Island Princess Review - Panama Canal

[99Cruiser]

These forms have always been helpful for me so I decided to write my first review.

 

A little about us.  We are both in our late 40's and elite on Princess and have been on over 30 cruises.  We have sailed on Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Viking Ocean.  We had been on this  s itinerary before but wanted a trip with sea days as we like to relax by the pool.  It had been almost 20 years since we did the canal and it's such an amazing thing.      

 

We landed in Fort Lauderdale early in the morning and was at the port by 9:00AM and figured we would have a long wait in the humidity prior to check in. We were wrong and they began the check in process around 10AM and we had our key cards in hand by 10:20. We were in the preferred check in lounge for about 30-45 minutes and around 11:15 it was announced we can get on the ship but couldn’t get into the cabins. We went to the grill (I love Princess Hot Dogs) and had a nice relaxing lunch and around 12:30 an announcement was made we can go to the cabins. Since we had taken a red eye we took a nap for a little while prior to the boat drill. After the boat drill we were relaxing on our balcony and the sky decided it was going to open up and the rain came HARD.  Coming from California we are not used to the hard rain storms.  

Dining

Food is such a personal thing and I am not picky and found the food to be very good. I love the grill and had it most sea days but did have the pizza a few times and it was much better than the past few cruises. My wife had the buffet most lunches and thought the selection and food was good. It was never hard to find a place to sit but it wasn't always easy to find a waiter to get a drink.  For dinner we had late traditional sitting and the food was good to excellent except for one night when all of us (we were at an 8 top) thought the food was just ok.  We never had breakfast so I can't comment on how it was. 

Cabin

B-637 This cabin is a bump out (I believe that is what it's called) and was in a great location near the elevator / stairs and only 2 decks below the pools. Our cabin steward Raul was great.  He met us the first day and asked if we had any special requests (we like ice in the bucket at all times and pool towels since we prefer to shower with them) and never had an issue.  We had a light bulb out in the cabin and told him in the morning and by the time we got back after he made up the room it was fixed. 

Enrichment Activities
We didn’t attend any of the talks about the canal and I guess you can put the Art Auction in this category and that was ok / good. The auctioneer didn’t spend a lot of time speaking about the artist or artwork and was more eager to sell the art but they were fun to attend.

Entertainment
The production shows, singers and dancers were good but a few of the comedians were not very funny. Cruise Director Kevin and the Cruise Staff Jade, Lucy and Anthony were fun, outgoing, personal and made the cruise enjoyable. If there was a few negatives it would be on sea days they could have had a few more activities and it was disappointing that football was not on MUTS as it has been on many of our other trips. Also, the last day of the cruise which was a sea day the lido pool was closed for “scheduled maintenance”. Why would you schedule maintenance on the last day of a cruise?

Fitness Center
I used the gym almost daily and it was a decent size with plenty of equipment but it's not in a great location.  It's located on the 6th floor with no windows and I think this is one of the first ones I can remember that is not on a top deck with windows so you can look outside while working out.

Onboard Experience
The ship is in good shape for her age but a few places in the hall ways on the Baja Deck (Deck 11) that had a bad odor but thank goodness it wasn’t near my room and we would avoid that area and go the opposite direction to the stairs / elevator.

Service
Almost everyone we came in contact with were extremely friendly and helpful EXCEPT in 2 areas. 1) The Passenger Service Desk. They were very cold, no smile and it almost felt like you were disturbing them. We had gone to ask for change for a $100 bill to go on shore and we got a look like we were inconveniencing them. 2) Shore Excursion Desk. We were on the waiting list for an excursion and went a few times to see if there was a chance to get on and asked if we were to book a different excursion and got cleared from the waiting list if we can cancel the 2nd tour? Again you would have thought we were asking a lot as she said it wouldn’t be the preferred method as it may take a spot from someone who won’t cancel but if that’s what we want to do we can. We just wanted to make sure we got on one of the 2 tours. We didn't think it was asking too much.

Shore Excursion

Jamaica - Good Hope Estate Thrill Seeker - We had been to Jamaica before so didn't need to do the waterfall or any of the tourist stuff so decided on this tour as it would be FUN.  We did river tubing, ziplining, jumped off a cliff into the pool and they had a water slide.  They provide a good lunch and unlimited rum punch.  We had a small group (7 people) and we all got along great and had a super fun time.

Cantagena - Highlights of Cartagena - Again we had been here but we didn't do a tour last time so wanted to see some of the city.  It was a good tour and our guide was great but there was too much time at the shopping center and felt that was wasted time.

Canal Transit - We went to the front of the ship on the 11th deck.  In the early AM there was a sign that said do not enter but it was removed by 8AM and it was a GREAT place.  There may have been 15-20 of us so it was not crowded.  We were right under the bridge and the captain was smiling for pictures for us. 

Colon - Embera Indian Village - It was about a 45 minute bus ride and then about a 30 minute canoe ride to the village and it was a great experience.  BUT, be ware, this is in the rain forest and it DOWNPOURED on us the entire canoe ride back and we only had small backpacks and were worried about our phones and cameras getting ruined.  If you take this tour bring a poncho for yourself and plastic bag for your belongs just in case. 

Limon - Sloth Sanctuary -  They are so cute and move so SLOW.  You don't get to hold or touch them but get within a few feet of them.  They also take you on a canoe ride and we saw an alligator, turtle, sloth and howling monkeys.  

Grand Cayman - Dolphin Swim & Stingray Encounter - We had been to stingray city and swam with the dolphins years ago but it's a great experience.  The tour itself was great BUT our tour guide not so much.  He started out great talking about the island and history then he started to talk about a plant on the island that cures cancer but the government is keeping it a secret so it doesn't put pharmacy companies out of business.  He then fiddled with his phone and showed us a video about this plant.  It was just WEIRD and not something you want to hear about while on vacation.  

 

Disembarkation - We did self walk off and were off the ship by 8:15 and in an Uber by 8:30

Overall it was a great relaxing cruise, if there is one continuous complaint about Princess is every time you turn around they are trying to sell you something else with the exception of on deck. This is one of the first cruises I have been on that I either had to hunt down a waiter or go to the bar myself to get a drink while on deck. Normally the waiters are all over the place and this cruise they weren’t.

 

Please let me know if you have any specific questions

[SVBing]

What days  are the formal nights on?

[99Cruiser]

2 hours ago, SVBing said:

What days  are the formal nights on?

I believe it was the 2nd and 7th.  They were both sea days

[EastBay Cruisers]

Thank you for the review ! That was very helpful.  We're leaving for the Canal in 2 weeks, and we appreciate the information on the best shipboard locations for viewing the Canal transit.  -- EBC

[99Cruiser]

2 hours ago, EastBay Cruisers said:

Thank you for the review ! That was very helpful.  We're leaving for the Canal in 2 weeks, and we appreciate the information on the best shipboard locations for viewing the Canal transit.  -- EBC

That location was the best place.  Some people said when they got to the door there was the do not enter and they just went anyways and nobody said anything.  Even the ship photographer was on that deck taking pictures / videos. 

[SVBing]

thanks for the response on formal nights.... we sail the 2nd week in Jan. looking to book other venues...

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your review.

Was it a 10 night, 15 night?