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

[SweetAngel]

Thanks so much for posting about this cruise on Island Princess. We will be taking the same ship/itinerary in 2010, and we can't wait. I am anxiously awaiting the rest of your report and pictures.

We are not planning to take formal clothes on this trip. Will we be out of place around the ship on the evenings of formal dinners? We understand that we will be eating in the buffet on those nights, but were hoping to be able to be out and about on the ship even though not formally dressed. What are your observations on this?

Also, what time did you arrive at the port to get on the ship? Thanks for your replies, and keep on posting additions to your trip report! :)

 

Formal wear is only expected in the dining room and only on those two formal nights, so you will be fine in the buffet. Whether or not you feel out of place is up to you. I generally could care less what other people wear, but I have to say that it was really odd to see the couple in white tees and shorts on the glass elevator amidst a ship full of people in fancy black formal wear. (Seems nearly all formal wear is black).

 

We arrived at the pier about 12:30 and were settled in our cabin by 12:50.

[Ms. Alpha]

We will be doing the Panama on the Island in March 2010 and I'm enjoying reading your posts and looking forward to the rest!!!

[texasgirl29]

Love your descriptions and photos -- what a great attitude also!

 

My 9 year old looked at your photos with me and said, "Are you trying to taunt me?"

 

JoAnn

[BOAT N BOB]

We are booked on the ip dec. 10, and i would like to know if many gentleman still wear tux on formal night. I don not want to be the only one wearing a tux, as I experienced on a carnival cruise several years ago.

Juano

 

We will be on this cruise (Dec 10) and I plan on wearing a tux, so there will at least be two of us wearing one. I also got mistaken for an employee once on a princess cruise ship. I was carrying a bottle of wine for all of the people at our table that we had got as a gift, when some lady walked up to me with a glass in her hand and asked me to pour her some. I told her i didn't work for princess, tha I was a passenger too, and she walked away with her glass empty.

[SweetAngel]

Day 2

 

After our sushi buffet, JD and I tried the qualifying round of the Princess Cup Golf (miniature golf). There were about 20 people competing, but only the top two qualified for the finals. We had fun trying. The tiny golf course is mid-ship on Deck 15 in an enclosed open-air room which is often very windy. In case no one is around to help you, the complimentary putters and balls are found inside the golf bag by hole #1.

 

At 2:00 pm, we had our Meet & Greet with all the Panamaniacs in our roll call group. Princess reserved the Wheelhouse Bar for us and sent a few of the ship’s officers and staff to greet us (thanks to Darkenstormy, who had sent personal letters to select members of the ship’s crew). The Cruise Director, Paul, and his assistant CD, Leah, were there to meet us along with Mario the Maitre D’.

 

 

 

 

Then I spoke to the group and gave out prizes (limited edition tropical coconut m&m’s) for the 500th post, the most posts, the founder of our roll call group, etc. We stayed and chatted for quite awhile. I even coaxed one of the Panamaniacs, Carole, into going with me to Afternoon Tea.

 

 

The tea (3:30-4:30pm on sea days) was quite nice with the waiters bringing all kinds of little sandwiches, desserts, and of course, scones with jam and cream. The live piano music added some elegance to the occasion.

 

Later in the afternoon, JD, who loves golf, wanted to try out the golf chipping competition. So I tried it too. We had to try and chip a golf ball over a short wall and into a hula hoop floating in the Lido Pool.

 

 

I’m not much of a golfer, so I had trouble getting over the wall, but I did get one ball over the wall and actually made it into a hula hoop! JD did very well, ending up in a 3-way tie for second place.

 

 

JD also tried the Nearest to the Pin Competition in the golf simulator and did very well there too, but no prizes were given out for the golf activities.

NOTE to you serious golfers -- These activities are done in fun, and the cruise directors do not watch that closely and are not always consistent with the rules. Just try to go with the flow and enjoy yourself.

