Island Princess Panama 2/6/08 Quick Look Report

[ccrain]

Island Princess

B418

Anytime Dining

Grand Panama 2-6-2008

 

We just got off the 15 day IP Grand Panama. I probably won't do a full review. Judy was sick the entire cruise so we didn't get to do a lot of what we had planned and any review would be tainted by the kind of ho-hum cruise you would expect when your SO is sick in bed. We cancelled all of our shore excursions and only ventured off the ship once.

 

We did have a nice little CC group get together in the Wheelhouse on the first sea day. It was set up by Arelenez and was even attended by Susan and Anna (the CD and Senior ACD).

 

On the other hand there is some useful information to pass along from the cruise that I hope I can do objectively.

 

SHIP OBSERVATIONS OF NOTE

 

CABIN

 

We had a BB class bump-out balcony. The BB balcony shower IS the smallest in fleet. I realized that we never have been in a Coral class balcony before, just minis. Sun Class, Grand Class and CB all have larger showers in the standard balcony cabin than on the Island. The biggest difference is the grab bar which juts out from the wall and prevents you from soaping the walls and spinning in place.

 

We were one cabin back from the mid ship forward bump mini-suite. Not a good location for wind and I expect the forward mini to be even worse as the bump forms a scoop shovel effect and blows into your cabin. At speed, the noise and some rain would blow directly into the cabin and wake us up – we like to sleep with the door open at night. The rear facing mini we were in on the Island in 2006 was a much better choice.

 

Our room steward was Oliver. The single best room steward we have ever had. Quick to clean our room, responsive to all of our requests, never missed a beat the entire cruise.

 

PUBLIC SPACES

 

Public space layout and selection on the Coral class is still our favorite in the fleet. The Wheelhouse Bar is large with a large dance floor and a smoking section as far away from the dance floor as possible. The Universe Lounge is a much more versatile show lounge than the Vista or Club Fusion concepts – except for the upper tier seating. The Universe Lounge upper deck remains the most ill designed public space in the fleet. Apart from the front row upper tier seating, anyone behind that row simply can’t see the stage. The Explorer’s Lounge, while smaller than the one on the Grand Class, is still a nice extra public area.

 

The Lotus Pool area is still one of our favorites and we did spend a lot of time there. Covered pool with current machine, two hot tubs, a bar, the ice cream bar, air conditioned, no kids, no smoking, plenty of chairs and relatively quiet even when heavily used.

 

The back public decks on Baja, Caribe, Dolphin and Emerald remain little used by people unfamiliar with the Coral Class. These are great spaces for all types of cruises and have little or no wind even when the ship is underway.

[ccrain]

FOOD

 

Dinners

 

Unlike previous cruises on the Island, the food was less than stellar. Specifically I had two really bad pieces of fish at dinner – the Saltimbocca on Italian Night and the Yellow Fin tuna on one of the Princess Dinners. Both were fishy to smell and taste and being a sushi and sashimi aficionado, it was not a good experience. On the other hand Judy had the salmon on two occasions and a couple seated next to us had salmon as well and enjoyed it very much – so maybe mine was just an anomaly. The lamb and beef was very good. The tornadoes of beef, a filet mignon cut, were always excellent, cooked perfectly and tasty. The leg of lamb was quite strong and gamey, but being used to elk and venison we enjoyed it. The lamb chops and rack of lamb was also quite good.

 

Judy, who has an allergy to Mayo, couldn’t eat any of the salad dressings. The Island is peculiar in that. On all previous Island cruises we had the same problem. Mayo was in all the salad dressing including the vinaigrettes. (On previous Island cruises we had brought our own dressing or the waiter usually had the kitchen make up something special for Judy.) On the Golden last September, none of the vinaigrettes had mayo. It varies from ship to ship greatly.

 

The creamed vegetable soups, usually quite good, were not up to par. Specifically, too much thickeners were used except for the broccoli soup and lobster bisque which were both quite good. Desserts as well were pretty standard. We don’t like soufflés. We ended up having ice cream quite a bit rather than the standard desserts. The Love Boat Dream and Cheesecake on the always available menu were as good as usual.

 

Dinner Menus – This was our longest cruise to date and the menu structure was quite different. The standard 7 day menus were present (Chef’s, Captain’s Welcome, Captain’s Gala, Landfall, Sailaway, Italian, Continental, International), but the other menus were simply called Princess Dinner (except for Valentine’s Day). The new menus were not deployed yet and the Chef’s Table was not available.

