Cruise from Hell: Island Princess Partial Canal Transit

Just returned from the Jan 24 Partial Canal Transit. It was our first and our last Princess cruise. I decided to just list the pros and cons of the cruise instead of writing a long narrative about it. If you have any questions, just ask and I'll be glad to explain.

PROS

1. I met a great bunch of people who made the cruise an enjoyable one despite the many cons.

2. The coffee card...my lattes started my day off right

3. We had a mini-suite which was very nice and had more storage than I expected.

4. Donny Ray Evins was a headliner who sang Nat King Cole songs and was terrific.

5. Loved tea in the afternoon

6. They did a great job with the information talks onboard about the canal.

CONS

1. Embarkation was not good. The Elite line only had 1 person checking them in. Ours had only 4 or 5 doing check in. We received letters when to check in according to which deck we were on but once we were there we were told by the reps that "Princess does not check in by decks."

2. Once onboard we had to go to the back of the ship to get on an elevator to go to our cabins. Most of the elevators were commandeered for luggage delivery which made it very difficult to get anywhere.

3. Long ridiculous lines for anytime dining. Even reservations didn't help.

4. Long ridiculous lines for the shows. Many never got into the theater. We gave up after the first time we went.

5. Much of the staff were rude even to go so far as yelling at the guests. The room stewards, I think, were fine. Ours was good. The dining staff went through the paces but were not friendly and did nothing they didn't have to do. I heard more than one guest ask a crew staff or passenger service rep why they were speaking to them in "that" tone when all they had done was ask a question. The staff was obviously very unhappy.

6. There seemed to be a lack of communication from the top down. The staff learned about changes or delays as the passengers did over the intercom.

7. Everything seemed very disorganized.

8. The worst cruise tour I've ever been on, and hopefully will ever go on, was the rest of the canal excursion. A 6 hour tour turned into a 12 hour tour including 4 unplanned hours of bus travel back and forth across Panama. At first we thought we were on the wrong tour. Then we thought we had been highjacked. We were given our money back for this excursion but it would have been nice to take the tour as it was described.

9. The food was less than impressive. I personally really disliked their menus.

10. The buffet offered the same thing as the dining rooms with little other variety or options.

I believe there is a cruiseline for everyone. Princess is not for us. We will be heading back to Royal Caribbean with a new appreciation for them and their services.

Sorry you had a bad time.

We were on the Island in Nov and I agree about the DR lines.

The extra passenger load seems to impact a lot of things onboard.

Thank you for posting your pros and cons.

#8. Did you get an explanation as to why the tour bus portion of your

Canal Excursion was so wrong? Did anyone ask the driver what was

going on? I would have been nervous also.:(

I'm sorry Princess didn't meet your expectations. I think your thread title is a little over the top.

I'm sure Royal Caribbean will be pleased to have you back. In spite of everything they do right, you can point out what went wrong.

I am not discounting your experience on the Island Princess Panama Canal cruise. I decided a long time ago that I would not cruise on this ship since her "modifications". I agree, I think the extra passengers added makes an impact on her crew and staff. I also never do Anytime Dining.

That being said, I think this needs to be clarified:

2. Once onboard we had to go to the back of the ship to get on an elevator to go to our cabins. Most of the elevators were commandeered for luggage delivery which made it very difficult to get anywhere.

Luggage delivery uses behind the scenes crew elevators. The center bank of elevators are generally used for embarking passengers. They used to have elevator monitors that run the elevators. Some ships do and some don't.

The Island and the Coral should have this itinerary nailed down since they do it regularly.

I hope you give Princess another try. This is not the norm for this cruise line.

A true cruise from hell would involve things like toilets overflowing, round-the-clock fist fights with the crew, squirrels running amok in the dining room, or people vomiting in the pool.

I hate that your vacation did not contribute to relaxation. Cruises can be really hit and miss (as you know).

I did two cruises on the Royal. If I had reviewed them separately, you would think I was on two different ships.

I think a lot of the crew "stuff" really depends on who is at the helm... I have sailed with the happiest crew, and I have sailed with some miserable crew. You are right. It can make it or break it.

I hope that you have lovely future sails on RCCL! Thanks for your fair review.

I was also on this sailing with 17 other people and I would not describe it as a cruise from Hell.