 

We went back to our room and JD introduced me to Jose, our cabin steward. Jose was friendly and efficient. We would see him quite often as we came and went, and he would always have a smile for us. We never had an ice bucket, though. I guess we were supposed to ask for it??? I like having ice without having to ask. I didn’t bother with the ice since the fridge kept our drinks plenty cold.

 

Evening was now approaching. We dressed up for Formal Night Dinner.

[SweetAngel]

Our wonderful Cruise Critic Roll Call Group, the Panamaniacs:

 

[SweetAngel]

Day 2

 

Dinner was lovely. We requested a table-for-two tonight and were seated by the window. I believe our appetizer was wild duck. Then I had the filet mignon with vegetables and delicious hush puppies. A creamy soufflé topped off my meal while JD had another Love Boat Dream.

 

 

We were served much faster tonight since there were only two of us. We made it in plenty of time to see the Champagne Waterfall (7:15pm). Free champagne for everyone was nice. We even took our turn pouring the champagne over the waterfall.

 

 

Then we headed to the Princess Theater for the production show, “Do You Wanna Dance!” We were certainly impressed with the singers and dancers. I loved how the dancers could cover such a wide range of dancing styles from lyrical to Latin to jitterbug to Irish Riverdance. If you enjoy good entertainment, don’t miss the four production shows.

 

 

After the show, we caught some of the dancing in Explorer’s Lounge. The band, Celebration, was playing. They were pretty good, but we eventually found that they played the same set of party songs every night.

The cruise director staff was the best. They went around inviting people to come up and dance with them. We had a great time dancing. See the tuxedos in the picture?

 

 

At 9:15 pm, the music stopped for the Majority Rules Gameshow. It was a well-attended, fun activity … trivia with a twist.

 

Then JD and I stayed for the 10:15 Karaoke Power Hour because we love to sing. I’m not sure everyone else loved our singing, but what the heck … We’ll never see any of these people again. We had a great time.

 

Amazingly, a lot of people stuck around for the formal night dance party at 11:15pm, and many of them were even still in their formalwear. Things slowed down by midnight, so JD and I went to try the late night buffet. Basically, Horizon Court puts all the leftovers out at night. Some are tasty, some not so much. There are also a bunch of burgers and hot dogs under warmers for late night snacking. I was impressed with the motorcycle made out of breadsticks.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Hi Angel...keep the photos and great commentary coming...can't wait to hear all about the ports and what you did in each!

[Nebr.cruiser]

We will be on this cruise (Dec 10) and I plan on wearing a tux, so there will at least be two of us wearing one. I also got mistaken for an employee once on a princess cruise ship. I was carrying a bottle of wine for all of the people at our table that we had got as a gift, when some lady walked up to me with a glass in her hand and asked me to pour her some. I told her i didn't work for princess, tha I was a passenger too, and she walked away with her glass empty.

 

We'll be on this cruise too, Boat N Bob. My husband will be bringing his tux, so now there are at least three of you. Yay, love a man in a tux.

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

Angel, keep up the excellent work. The touch of adding the pictures makes a big difference.

You had mentioned if you have a late dinner sitting you will not see any of the production shows. Do they not have the same show on two different nights at different times so they can accomodate the early and late sittings ? We have the late traditional sitting and are concerned if we will miss all the shows. Do you have copies of the patters that shows the nightly entertainment and times ?

[grandmato4]

Thanks for the info on the Ultimate drink card. I was really interested in hearing what mocktails were included. DH has always gotten the soda card but also enjoys the virgin daquari's and pina colodas so it sounds as if this might be a great deal for us. :)

[teripp]

Great review. I love the pictures to go along. Lots of work but greatly appreciated....... :) Thank you

[SweetAngel]

Angel, keep up the excellent work. The touch of adding the pictures makes a big difference.

You had mentioned if you have a late dinner sitting you will not see any of the production shows. Do they not have the same show on two different nights at different times so they can accomodate the early and late sittings ? We have the late traditional sitting and are concerned if we will miss all the shows. Do you have copies of the patters that shows the nightly entertainment and times ?

