Special Panama Canal Offer--Coral Princess

I just booked this special offer from Princess, Panama Canal, LA to Panama Canal and returns to LA. Free gratuities and $300 towards flight each. It's a 19 day cruise. Sale Ends May 2.

Panama Canal Pacific Adventure – Coral Princess ® sets sail on Sunday, November 18, 2018

Free gratuities and $300 towards flight each. It's a 19 day cruise. Sale Ends May 2. Our flights were free - round trip flying United. Also received some onboard credit of $400.00. Book using Discover Card and receive 5% cash back. Visti Discover card website for info.

Got kind of confused at the end...was that a booking offer through Discover Card? Or Princess?

Got kind of confused at the end...was that a booking offer through Discover Card? Or Princess?

You can book it either way. If you book through the Discover Card Travel, you will qualify for the 5% cash back. If you book it through Princess, you will receive far less - maybe 1%. Also, there's a Big Top that also offers travel using Citi Corp CC, and you get 3% cash back. We always go with Discover to get the 5% cash back and sometimes 10% cash back when they have the offers. It's a good deal.

The Panama travel offer came from Princess.

We booked a similar deal for the Royal's trans-Atlantic cruise in September. I love having the gratuities included. We had that deal for our cruise in February on the Regal. It makes our onboard credit go a lot farther. We got our airfare to London and return from New York for under $250 per person. I couldn't believe it.

We booked this about a month ago, same deal. Flight from YVR not free but only $ 16.00 Can. per person. Also got some OBC and ofcourse the free Grats.

There is a small roll-call for this cruise.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2519940

Theo

I just took a look at this one. It looks like there is a discount on flights but you must book through EZ Air. Is that correct? I'm wondering how to find out exactly what that discount would be. Any info would be appreciated.

We did a full transit (SF to FLL) in 2015 and loved it. I see there are 4 ports on this one that we haven't been to before as well as a couple we visited on the previous cruise. (Didn't care for Nicaragua and it seems they are in the news again for more civil unrest. Not too sure it's a good idea to go there at this time.) Costa Rica was great and we would be happy to visit there again.

I know many say you "must" have a balcony for the canal but we didn't have one last time. We had initially booked an inside but took an upsell to B731. It's an ocean view that actually looks out onto the aft observation deck. I tried really hard but was unable to see into our cabin from outside during the day and, at night, we kept the curtains closed. It was fantastic having that huge "balcony" just a few steps away and it was normally either empty or sparsely used. I see the same cabin is available so I think I'll put a hold on it and then run it past my wife this evening when she gets home. :cool:

I just took a look at this one. It looks like there is a discount on flights but you must book through EZ Air. Is that correct? I'm wondering how to find out exactly what that discount would be. Any info would be appreciated.

 

We did a full transit (SF to FLL) in 2015 and loved it. I see there are 4 ports on this one that we haven't been to before as well as a couple we visited on the previous cruise. (Didn't care for Nicaragua and it seems they are in the news again for more civil unrest. Not too sure it's a good idea to go there at this time.) Costa Rica was great and we would be happy to visit there again.

 

I know many say you "must" have a balcony for the canal but we didn't have one last time. We had initially booked an inside but took an upsell to B731. It's an ocean view that actually looks out onto the aft observation deck. I tried really hard but was unable to see into our cabin from outside during the day and, at night, we kept the curtains closed. It was fantastic having that huge "balcony" just a few steps away and it was normally either empty or sparsely used. I see the same cabin is available so I think I'll put a hold on it and then run it past my wife this evening when she gets home. :cool:

Are you in Chico, CA? I'm not too far from you. The flight would be out of Sacramento, and you do book it on EZAir. Your travel agent can book it for you. I had the Discover Travel book everything for me. It was a PITA to try to sign up on United's website. We always book a balcony, we enjoy coffee in the morning and wine in the evening on our balcony. I think this is a really good deal for 19 days. Round trip air fare was free. BTW, we already have our seats booked. I haven't booked a transfer yet. DH wants to go with Princess transfer and I prefer Super Shuttle. I haven't checked the price difference.

Here's the info:

Sail roundtrip from Los Angeles on our unique 19-day Panama Canal Pacific Adventure, and take in the top 5 most sought-after experiences in Central America, including:

• Transit the historic Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks with scenic cruising through Gatun Lake.
  
• Explore the charms of Antigua, Guatemala, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  
• Hike around Mombacho Volcano from Nicaragua’s San Juan del Sur.
  
• Tour Mexico's renowned ecological reserve in Huatulco.
  
• Zipline through the rainforest canopy of Costa Rica from Puntarenas.
  

