Coral Princess! Panama Canal RT FLL, 12/7/13 - a review

[TrnrMom]

There have been a lot of trip reports lately on this itinerary, so I won't do a day by day blog style review, but will comment on those features that I've seen a lot of questions or posts about. This was an excellent cruise, despite a few glitches. We had the best MeetnGreet I've participated in, and met dozens of friendly folks.

 

We had about 40 passengers (out of 57 signed up) at the MeetNGreet, but what was amazing was the attendance of staff. I had delivered invitations on embarkation day, and hotel general manger Karin Luppes had requested her staff attend, if at all possible. We had 10 or 11 staff, including Ms. Luppes, cruise director Susan Rawlings, shore excursions, art director, spa, passenger services, controller, and others. It really set the tone for a great cruise, and we were able to greet some of these people by name throughout the cruise. We also had the most traveled cruisers as part of our group - here's a shout out to Doris & Jim Gregory, a delightful couple celebrating their 65th anniversary year.

 

Embarkation - this was our first time out of Port Everglades. With 9 ships in port, I envisioned absolute chaos, and made sure to get to the ship early - 11 AM. We used Swingline transportation as recommended by our motel and although, perhaps, a bit more expensive than a taxi, all taxes, fees and tip were included. Despite a mild backup on the causeway, our driver knew there were two Princess ships in port and properly took us to pier 21. Seeing that many cruise ships parked so neatly was pretty impressive.

 

We were dropped off right in front of the porters and luggage carts, so handed over our bags with no fuss. However, these porters certainly had their hands out until tipped. "I am your porter and you won't see me again". Should have given only minimal tip since he threw my small bag onto the cart, instead of placing it carefully.

 

Anyway, we had priority boarding, so were escorted upstairs, and were checked in with minimal waiting. As first time elite cruisers, we were then led to the elite waiting reception room, but folks were already boarding, so we just joined the end of the line. Fastest boarding time to date - we were in our room and soon in the dining room enjoying a very nice lunch.

 

Cabin - we had an aft cabin -B737. While it was great to be near the secret balcony, the minuses outweigh the pluses for us. We won't do it again. A plus was the view from the back and our steward Marco. Minuses -the door to the secret balcony banging every time it was used (they are aware of it - it used to stay open the whole time apparently). Plus it's not so secret anymore - there were groups who used it for their afternoon parties every day. Fortunately, the noise was not an issue at night while we were sleeping. Unfortunately, the seas were rougher than we expected, and these aft rooms pick up a lot of noise from the engines and stabilizers in rough (7.5-12 ft ) seas. So, not for us in the future.

 

Dining - overall we felt the food was a notch above the usual princess offerings. for the most part, especially the Asian themed lunches in HC. We did have a service problem in the Bordeaux anytime dining room with meals that starting lasting longer and longer until finally the third time, it took 3 hours. After thinking about it, I finally filled out a comment card, since along with the lengthy wait for our orders, the food was terribly dried out when it arrived. The servers also mixed up several items or omitted others. To my shock, I received a phone call from Maître'd Daniele who apologized and made us a reservation, after I confessed to going to the HC due to our bad experiences. He then followed up by sending wine & strawberries to our cabin! The reservation would have been enough, and service was exemplary thereafter. We found out from Carlos, the headwaiter that Princess calculates the turnover time to be one hour and 45 minutes, so something was clearly off earlier in the week.

 

Service- that brings me to this....this crew and staff bent over backwards in provide smiling service and also strove to make things right, when deficiencies were pointed out. We heard this from several other CCrs so it wasn't just our experiences with our steward, shore excursions and passenger services. Kudos to Hotel General Manager Karin Luppes - quality starts at the top.

 

Steward- our steward, Marco was great at doing his job efficiently, complying with our occasional requests, answering questions & if something couldn't be done, why that was so. he also made a few very cute towel animals.

 

Entertainment - we enjoyed the production show "Dance", the Inspiration StringsTrio, magician, Alexander Great, pianist Tetiana, and the Rhapsody band that was in Wheelhouse. The cooking demonstration had us laughing out loud, and the port lecturers were informative. Our only complaint, was that there were often overlapping activities, and one had to choose what to do. We would have liked it if the lectures had been reported more often on Princess TV. We either didn't have the time or energy to do more, due to early starts the next day.

 

Although Cruise Director Susan Rawlings seemed a little low key for the position, she was efficient and friendly, and taught a very good Zumba class on the sea days - once on a very windy day on the Lido deck since the theaters were all in use.

 

Alcohol policy - signs were posted regarding the alcohol policy, and we did see a check table at least once - particularly where it was possible to purchase rum. We did see boxes of alcohol in front of cabins the night before disembarkation.

 

Excursions - except for Panama, we took private excursions organized by CCrs. The Panama Canal by ferry was a disappointment, but Princess made things right for us. I've written about shore excursions for this itinerary separately, so won't repeat that information here.

 

Disembarkation - this is the first time in a long time, where we saw disembarkation slips being checked. Apparently customs does limit how many passengers are allowed off at a time, and will stop the flow off the ship, if they become too backed up, or for whatever reason. That said, we didn't have an overlong wait in line.. However, this did mean that there weren't hoards of passengers all trying to get taxis, shuttles, etc. at the same time. We used Princess Easy Chek and were pleased at how easy it truly was.

 

Bottom line - despite a couple glitches (dining room & shore excursion), this was an excellent cruise. Perhaps, it was the great attitudes of the cruise critic members we met, but Princess certainly helped us "escape completely".

[dorisis]

Thanks Judy,

That was a nice review. hope to see you again on another Princess cruise. You did a fantastic job organizing the Meet & Mingle.

[wilfros]

Thank you. I enjoyed this review as much as the one you posted about the excursions.

[Redwing55]

Tmom,

Thanks for the Nice review. We're planning to be on the Coral for February/March. I'll have to read the excursion thread.

We'd really like to see the Pacific side locks, but if there is an alternative excursion that may be better, please let us know.

TIA

Edited December 31, 2013 by Redwing55

[windsor26]

Thank yo0u for your review we are doing this on the Island in May and found your comments interesting

 

 

Alcohol policy - signs were posted regarding the alcohol policy, and we did see a check table at least once - particularly where it was possible to purchase rum. We did see boxes of alcohol in front of cabins the night before disembarkation.

 

Not very secure We always have our booze purchased from the shop delivered INSIDE our cabin by the steward night before embarkation

[TrnrMom]

You're welcome, all....

Windsor26 - good point. We've never purchased alcohol in a port, so wouldn't have thought about having the boxes put inside the cabin. I imagine you'd have to remember to alert your steward?

 

Redwing55 - I'm sorry I don't have any other recommendation. We did hear that you couldn't see much from the train during to the rainforest growing up on all sides. And some felt the Panama city by bus was overly long but interesting. It really depends on your interests. The folks who stayed onboard enjoyed that also,

[TrnrMom]

Thanks Judy,

That was a nice review. hope to see you again on another Princess cruise. You did a fantastic job organizing the Meet & Mingle.

 

Thanks, Doris...we enjoyed meeting you & Jim & hope to cruise as long and as often as you. Sent you a picture taken in the Elite lounge - if you didn't get it, please e-mail me.