sennertd

The catamaran was probably less than a block. It was our favorite excursion by far. They didn't serve enough alcohol on the boat for anyone to get sloshed. 1 small cup, 2 if you begged. They had a great chicken salad sandwich. If I were to do it again, I wouldn't leave the boat when they stop at the old town. Some people didn't, they just stayed on and talked to the crew.

The boat is small enough we constantly ran into people we had met. We were always waving at people. I am terrible with names but I recognize faces well.

It was 2.8 times around the Promenade deck to make a mile. I saw the same people walking, everytime I was down there reading. One lady did laps on her scooter. She was alone and just went round and round and round. It was cute!!

And we will look into the Baltic cruise! Sounds like fun!!

Great review! We're preparing for this trip with my dad (80) and aunt (75) so we'd like to figure some of it out before going. Your review was very helpful!

It's nice that our seniors are still living life and not just sitting around waiting for life to end, like Morgan Freeman said in Shawshank Redemption " Get busy living or Get busy Dying" I took that cruise twice and both times it way nice to see seniors out and about and getting around the best they could. Also It's nice to hear there stories of there life even if it;s the same one from the night before !!! you might have missed something from the first one :) I say good for you and more Power to the senior. Remember you will be one, one day !!!

I understand!! My parents are 84 & 88 and are less mobile than they used to be but still are active. We were just concerned about this couple at our table as they could just barely get around. One night they weren't there and we were concerned. Justly, as it turned out. He had fallen in the 14th floor mens bathroom and spent the day in the ships hospital. He had multiple cuts and bruises. They really should have had someone (family) with them helping them get around. The cruise staff was amazing. They helped them at the buffet, got hotdogs and hamburgers from the 15th floor and brought it to them on the 14th. We saw them when they were leaving and they were in wheelchairs being taken off the ship. We were their "family" for 2 hours everynight during supper making sure everything was in order. I'm glad they were able to get another trip in!

Linda and Rob,

I had TONS of questions before the trip. Ask anything. And your dad and aunt will fit right in. I wish had taken a picture of the cane/walker/scooter lineup at dinner one night. It reminded me of my parent's retirement community when they eat.

We just returned on Dec 8th from the 10 day Panama Canal Cruise. We had a great experience from day 1. This was our 3rd cruise, 1st with Princess.

Getting on the ship. We got to the ship around 11:00. There was a line outside but it wasn't that long. When it started moving, and we got close to the door, they started dividing the line and we ended up in the preferred line. That really moved things along. Within 5 minutes, we were checking in. We were then seated for maybe 10 minutes. Long story short, we boarded and were looking at our room by 11:45.

We were on the Aloha Deck, room A519. I was worried about being below the Lido deck and the ice cream machine. We never heard a noise. The room was very nice, mattress was wonderful, loved the balcony. The chairs in the room were showing wear and weren't comfortable but that just forced us to find other areas to relax. It wasn't a deal breaker!! I will say that you should bring your own shampoo and conditioner. I didn't, I have shoulder length hair and felt like a 3 year old with tangles as I attempted to comb it out every day. My mistake and I don't blame Princess but their shampoo is really bad.

We went right to the Horizon Buffet and beat the crowd. The food was good. Since it's a smaller ship, the choices weren't as great as the huge Carnival ships. But it was always hot, always fresh, and I never went away hungry.

My husband is 65 and I am 57. I felt like a youngster on the ship. I laughed everytime we walked through the pool area to the buffet as I have never seen so much skin, so many bikini's and smaller swimsuits on the 70+ generation. Keep in mind, we live in Iowa, are basically landlocked, but everyone was letting everything hang out. More power to them, it just made me chuckle.

We ate at the 5:30 traditional dining. We were at a table for 6 and I was worried about what are tablemates would be like. Both couples were a delight!! One was a retired couple from Pennsylvania, now living in Florida and the other was an 80+ year old couple that probably took their last cruise. Both could barely walk, conversations were repeated each night due to some memory issues but they reminded us of my husband's parents. Because of the awesome tablemates, we ate each night with them. The waiters went above and beyond helping this couple. They needed assistance sitting down, ordering, getting up but they always had a smile on their face. The waiters were always giving them hugs.

