Cruise from Hell: Island Princess Partial Canal Transit

[pablo222]

I'm just wondering how you expected your luggage to get to your room.

 

Crew / Service elevators?

 

That's what they use on all the grand class ships,

so it's pretty reasonable to expect the same.

 

I haven't seen passenger elevators used for luggage

since the old royal caribbean ships -- like song of norway.

[tiessa]

I think some of you are giving tiessa a bit more grief that she deserves. She is giving an opinion and also giving reasons for that opinion. That, I think is the reason that this forum is called Cruise Critic. It appears to me that some have become so loyal to a particular cruise line that they feel it is necessary to defend them if someone else offers an opinion or a perspective. That is the reason that I sought out this fourm and I appreciate those who give their opinions as it helps me. If someone had a bad time on a particular cruise, I would like to know about it. If someone is criticised for making a report, that may prevent others from doing so in the future.

 

 

 

Thanks for your report, tiessa. You have saved me from taking another damn tour bus trip, which most of the time are BS anyway. (One pit stop in 4 hours? Jesus!) I think I will just sit on the ship, swat Zika carrying mosquitoes and sip chardonnay.

 

 

Thank you! I was giving an honest review of the cruise. All cruise lines have their cheerleaders, it seems. I don't know why people are loyal to large corporations but some are.

 

I appreciate your kind words.

 

Have a great next cruise!

[Loonbeam]

I have seen one or two elevators, usually aft, reserved to help move luggage if there was a lot of luggage, but never the main one. If nothing else the carts don't fit, but they are used to handle luggage that went to wrong floors or cabin switches, etc.

 

I've also seen aft or forward ones restricted to disabled passengers only on embarkation and debarkation.

 

Crew / Service elevators?

 

That's what they use on all the grand class ships,

so it's pretty reasonable to expect the same.

 

I haven't seen passenger elevators used for luggage

since the old royal caribbean ships -- like song of norway.

[nautihog]

I was giving an honest review of the cruise.

 

I re-read your original post and cannot see where anyone would have a problem with it. You gave pros and cons. And they appear to be valid topics.

 

If I were a member of the Princess Cruise Board of Directors, I would be very interested in criticisms and would check as many of them out as practical. It would be in their best interest. Cruises are portrayed and advertised as a form of hedonistic adventures and that is what people pay for, realizing, of course, that nothing is perfect, but perfection is what is advertised and therefore perfection is what the cruise lines should strive for. In deed and not just word.

 

Still, I believe a cruise is the best bang for the vacation buck, but caca does happen.

[mmckm]

every ship i have been on they have used passenger elevators for some of the luggage. I never thought twice when I couldn't use a elevator on embarkation day. Just walked down the hall a got on a different one. If you think that is a big deal, your the one with the problem not Princess. Grow up.

Edited February 6, 2016 by mmckm

[mcmarya]

I think that any of the passengers who took the tour tiessa was on would be disappointed. Most passengers took this cruise for the Panama Canal experience and those taking the tour to the part of the canal that the ship missed did it to complete that experience. Their transit ended up being partly in the dark so that experience was not what they had hoped. Totally discounting the inconvenience and discomfort caused by a 7 or so hour tour becoming a 13 hour tour, they lost something important.

 

Princess has been doing this itinerary for ages so you would think they would have worked out any problems with tour providers prior to this cruise. Yet, in addition to the botched transit tour, there were at least 2 other tours that were extremely disappointing, involving substandard transportation, missed stops, major delays, and arriving at an important attraction just before it closed. I've been on 5 repositioning Panama Canal cruises which involved one time port stops, not every cruise port stops, yet none of these other cruises had any tours I heard about that had these kinds of major problems.

 

Cruises are never perfect and we've all gotten used to lines and glitches here and there. But, there is no excuse for using tour providers week after week who are not capable of safely providing the service promised.

[lauriermum]

We did our first and only cruise two years ago..we are now booked on a 15 day on Island. If we had based our experience on our first cruise we may not go back LOL...we were on a ship where there was a group of 1200 travelling together on a superbowl party. We were traveling just the two of us. So our first experience was seeing almost 900 drunk firefighters and police services from one city around the pool. The pool was closed numerous times for vomit. Every time we went to the dining room we were not able to mix and sit with others to meet new people as the large tables were already reserved for this group. It was like a frat trip LOL...the only blessing was we go to watch the superbowl on the large screen with a few other canadians and europeans as every one else was in the theatre from this group. It was a party ship.

Just saw reports of the royal carribean after it hit a storm..now that would be rough

[oskidunker]

Fixed dining eliminates the wait problem. I would never take anytime. The flexibility you yearn for is not worth the wait. They could not serve everyone in two sittings,thats why there is anytime.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Fixed dining eliminates the wait problem. I would never take anytime. The flexibility you yearn for is not worth the wait. They could not serve everyone in two sittings,thats why there is anytime.

 

Agree with you 100% for the Island and Coral Princess. I have never had the consistent wait problem on the other ships that we experience on these ships.

[Pushka]

Celebrity ATD also caused issues when they sectioned off part of the dining room last year to make an exclusive restaurant for suite passengers. We saw very long queues on most nights.

[SeaMystique]

A true cruise from hell would involve things like toilets overflowing, round-the-clock fist fights with the crew, squirrels running amok in the dining room, or people vomiting in the pool.

 

 

LOL. OP didn't want to like Princess. On the other hand, I cruised RCCL, hated it, and couldn't wait to go back to Princess. This is why life is interesting.

[tiessa]

LOL. OP didn't want to like Princess. On the other hand, I cruised RCCL, hated it, and couldn't wait to go back to Princess. This is why life is interesting.

