – I actually got par on every hole except one. JD took a picture of my impossible shot that landed inches from the hole.

 

 

Although I didn’t win, Assistant Cruise Director Gui encouraged me to take a picture with the trophy. It was fun.

 

 

At 2:15, JD and I hung out at the Lido Pool to watch the passengers vs. crew in water volleyball. The passengers won by a landslide.

 

 

Afterward, JD and I did a little swimming ourselves. I wanted to try out the lap pool, but some kids were hanging in front of the current the entire hour that we were there. Yes, there were only a handful of kids onboard, but swimming pools are a guaranteed place to find kids on sea days. I did manage to sneak in and swim the current a couple times. Eventually I gave up and decided to come back after dinner when no one would be around.

 

NOTE- DO NOT plan to do an early evening swim on the final night or you will be sadly disappointed as I was. More later.

 

Now this is when I started getting really sad … because this wonderful cruise was coming to an end. I always hate to leave a cruise, but this time the feeling was worse than ever. I wonder if that’s because this was a longer cruise than I had taken before. This was my first 10-day cruise, and, being onboard this long, I was really feeling at home on Island Princess. It was harder than ever to pack and face the fact that I would have to leave this wonderful place. The people onboard, our cruise critic roll call group, the performers, the cruise directors, our room steward, the crew — they all felt like family.

[SweetAngel]

Day 10 – Dinner at Sabatini’s Restaurant

 

At 4:15, JD and I went to the afternoon trivia in Wheelhouse Bar … no prizes again, not even close this time.

 

Afterwards, we went back to our cabin to put on our nicest formalwear -- for we were dining in the exclusive Sabatini’s Restaurant tonight.

 

 

I like the look and feel of Sabatini’s. Walking down the hallway outside is like walking down an old European street along a pretty little restaurant. Through big glass windows, you see the interior.

 

 

We had made our reservations a few days earlier, but there were plenty of empty tables tonight. In fact, the whole ship seemed empty tonight.

 

 

JD and I were guided to a lovely ocean-view table where we could watch the sunset. In a glass on the table were several long breadsticks, and there was a breadbasket as well. We ordered a bottle of wine. As soon as we were seated the courses began coming, faster than we could count them.

 

 

The atmosphere was lovely, and our waiter kindly took a picture of us.

 

 

For every course, the waiter brought a tray around and explained what each item was as he put it on our plates.

 

 

Although Princess brags of 17 courses, we were unable to verify that. Several courses came out at once, so we couldn’t tell where one ended and another began. We couldn’t count individual foods because there were way more than 17 dishes served. JD and I will show you what we counted in the next episode of “The World’s Longest Cruise Review.”

[SweetAngel]

Day 10 – Dinner at Sabatini’s Restaurant (Continued)

 

The waiter keeps bringing things out as you eat, so there is never a clear distinction between where one course ends and another begins. I actually perceived the dinner as a 5-course meal since I was able to get five distinct pictures of the different platefuls of food. Here is what I called the first course: Greek olives, sun-dried tomatoes, shrimp, artichokes, and focaccia bread.

 

 

The second course consisted of more appetizers. There were different flavored pizza slices, calamari rings, crab cake, a cheese soufflé, and a fried vegetable.

 

 

The third course consisted of, you guessed it, appetizers. There was some ravioli in a white sauce and asparagus.

 

 

The fourth course was the entrée: Lobster tail. The portions may look small in the picture, but believe me, no one comes out of Sabatini’s underfed.

 

 

The fifth and final course was dessert. For dessert, JD had a special coffee.

 

 

I had a berry tart … perhaps one of my least favorite desserts on this voyage. But it’s so hard to top the Menage a Trois, Frutta e Fruiti di Bosco Gratinati, or the Love Boat Dream.

 

 

Dinner was very nice, and a classy step above the main dining room. The pictures may not show it, but the quality was excellent. The presentation and atmosphere were top notch. It was a pleasant way to spend our final night, although we ate until our tummies hurt.

[Pachutabelle]

SweetAngel, I am enjoying your review so much. We are contemplating this same cruise and you can bet I will read it again before I go. Thank you so much.

[5:00_Somewhere]

Just wow. What an amazing review. I can't thank you enough for sharing all this information and your wonderful pictures with us. I can't believe the amount of work you've put into this but, as you can tell by the other posts, it's clearly very much appreciated. We are very seriously considering doing this same itinerary or the full transit on the Island or the Coral next year, and I think this thread has pushed me over the edge. I'm ready to book now!!! :)

 

I also have to say ..., can you let us know where you're cruising next? Because you clearly know how to have a good time (even when stuck in an elevator :eek: ). You're definitely people I'd love to cruise with. :D

 

Thanks again, and welcome home (and condolences.) ;)