 

The production shows are at 8:00 pm and again at 10:00 pm, so, yes, you can see the late show after a late dinner. But then you can't join in on the game shows (9:15 pm) or karaoke (10:15 pm).

 

We really enjoyed joining in the game shows ... a different game every night. And we also loved the karaoke.

 

Princess does karaoke a little differently. The first time it's regular karaoke. Then, on Day 3, they start the Princess Pop Star Competition. After everyone sings, the audience votes for their favorite singer. The top 2 singers out of 10 get to be in the Princess Pop Star Show in the Universe Lounge on the final night. You can try out every night if you want to ... we did. Of course, we never made the finals, but we had a great time! :)

 

So for us, this schedule worked best:

5:30 Dinner

8:00 Show

9:15 Gameshow

10:15 Karaoke

11:15 Dancing in the Disco

 

There are really never any activities going on between 5:00 and 7:00. If you like to swim in an empty pool (like I do), then that's a great time to do it ... or to go for a quiet sunset stroll down the promenade.

 

I also want to note that, with our Anytime Dining, we were always seated immediately. There was one time when they told us it would be a 20 minute wait for a table-for-two, so we chose to share a table and got seated right away.

[Travelrd]

I'll add my thanks also, Angel. Since I'll be on this cruise in the Spring, I sure do appreciate the time you've taken to write and photograph your cruise. I've heard so many fabulous things about the Island Princess, everythiing you've written so far exceeds my expectations.

 

Thanks again.

[SweetAngel]

Well this is taking longer than I thought. :p

 

You'll have to bear with me.

 

JD just sent me his pictures, so I am organizing them all now.

 

I'm from the Midwest and JD lives 1000 miles away from me in Canada, so this cruise was one of those rare times for us to be able to get together.

 

Here are two of JD's shots from Day 2 - Formal Night

 

 

Any of the crew will happily take a picture for you. We got by without purchasing a single photo.

 

But then we caved and bought the DVD, ha ha. ($40)

 

 

Here I am dancing with Asst. Cruise Director Leah.

 

What a fun, friendly group of Cruise Directors they have on the Island Princess. I'm usually not so good at remembering names, but I can tell you all seven of the Cruise Directors: Paul, Leah, Gui, Amanda, Garrett, Lauren, and James. I really have no idea how to spell their names as I could not find a written record of the cruise director staff. So I apologize if I am getting the names wrong.

[SweetAngel]

Day 3 – Sea Day

 

Today was another sunshiny day. We have been spoiled with good weather. JD and I had a late breakfast in Horizon Court about 10am. It’s a great time to go because it’s much less crowded. We found a window table at the very front of the ship. What a nice position!

 

 

I think Horizon Court had a pretty good selection for breakfast. They always had a few unusual items in addition to the standard fare. I like how there were separate food stations instead of one long line. That made it easier to jump around and get a few items here and there without having to cut between people. In Caribbean style, rice and beans were always available for breakfast. That I liked! There was always an egg dish besides scrambled (deep-fried boiled eggs or a yummy eggs benedict). A lot of people liked the bread pudding. I loved the jelly-filled pastries – always fresh. Bacon was always crispy but not overdone -- just right for me. The hash brown potato cakes were perfectly done, not greasy at all. I normally enjoy fruit, but this must have been a bad season for fruit. The fresh fruit was under-ripe and consisted of hard, dry pineapple and the basic melons with so few strawberries and kiwis that I had to dig for them. The watermelon was the best of the fruit, but it was so full of seeds that it was hard to eat. After a couple days, I started avoiding the fruit altogether. Lots of people, including JD, liked the omelettes (which were made to order). My only trouble with the omelettes was the wait in line, not too long really, just that we never had to wait in line for anything on this ship except omelettes. Unfortunately, the French toast and pancakes were at the omelette station, so you had to wait in line behind all the omelette orders just to grab a piece of French toast or excuse yourself and cut between. Most people cut in. I waited. Then, after I got the toast, I saw that the only syrup was maple. I guess I had assumed there would be a strawberry or other fruit sauce. It’s something that I ate for every breakfast on every cruise, so I was a bit disappointed. From this day on, I skipped the French toast, but there were plenty of other good choices. In addition, JD and I each got a daily dairy product. I usually chose yogurt while JD chose cottage cheese.