We had no problems getting on the ship or getting to our cabins. Our cabin steward could not have been more helpful. My husband was ill on Sunday and the cabin steward was so concerned that he could not get in the cabin to clean up because it was never empty that day.

The lines for anytime dinning were long, which I was not prepared for. When I sailed on the Sapphire Princess, we did not have that issue. The menu was basically the same in the MDR as the Horizon Buffet. Which I was happy for. If you didn't want to get dressed for the MDR, you could still enjoy the same food in the buffet. As far as the taste and quality of the food, I thought it was excellent. My last cruise on the Explorer of the Seas could not even begin to compare in quality.

The shore excursions leaving from Lake Gatun, were a total mess. We were supposed to leave Colon somewhere around 5pm, but did not leave until close to midnight when all the buses returned. I know there was a nurses strike and some of the tour buses met with armed military guards. The ferry boat ride to the other locks was also way behind, that is no fault of Princess. It has been stated here on cruise critics many times that this shore excursion is at the mercy of the canal and can turned into 12 hr excursion instead of the planned 6 hrs.

Anyone involved in these excursions was given a refund. And everyone was given a free drink voucher for the inconvenience of getting to Costa Rica late.

I think Princess handled it the only way they could.

I'm sorry Princess didn't meet your expectations. I think your thread title is a little over the top.

I agree. I do not see these "cons" as negatives....maybe a little inconvenient.

 

3. Long ridiculous lines for anytime dining. Even reservations didn't help.

4. Long ridiculous lines for the shows. Many never got into the theater. We gave up after the first time we went.

How could this not be true? I don't know where princess

thought the extra passengers they added to the ship were

going to go...

A true cruise from hell would involve things like toilets overflowing, round-the-clock fist fights with the crew, squirrels running amok in the dining room, or people vomiting in the pool.

+1

Those squirrels can be quite pesky!

The problem with the canal excursion was not that it went so late. The problem was that Princess knew we would not be going into the canal on the ferry until much later planned since the Island was late. Instead of saying we should stay on board and leave after lunch, they had us leave at the regular time. That left us riding around in busses for over 3 hours and over an hour sitting on the side of the road til the police told us we could not sit there. In over 4 hours we had 1 restroom stop during which not every one had a chance to use the facilities and the women were charged 25 cents if they wanted toilet paper. There was no food or water provided. Once on the ferry we had lunch at 5:00. This was almost 300 older people. It was avoidable. Obviously Princess knew they were wrong since they say they are refunding our money. I assume they will. I felt bad they did not reimburse those with beverage packages for that one day. That's $59! They, too, received a letter for a free drink which was redundant but Princess didn't get it. My point is they should have handled it BEFORE it happened not after.

I think 80% of the problems were disorganization and lack of communication.

As for the behind the scenes elevator usage for luggage, that didn't happen on this trip.

I am not discounting your experience on the Island Princess Panama Canal cruise. I decided a long time ago that I would not cruise on this ship since her "modifications". I agree, I think the extra passengers added makes an impact on her crew and staff. I also never do Anytime Dining.

 

That being said, I think this needs to be clarified:

 

2. Once onboard we had to go to the back of the ship to get on an elevator to go to our cabins. Most of the elevators were commandeered for luggage delivery which made it very difficult to get anywhere.

 

Luggage delivery uses behind the scenes crew elevators. The center bank of elevators are generally used for embarking passengers. They used to have elevator monitors that run the elevators. Some ships do and some don't.

 

The Island and the Coral should have this itinerary nailed down since they do it regularly.

 

I hope you give Princess another try. This is not the norm for this cruise line.

For me the major overhaul modification to the Island was a huge mistake & I'm not surprised that crowding is worse after adding 11% more passengers. They didn't increase dining space & decreased the entertainment space by removing 1 of the 2 showrooms. Thankfully Princess cancelled the same changes to the Coral & hopefully it's a permanent cancellation & not just temporary.

In general Princess appears to be increasing the workload of their crew which on the Island is even worse with dining room capacity not increasing after adding more passengers. :(

I feel sorry that the cruise didn't live up to the OPs expectations however I agree that the "Cruise from Hell" title is excessive.

I'm sorry Princess didn't meet your expectations. I think your thread title is a little over the top.

You are right. It should read "My Worst Cruise Ever!" That would be more accurate!

