LIVE from the Coral Princess, RT Panama, Nov 19-Dec 1, 2014

[PotatoBug]

Yeah... who wants to go from Dallas to YVR in December?? ;) :D

 

Um ... us? :D:D:D

There were few empty seats ... we just got lucky for once.

[toberman]

Um ... us? :D:D:D

There were few empty seats ... we just got lucky for once.

 

We have too in the past (not lately though - most flights full). But, it is sooooo comfy on a long flight like that. Take care.

[Seafoam Green]

So, now that you are home (and cold :mad:), what would you have done differently on this cruise? What were the best choices that you made when planning?

 

I'm just asking as I look forward to the same itinerary on February 5th. Thanks again for this wonderful thread.

 

:D

[GleefulGirl]

Hi Rick. I just want to say thank you for all you and Ellen did to arrange the meet and greet for this cruise. I disembarked in Georgetown so didn't get a chance to thank you guys in person. Having the connection with you guys and the other Cruise Critic members made the cruise so delightful. Happy belated Anniversary too.

 

Thanks so much for the kind words! We also have to congratulate Vi as well. It was the three of us, Vi, Rick and me, who collectively organized the Meet & Greet. Vi was in charge of contacting Princess to arrange for a space on board and to have a staff person liaise with us. We were delighted with the turn out!

 

________________________

Ellen

[PotatoBug]

So, now that you are home (and cold :mad:), what would you have done differently on this cruise? What were the best choices that you made when planning?

 

That's a good question. The things I would have done differently:

• I would have left my tripod at home. I never used it and it used took up space in the luggage
  
• I would have brought my own snorkel, with a splash guard, even though this isn't a good itinerary for spending much time in the water
  
• I would have planned the Panama Canal morning better so we weren't taking showers when the helicopter was out (we never even heard it). There was just one picture of our poster, and that's when I grabbed it from the cabin when I noticed a photographer on land
  
• we spent too much time on our poster. Less is more
  
• I would have tried to get on the small boat, for the full transit of the Canal, earlier so we could have gotten seats
  
• I would have liked to spend more time outside, on our balcony or the open decks, but it always seemed so windy
  
• I would have gotten off the ship earlier in Cartagena. It's a short stop, and the traffic is horrible, so there's a limited amount of time to see anything.
  

 

Best choices:

• accepting the upsell to a minisuite
  
• highly successful meet and greet, with a hilarious White Elephant gift exchange
  
• On The Bayou. Don't miss this show - it will only be offered one night of the cruise if yours is like ours
  
• the full transit of the Canal by small boat tour exceeded my expectations. The weather wasn't as oppressively hot as I expected, and we went much further than I thought we would
  
• the tour with Your Lucky Tours in Costa Rica. I don't know that I would do the zipline again if I went back, though. It was fun, but we liked the one in Ensenada more
  
• the International Cafe
  

[PotatoBug]

Thanks so much for the kind words! We also have to congratulate Vi as well. It was the three of us, Vi, Rick and me, who collectively organized the Meet & Greet. Vi was in charge of contacting Princess to arrange for a space on board and to have a staff person liaise with us. We were delighted with the turn out!

 

Good catch, Ellen. While you and I were more visible at the M&G, Vi was indispensable.

[GleefulGirl]

So, now that you are home (and cold :mad:), what would you have done differently on this cruise? What were the best choices that you made when planning?

 

I'm just asking as I look forward to the same itinerary on February 5th. Thanks again for this wonderful thread.

 

:D

I'm going to jump on Rick's bandwagon and respond as a fellow cruiser. I'm the Ellen half of the Ken and Ellen Rick kept mentioning in his daily journal (in case you hadn't figured it out yet!) and we had way too much fun hanging out with Rick and his lovely wife, Diane. So, here's our list of what we would have done differently and what we liked.