 

At 11:15 am, I was back at the Wheelhouse Bar, ready for the morning trivia. James (from England) was running the trivia this morning. Between questions, he called me by name. Surprised, I looked down to see if I was wearing a nametag. He laughed, told my team all about my performance in Karaoke last night (despite my shyness) and encouraged me to come to the Princess Pop Star try-outs tonight. I was delighted because never before had any cruise personnel remembered me.

 

Today, Horizon Court had an Italian Trattoria Lunch Buffet, but we missed it. We chose to enjoy the beautiful weather on Lido deck, swim for a bit, and try out the Pizzeria and Grill. Since I was not used to eating such a big breakfast, I was not really hungry for lunch. Thus, the pizza did not appeal to me the way it did to JD. I thought it was soggy, but he absolutely loved it. He rolled it up into a burrito and ate it that way. I thought the fries were good, not greasy.

 

 

At 2:00, JD went to the champagne art auction. He liked it so much that he convinced me to come along next time. He enjoyed learning about the artists, watching the action, and seeing what the paintings were selling for. I used that time to tidy up the cabin for our upcoming Panamaniac Cabin Crawl. Then I took a moment to enjoy the view from our private balcony.

 

[SweetAngel]

At 3:00 pm, the Panamaniacs gathered at the entrance of Explorer’s Lounge to go on a Cabin Crawl through the various types of rooms. We started with an interior cabin on Plaza Deck and went in order from smallest to largest cabins.

 

Interior Room

 

Ocean View

 

Balcony

 

Mini-Suite

 

Everyone was in great spirits as we passed along the “secret deck” in back of Dolphin Deck …

 

 

and crammed 16 people onto a single elevator.

 

 

What a fun time! I highly recommend the cabin crawl and getting to know the people in your roll call group.

[SweetAngel]

Mini-Suites have extended balconies with 4 chairs instead of 2.

 

 

Here's the link to the site showing the balconies on Island Princess:

http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/p...ies/index.html

 

That site will show you whether your balcony is covered or uncovered.

 

Caribe deck balconies are partially covered, giving you the best of both worlds.

 

Mini-Suites also have a tub instead of that tiny, little shower.

 

 

Different people in our roll call volunteered to show their cabins, and there were some generous hostesses offering goodies.

 

 

11 Total Strangers in my Cabin:

[Nebr.cruiser]

Thanks again for all the information and photos.

 

Is there a made-to-order Belgian waffle station on the Island? Last year on the CB it was in an out-of-the-way spot--I think it was the pizza station--and I didn't find it until the last two days. They were so good, I'm hoping to find them on the IP too.

 

Cabin crawls are fun; last year on the Norwegian Jewel we had one that included a Garden Villa--now that's a suite!

[Teacherph]

Thanks for all the info and pix. We are on the Coral in Dec for the Panama Cruise. I'm thinking there will be some similarities since the Island and Coral are sisters. Looking forward to what's next even if there isn't any similarities.

[lovetocruise1960]

Angel, thanks so much for this thread. You're pics and Pats are so much better than mine I don't think I'll post them. Wasn't that a GREAT trip! You have to run this to the very end!

 

Sara

[Carolina Cruisr]

SweetAngel,

 

Love the thread as we will be on the Island Nov 20th. Looking forward to hearing what you did for shore excursions.

 

You are doing a fantastic job giving us a "past live".

 

Keep it coming! :)

[Lemonslikethefruit]

Eventually we made our way to Horizon Court for our first buffet lunch. The selection was good, especially all the choices on the salad bar, and, of course, I had to try a little of everything.

