Insignia Panama Canal - 18 Day Cruise Review

[halfapair]

My husband and I just completed the Insignia 18-Day Panama Canal cruise on January 13th. We disembarked in 2 days early in San Diego for a family emergency. I wanted to compare & contrast with the previous review by @artbcpa. As he says, these are just my opinions (and husband's, too!).

 

A+ Panama Canal: I booked us in a Concierge stateroom, which turned out to be great. We could stand on the sun deck, actually on the platform to the whirlpool, and watch the transit from there. We could hear the commentary, too. Definitely the highlight of the cruise. The transit does take 10 hours. We didn't stay on the sun deck the whole time, but it was really great up there!

 

Solid A Entertainment: I agree with the "A" for entertainment. We had a magician a couple of nights - Fred & Bobbi Beck. He was REALLY funny! Since we disembarked in SD, I cannot comment on Liar's Club. Wish we could have been there. We had a great pianist, Reuel, for two nights. And a singer. She was over-amplified, unfortunately, and this distorted her voice. She had a lovely voice, so the sound team needs to dial back the amplification.

 

A  Social Director: Ray Carr was great! Funny, genial, and a snappy dresser. We enjoyed Team Trivia with him.

 

B+ Itinerary: I wish the ship had stopped in some other places such as Belize, Costa Rica, and Panama (we did get on to see the canal, afterall. How about a stop in Colon or Panama City?). El Salvador is a hot mess. Our tour was escorted by a police truck the whole time. And the stops in Mexico were fine. We did a wonderful whale watching tour in Cabo San Lucas. We self-booked it.

 

Solid B Activities: Everything artbcpa said was true. We even learned to play bridge. The morning bridge lessons were a highlight. Shout out to Michaela & Charlie if you see this - we loved playing & learning with you!

 

B+ Crew: The service was a bit inconsistent. Our room stewards (two!) were great, though. Our room was always clean & fresh. Hannah in Dining Reservations & MDR hostess was wonderful. Always so cheerful and helpful. Pinky in the spa gave me the best massage every (hot stone). And the whole spa staff was great, too. Other crew members wanted to be helpful, but seemed to need more training (as was noted).

 

B Excursions What is it about Oceania excursions? The Colima & Colama towns tour was poorly run. San Salvador was boring (understand that there isn't a whole lot to see there, but the food at lunch was sub, sub-par). I will say that the Cartagena Highlights tour was VERY good, and our excursion in Pueta Chiapas was OK. But my goodness, the other two - yeesh! Terrible (except the lunch in Colama - the food was good, but we were rushed. sad)

 

C+ Speaker: Agree with Art on the speaker 100%. That guy desperately needs Toastmasters. Now. And we should have had a historian not a political science speaker. So much history in Central America.

 

B+ Cabin: Our cabin was fine. I did bring a travel fan which helped. The A/C was OK, and we learned to keep our curtains closed during the day so the hot, tropical sun didn't blaze into our room. I liked that the ship felt cold, but I am a menopausal woman, so any time I can be cold enough to not have a hot flash I am pretty happy.

 

A Food: Our food was excellent. In the MDR, Polo, Toscana, and the buffet it was all delish. Waves got overwhelmed easily, and sometimes they forgot components, or they didn't know that a Swiss Mushroom Burger should have tons of mushrooms, not a couple of slices... We ate lobster quite a few times and it was all cooked perfectly. The clam chowder in Polo was excellent. I would like to see the Polo menu updated. It seems very "1980's" to me.

I was disappointed in the cookies in Baristas. As a grandmother and chief cookie baker, I am offering my services to Oceania. Call me! My terms are negotiable.

 

My overall evaluation of the cruise would be a A-. At the time of the cruise my family was going through a terrible crisis (my dad found out he had cancer), that's why we got off in SD. My husband and I still had a great time, and we booked another cruise for 2024 while on board. It''s a testament to the cruise line that a customer can be delivered a stunning blow, and yet have such great memories of their cruise and think it was a wonderful experience.

