Princess Panama Canal cruise questions

[Lomalainen]

My husband and I are going to take PC cruise in May from LA to Miami and have some basic questions which I would like to have your advice and opinions, please.

 

Firstly, are the yellow fever vaccinations required or needed?  Our TA sent an information that " we strongly recommend that all travellers be vaccinated for yellow fever before travelling to Panama and carry their certificate of vaccination with them to allow entry to other countries."  I have not seen any discussion about this here. WHO web site does not require vaccinations even though it lists some Central American countries as endemic for yellow fever. What are your experiences?

 

Secondly, we will stop two times in Mexico and have a morning tour both days.   Do we need to exchange local currency or is USD cash accepted? What about the other countries?

 

Thirdly, this morning I received a message from Princess stating that "due to a change in your reservation, your existing offer has been cancelled." I have not made any changes. I know that the cruise is sold out, but they could have just not accept the offer instead of cancelling it. Who has made some changes and what changes, I dont see anything different in my account. 

 

I would appreciate some input from the forum and thank you in advance for your help.

 

 

[reedprincess]

18 minutes ago, Lomalainen said:

My husband and I are going to take PC cruise in May from LA to Miami and have some basic questions which I would like to have your advice and opinions, please.

 

Firstly, are the yellow fever vaccinations required or needed?  Our TA sent an information that " we strongly recommend that all travellers be vaccinated for yellow fever before travelling to Panama and carry their certificate of vaccination with them to allow entry to other countries."  I have not seen any discussion about this here. WHO web site does not require vaccinations even though it lists some Central American countries as endemic for yellow fever. What are your experiences?

 

Secondly, we will stop two times in Mexico and have a morning tour both days.   Do we need to exchange local currency or is USD cash accepted? What about the other countries?

 

Thirdly, this morning I received a message from Princess stating that "due to a change in your reservation, your existing offer has been cancelled." I have not made any changes. I know that the cruise is sold out, but they could have just not accept the offer instead of cancelling it. Who has made some changes and what changes, I dont see anything different in my account. 

 

I would appreciate some input from the forum and thank you in advance for your help.

 

 

No, yellow fever is not required.

 

CC is recommended, you don't need local currency unless you're going to be spending enough that the conversion rate would be better in local currency.  MX happily accepts USD, just be clear on the exchange so you don't get ripped off..

 

As for who made changes or what that means - that's a question for your TA! And that's why you have a TA, to sort these snafus out!

 

PS: you're sailing LA to Port Everglades, in Fort Lauderdale. Princess doesn't sail in/out of Miami.  Hopefully, your after cruise activities are organized from the correct port! 

 

Happy sails, the Canal is spectacular!

Edited April 5 by reedprincess

[memoak]

If your ship goes to Miami I am doubtful that it is Princess their main Florida port is FLL

[Lomalainen]

Thank you for your useful answers.  You are right, we will embark in Fort Lauderdale.  I thought that it was in Miami.  My mistake. 

 

[EDVM96]

16 minutes ago, Lomalainen said:

You are right, we will embark in Fort Lauderdale.

You mean disembark. 

[Lomalainen]

2 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

You mean disembark. 

Yes, of course.  My mistake again!

[skynight]

No vaccine required.

US$ accepted. Credit cards also accepted. 

You have to sort out the booking issue with your TA or whomever you booked with.

[memoak]

Be sure and have a valid passport with you this is not a closed loop cruise

[MacMadame]

1 hour ago, Lomalainen said:

Firstly, are the yellow fever vaccinations required or needed?  Our TA sent an information that " we strongly recommend that all travellers be vaccinated for yellow fever before travelling to Panama and carry their certificate of vaccination with them to allow entry to other countries." 

FYI: The Yellow Fever vaccine is not recommended for people 60+. 

 

1 hour ago, Lomalainen said:

Secondly, we will stop two times in Mexico and have a morning tour both days.   Do we need to exchange local currency or is USD cash accepted? What about the other countries?

I would ask your tour company. We're doing a tour in Columbia and it is *required* to use US dollars to pay for it. No CC, no local currency. 

 

Different tours have different requirements so it pays to check.

 

1 hour ago, Lomalainen said:

Thirdly, this morning I received a message from Princess stating that "due to a change in your reservation, your existing offer has been cancelled." I have not made any changes. I know that the cruise is sold out, but they could have just not accept the offer instead of cancelling it. Who has made some changes and what changes, I dont see anything different in my account. 

Is this an upgrade offer? I read here that someone put in multiple upgrade offers and all but one were canceled and then a day later they got the notice that the uncanceled offer was accepted.

 

If it's not an upgrade offer, ignore me. 😄 

 

44 minutes ago, Lomalainen said:

Thank you for your useful answers.  You are right, we will embark in Fort Lauderdale.  I thought that it was in Miami.  My mistake. 

Close enough. 🤣 Seriously, Miami and FFL are right next to each other and you can fly into either airport if you want.

[HippieChick02]

What about COVID vaccine/negative testing requirements? When I search this cruise it says check closer to date. Cruise is 19 days out!

 

https://www.princess.com/protocol/

 

However, I did see this was required for the Colombia stop on this exact cruise exactly one year ago but no others listed just this one last May and assumably, this cruise has been made multiple times since then.

 

https://www.princess.com/protocol/?voyage=enhanced

[EDVM96]

5 minutes ago, HippieChick02 said:

What about COVID vaccine/negative testing requirements? When I search this cruise it says check closer to date. Cruise is 19 days out!

They no longer exist. Even 16 months ago on a LA-FLL sailing.

 

Edited April 6 by EDVM96

[GoDucksNation]

Just did LA-FLL in February. No covid/shots requirements and never needed local currency. Tour in Cartagena wanted to be paid in US $$