Day by Day on the Island Princess thru Panama Canal

[IECalCruiser]

Sorry' date=' Gwen--I also couldn't find your comments on Costa Rica. Went back and scanned pg. 2, but no luck. We loved our visit there back in 2008 and anxious to return on our PC cruise next year.

 

Following and enjoying your review--getting revved up for our turn in 2018! Thanks![/quote']The Costa Rica stop would have been on the 10th and her posts skipped from the 9th to the 11th. On the 11th she made a comment about using the wrong date the day before so it looks like she prepared a post but It looks like it was lost.

 

 

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[jfrupp]

Gwen, Just a simple question,

Are the closets on the inside cabins the larger ones or the smaller ones? I know the Princess ships differ in closet space.

Thanks for your updates. We will be doing b2b Panama Canal in Oct. This way no flying just round-trip from San Pedro. So for 30 days I would like as much closet space as I can get, lol

 

Janet

[GranJean]

Thanx for the cruise log. We enjoyed following along with you. We'll be sailing much the same route on the Coral Princess in October.

 

Hope you made it home safe and with all of your luggage. :)

[Bonnie1750]

Cruzin'Nana were you one of the Coral Spices on your trip thru the Panama Canal?

 

 

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[GweninTX]

HI! Thanks for the review. We are on the Island Princess in April but we are doing it from Ft. Lauderdale to LA. so some of our ports are probably different?

 

Do you remember if they have Mah Jongg sets onboard in the game room? Did you notice how many sets they had? Thanks in advance.

Will continue following....

 

 

We later saw 4 mahjong sets in the library - you are well covered!

[GweninTX]

Gwen, I just read the entire thread again and see nothing about your day in Costa Rica. We will be on this sailing on March 15th out of SF so I am reading every word you write twice!

 

It has been 10 years since we were on a Princess ship so I remember very little. Can you give me a heads up on the shops on board and the types of things they sell? I'm trying to pack as little as I can and it will help to know what I can buy on board in case it is forgotten.

 

I feel certain you could buy almost anything that is generic in nature in the shops on board. I would bring anything you are picky about a certain brand with you - like shampoo or hairspray. Brand name makeup & cologne - Dior, Estee Lauder, CLinique and others are sold in the shops on board. You also can purchase in ports - we went to a pharmacia like a Walgreens in several ports. We were even able to purchase cough syrup with codeine in Cartagena. I was sick and my husband was getting it. This saved us going to the ship doctor. If you re going in a winter month I would suggest bringing Nyquil, Zycam and cough meds & drops with you. The whole ship was coughing and hacking by day 15.

[GweninTX]

Puntarenas, Costa Rica (sorry it did not post)

Today we docked in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. They have a long concrete pier which accommodates any size cruise ship and we are the only ship in port today. We continue to have great weather and calm seas. It will be hot and muggy today, so we dress for it. The ship is fully moored by 7:00 AM and you can walk off at that time. We have a quick breakfast in the Horizon Court buffet and we all meet at 7:45 in the Patisserie for our tour. If you have a small group of 15 or less, I recommend this as a gathering place as the gangway is also on this deck. I arranged a private tour with Ricky Rickardo tours. He claims to be THE Ricky Ricardo and is highly rated on Cruise critic and Trip Advisor. We were to meet him at 8:00 AM and we got there a little early as there was no line to get off at all. One of his tour guide buddies called him (They all know each other) and he was there quickly. This also allowed Jerry & Ron time to buy a baseball hat – they both had forgotten theirs and knew they would need it today in the hot sun.

We were off in his nice van that is complete with Wi-Fi. There were 9 of us, I had recruited 2 couples from the CC roll call when we lost a couple due to illness before the cruise and when Bud decided not to go. We stopped by his café on the way out of town for our first cup of good Costa Rican coffee. He went in and got a tray full and we did not get out of the car. From there we stopped by the roadside to see the white faced Capuchin monkeys. He had a whistle that he used to try and bring them to the roadside. No dice – so we had to go down into a small park like area to see them. The reason they were not coming to the road side was because there were about 3 guides feeding them down in the park. They are careful to only feed them bananas or fruit they would easily get in the wild so they will not become dependent on them for food. We take lots of pictures and then leave to go to a local herbalist/medicine man’s home to learn about his garden.