 

Anytime Dining on the Island – This ship does it right. Almost every wait station in the dining room has two 2 person tables, 1 4 person table and 1 8 person table. Reservations, on the Dine Line, were rarely hard to make and a little slip of paper showing your assigned table and the time are delivered to your room after 1pm. Entry for people with reservations are on the left hand door, people without on the right. For the people without reservations, you made your request or you could seated immediately. Immediate seating would be in groups at an 8 person table. An important note, service would not begin until the entire table was full, so there might be a delay while additional passengers were seated. If your request for a table was not available, they passed out the standard restaurant buzzers and you could sit in the atrium bar or area and wait for your request.

 

Bayou Café – We made it to Bayou once during the cruise. A far better experience in food and service than the first time in 2004. This time the appetizers were spicy, the service excellent and the food was superb. We tried all the appetizers, all very good, the crayfish bisque, they even whipped up a special cilantro dressing for Judy’s salad which was very good. For the main course I had the three spice filet and Judy had the porterhouse and 8 oz lobster tail. The 3 spice filet is the best choice on the meat menu. It is spiced perfectly and melts in your mouth. The 8 oz lobster tail, which we split, costs an extra $5, but is worth every penny. It is a much more mature lobster, firmer and tastier than the smaller 4-6oz lobsters in the main dining room. The Bayou Café is highly recommended.

 

Horizon Court – In general, the HC is still a standard buffet. The dish selection continues to decline – where there used to be 8-10 hot dishes per station, there are now 4-6. Breakfast quickly became an even bigger disappointment. My benchmark for a good buffet breakfast is scrambled eggs and French toast. Both of which were simply not good on the Island. The eggs were over milked and over cooked. The French toast was too oily and on most morning crunchy due to overcooking. My usual routine on a ship is to eat a large breakfast and skip lunch. I changed this on the Island because of the pizza and burgers and ended up eating a strangely healthy bowl of cereal and cup of yogurt for breakfast. (BTW – There is an omelet station in the HC buffet line where you can get a cooked to order omelet. They were pretty good especially when topped with the fresh salsa.) Lunch on the HC was mainly Judy’s bailiwick, but we ended up having most lunches at the grill. According to her, the buffet lunches in the HC were OK. The best part for me was the salad bar. Fresh veggies, including jalapenos, meats and cheeses and a good selection of salad dressings. We did do dinner three times in the HC. Dinner was better than I’d previously experienced, but not as good as Café Caribe on the CB. Again the salad bar was the star for me here.

 

Burgers – The burgers were fantastic if you got them fresh off the grill. There were times during the afternoon when an occasional dry burger would come off due to overcooking, but in general they were great. Especially on the days when Salsa and Guacamole were the toppings of the day. On one particular day, after the cereal in the morning, we had a fresh burger, topped with Salsa and Guacamole (no mayo), that was simply juicy, messy and indescribably delicious.

 

Pizza – The pizza was good. A little on the greasy side, but good thin crust pizza. Not the best we’ve ever had on a ship, but I really couldn’t complain.

[ccrain]

PANAMA CANAL NOTES

 

There are a few very important items to be aware of in a Grand Panama Canal crossing. The Panama Canal is actually North to South, not east to west. This really impacts the position of the Sun and that may impact your choice of actions. First of all, you will be entering the area EARLY in the morning and it will take all day to complete transit. Secondly, it will be hot, very hot and if there is no cloud cover, it will be miserably hot when not in a shaded area. Several people got sunburned and several got heat sick as well.

 

Secondly all the locks are in pairs and the ship will enter either on the port side or the starboard side lock. You won’t know until that morning which lock the ship will enter. For example, on an Atlantic to Pacific transit you enter the locks from the north in the early AM. This means the sun will illuminate the Port side and bow of the ship. This also means that one side of the ship will be looking at the area between the locks and the adjacent lock, and one side will be looking at the jungle or support buildings on the sides of the locks. If you can, you really want to be looking at the adjacent lock. There will most likely be a ship in the lock next door going up or down with you. You can see how the locks, the doors, the tugs and the mules operate much better that way.

