RNCheryl

Reading other posts, reminded me of another peeve during this cruise. Constant selling of wine tasting and special buys of Limoncello or Baileys light. Interrupted conversation at dinner for each EVERY night. Not cool.

We did attend both wine tastings: The more expensive one was great. Mass market $9.50 much less so.

Yesterday at 1:29pm

OK, quick review of Coral Princess Panama Canal. It is a smaller ship, 1900 passengers. Easy to learn your way around. Mostly retired folks. We had anytime dining, sat with many people. They are very well traveled and great conversationalists. Staff was very friendly; guy in the coffee bar and our waitress at the Martini bar knew our names and preferred drinks by the second day. Love that!

Ft Lauderdale to Aruba was a very rough passage. No one in the swimming pool, really too rough to even walk on deck. I would say the on board activities were fairly good. DH enjoyed digital photography classes. I found a cruise chorus. We rehearsed every sea day for about 45 minutes. About 25 members, lead by a gal from the musical dept. We had a great time, and performed in the atrium on the last day. Super fun.

Rode the trikes in Aruba. Very well run operation, and had a lovely afternoon.

The Canal is an engineering marvel, even for non teckies like me.DH was in engineer heaven. We did the first three docks on the ship. Then in Gatun Lake tendered to shore. Bus ride for several miles, then on a ferry to go all the way to the Pacific. The ferry was crowded and facilities (restrooms and dining) were sub-par, in my opinion. The only excursions here were thru the cruise lines. Oh well, how many folks can say they sailed on the Atlantic and the Pacific on the same day!! CRAZY drivers in Panamaaaaa!!!

Cartagena Colombia, took a local tour. It was hot, but the scenery/history was very nice. The tour had several Air Conditioned stops built in.

Next was Limon, Costa Rica. Really rain forest. We toured with our Cruise Critic group again. Del Monte banana plantation very interesting,as was an animal rescue sanctuary.

In Jamaica, we did the Blue Hole excursion. Really enjoyed this.

Comparing Princess to Celebrity: Princess does many things right. On board self serve laundry, I brought home a minimum of dirty clothes. Food was good to very good. Service in the MDR anytime dining was much too slow. Buffet was well organized and offered a good variety.

Evening entertainment was OK. 3 production shows (we saw 2), comedian, who was very funny, magician, etc. Not much night life. In room and MUTS (movies under the stars) had a great selection.

Big pet peeve: we paid mucho doneros for the beverage package, as we hate signing every time we have a coffee/bottled water/drink. Well, on Princess you still have to sign every time. Maybe they want you to add a tip??to the already charged 15%??? Gritted my teeth with every signature. Celebrity has it much better

When we docked in FLL, there must have been 6 ships in port. Oasis of the Seas was directly across from us with golden sunrise on her windows, just lovely. Still curious how that would be.

Well, off island time, back to the real world. A bad day of cruising is better than a good day at work!!

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Just off the Coral. Agree with the library. My favorite memory was the Chorus. We rehearsed every sea day for about 45 minutes. Sweet gal from the production department was our director. We laughed and had a great time getting to know each other. On the last sea day, we performed in the Atrium for throngs of adoring fans. OK, maybe just friends and family, but still a wonderful memory.

And I have the pin to prove it!

Thinking of Romantic Rhine in Sept '16 on Avalon. The NONREFUNDABLE deposit is north of $1700. This just worries me. Final payment due 6/16.

Not a shill for Celebrity, by any means, but have cruised twice, and one booked. Loved the Summit, Century, not so much.

But what I want to comment on is this: There was a delightful customer service young woman from Ukraine. She was helpful to us; then when the upheaval in her country happened, she let us know that X was flying her home.

That says a lot about company values, (Now just fix the website)

Our crazy group from Cruise Critic met at Barrachina the night before we cruised and had a great time.

We also did a tour called Flavors of San Juan, based on Trip Advisor reviews and really enjoyed. We stopped at several restaurants for a little something, i.e, mofongo, a pina collada, tropical fruit juice, etc. Along the way were treated to some history of San Juan. Highly recommend.

Cindy, until I stumbled on your post, I had no interest in the Baltic itinerary. Wow, have you changed my mind!

Your photos are spectacular. Especially enjoy the B&Ws.

Thanks so much!

What an interesting review; makes me want to see Bermuda.

We were on Summit about 18 months ago from San Juan to the Caribbean and had a fabulous time. Our favorite places were Cafe Al Bachio, where they knew our names and how we liked our coffee on day 2, and the Martini Bar, where we met with our Cruise Critic friends every evening before dinner.

Said CC friends, by now up to about 25, are cruising again in Nov 15 on the Reflection! This is an amazing serendiptiy!

By the way, we were BLU on the Summit, and will not do that again, price to benefit ratio based.

Thanks for the pictures. By the way, we are many, many years above you, but it would be great to meet you and cruise away!

Doesn't matter. Buckeyes 49, Michigan 7.

 

I'd tell you when we graduated from Ohio State, but it was so long ago I hardly remember. We were there for Woody Hayes, Rex Kern and Jack Tatum.

We probably ran into each other at CharBar or South Berg!