This was a very interesting stop and I really enjoyed him. He was 80 years old, but looked about 60. He had a full head of dark brown hair without a gray hair to be seen. That secret I need to know! He did not speak much English, but Ricky translated. He was very proud of his garden and shared tastes of most of what he told us about. I do not like mango, but I LOVED his fresh, chilled, tree ripened one he shared. It did not even taste like anything I had eaten before. He told me it was because they are picked green when they are exported. We also had cashews that he had roasted himself and saw the cashew fruit. He could have talked to us all day, but we had to move on. He gave the men beautiful Poinciana flowers and told them to kiss their beautiful wives. We took lots of pictures. Marilyn did not have Bud around, so he happily kissed on Marilyn. We took pictures to tease Bud since he did not come.

From there we went to the Crocodile Jungle Mangrove River cruise. Jerry and I are avid birdwatchers and saw a lot of species. We also saw a lot of crocodiles. It was a very nice river cruise and everyone enjoyed it. We took lots of pictures.

Our next stop was lunch and we were ready! We stopped at a local marisceria (spelling?) It is a local fish market/restaurant. At home, we have taquerias (local taco shops) – here their specialty is seafood. We had fresh grilled sea bass with a garlic butter sauce that was to die for! We also had a beet salad, pico de gallo type salad and a steamed veggie mix. It was all excellent. We all tried the local frozen drink made from soursop fruit. It was also refreshing and fun to try.

From there we drove to a local woodcarver to admire his wares. Then up into the rainforest to a beautiful hotel/restaurant with a gorgeous view. We then did a short city tour of Puntarenas and stopped at a local grocery store for great coffee for $4 a pound. I also bought a bottle of vanilla to compare it to Mexican vanilla. It was $4 for a large bottle. Then back to the ship – we ate in the buffet as we were too late for the dining room and it was nothing to write home about. I had a slice of pizza. We were also too pooped to dress up for the formal dining room.

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We hurried to the Princess theater at 6:45 to get good seats for one of my favorite production shows – Motor City. It was GREAT!! Your other choices for this evening included a mentalism show with Jeff Peterson (Andie the Magic Dog’s owner), lots of places for music and dancing. We went to bed after Motor City – we were exhausted and I could hardly wait for a shower!!! Thank God tomorrow is a sea day as we really need one! Stay tuned

[Cruzinnana47]

Cruzin'Nana were you one of the Coral Spices on your trip thru the Panama Canal?

 

 

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YES! We were--what a wonderful trip and Great Group. DH and I still talk about what a fantastic cruise that was....

Still have the t-shirt--will wear on next yr's trip.....;)

[GweninTX]

Gwen, Just a simple question,

Are the closets on the inside cabins the larger ones or the smaller ones? I know the Princess ships differ in closet space.

Thanks for your updates. We will be doing b2b Panama Canal in Oct. This way no flying just round-trip from San Pedro. So for 30 days I would like as much closet space as I can get, lol

 

Janet

 

 

I can only answer for our inside cabin on Plaza deck. We had 2 large double door closets and an open cubby hole cabinet with the safe. We had worlds of storage! Bathroom only had shelves on one side of mirror - poor amount of storage and tiniest bathroom in all ships we have been on.