 

After lunch, we finished exploring the ship and made it back to our cabin in time for muster drill. And, yes, here Princess amazed me again. Based on all my previous cruises, my definition of "muster drill" meant long, miserable periods of standing in hot, sweaty rows, 10 people deep, packed like sardines on a narrow outside deck. Hats off to Princess for the most relaxing, entertaining, yet informative muster drill of them all. We were guided into the Universe Lounge, carrying our life jackets instead of sweltering in the bulky things. We relaxed as the light-hearted assistant cruise director, Amanda, led the perfect demonstration.

 

In the theater and lounges, Princess makes use of audio/visual technology to give a better demonstration of what to do in an actual emergency than you get standing outside by the lifeboats. Together, we all put on our jackets, but just long enough to prove we could do it. Then we were on our way again ... in half the time of any other muster drills.

 

Now it was sailaway, the time to meet our fellow Panamaniacs up at the Lido Bar. We lucked out with this roll call group and got a really great bunch of people to make friends with.

 

 

And Fort Lauderdale -- Wow!!! I am used to sailing away from industrial ports such as Galveston. This was a beautiful port of luxurious resorts and sandy beaches. And the weather? Perfect, warm sunshine!!!

 

 

Most people hurried down to dinner after the sailaway party, but since we had anytime dining, we stayed up on deck to watch the buildings get smaller and smaller in a glorious sunset.

 

 

The convenience of choosing your own dining time is nice, but I do prefer traditional dining just because I enjoy getting to know my servers, and I love the personal attention I get from them. We were waitlisted for early dining but received anytime dining instead.

 

One nice thing about anytime dining is that we could choose to sit with a group and meet new people or to sit at a table-for-two (and generally get served faster that way if we needed to make a show).

 

*****NOTE -- If you like karaoke or game shows and you also want to see the stage shows, then you MUST dine early. There is no choice in this matter. Karaoke is only done for one hour 10:15-11:15 pm. Game shows are 9:15-10:15pm. That means that you must attend the 8:00 stage show. AND that means you must start dinner by 6pm. No if's and's or but's. Since we loved the night time activities (especially karaoke) we found ourselves eating early every night after sailaway night.

 

 

Love your pictures!!!! What kind of camera did YOU use????? Also, your review of the first day is so concise but, informative. Great job! No wonder you are a teacher:)

[SweetAngel]

Angel, thanks so much for this thread. You're pics and Pats are so much better than mine I don't think I'll post them. Wasn't that a GREAT trip! You have to run this to the very end!

 

Sara

 

Love your pictures!!!! What kind of camera did YOU use????? Also, your review of the first day is so concise but, informative. Great job! No wonder you are a teacher:)

 

Hi Sara! Hi Vilinda! I DO think this was the best cruise ever. JD thinks so too (best of his two cruises anyway ;)). Our fun CC group added a lot to the enjoyment. This was my first romantic cruise without kids, my first trip to another continent, and my first 10-day cruise. Add in great weather, calm seas, good health, and all the fun with the Panamaniacs, and you couldn't go wrong ... dream vacation of a lifetime!

 

You wouldn't believe it, but my camera is really a terrible, cheap little thing ... a pocket-sized Kodak camera.

[SweetAngel]

Day 3 – Wine Tasting Party

 

In the last cabin on our cabin crawl, we Panamaniacs held our own private wine tasting party. Each of us had brought along a bottle of wine to share. We had reds, whites, and champagne … too many bottles to count. One of our roll call members, Carole, served as hostess and brought tasting cups.

 

 

Let me tell you, this was fun, although it did feel like a grown-up version of a college dorm room party. Here’s where we really got to know our fellow Panamaniacs.

 

 

 

Thanks to Mario, the Maitre D’, the Princess dining room staff even donated a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries and a large cheese tray. We were impressed!

 

 

The leftover wine was given to our room hostesses, Sara and Colleen.