 

The things I would have done differently:

* I would have gone to Eagle Beach when we were in Aruba

 

Best choices:

* Not booking the cruise until there was a flash sale. We booked 34 days before sailing and got a great price (we live within driving distance of the port, so we didn’t have to worry about plane tickets)

* Being part of the CC Meet & Greet. We met so many nice people.

* Going to see the two shows, Motor City and On The Bayou.

*Taking the private city tour in Cartegena, Colombia with cartegenatour.com, owned by Dora de Zubiria. (See my review on TripAdvisor.com I'm Ellen B)

* Taking the “Six Highlights in One” Tour with Your Lucky Tour in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. (See my review on TripAdvisor.com I'm Ellen B)

* Choosing the “anytime dining” option, because it gave us the flexibility to have dinner when we wanted

* Purchasing the wine package on board

* Having the Alfredo Pizza luncheons in Sabatini’s

* Having lunch in the Provence Dining Room on Embarkation Day (open from noon to one only)

*Parking our car at United Airport Parking, on the premises of the Embassy Suites Hotel, rather than at the port. We saved so much money and it was very convenient to the port, with free valet service.

 

 

_____________________________

Ellen

 

Edited December 4, 2014 by GleefulGirl

[PotatoBug]

* Having the Alfredo Pizza luncheons in Sabatini’s

 

I knew I would forget something.

There was also the Crab Shack lunch in Bayou Cafe that I have mixed feelings about. It was good, but an awful lot of food for lunch.

[etluv2cruise]

Hi Rick and/or Ellen:

 

May I ask if you recall the time for Traditional Dining 2nd seating? I heard that on the Panama Canal cruise, the time for 2nd seating is slightly earlier than the normal time Princess set for their other itineraries. I heard that it is at 7:45 PM, not at 8 or 8:15 PM, is that so?

 

Thank you.:)

[Seafoam Green]

That's a good question. The things I would have done differently:

• I would have brought my own snorkel, with a splash guard, even though this isn't a good itinerary for spending much time in the water
  
• I would have planned the Panama Canal morning better so we weren't taking showers when the helicopter was out (we never even heard it). There was just one picture of our poster, and that's when I grabbed it from the cabin when I noticed a photographer on land
  
• I would have tried to get on the small boat, for the full transit of the Canal, earlier so we could have gotten seats
  
• I would have liked to spend more time outside, on our balcony or the open decks, but it always seemed so windy
  
• I would have gotten off the ship earlier in Cartagena. It's a short stop, and the traffic is horrible, so there's a limited amount of time to see anything.
  

 

Thanks for this list. These items will be something we take note of.

 

We always bring our own snorkeling gear and will only use it twice on this cruise (Aruba and Grand Cayman), but it's good to be comfortable with equipment. Purchasing the Keene shoes for hiking/swimming/walking in water and mud has also been helpful on excursions. We're doing the rafting in Costa Rica so the Keenes will get used there.

 

I like your recommendation regarding the shows - so often we end up missing them, but we will make sure to catch 'On The Bayou'.

 

:D

[Grammyluvs]

I’m curious about the helicopter and the posters. If you do a poster and are lucky enough to get filmed from the helicopter, do you need to buy the CD or is there a photograph you can purchase? Should you be on your balcony or somewhere else? It sounds like they fly by early in the AM (I know it is early in the AM when you go thru the Locks). BTW, how early should you be up for going thru the locks? We changed our excursion from the Embera Indians to the one you took. How do you get to be on one of the smaller boats to get a seat? Are the boats air conditioned? I have asthma and I am worried about the humidity causing problems!

[bl413]

What's the story with the posters? Why, how and when?

 

Thanks

[PotatoBug]

What's the story with the posters? Why, how and when?

 

The ship supplies materials (poster board, markers, stencils, etc.) to make personalized posters for the Canal (partial) transit. There are Princess photographers/videographers pretty much everywhere: on the ship, on the locks, on the land, in the air. If you hold up your poster when there's a photographer near they will take your picture ... and try to sell it to you ;)

 

I did see the picture of me holding our poster (on the aft viewing deck) one time but I couldn't find it again when I wanted to show my wife.