 

 

Not true at all! I hoped I would love Princess! I was very excited to try Princess! I find Royal Caribbean's itineraries repetitive and boring. I would love a new line to cruise on. Unfortunately Princess does not meet my needs.

[geoherb]

Not true at all! I hoped I would love Princess! I was very excited to try Princess! I find Royal Caribbean's itineraries repetitive and boring. I would love a new line to cruise on. Unfortunately Princess does not meet my needs.

Have you tried Celebrity? One of the perks is that your status on Royal Caribbean is considered on Celebrity ships.

[tiessa]

Have you tried Celebrity? One of the perks is that your status on Royal Caribbean is considered on Celebrity ships.

 

 

We haven't but are now planning to.

[capriccio]

We haven't but are now planning to.

 

 

Whichever ship you chose for your next cruise, make sure it isn't coming out of a dry dock!

[nautihog]

Whichever ship you chose for your next cruise, make sure it isn't coming out of a dry dock!

 

You are probably right. I came across this:

 

"Cruise lines try to schedule dry docks for as short a time as possible so the ship isn't out of service (i.e. not making money) for too long, but if the work isn’t finished in time it can spill over into the first cruise. These sailings have earned the unflattering nickname “shakedown cruises” because they’re designed to shakedown the ship and find problems or opportunities for improvement."

 

It make sense.

[odisalbert]

We too were on this cruise and the ferry excursion. Have been on Princess many times and expected things to be similar but on smaller scale. Embarkation was fine until the long walk to elevator to go to cabin. My husband has a hip,problem and uses a cane - made no difference. He was in real pain before we got to cabin. They should be more "special needs" conscious. Crew were great. We had anytime dining but called each day for reservations - they always seated us at a 2 top close to the entrance so we did not have to walk so far. Great waiters and had same ones each night. The excursion really was a farce. Totally miserable from start to finish. In spite of the promised refund we lost a total day of our vacation. The ferry was dirty and disorganized. Could not even see out of the dirty Windows. Did not speak to one satisfied person during the entire excursion. All being said we would never do or recommend the Island Princess but we will continue to cruise Princess for their destinations.

[missdenise]

We too were on this cruise and the ferry excursion. Have been on Princess many times and expected things to be similar but on smaller scale. Embarkation was fine until the long walk to elevator to go to cabin. My husband has a hip,problem and uses a cane - made no difference. He was in real pain before we got to cabin. They should be more "special needs" conscious. Crew were great. We had anytime dining but called each day for reservations - they always seated us at a 2 top close to the entrance so we did not have to walk so far. Great waiters and had same ones each night. The excursion really was a farce. Totally miserable from start to finish. In spite of the promised refund we lost a total day of our vacation. The ferry was dirty and disorganized. Could not even see out of the dirty Windows. Did not speak to one satisfied person during the entire excursion. All being said we would never do or recommend the Island Princess but we will continue to cruise Princess for their destinations.

 

Sorry, your ferry ride was not what was expected. But, I am asking the same question and do not seem to get a good answer. What happened with all the excursions at Lake Gatun? Princess and Island Princess and Coral Princess have been doing these excursions for a long time. Week after week. What happened and what changed to make these excursions a nightmare this particular sailing? I think all the passengers deserve some explanation.

[MyBreezy]

I was also on this cruise. I was with a group of 6 , so we booked the early seating for dinner. I am so glad we did not do anytime seating. There was always a line at the dinning room, whether early or late. Waiting in line is not how I want to spend my cruise. While I fee that we got to know our wait staff and they us, I constantly had the impression they were very pressured in serving us and getting us out.

I thought the food was all of high quality. I would say if you are a traditional meat and potatoes person you might have trouble with the menu. Luckily I am an adventurous eater.

The shows were crowded. Every show we saw we arrived at least 30 minutes ahead of time.I just can't imagine that everyone who wanted to see the shows actually got a seat.With that said by the middle of the cruise we gave up on attending shows.

We did not go on an excursion at Panama because my husband wanted to be on the ship both ways for the locks - I guess we dodged a bullet there!

As for the elevators - we used the stairs as our exercise. I know that is not an option for everyone.

[wowzz]

We don't normally eat until 8:30 or later. Were there queues for ATD at that time?

[geoherb]

We too were on this cruise and the ferry excursion. Have been on Princess many times and expected things to be similar but on smaller scale. Embarkation was fine until the long walk to elevator to go to cabin. My husband has a hip,problem and uses a cane - made no difference. He was in real pain before we got to cabin. They should be more "special needs" conscious.

You can request wheelchair assistance at embarkation. We did it when we took my then 85-year-old mother-in-law on a cruise. She was able to walk around the ship with our help during the cruise, but it was great for her to sit in a wheelchair through the embarkation and boarding process.

[Loonbeam]

We will not know unless Princess decides to tell us, but the most likely scenario is a vendor change. They go out of business, etc and Princess and other lines need to find suppliers who may not be as good but the only ones available.

 

Sorry, your ferry ride was not what was expected. But, I am asking the same question and do not seem to get a good answer. What happened with all the excursions at Lake Gatun? Princess and Island Princess and Coral Princess have been doing these excursions for a long time. Week after week. What happened and what changed to make these excursions a nightmare this particular sailing? I think all the passengers deserve some explanation.

[missdenise]

We don't normally eat until 8:30 or later. Were there queues for ATD at that time?

 

No, not at all. Lines were none existent after 7:15 PM.

[wowzz]

So it seems that those of us that eat after 19:30, which is normal for most Europeans, won't have a problem. There seems to be a lot of scaremongering on this forum about wait times, but in reality these issues only are a problem if you MUST eat before the sun goes down. Why not have a cup of tea and a sandwich at 16:00, a glass of wine at 20:00 and dinner at 21:00? No queues, easy.