 

The entry position of the ship and the position of the sun will really dictate your best courses of action. Basically if you have a balcony on the side facing the other lock, you’re in luck. You can stay there and get a bird’s eye view of what’s happening in both locks and in between. You can also have room service delivery coffee, lunch or whatever. If your balcony is on the sunny side, it will also be miserably hot. If you’re on the shady side, you will have the best of all possible worlds.

 

The two bow decks, Baja and Caribe, will be accessible to passengers when transiting the canal. This is a great place to see everything, but it is EXTREMELY hot and exposed to the Sun on an Atlantic to Pacific transit, but in the shade on a Pacific to Atlantic transit.

 

The four rear decks (Baja, Caribe, Dolphin and Emerald) are also a great place to see the transit. You can look down over the rear of the lock and see the ships behind you and beside you. These deck are relatively unused by newbies on the ship.

 

You need to plan at least one trip to the Promenade during a lock transit. You can almost reach out and touch the concrete walls and get an up close and personal look at everything right there beside you.

 

When transiting Gatun Lake and the Calebra Cut you really need to be mobile and move from one side of the ship to the other. The Sun Deck is the best for this although shade is an important factor. By this time you’ve probably exceeded your sun quota for the day. The reason for moving from side to side is the sights on both sides vary tremendously. You’re liable to meet several container ships coming through Gatun Lake and the lake itself is a wonder. Widening projects are ongoing in the cut and dredges and blast barges are everywhere.

[ccrain]

ENTERTAINMENT

 

Because of Judy’s cold, we didn’t get to do all we wanted to at night. We missed country western night and the 50’s night, but made it to the deck party, which was very fun and very energetic. We went to several comics and a couple of shows. The highlights were Mike Price, the juggler, whom we had seen on the Island in 2006. A standing O show for sure. Tribute, a musical in the Universe Lounge, was also an excellent show. It made full use of the Universe Lounge’s multiple moving stage elements and was both a vocal and dance treat. Both of these shows are a don’t miss.

 

We danced in the wheelhouse to Luis and Darme, but they are headed to the Royal now. Take 5, the all purpose band in Explorer’s and on deck, were versatile and very good. Prestige, the alternate wheelhouse band, was not so good. Essentially they were a Mexican Salsa band, which they did very well, forced to sing in English and play ballroom music, which they did not do so well. Hopefully they will improve with practice.

 

SUMMARY

 

This probably could have been a great cruise, but with Judy being sick, it just wasn't to be. We did have some good times, some good food and of course the Panama Canal was incredible.

 

But we're just going to have to do this cruise again with both of us at 100%.

 

Darn...

[Colo Cruiser]

Great review, thanks for posting. :)

 

 

What rear facing mini are you talking about? The Coral/Island have no rear facing cabins?

[Colo Cruiser]

Did Judy end up going to the medical clinic onboard? If so how was the service there? :)

[ccrain]

Great review, thanks for posting. :)

 

 

What rear facing mini are you talking about? The Coral/Island have no rear facing cabins?

 

They don't face aft, you are correct, there are no aft cabins on the Coral Class, they are on the aft side of the front and center bumpouts and are protected to a certain extent from the wind when the ship is in motion. Specifically A, B and C 310/309 and 504/503

 

The rear most cabin balconies also curve toward the aft of the ship, but they are not recessed like the rear bump ones are so I suspect wind might still be an issue for them.

[LARGIN]

Thanks for a great review.. The Island/Coral are our favorites. I have one question on this comment about the food..

 

Unlike previous cruises on the Island, the food was less than stellar. Specifically I had two really bad pieces of fish at dinner – the Saltimbocca on Italian Night and the Yellow Fin tuna on one of the Princess Dinners. Both were fishy to smell and taste and being a sushi and sashimi aficionado, it was not a good experience.

 

If the Saltimbocca smelled and tasted fishy, you really got a bad piece of meat.. Saltimbocca is an Italian dish made with Veal or Chicken and topped with Prosciutto. I prefer mine rolled and not flat.. :D:D

[ccrain]

Did Judy end up going to the medical clinic onboard? If so how was the service there? :)

 

Quite a few people did end up going. The symptoms were a nasty chest cold and sinus congestion. Everyone we talked to that went to the doctor was given instructions for plenty of rest, lots of fluids, eat lightly and take Robitussin DM. The shop sold out of Robitussin by the 7th day. Dayquil as well, so Judy ended up eating Nyquil for a while and using Vodka martinis as cough medicine.