See the highlights of Central America from the Pacific Perspective. Book today for the best available stateroom!

Are you in Chico, CA? I'm not too far from you. The flight would be out of Sacramento, and you do book it on EZAir. Your travel agent can book it for you. I had the Discover Travel book everything for me. It was a PITA to try to sign up on United's website. We always book a balcony, we enjoy coffee in the morning and wine in the evening on our balcony. I think this is a really good deal for 19 days. Round trip air fare was free. BTW, we already have our seats booked. I haven't booked a transfer yet. DH wants to go with Princess transfer and I prefer Super Shuttle. I haven't checked the price difference.

 

Well.... My wife got home and checked out the cruise. I could have put the deposit down using FCD at the time I put the hold on the cruise but can't do it online at this point. I will call tomorrow morning and place the deposit. Checked out EZ Air and the cost for the two of us to fly both ways is $0.00. Can't finalize that or select seats but it's either because I haven't paid the deposit yet or because I'm clueless with EZ Air. :o I can ask about it when I call tomorrow I guess. I certainly don't have an issue with "paying" the zero dollars in advance but, like I said, having never used EZ Air before I'm clueless. Time to visit the roll call thread. :cool:

I also booked a different cruise under this. My question is... I haven't ever done EZ fare. When do I need to book the air flight by? AND if they do a Sip n Sail....what happens to the credit on the airline flight? Sorry if it's a weird question.

Well.... My wife got home and checked out the cruise. I could have put the deposit down using FCD at the time I put the hold on the cruise but can't do it online at this point. I will call tomorrow morning and place the deposit. Checked out EZ Air and the cost for the two of us to fly both ways is $0.00. Can't finalize that or select seats but it's either because I haven't paid the deposit yet or because I'm clueless with EZ Air. :o I can ask about it when I call tomorrow I guess. I certainly don't have an issue with "paying" the zero dollars in advance but, like I said, having never used EZ Air before I'm clueless. Time to visit the roll call thread. :cool:

At the time I booked the cruise, I had to fill out a DOT form before they could make the airline reservation. I filled it out and emailed it back. Within 1 hour my agent had us booked and our seats selected. We're flying out of Sacramento (probably the same for you). We've used EZAir before and it's good. We've never had any problems with EZAir. Princess guarantees to get you to the ship. If our flight is cancelled they'll get you on another flight. We're leaving on the 9:40 am flight, arrives in LA at 11:17 am. By the time we pick up our luggage and meet the Princess transfer, we'll be to the dock by 12:30 pm. The ship leaves on a Sunday so not much traffic. Zero dollars is better than $$$$$. Good luck!

I also booked a different cruise under this. My question is... I haven't ever done EZ fare. When do I need to book the air flight by? AND if they do a Sip n Sail....what happens to the credit on the airline flight? Sorry if it's a weird question.

I'm not sure about your question "what happens to the airline flight credit." In my case, there is no credit as there's no money coming out of my pocket for the round trip flight. To book EZAir, call your travel agent or if you booked through Princess, call them. The first time I used EZAir I called Princess and they took care of everything. No problems at all, it was a flight from Miami to San Francisco nonstop. The fare was $400.00 cheaper than booking it myself.

I like it nice deal. Have a great time on the cruise. :)

Tony

There is a 60 day Circle the Pacific cruise on the Coral starting and ending in LA. This roundtrip Panama Canal cruise starts on the same day folks debark from the Circle cruise. -- Dreaming of a B2B and Thanksgiving on board.

We were considering this particular Panama cruise, but thought the prices were too high.

I also booked a different cruise under this. My question is... I haven't ever done EZ fare. When do I need to book the air flight by? AND if they do a Sip n Sail....what happens to the credit on the airline flight? Sorry if it's a weird question.

a) The sooner you book an EZAir flight, the more flight options you will have. Also, the longer you wait, the higher the chance for higher airline pricing that your airfare perk will not fully cover.

b) If you switch to a different promotion such as the Sip n' Sail, you lose any perks with the original booking (such as the airfare credit with the current promotion) and get the perks (if any) with the new promotion that you switch to. You would not lose your EZAir reservations, but would lose the credit towards paying for it.

We were considering this particular Panama cruise, but thought the prices were too high.

We too have been looking for a good deal but didn't find one until Princess sent me the offer. It was perfect for us as we live in California and don't have to fly to FLL. We did not want to cruise on the Island Princess. I don't know about the prices being too high when you take everything into account. We've waited for prices to come down and they never come down, the ship is full, so we wait for the next offer. For this cruise for 19 days per person only comes to $119.00 per day (inside room) that includes taxes and fees. I don't know where one can go for 19 days on $119.00 per day.