Just returned from the Jan 24 Partial Canal Transit. It was our first and our last Princess cruise. I decided to just list the pros and cons of the cruise instead of writing a long narrative about it. If you have any questions, just ask and I'll be glad to explain.

 

I believe there is a cruiseline for everyone. Princess is not for us. We will be heading back to Royal Caribbean with a new appreciation for them and their services.

Besides that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

For me the major overhaul modification to the Island was a huge mistake & I'm not surprised that crowding is worse after adding 11% more passengers. They didn't increase dining space & decreased the entertainment space by removing 1 of the 2 showrooms. Thankfully Princess cancelled the same changes to the Coral & hopefully it's a permanent cancellation & not just temporary.

 

 

 

In general Princess appears to be increasing the workload of their crew which on the Island is even worse with dining room capacity not increasing after adding more passengers. :(

 

 

 

I feel sorry that the cruise didn't live up to the OPs expectations however I agree that the "Cruise from Hell" title is excessive.

I would edit the title if it let me!

Even the crew was complaining about the redesign and how it made no sense. It did increase their workload and it shows. Several of them said they were still planning to do the same to the Coral Princess. They said it's like they don't even see the problems created. Hopefully enough complaints will bring attention to the problems created and maybe they will rethink the Coral.

Besides that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

I actually enjoyed the cruise because of the wonderful and fun people I met. We laughed a lot! I think the entire debacle made us closer!

How could this not be true? I don't know where princess

thought the extra passengers they added to the ship were

going to go...

Good point.

If that's Hell I guess Hell isn't so bad.

If that's Hell I guess Hell isn't so bad.

Actually, my idea of Heaven is going to that cruise ship in the sky.

I would edit the title if it let me!

 

Even the crew was complaining about the redesign and how it made no sense. It did increase their workload and it shows. Several of them said they were still planning to do the same to the Coral Princess. They said it's like they don't even see the problems created. Hopefully enough complaints will bring attention to the problems created and maybe they will rethink the Coral.

I understand & sometimes wish there was a way to change a title. ;)

An overworked crew will eventually become overwhelmed & reach the breaking point! :(

It's good to have cruise line choices to find the best overall one for each of us. We've enjoyed all of our cruised including on RCL however overall Princess is best for us. :)

I hate that your vacation did not contribute to relaxation. Cruises can be really hit and miss (as you know).

 

I did two cruises on the Royal. If I had reviewed them separately, you would think I was on two different ships.

 

I think a lot of the crew "stuff" really depends on who is at the helm... I have sailed with the happiest crew, and I have sailed with some miserable crew. You are right. It can make it or break it.

 

I hope that you have lovely future sails on RCCL! Thanks for your fair review.

So true! Sadly this cruise was the poster's first Princess cruise. My 5th or 6th cruise was on the Dawn and it was a disaster in all ways. Had it been my first Princess cruise, I probably never would have gone back. Glad I gave them another chance...#27 next month!

As mentioned before, the title is a bit misleading.

A bad day cruising is still better than a good day at work😀.

We have had many of the aforementioned inconveniences on one Princess cruise or another, but we have also experienced some of them on other cruise lines - especially RCCL. Each ship and crew member is unique and I hope this will not permanently discourage you from giving Princess another chance.

I would have to disagree about the menu being the same in the dining room and the Horizon Court. Only a couple of things were the same and the rest different. We checked this many nights, even going upstairs to check after eating in the dining room or eating at Horizon Court after checking the dining room menu. We ate in the dining room strategically--when there was a menu item not to be missed. Otherwise, it was not worth the long wait in line for anytime dining or putting up with the indifferent service common in the dining room. On the evening in Colon, it seemed to be German night in Horizon Court. In the Dining Room, the menu was very different. They definitely did not have Lobster or Surf and Turf in the Horizon Court though they did have shrimp cocktail on formal nights.

We did not do a tour in Panama and never heard the full story of why that tour the poster was on turned into such a disaster. We did hear about a couple of other tours that were definitely sub-standard as well. The ship has been doing this itinerary for awhile so you would think these kinds of wrinkles would have been worked out by now and the lousy tours eliminated.

Don't get me wrong--we had a very enjoyable cruise despite the various glitches. Having recently done a cruise with less than 800 fellow passengers, we found waiting in line disappointing but adapted by bringing a book along or chatting with others in line.