 

I eventually caught it from her the day after Panama and ended up being miserable during the sea day before and the stop in Costa Rica, but I kept up my exercise and swim routine determined to either kill it or be killed. I was over it in 48 hours.

 

I attribute my rapid recovery to a high adrenaline level, boy was I ticked, and copious amounts of vitamins and minerals delivered via Long Island Iced Teas and Captains' Bountys.

[ccrain]

Thanks for a great review.. The Island/Coral are our favorites. I have one question on this comment about the food..

 

Unlike previous cruises on the Island, the food was less than stellar. Specifically I had two really bad pieces of fish at dinner – the Saltimbocca on Italian Night and the Yellow Fin tuna on one of the Princess Dinners. Both were fishy to smell and taste and being a sushi and sashimi aficionado, it was not a good experience.

 

If the Saltimbocca smelled and tasted fishy, you really got a bad piece of meat.. Saltimbocca is an Italian dish made with Veal or Chicken and topped with Prosciutto. I prefer mine rolled and not flat.. :D:D

 

It may be, but I specifically remember ordering the fish, can't remember the type, labeled "XXXXXX XXXX Saltimbocca XXXXX" off the Italian Night menu. It was definitely a fish dish, not a meat dish.

 

This particular dish replaced the: "Filetto Di Pesce alla Griglia - Grilled Swordfish with Herb Butter, Broccoli and Steamed Potatoes" because I noted that the Swordfish, normally excellent, was not on the Italian night menu.

[Bucky3]

Great report, especially the PC crossing advice. We're doing the RT from LA in April and really appreciate your viewing tips. Thanks so much.

[Beave8920]

ccrain....thanks for the review....we are on the Island PC from FLL to LA in early April.....we both have the flu now (doesn't everybody!), so hopefully we have plenty of time to get better! Since it's snowing here, your review of the hot sun sounds sooooooooo gooooood!:) Sorry you both got sick, but sounds like you made the best of it.......great tips as well.....thanks!

[Guest arowe6]

It may be, but I specifically remember ordering the fish, can't remember the type, labeled "XXXXXX XXXX Saltimbocca XXXXX" off the Italian Night menu. It was definitely a fish dish, not a meat dish.

 

This particular dish replaced the: "Filetto Di Pesce alla Griglia - Grilled Swordfish with Herb Butter, Broccoli and Steamed Potatoes" because I noted that the Swordfish, normally excellent, was not on the Italian night menu.

 

It was Turbot Saltimbocca.....

 

I had it on the CB. I remember it being fishy but no worse than Salmon. However it was far from being my favorite dish.

 

Thanks so much for the great review. We have a 10 day Panama Canal RT planned in November and this got me excited again.

 

-Andrew:D

[Guest arowe6]

Duplicate

[Guest arowe6]

Here it is...

[mii]

Thanks for the review. I thought the same thing about the Saltimboccia because I knew that was a beef dish. Then someone else explained it. You gave some very interesting information especially of the Canal transit. We have been on the Coral twice, one a partial and one full transit and I agree about how extremely hot and humid it can get. You do need to find shade somewhere. I think the best areas of watching the canal transit is those balconies that are in the back of the ship; Baja, Caribe, Dolphin and Emerald. Best as far as I am concerned. To me the worst area is the front. You are totally in the sun in the a.m. and no shade. Brutal out there.

Again thanks for the well rounded review.

 

marilyn

[jrobinso]

Great review for someone who was sick on their cruise.Like you pointed out, you'll just have to do it again. We're on the 19day Panama in April. Did you hear any discussions about excursions??? What were the favorites?? Since you used the gym, was it busy? What were the best times to go?? Same with anytime dining, what is a good time to go?? If we like to eat early (6 "ish") do we need reservations or should we just "show up". Thanks again for the info, I hope you two are feeling better now.

[ccrain]

Great review for someone who was sick on their cruise.Like you pointed out, you'll just have to do it again. We're on the 19day Panama in April. Did you hear any discussions about excursions??? What were the favorites?? Since you used the gym, was it busy? What were the best times to go?? Same with anytime dining, what is a good time to go?? If we like to eat early (6 "ish") do we need reservations or should we just "show up". Thanks again for the info, I hope you two are feeling better now.

 

We almost signed up for that one, but I just couldn't see being away from work that long.