The entertainment on the ship was outstanding, especially the singers and dancers. I have low expectations for this type of entertainment and they were top rate. We were the first ones to see their new show, "Encore" and it was a showstopper. The soprano hit notes that I didn't think anyone could hit. The comedians, magician and others were what I expected. The music in the atrium was always wonderful, we sat and listened to it many nights.

Aruba - a short stop. We did the island tour and ocean swim. Meh. They spent way too much time touring the island and not enough time in the ocean. Seeing the natural bridge that fell down in 2005 was totally underwhelming. We know now for another time.

Columbia - We did the catamaran trip and that was great. Stopped by a beach and those who wanted could jump out and swim. Excellent sandwiches and rum punch. The negative thing was the tour guided added a stop at the old city. The reason 90% of us chose the excursion was to avoid the old city. He took us to his "buddies" to purchase things from them. I think he got the point the group wasn't impressed as it was a short stop. Several people were separated from the group and wandered back to the boat alone. But the boat ride was amazing.

Panama Canal - We stayed on board and loved it. We wandered all around the ship, seeing different views, and relaxed. We noticed that we were still in Gatun Lake well after we were supposed to be going back through the Canal. It turned out there was fog on the Pacific side and that delayed all ships. The people who had taken excursions had to wait in a very hot warehouse as that is the pier we were assigned to for over 2 hours. Some of the excursions were done at 3pm. We were supposed to arrive at 5:00 but was closer to 7. They kept warning everyone the night before and the day of the canal that many things were out of their control and everyone had to be patient. I didn't see too many really upset people, most were hot and hungry.

Costa Rica - We were supposed to go white water rafting but my husband tore his hamstring 2 days before we cruised and he was pretty limited with his activities. So we cancelled and took the Sloth tour. It was good but expensive for what it involved. When we went on the canoes, the mosquitoes were all around and HUGE. I asked the owner and she said it was safe. She wouldn't have moved her family to Costa Rica if there was going to be a danger to them. Her family is originally from Las Vegas.

Jamaica - A life long dream was going to be fulfilled - Zip Lining - WELL - due to the hamstring, the dream is postponed. We stayed on the boat. We again were on the pier that was the furthest away from the activities and it was going to be a pretty good walk to wander into town. So we read, people watched and just enjoyed it.

Phone service - Those that have Verizon can sign up for the Travel Pass. It worked in Costa Rica and Jamaica. For $10, you have 24 hours of access to your regular plan of phone, text and data. It worked really well. I would do it again.

Internet service - I signed up for the pre-plan of 100 minutes as I wasn't going to be on the internet much. I was checking home and work email, no social networking or browsing. I made it through day 7 and then was going to go on the minute by minute as I had the 2 days of travel pass coming up. I usually went to the internet cafe as that was faster than connecting with the iPad and my phone is too small. Late on the evening of day 7, I did connect with my phone, screwed up and chose the 100 minute plan vs the minute by minute. My mistake. I then surfed the web for a while as I had 100 minutes to use in 3 days. I told the manager of the Internet Cafe that the next day and he adjusted my account. If you have problems, talk to them. Our tablemates didn't realize they needed to sign out after facetiming and their internet bill was huge on the min by min. On my advice, they talked to him and he really adjusted it. He was very helpful.

Dress in restaurants - I mentioned this on another thread. They did not allow shorts in the dining room. They really enforced it. People wore jeans, not many, but once you were sitting down, you couldn't tell what people were wearing. We had the perfect table, 79, back in the corner and we were in our own little world. My dresses for formal nights were alittle dressy but not a formal by any means. Most of my sundresses, I picked up at Kohls for less than $10 on sale. My thoughts were, no one will ever see me again from this ship, I don't care. I "owned" it and felt just fine. My husband brought 2 pair of dress pants with him, multiple collared dress shirts and did put on a sports coat and tie for formal nights.

International Cafe - I ate there multiple times. There was never a line. It was like the hidden jewel. I don't think they had panani as I never saw them but there were great salads, sandwiches and desserts.

Soda Card - We purchased it for both of us with no regrets. We had virgin strawberry daiquiris every day, lots of soda and easily paid for the card. If we wanted a beer, we just bought one. Listening to people in the shows, most were having a hard time drinking enough for the unlimited alcohol cost.

Ship activities - We didn't do any other than shows. We talked to people who did trivia, Bingo, late night games, but that isn't us. We did watch several Movies Under the Stars, they were nice.