 

 

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[GweninTX]

Puntarenas, Costa Rica (sorry this day did not post) 2/11/17

Today we docked in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. They have a long concrete pier which accommodates any size cruise ship and we are the only ship in port today. We continue to have great weather and calm seas. It will be hot and muggy today, so we dress for it. The ship is fully moored by 7:00 AM and you can walk off at that time. We have a quick breakfast in the Horizon Court buffet and we all meet at 7:45 in the Patisserie for our tour. If you have a small group of 15 or less, I recommend this as a gathering place as the gangway is also on this deck. I arranged a private tour with Ricky Rickardo tours. He claims to be THE Ricky Ricardo and is highly rated on Cruise critic and Trip Advisor. We were to meet him at 8:00 AM and we got there a little early as there was no line to get off at all. One of his tour guide buddies called him (They all know each other) and he was there quickly. This also allowed Jerry & Ron time to buy a baseball hat – they both had forgotten theirs and knew they would need it today in the hot sun.

We were off in his nice van that is complete with Wi-Fi. There were 9 of us, I had recruited 2 couples from the CC roll call when we lost a couple due to illness before the cruise and when Bud decided not to go. We stopped by his café on the way out of town for our first cup of good Costa Rican coffee. He went in and got a tray full and we did not get out of the car. From there we stopped by the roadside to see the white faced Capuchin monkeys. He had a whistle that he used to try and bring them to the roadside. No dice – so we had to go down into a small park like area to see them. The reason they were not coming to the road side was because there were about 3 guides feeding them down in the park. They are careful to only feed them bananas or fruit they would easily get in the wild so they will not become dependent on them for food. We take lots of pictures and then leave to go to a local herbalist/medicine man’s home to learn about his garden.

This was a very interesting stop and I really enjoyed him. He was 80 years old, but looked about 60. He had a full head of dark brown hair without a gray hair to be seen. That secret I need to know! He did not speak much English, but Ricky translated. He was very proud of his garden and shared tastes of most of what he told us about. I do not like mango, but I LOVED his fresh, chilled, tree ripened one he shared. It did not even taste like anything I had eaten before. He told me it was because they are picked green when they are exported. We also had cashews that he had roasted himself and saw the cashew fruit. He could have talked to us all day, but we had to move on. He gave the men beautiful Poinciana flowers and told them to kiss their beautiful wives. We took lots of pictures. Marilyn did not have Bud around, so he happily kissed on Marilyn. We took pictures to tease Bud since he did not come.

From there we went to the Crocodile Jungle Mangrove River cruise. Jerry and I are avid birdwatchers and saw a lot of species. We also saw a lot of crocodiles. It was a very nice river cruise and everyone enjoyed it. We took lots of pictures.

Our next stop was lunch and we were ready! We stopped at a local marisceria (spelling?) It is a local fish market/restaurant. At home, we have taquerias (local taco shops) – here their specialty is seafood. We had fresh grilled sea bass with a garlic butter sauce that was to die for! We also had a beet salad, pico de gallo type salad and a steamed veggie mix. It was all excellent. We all tried the local frozen drink made from soursop fruit. It was also refreshing and fun to try.

From there we drove to a local woodcarver to admire his wares. Then up into the rainforest to a beautiful hotel/restaurant with a gorgeous view. We then did a short city tour of Puntarenas and stopped at a local grocery store for great coffee for $4 a pound. I also bought a bottle of vanilla to compare it to Mexican vanilla. It was $4 for a large bottle. Then back to the ship – we ate in the buffet as we were too late for the dining room and it was nothing to write home about. I had a slice of pizza. We were also too pooped to dress up for the formal dining room.

We hurried to the Princess theater at 6:45 to get good seats for one of my favorite production shows – Motor City. It was GREAT!! Your other choices for this evening included a mentalism show with Jeff Peterson (Andie the Magic Dog’s owner), lots of places for music and dancing. We went to bed after Motor City – we were exhausted and I could hardly wait for a shower!!! Thank God tomorrow is a sea day as we really need one! Stay tuned

[GweninTX]

Duplicate

[sharpie13]

Thanks. We can't wait our trip next week.

 

 

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[zahav1]

Yes, there is a sanctuary and it is GORGEOUS!! You will love it! There is a lovely pool in this sanctuary and I plan on using it before the cruise is over!