 

We took our own pictures of our poster :D

[PotatoBug]

I’m curious about the helicopter and the posters. If you do a poster and are lucky enough to get filmed from the helicopter, do you need to buy the CD or is there a photograph you can purchase?

 

I'm not sure about the video, but the pictures that the ship's photographers took were available for purchase. For the video you need to buy the DVD(s); they are offered in various packages.

 

Should you be on your balcony or somewhere else? It sounds like they fly by early in the AM (I know it is early in the AM when you go thru the Locks). BTW, how early should you be up for going thru the locks?

 

If you are publicly visible, the photographers will find you :) We got videoed when we were on the Promenade deck.

 

We changed our excursion from the Embera Indians to the one you took. How do you get to be on one of the smaller boats to get a seat? Are the boats air conditioned? I have asthma and I am worried about the humidity causing problems!

 

They load everyone onto buses to take you to Gamboa to board the smaller boat. We made two "mistakes":

1. in the dining room where we collected for the tour tenders we moved well into the room to leave room for people who arrived after us. The folks that arrived later clustered around the door and were the first to board the buses.
   
2. we didn't sit upstairs or near the door on the tender. We moved all the way in on the lower section which meant we were among the last to get off the tender, and last to board the final bus.
   

 

There is an indoor, air conditioned section to the boat but, as the port lecturer commented, it's Panama air conditioning so don't expect anything as cool as on the Coral.

[GleefulGirl]

Hi Rick and/or Ellen:

 

May I ask if you recall the time for Traditional Dining 2nd seating? I heard that on the Panama Canal cruise, the time for 2nd seating is slightly earlier than the normal time Princess set for their other itineraries. I heard that it is at 7:45 PM, not at 8 or 8:15 PM, is that so?

 

Thank you.:)

I'm hoping that Rick has one of the Princess Patters because the dining room hours are printed on the back page. Provence Dining Room has the traditional dining, and while I'm certain that the first seating there was 5:30pm, I can't recall the precise time for the second seating. But if memory serves, on the actual day we visited the Panama Canal, they cancelled the two dinner seatings in Provence for that day only, and you just went in when you wanted.

 

_______________________

Ellen

[GleefulGirl]

"*Parking our car at United Airport Parking, on the premises of the Embassy Suites Hotel, rather than at the port. We saved so much money and it was very convenient to the port, with free valet service."

The item above was one of the best choices I had listed up-thread. I realize now that I should have mentioned that you must reserve the parking in advance of your cruise and present your printed receipt (sent to you via email) upon arrival. That's because you pre-pay.

 

_____________________________

Ellen

Edited December 5, 2014 by GleefulGirl

[etluv2cruise]

I'm hoping that Rick has one of the Princess Patters because the dining room hours are printed on the back page. Provence Dining Room has the traditional dining, and while I'm certain that the first seating there was 5:30pm, I can't recall the precise time for the second seating. But if memory serves, on the actual day we visited the Panama Canal, they cancelled the two dinner seatings in Provence for that day only, and you just went in when you wanted.

 

_______________________

Ellen

 

It really does not make that big of a difference whether we will eat @ 7:45, 8:00 or 8:15 PM. The most is 30 minutes difference. We chose traditional as oppose to ATD, due to reason that I heard ATD can be quite a wait for a table if we chose to eat at around 7:30 PM.

[Grammyluvs]

Rick, thanks so much for answering all my questions so thoroughly. Your review has really excited us. Hopefully, we can learn from your mistakes. ;)

Edited December 6, 2014 by Grammyluvs

[PotatoBug]

It really does not make that big of a difference whether we will eat @ 7:45, 8:00 or 8:15 PM. The most is 30 minutes difference. We chose traditional as oppose to ATD, due to reason that I heard ATD can be quite a wait for a table if we chose to eat at around 7:30 PM.