Disembarkment - We had a VERY late flight, 3:40pm, so we were trying to delay things as long as possible. We chose the 9:00 am luggage time as we had to leave our cabins by 8:30. We were to meet in one of the dining rooms at 9:10 to leave the ship. We were not rushing at all, trying to get to the front of the line or anything. We were there at 9:00, left the dining room at 9:10, found our luggage immediately, went through customs and were getting a taxi at 9:30 am. So our airport wait was very long. Such is life.

Overall, it was a great trip. Everyone was very helpful, a very nice group of fellow cruisers and we had no problems. We would recommend the cruise to anyone. We won't go to these destinations again as there is too much of the world left to see.

Also, over half were wearing their cruise cards on lanyards. We fit right in.

Ask me any questions and I'll try to answer them.

Donna

Today was the last day of our Panama Canal cruise. <sad face> We had traditional seating at the 5:30 time slot. Our table was 79 in the Bourdeaux Dining Room. We ate every night there as we had delightful tablemates. Table 79 is in the corner so we really didn't see what others were wearing. My husband wore jeans the first night and I was in a skort as we hadn't unpacked yet. Others were in jeans also. The rest of the time, he was in dress pants and a collared shirt other than formal nights when he wore a suitcoat and tie. I wore a variation of sun dresses and wore a sweater on formal nights. To be honest, I picked up all the dresses at Kohls and didn't pay more than $30 for any of them. Most were $3 - $6 and I fit right in. People were dressed in formal/fancy dresses for more than just formal night but I wasn't and it didn't bother me. I did take one dress that I felt was too casual and didn't wear it.

2 of our tablemates were 80+ in years. They were a hoot. They honestly had no business being on a cruise as they could barely take care of themselves. But our waiters were so good to them. The man didn't wear a tie even on formal night and he was allowed to dine every night.

The day of the Panama Canal, we were delayed for 2 hours getting back through the canal so we didn't pick up the people who did excursions until 6:45. Several asked if they could come into the dining room in their shorts as they were hot, tired and very hungry. They were refused.

So in my opinion, wear what you feel comfortable in knowing you are in a dressier environment. Then "own" your outfit, walk in proud and you'll be fine.

We're from a small town in Iowa. I am an Uber Virgin! :-)

We are arriving in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, boarding the Coral Princess on Monday. The hotel has a shuttle for $9/person - 2 of us. Would a taxi be cheaper? We are staying at the Embassy Suites.

Also - is Discover accepted in the port cities or is it best to stay with Visa/MC/AE?

Thanks! Starting to pack!!

Donna

I am a teacher so I have a plethora of lanyards. Big, little, wide, skinny. Some have conference names, some have software names but I have over 15. None are bedazzled though! :-)

I've never cruised on the Princess line before so I'm not sure what the culture is. I'm assuming we will get an ID card when we board that is used for onboard purchases, room key, ID for when we get off and on the boat. On prior cruises, we have gotten a hole punched in it and worn it around our neck with a lanyard. I don't carry a purse with me everywhere and I can't guarantee I'll always have pockets to put it in.

What is the "culture"? How do people deal with the id/door cards? I know this is a simple question, but it kept me up last night thinking about it!

Thanks!

What did you do in Aruba? We are there for just a short time and I don't want to be rushing back to the boat. I've read that someone walked to the shopping area. We've looked at the excursion where you spend 1.5 hours at a beach. I know I want to do something because we'll have been on the boat for 2 sea days. I don't want to be stuck in a bus for 3 hours, I'm too hyper for that. Thanks in advance!

Thanks. This is helpful! Has anyone done the ziplining or the white water rafting? We will just stay on the boat at Colon during the transit, but are looking for fun things during the other ports. We have walked through through the rain forests already on another cruise. We were looking at the sailing cruise at Columbia, and one of the beach ones at Aruba. But we are very open to suggestions.

We are cruising on the Nov 28 - Dec 8 to the Panama Canal on the Coral Princess. We have never cruised on the Princess Lines, only Carnival. We are on the Aloha Deck, Cabin A519. We have early dining.

What advice do you have for us regarding the ship, excursions, dining, etc. How much clothing do you bring for the 10 day cruise? I have searched through the message boards but I haven't found much about the Coral Princess. I'm one to micro-plan so I truly appreciate any and all advice.

Thanks in advance!!!