 

 

We were on the same cruise, loved everything, especially the food and entertainment. We were 4 and all hated Guatemala, but loved, as always, Costa Rica. We did not like the sanctuary at all, we paid $60 per person for the Panama Canal day crossing. The lounges were very comfortable, but very little shade and no pool, not even near any pool. We all got very hot and every once in a while walked to the Lido pool to cool off, if was a very hot and sunny day. The service at the sanctuary was hit or miss, mostly miss, it was very disorganized. We won't do the sanctuary again on the Island.

[luvthec]

Thanks Gwen for filling us in on your time in Costa Rica, and for scoping out the shops on board. I will load up on cough meds and hand wipes before our trip 3/15.

[jfrupp]

I can only answer for our inside cabin on Plaza deck. We had 2 large double door closets and an open cubby hole cabinet with the safe. We had worlds of storage! Bathroom only had shelves on one side of mirror - poor amount of storage and tiniest bathroom in all ships we have been on.

 

 

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Thanks so much. We are on Plaza deck also. Love it there :D

[debi56]

Gwen, was the last formal night on the last sea day or the second last sea Day?

We are going backwards (fort Lauderdale- San Fran)presume would be the same day.

Thanks for taking time to report plus answer questions.

[Bonnie1750]

Cruzin'Nana

Thought your name was familiar. Yes it was a great group of people. We are doing a west coast trip thru the canal March 15. Dennis is turning 70 March 29 so this is a birthday celebration.

I was nice running across you on the boards

Bonnie

 

 

 

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[Cruzinnana47]

Nice to talk to you as well, Bonnie. Have a wonderful cruise. Happy b-day to your Dennis, also!:)

 

Gwen, thanks for the info. on Costa Rica--much appreciated!

[weathermom]

GweninTX.. how was the coffee and vanilla from Columbia?

Thanks

[alwalaska]

Gwen, Just a simple question,

Are the closets on the inside cabins the larger ones or the smaller ones? I know the Princess ships differ in closet space.

Thanks for your updates. We will be doing b2b Panama Canal in Oct. This way no flying just round-trip from San Pedro. So for 30 days I would like as much closet space as I can get, lol

 

Janet

 

I visited cabin E728 on our cabin crawl and it had the same open closet with the small enclosed cubby spaces with the safe and life jackets taking up two of the cubby holes. This was the same as our balcony across the hall from them.

 

Even with that, I still felt that we had a good deal of storage space in our cabin, but the interior we saw didn't have as many drawers in the main cabin part as we did.

 

These are not really sideways cabins even though they look like it on the maps. There is a small cut in between the cabins and the door opens on the short side, not the long side.

 

I'm sorry I didn't take my camera to the cabin crawl, so I only have pictures of our balcony cabin.

[alwalaska]

Gwen,

 

You did a great job with your review. You reminded me of things I already forgot. I need to organize all of my photos and thoughts before I can't separate it all again.

 

Where did you have lunch in Costa Rica? We were at the Cascades of Love or something like that.

 

It was nice meeting you. Take care and stay in touch.

[GweninTX]

Gwen, was the last formal night on the last sea day or the second last sea Day?

We are going backwards (fort Lauderdale- San Fran)presume would be the same day.

Thanks for taking time to report plus answer questions.

 

 

Second to last sea day. I promise to finish my review, just been under the weather. Hubby ended up at doctors office - bronchitis! Mine is almost gone! Stay tuned

 

 

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[suzyed]

They have 2 sets for Mahjong in the game/library room.

Thank you!

That will be enough for 8 of us anyway! ;)

[suzyed]

We later saw 4 mahjong sets in the library - you are well covered!

Awesome!! Thanks for the update!!

 

Yippeee!

[Bonnie1750]

Gwen thanks for all the information. We are on the ship beginning March 15. We certainly feel like we have been on the cruise with you.

 

 

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