"Live from the Coral Princess - Panama 4/7"

[Iamthesea]

I fear that Joyride has gone overboard or perhaps she has been having a little too much joy and doesn't have time to check-in. ;)

[captainron]

Hey there Kamloops Cruisers,

Noticed you were from the junction of the Thompsons and figured how many people in the "Loops" would cruise to Hawaii on the Radiance in Sep 04

I think you might know our good friends Roy and Karen who were on that Hawaii cruise also. We're doing the Transcanal with them on the Coral in May 06...flying fm YVR to FLL and doing the 17 days to right under the Lions Gate Bridge.

With all the years I lived in North Van I always wanted to either depart or arrive, so let's hope it's Canada Place and not Ballantyne Pier.

Let me know, and...

 

Ciao for now!!!

[joyride]

Hi, sorry not posting sooner - the internet has been down a couple of times when I tried to post.

 

Anyway - here's an update! Costa Rica was awesome. We did the Princess Tour - Costa Rica Favorites. I'm glad we did the full day thing as we got to see a bit of everything. We did the Mawamba Boat through the canals in the mornings and saw spider monkeys, howler monkeys, sloths, lots of birds, butterflies, a cayman, and crocodiles. It was really neat. Lunch was good and the tour guide was interesting - but he did give us a little bit TOO much information on bananas! :) We loved the aerial tram. Some folks have said that they found it boring because you really don't see any animals - but I thought it was awesome to ride in the canopy of the rain forest and listen to the noises of the jungle. It rained on us a bit - but that was part of the whole experience - it is a RAIN forest after all! Beautiful!

 

Panama Canal - going through the locks was interesting to watch again, I have done a full transit, so for me this was a repeat. We took the Domed Car Train trip once we arrived in Panama City. The train was nice. It poured rain pretty much the whole trip, so that was a bit disappointing. It was OK, we actually got a bit tired of our tour guide's commentary - he was a native of Panama and had some interesting stories, but he became a bit annoying by the end of the trip. We did ride the train both ways, with a bus tour in the middle. On the bus tour you see some of the old Army base, the Bridge of the America's, Panama City, etc. It was OK. This excursion is sometimes riding the train one way and sometimes both ways - it depends on how many ships are here the day you go.

 

We are not having a good trip as far a weather is concerned. It's weird because I usually cruise this time of year and it has always been awesome.

In Grand Cayman we jumped in a van and went to the beach for a couple of hours. It was hot and sunny that day.

 

Cozumel - rough water and TOO MANY SHIPs in port. I counted 9. We had to tender and there were delays with the port authorities. We missed our Swim with the Dolphins at 10 AM and all tours were cancelled. Finally they sent a couple of ferries out to get everyone. We salvaged the rest of the day and did shopping and lunch in Cozumel.

 

Belize - same thing this morning. Rough seas. Tours went, but our snorkeling tour was going to be a rough boat ride and marginal visability so WE cancelled. My friends tendered in to Belize for some shopping and I decided to stay on the ship and read my book. This afternoon the sun came out and we had a nice time by the pool.

 

So, it's has been diappointing as far as excursions on this trip, but it still has been a great vacation. Princess can't control the weather. We haven't gone to any shows. Our dining (Personal Choice) has been very good, and we also enjoy the pizza and room service for breakfast.

 

It is an older crowd, very few children on board. We have met several really nice couples that we keep chatting with. Our cruise critic group met the first day at the Lido Bar. It worked out good. We are planning on getting together tomorrow (our last day - boo hoo) for a goodbye drink at the Wheelhouse bar.

 

I'll try to find out the Matri'de's name and check on those penny slots.

 

Bye

[dsawyer]

Dorothy here. Sorry the weather has not been great but sounds like you are really making the best of things. You said you were enjoying your room service breakfasts - are they full breakfasts? I've always been able to write in what I want on the breakfast order forms or just call room service and order. Princess has always accomodated my requests. But we had our first NO on a Princess ship. I was refused a hot breakfast on The Island Princess. I'm just wondering what you have been ordering. I'm hoping that this is not the new Princess.

 

Hey I went all the way to Hawaii and got no tan at all as it was cold all the way over and back. We missed Kauai because of high seas so I know what you are going through.

 

We went on that same train ride last year that you went on - yes it wasn't really much to it, was it? My friend brought along blue margaritas in little bottles and those made the time much more interesting.

[legalslave]

Joyce, sorry about your weather. That's one of the many good things about a cruise, if the weather isn't great, you can still enjoy the vacation. Thanks for checking on those penney slots. The last night on the ship is so depressing!

 

Diane

[twocats]

Was the Lido Bar an indoor or outdoor bar? I can't tell from the deck plans. In case you don't get a chance to answer I will so a little more search. Thanks, so sorry you are back home already, cruises sure go fast, don't they!

[captainron]

2cats,

Lido Bar is on Deck 14 just aft of the Horizon Court and located outside adjacent to the Lido Pool. Ciao for now!!!

[joyride]

Well, we are back. My first day back at work was pretty rough! Very busy, but I have an assisant now that covered from me, so it was much better than it has been in the past!

 

Overall, I must say this Coral Princess trip is a good one. I was very suprised at our bad luck with the weather. I did still get a tan from a couple of sunny sea days and a great sunny day in Grand Cayman. It is disappointing that we missed our swim with the dolphins in Cozumel and our snorkeling in Belize.

 

Cozumel was a joke. I really can't understand why they schedule 11 ships and over 30,000 people in a port like that in one day. It is screwed up. We ended up having to tender and the port authority didn't give us clearance until 11 AM. We missed our excursion because the waters were a little rough and tendering was deemed unsafe that morning. I think better planning could have saved the day for us. Very disappointing.

 

The Coral staff, our room stewart (Rex), bar staff, casino staff, etc. were very nice. We really had fun!

 

Bottom Line, Princess can't control the weather. It was a very fun and relaxing cruise.

[Iamthesea]

Glad you had a good cruise despite the weather.

 

How was your stateroom, the food and disembarkation experience?

[joyride]

Our Mini-Suite on Dolphin Deck was great. The bathtub is huge and much nicer than the tiny showers you get in the balcony cabins. We used the Balcony a lot when it wasn't windy and the exposed Dolphin balcony didn't bother us at all.

 

The food was great. I have been on many Princess cruises, so sometimes I am bored with the menus. I had no problems finding something I wanted and the preparation and quality of the food was always good.

 

Dorothy - we didn't try writing in on the breakfast menu - usually just ordered fruit, cereal, yogurt, etc. So, I'm not sure if we would have gotten a "no" on that. Room service was very accomodating every time we used it, on time, fresh, etc.

 

Disembarkation went great for us. We breezed through and grabbed a cab and were at the airport in 10 minutes. No problem.

 

I loved the 4 sea days spread nicely throughout the cruise. Having 2 sea days is great at the beginning because you can really wind down.

 

Now I'm looking forward to our Alaska cruise on the Island in August. The Coral is a beautiful ship, and I'm sure we will enjoy the Island Princess just as much!

[Iamthesea]

Joyride - When do you think you will have your pictures up n Webshots?

[joyride]

I hope to get them up this weekend. I am waiting to get a camera card in the mail from my friend Michele. She mailed it from NYC on Monday, so I expect to get it any time. We are combining our pictures so we can put the best ones up. I'll post on the Princess Board when I have them up!