[lindaglenn]

Question on the Panama Canal transit.  Did Insignia go on the original canal locks or the new larger ones?  We are going on a cruise on Insignia through the canal in July and were curious about this.  TIA

[Woofa]

Thank you for your review.  Looks like you really enjoyed it.  Hope your family situation turns out ok.

[redraider1966]

1 hour ago, lindaglenn said:

Question on the Panama Canal transit.  Did Insignia go on the original canal locks or the new larger ones?  We are going on a cruise on Insignia through the canal in July and were curious about this.  TIA

We were on the same cruise as the OP.  Certainly agree with the grades given, especially the enrichment speaker, although our experience with all the crew was very good, notably our cabin attendants, Jamaica and Rofik, and Terrace staff, Walter and Marina.  We transited the Canal thru the old locks, but caught a glimpse of one of the new larger ones at the Miraflores Lock.  I doubt cruise ships the size of Insignia will ever transit thru the new locks.  The powers at be at the Panama Canal Company will likely save the new locks for larger ships to enhance their revenue stream.

[lindaglenn]

2 hours ago, redraider1966 said:

We were on the same cruise as the OP.  Certainly agree with the grades given, especially the enrichment speaker, although our experience with all the crew was very good, notably our cabin attendants, Jamaica and Rofik, and Terrace staff, Walter and Marina.  We transited the Canal thru the old locks, but caught a glimpse of one of the new larger ones at the Miraflores Lock.  I doubt cruise ships the size of Insignia will ever transit thru the new locks.  The powers at be at the Panama Canal Company will likely save the new locks for larger ships to enhance their revenue stream.

Thank you for the quick reply. We were hoping they were going through the old locks.  We are really excited about our first Oceania cruise (for our 50th wedding anniversary).  We have cruised many times, but always on bigger ships and really wanted to try a smaller ship.

[halfapair]

@lindaglenn - make sure you get a veranda stateroom. The PC transit takes 10 hours. We had a Concierge level stateroom, which allowed access to the spa. The Spa Deck had some of the best views. People up in Horizons had to view through the tinted glass, while those of us on the Spa deck took turns standing on a platform that gave us a clear view of the locks. You will be able to hear the commentary on the Spa deck, too. Then we went to our cabin for part of the transit (10 hours is a long time to keep watching, etc).

 

We ate lunch the Grand Dining room that day, but you could order room service and dine while watching the action from your veranda. Just a thought since this is a special cruise for you.

[kreastman]

We loved having breakfast on our balcony while going through the Canal on Sirena, with the lecturer's commentary playing on the cabin TV.

[lindaglenn]

1 hour ago, halfapair said:

@lindaglenn - make sure you get a veranda stateroom. The PC transit takes 10 hours. We had a Concierge level stateroom, which allowed access to the spa. The Spa Deck had some of the best views. People up in Horizons had to view through the tinted glass, while those of us on the Spa deck took turns standing on a platform that gave us a clear view of the locks. You will be able to hear the commentary on the Spa deck, too. Then we went to our cabin for part of the transit (10 hours is a long time to keep watching, etc).

 

We ate lunch the Grand Dining room that day, but you could order room service and dine while watching the action from your veranda. Just a thought since this is a special cruise for you.

We have an A1 Concierge level veranda.  We have always had a balcony room on every cruise as we love to sit on our deck and enjoy the ocean.  Thanks for responding - we appreciate all the input we can get - room service is a good idea for lunch

[LHT28]

3 minutes ago, lindaglenn said:

We have an A1 Concierge level veranda.  We have always had a balcony room on every cruise as we love to sit on our deck and enjoy the ocean.  Thanks for responding - we appreciate all the input we can get - room service is a good idea for lunch

You also may want to go up on deck  to see more of the  transit

they hang out in the lake waiting for their turn to go through the next set of locks if you are doing the full transit so you will have time to get our of the cabin for  a snack 😉

 

It is too hot to be up on deck for any length of time   but good to see some of the views  on the other side  unless you have a balcony fore  or aft

JMO