 

There was a lot of discussion on excursions - everyone seemed to like the Fortress excursion in Cartagena and several people liked the mangrove cruise in Costa Rica.

 

The gym was very crowded from 0730 to 0830 on sea days, but I never had a problem getting an elliptical. The treadmills were almost always full. The Island is equipped with 6 precor ellipticals, 3 with the arm swings and 3 with the adjustable ramp. They are my favorite. The weight machines are the good kind - CYBEX, single exercise, but one for every muscle group.

 

After the first 6 or 7 cruises as late traditional dining we have switched completely to Anytime Early. We always tried to call just after 0800, but missed a few days and requested a table for 2 at 530pm. I noticed that most people who showed up in the no reservations lines were seated pretty much immediately, but if you want a table for 2 or 4, I highly recommend the reservations.

 

I think you actually go through the canal twice don't you? The Itin shows you in at 0700 and out the next day at 430pm. I don't think they'd anchor you in Gatun lake overnight?

 

But regardless you will probably enter the interesting parts from the south at 0600. Since the sun will be on the back of the ship, I'd probably be on the front two decks through at least the Calebra Cut, then switch to the Promenade through the Gatun Locks. On the way back in the AM, I'd be on the back decks through the Gatun locks or on my balcony if the sun was right, then switch to the Sun Deck for the trip to the Pacific Locks, then back to the Promenade for the last set of locks.

 

One warning though - On a 19 day cruise, you won't have a lot of Newbies. It will be an experienced bunch of cruisers, so the nooks, crannies and secret areas may well be full early!

[ccrain]

I forgot to mention, the cutoff for the most traveled passenger get together was over 200 sea days. There were 76 Elite passengers on the ship.

[jrobinso]

The intinerary has changed, slightly. We will go through the first two sets of locks, turn around in Gatun Lake ,go back through then anchor off of Panama for the evening. We then will have a full day in Panama (8a-8p, I think). Thanks for the info on the gym, did it open earlier than 0730? When we were on the Island in 2006 I think they said it was open 24 hours. I like the eliptical, too, but I've been using a treadmill more lately, so I want to avoid the crowds, if possible. By any chance did you use the thermal suite, was it crowded? Thanks again for the info...we can't wait. I just hope that the flu that has hit the country so badly is long gone by April.

[ccrain]

The intinerary has changed, slightly. We will go through the first two sets of locks, turn around in Gatun Lake ,go back through then anchor off of Panama for the evening. We then will have a full day in Panama (8a-8p, I think). Thanks for the info on the gym, did it open earlier than 0730? When we were on the Island in 2006 I think they said it was open 24 hours. I like the eliptical, too, but I've been using a treadmill more lately, so I want to avoid the crowds, if possible. By any chance did you use the thermal suite, was it crowded? Thanks again for the info...we can't wait. I just hope that the flu that has hit the country so badly is long gone by April.

 

Don't know if its open 24 hours, but it was at 0530 one morning when I got there, so I suspect so.

 

Did not use the thermal suite.

 

To get to Gatun Lake you have to go through all three of the Pacific Locks. I don't know if you can turn around in Mira Flores lake or not. I doubt you can turn around in the cut, although there may be room under the bridge. It sure would be neat if you get to go through both ways.

[jerseyk]

Thank you very much for your write up. This has been very helpful:)

Walter

[TorontoTL]

Sorry to hear that your wife will ill on your cruise. I know how i can really change the nature of your cruise. I became ill with a cold on the last few days of my very recent Hawaii cruise on the Diamond and it puts a damper on things. Thanks for the review, I hope your next cruise is much better and more enjoyable.:D

[Cruisin Sal]

Charles,

 

Sorry that you and Judy were sick. It can be a downer on a cruise. We were on the Coral in Sept. We had one of the aft cabins on Emerald - completely covered. May we see you on another cruise.

 

Sally

[mauiedin87]

This review was very useful to us and we thank you. In fact you even answered one of the questions that I couldn't get a response to a couple of weeks ago. Namely about the dance bands! We're traveling together with two other couples from our retirement community and we're all quite vigorous Latin dancers (Salsa, Samba, Mambo, Merengue etc.). What you said about the "Prestige" band in the Wheelhouse sounds promising. We're not much into ballroom dancing anymore, except some of us do like Argentine Tango.

 

Do you remember what time Prestige usually came on? How big is the band?