 

Ellen was correct, I do have copies of the Patter :)

 

Traditional seating times were 5:30 and 7:45, in Provence. Anytime Dining was from 5:15 to 10:00 in Bordeaux.

 

I saw people lining up at 4:45 for dinner, but every cruise will vary. If you wanted to eat after 7:15 there was rarely any wait at all so at 7:30 there shouldn't be an issue.

 

On Panama Canal day both dining rooms were "open dining", but when we ate in Bordeaux that night it was half empty.

[Dets_Girl]

We have this cruise booked for November of 2015 and have been going back and forth about going or not going. But after reading your review - I'm thinking I want to go.

 

Thanks for all your efforts,

 

Edie

[6pack]

Thoroughly enjoyed your review! We will be taking our first full transit in April.

 

Thanks again!

[etluv2cruise]

Ellen was correct, I do have copies of the Patter :)

 

Traditional seating times were 5:30 and 7:45, in Provence. Anytime Dining was from 5:15 to 10:00 in Bordeaux.

 

I saw people lining up at 4:45 for dinner, but every cruise will vary. If you wanted to eat after 7:15 there was rarely any wait at all so at 7:30 there shouldn't be an issue.

 

On Panama Canal day both dining rooms were "open dining", but when we ate in Bordeaux that night it was half empty.

 

Your response is much appreciated.

[hllwdcruiser]

Thank you, Rick, for your wonderful detailed review. We were busy on a land vacation and then the holidays and I only just got a chance to read it from start to finish this morning.

 

We are booked on the Coral for our Alaska cruise in June in cabin E736 - last port balcony aft. I was super excited as we have never been in an aft cabin before and wasn't too worried about the noise and vibration.... until reading your posts.

 

I, like you, once awake have a hard time falling back to sleep. DH seems to be a bit more like your Diane - methinks I'll be the one running down to the IC for coffee and cronuts!

 

Can you go into the vibration issue a little more in depth? Was is all the time or only when entering and leaving ports? I'm also concerned about the Universe Lounge - but you didn't have to worry about it due to your fabulous upsell!

 

Also - while I have your "ear" (or "eye" so to speak) - we are spending two days in your lovely city of Vancouver - do you have any suggestions, from a local perspective, of "can't miss" things to do while there? It's our first time in Canada and we are so excited!!

 

Thanks!

Sharon

[PotatoBug]

Thank you, Rick, for your wonderful detailed review. We were busy on a land vacation and then the holidays and I only just got a chance to read it from start to finish this morning.

 

We are booked on the Coral for our Alaska cruise in June in cabin E736 - last port balcony aft. I was super excited as we have never been in an aft cabin before and wasn't too worried about the noise and vibration.... until reading your posts.

 

That's the cabin we had originally booked. The first night I think most of the noise was caused by ship movement in the sea rather than vibration because we had "moderate seas" and plenty of wind. We were also close to top speed. I also think most of the noise was preventable - mostly chairs on the balconies banging against the balcony separators, and hangers in the closet.

 

The movement and vibration was just something we got used to.

I, like you, once awake have a hard time falling back to sleep. DH seems to be a bit more like your Diane - methinks I'll be the one running down to the IC for coffee and cronuts!

 

Can you go into the vibration issue a little more in depth? Was is all the time or only when entering and leaving ports? I'm also concerned about the Universe Lounge - but you didn't have to worry about it due to your fabulous upsell!

When I was in the Universe Lounge I was trying to figure out where the cabins are. I really don't think it will be a problem, but I'm just guessing.

Also - while I have your "ear" (or "eye" so to speak) - we are spending two days in your lovely city of Vancouver - do you have any suggestions, from a local perspective, of "can't miss" things to do while there? It's our first time in Canada and we are so excited!!

The downtown area is quite walkable, but the two must-sees are probably Stanley Park and Granville Island; my wife could spend entire weekends on Granville Island.

[PotatoBug]

Oops