28 night Panama Canal

[Ocean Dancer]

My DH and I are usually on another board or two, but came back to Holland to check up on a cruise that we almost booked last minute, but the roll call is gone. We almost sailed on the Statendam, 28 night round trip Pamama Canal from Ft. Lauderdale on April 1, 2011 to April 28. My DH's 93 year old mother took ill in March, and passed soon after, so this cruise was not meant to be.

 

Anyone take this cruise? We are looking at it for next March 30. Was the entertainment fresh? Or repeated? I would quess that the menu was on a two week schedule, as the cruise could be taken for 14 days ending in San D. How was the ship? We are active 61 year olds, married for 42 years. We have been there done that with cruising and looking for a longer cruise and new experiences and adventures. We do not want a rock climbing wall, screaming kids, unruly teens, or drunken spring breakers. We like to be entertained, music and dancing, mostly the oldies/motown/blues and ballroom. We are night owls, and hope to not have a dead ship after late dinner.

 

Was really hoping to read some of the posts of the folks who took this cruise, or one like it, Anyone out there? Thanks in advance.:)

[jtl513]

The thread is still there, but no one has posted on it since Mar 30, so you won't find any post-cruise comments. Read through it and see if anyone gives an email link in their signature so that you can write to them.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1327125

[Ocean Dancer]

Thank you, I guess I missed it.

[hillside]

We were on the Statendam March, 2011, Panama Canal 28 day cruise roundtrip FLL. We loved it. The weather was really nice, not the intense heat reported later on. So I think March must be a good choice.

 

As several people have reported we had engine problems and a medical emergency that caused us to miss 2 ports. The crew did a great job with extra activities for the unexpected sea days. We did not experience cabin temperature problems that some posted.

 

We really enjoyed our time on the Statendam and 28 days was wonderful.

We really enjoyed the piano bar with Stryker, the Pinnacle Grille with Sam, and Canalletto with Donny. My husband took computer classes and I took 3 cooking classes plus I attended a few food demos. I also attended the book club on the first leg of the trip which was interesting. We enjoyed the aft deck pool area as a quiet place to sun and read. I can't speak to late night activities other than the piano bar and the shows. We had an active Cruise Critic group for the first leg, but nothing organized for the second leg.

 

Hope this helps!

[Ocean Dancer]

Hillside, thank you, I quess the longer the cruise, the more you have to catch up on your reading, so to speak. We try not to book anything less then 12 nights, but are ready to expand our horizons. We are looking for the Pamana Canal, then South America around the horn in our future.;)

[giltedge]

We did the 28 day Panama in late 2010 and loved it. I will say though that most evenings it was pretty quiet after the last show. I don't think we had a very active night group. I really didn't care for many of the evening shows either. That was one of things that disappointed me on this particular cruise was the lack of good entertainers. It was great though to arrive in Florida and realize that the second half of our cruise was just starting as we watched others disembark. Great fun. Lots of time to read, attend classes, meet people and just relax. We enjoyed the ports too.:)

[erewhon]

We were fortunate to do the 28 day Panama Canal trip back in 2009, on the Statendam.

 

To travel both ways through the Canal, was a wonderful experience, something we will always remember.

We live in a cool climate, so we needed to adjust to the heat!!

 

My condolences on the passing of your DH's mother.

 

Hope you will thoroughly enjoy the Panama experience.

[Btands]

This is a cruise that we want to take when our children are older. We enjoyed the 10 night Panama cruise last year. As for the night owls, I haven't found very many on HAL.

[JWJs]

We did an 18 day Panama Canal (Fort Lauderdale to San Diego) on the Statendam (our 1st HAL cruise) in December '09.

We were exactly at the point you indicated.... "been there done that with cruising and looking for a longer cruise and new experiences and adventures." Our Statendam cruise did not disappoint.

We absolutely loved our 18 day adventure. For us it was one of our best cruises ever! I was a bit worried pre-cruise that I might get bored on a small "older" ship for that many days but I didn't experience ANY boredom whatsoever. It was just a great time throughout the cruise. :)

The entertainment was just fine on the Statendam...not to say that we haven't enjoyed a bit more "lively" (IMHO) early evening and late evening entertainment on Princess ships. I would say the entertainment on our Statendam cruise was more varied...as entertainers were switched out at a few ports. For us, I believe most late evenings on the Statendam were spent at the DJ's party in the Crow's Nest. (Loved the Crow's Nest...a few hours during the day, before dinner and late evenings.) Also enjoyed the Statendam ports of call for the complete transit canal cruise more than the Coral Princess complete transit canal ports.

PS...sorry about the loss of your DH's mother. Always sad news.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

This is a cruise that we want to take when our children are older. We enjoyed the 10 night Panama cruise last year. As for the night owls, I haven't found very many on HAL.

It sounds like a great trip

[Ocean Dancer]

Thank you all for your replies, and possitive feed back. We do not need a party every night, just want something to do after late dinner.

 

Also thank you for the kind words for DH's mother. She also loved to cruise and took her last one this past Sept.

 

We had a too good to be true deal for April, hoping we can get close to that price for next year. Wish us luck, we have the time!