back from Coral partial Panama Canal transit

[TW6cruiser]

Hi, I don't know. I just washed a few things in the sink so I did not use the machines.

[hokiefans]

Same question here - departing on 1 Dec 14 and don't want to take quarters unless I need to. Thanks!

 

Great review on Columbia tour too!

 

Dan

 

 

I found this recent review that includes the answer to your question!

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=264714

[Kerry&LuAnn]

How were the seas? I know weather is always unpredictable but we have heard from others (that did this cruise) that they experienced sea sickness the first day or two. Said the ship is smaller and narrower than typical so felt that this may have contributed to some bouncing?

 

We recently returned from the Panama Canal cruise on the Coral Princess. The sea was a bit rough one day and we could feel the rolling of the ship as we walked the hallways... the comedian that night commented that you could tell the drinkers on the ship because they were the only ones who seemed to be walking straight! We are very prone to seasickness, but didn't experience any at all. We took a Dramamine pill and a ginger tablet each morning as a precaution.

[Orlando Vic]

Hello, we were on the Oct 29th Coral sailing to the Panama Canal. I'll do a review soon but if anyone is going shortly and has questions I'd be glad to answer. I learn a lot from this site and would be glad to help anyone out if I can. We really enjoyed the ship and the cruise.

 

Many thanks for the offer. We go April 1st and I have several questions for you.

 

1. In Puerto Limon, is there an internet cafe at the cruise terminal (Terminal de Cruceros) called Internet Cinco Estrellas)?

 

2. In Colon, is there an internet cafe at the Colon 2000 pier?

 

3. Did you happen to notice before you boarded in Fort Lauderdale, if the if the one bottle of wine per person (without corkage fee) policy is enforced?

I ask this because on our most recent 2014 cruise on the Golden, it was not. Ditto for the Star in 2012.

[paul929207]

Thanks for the info

[TW6cruiser]

To OrlandoVic,

 

We did not bring wine onboard so I don't know about the wine policy.

 

In Limon, I can't say that there was really much of a "cruise terminal". Where we docked, we walked to the end of the pier and the bus for our excursion to the rain forest was there. The buses were in a parking lot. In between where the buses were parked and the exit of the port area there was a very small 'shopping area' that was not really a terminal, but frankly looked like an indoor flea market shopping area. When we got back from our tour the bus let some folks off there to shop (not big stores, just local craftsman's wares) and then they had to walk further through the parking lot and back to the ship. We did not make the shopping stop as it had just started to rain really hard (the only bad weather of our trip) and we did not want to walk back to the ship in the rain.

 

In Colon, there were two different port areas. At first, our bus (we took the Gatun locks and expansion center tour) took us to the port area where there is not much nearby. When the bus approached he was told by the guards at the port area that our ship was going to be at the other port area. So we drove (just about two blocks away) to the larger port area. There were a number of stores selling local crafts and places to get something to eat. We did see a number of people on our ship found places that had wi-fi but it appeared to be more at the restaurants. We did not use the wi-fi there. The only downside of our day at the canal was having to wait at this area in Colon, as unless you wanted to buy something to eat or drink, there was no place to sit down.

[Orlando Vic]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

-Vic

[Host Jazzbeau]

So nice to read your post. I'll be looking forward to your review. Did you do all Princess excursions? What did you do in Cartagena? Our roll call (2/5/2015) is extremely silent, so your input will be very helpful. :D

 

We did this cruise in January (2014) and had a great time. We did some Princess tours (Veragua Rainforest in Limon, Panama Canal ferry boat, Atlantis Submarine in Aruba -- all worthwhile), and some Roll Call tours (Ocho Rios -- surprisingly interesting! -- & Cartagena).

 

Cartagena is a lovely city and we felt safe at all times -- but I think that was because we had a guide and transportation. We booked through Lee Myles (the emerald guy, not the muffler guy!) and had a great experience. He doesn't do the tours, but he meets you at the pier and introduces you to your guide. They are very open to your agenda (we did not want the "mandatory" shopping stops, and we did not get them). We saw La Popa Monastery, San Felipe Fortress, and an extensive walking tour of the Old Town and city walls -- the guide changed the order of things because of a feast day at the monastery, and enabled us to avoid the local + cruise ship crowds.

 

Hope you're still reading this thread! It's a great cruise.

[shsce750]

did you notice if the laundry rooms on coral still use quarters or have they gone to tokens like some other ships

 

Just off the Coral last week. Stayed in suite C704 so we had free laundry service but I did go in the laundry a couple times during the first few days to iron some shirts. There was a machine set up that I took a moment to look at to give you tokens from swiping your cruise card.

[paulekrause]

We were on the October 7 partial transit on the Coral Princess. We did the transit of the Panama Canal on the small ferry. Because Panama did not get their normal rainfall this year, the Canal Authority would not let us go through the locks on the Pacific Ocean side alone, as they release 26 million gallons of fresh water into the ocean every time a ship exits the Canal. We had to wait for a companion ship to go through the Pacific locks with us. We left the Coral Princess at 8:30a.m. and returned to the ship at 8:00p.m. It was a long day, but we had a great story to tell.

 

We did this excursion in early November but lucked out. Even though we were told it would take longer, we hit the right traffic. Always up front in the locks, right by the gates. Made it through in record time at got back to the ship by 5:30. Totally unexpected. Thought this was the best excursion the entire cruise. Well worth the cost.

[PotatoBug]

We did this excursion just last week (Nov 26) and we in luck as well. We went through the Pedro Miguel and Milaflores locks with a catamaran and a cargo ship, and we were back in Colon before 5:00. It was a partially cloudy day, in the high 20s C, so it wasn't as oppressively hot as I had feared.

 

There were, however, many "chair hogs" on the boat :(