New2cruise1483

I agree with the above poster about a port side balcony. When the ship does it's 360 in front of the glaciers, it seems like you get more of a view. We had a port side Haven suite on our 2015 cruise to Alaska and really enjoyed it.

You don't have anything to worry about with the Dawn. We sailed on her for our first cruise in 2014 and loved her. I actually prefer her over the Jewel class ships we've sailed on. As mentioned before, she recently had an extensive dry dock. Go and enjoy this beautiful ship and great itinerary :)

On our cruise out of there on the Gem in November, we embarked at the Pan American pier. However, I highly recommend staying at the Sheraton in Old San Juan before your cruise. It was conveniently located within walking distance of most everything yet you would want to see in OSJ (shops, forts etc.), and since the ship will leave later in the day, it will provide a great opportunity to explore. Also, the Sheraton offers a luggage hold, so you don't have to schlep your bags around. Happy cruising! You will LOVE that itinerary :D.

I've sailed three times with NCL and once with RCI and I have to say that I preferred RCI MUCH more than NCL. I liked the ship itself better, the food and service better, just got a better feeling from RCI. Our first NCL cruise was great, but with all the changes and current promos, to me it seems to diminished the quality IMO. With NCL's third and fourth person sail free promos, the ships are getting more and more crowded. With the UBP as a promo, it seems as if the bars are overwhelmed and it can take quite awhile to get a drink. With the UDP included in the promo, it can be very hard to get reservations at specialty restaurants without booking them far in advance. For these reasons I'm going to be shying away from NCL for awhile. We're trying Princess for the first time next year, and I'm hoping to sail more with RCI.

I'm going to strongly suggest the Allure. From what Iven read about the Vista,it sounds like it will be much more crowded than the Allure. Not to mention, Vista is a Carnival ship. Can't even compare with a Royal ship IMO.

I haven't been on a cruise in about 15 years so I'm going to refer to myself as a first timer. My wife has never been on a cruise. I'm very limited to dates as I'm trying to schedule after a work event in Chicago that ends on 5/21. I want to fly to an eastern US port (Orlando, Charleston, Jacksonville Ft. Lauderdale or Miami) and take her on a 4 to 5 day cruise to include the Bahamas, departing 5/22. She is looking for a relaxing time with no pressure to do anything. I've narrowed my choices down somewhat, but was curious as to the following:

 

1) When is the best time to book for the best pricing

2) Should I book through the cruise line directly or use an online agent.

3) What benefits are there?

4) Should I splurge for a balcony?

5) Any chance of getting upgrades, etc if using an online agent? Basically I want the best deal for my dollar (who doesn't, right?)

6) Is doing a last minute cruise worth it? Or is there too much risk of it selling out completely and not having that date?

7) I've narrowed it down to Royal Caribbean and Carnival. Which will she like better? I've been on Carnival, but like I said it was 15 years ago.

 

Thanks in advance!!!

1) I always book as early as possible. I seem to get fairly decent pricing then. However, others like to gamble on last minute price drops, but you run the risk of it selling out or not getting the cabin you might want.

2). I always book directly through the cruise line to have more control over my booking.

3) Some people seem to get additional OBC or other perks going through a TA. However, if you want to make any changes to your booking or have any questions you have to go through the TA instead of contacting the cruise line directly.

I would definitely go for a balcony. It's so nice to have your own little space to enjoy the view and each other's company. I went without a balcony on one leg of a B2B in November and told myself " never again" lol

5) not really sure about this as I've never used an online agent

6) As I stated above, some people luck out and score some really great prices, but you do run the risk of your date of choice selling out, or not getting your cabin of choice.

7) I would have to say Royal Caribbean hands down. I've never been on Carnival, but I have been on Royal and it was my favorite cruise to date. Carnival is less expensive, but from what I've seen through reviews, the ships don't even compare. Yes Carnival is less expensive, but you know the saying " you get what you pay for".

Let us know what you decide and happy cruising whatever you choose!

Speaking from my own personal experience, I would suggest upgrading to a balcony. We've always had suites, however in November we decided to extend our vacation to a B2B, so I booked an obstructed ocean view for one week to save money. Never again. I HATED not having my own little space outside to lounge on and enjoy coffee or a good string drink. Or just having somewhere to relax. A smaller cabin I could deal with, not having a balcony, not so much.

Hi Mitsugirly, I did some poking around and it looks like he Holiday Inn Express on 17th St has some pretty reasonable rates, with a free 24 hour airport shuttle, breakfast and shuttle to the port with a small fee. There also appears to be a Walgreens within walking distance, but I'm not sure about restaurants.

I'm in the same spot you are researching hotels in this area for a 2018 cruise lol. Hyatt Regency is suppose to have intercostal views, free airport shuttle and I also believe some sort of breakfast (unless I'm mistaken), also, there is a Holiday Inn express that has caught my eye that looks like it offers the same things. The Embassy Suties there doesn't seem to get a lot of good reviews on trip advisor, so I'm thinking it best to shy away from that one. Most hotels seem to be pretty pricey in that area unless you want to share a bed with cockroaches :eek::p. I'll try to share with you whatever info I can dig up :).

Thank you so much for posting the beautiful pics! We are sailing on her in April of 2018 for our first princess cruis and the pics show me what we have to look forward to :)

Thank you so much! I figured in trying to be one of the first people onboard to try and snag a pass as soon as possible:D.

We are booked on a 15 day full transit Panama Canal cruise in April of 2018 on the Coral and I'm very interested in the sanctuary. I have a couple questions regarding buying passes though.

1) Can I make reservations for certain days? I would like to book it only for sea days as it seems like it would be a waste on port days when we're ashore, and it seems that the sanctuary closes at 5.

2) The cabanas look lovely. Do they cost extra to reserve on top of what you would already pay for the sanctuary?

3) is there a bar in there that we could get beer, wine or frozen froo froo drinks if we like or would we have to go elsewhere for them?

4) Will we be able to view the sanctuary on embarkation day to see for sure if it is something we would be interested in for sure before spending the money on it?

Thanks in advance for any replies :)

Thanks for the helpful replies and the websites. I'm thinking about shying away from the obstructed balconies as I think we would have trouble getting a good view as we're going through the locks. Even with the websites and you tube I'm still having trouble seeing just how obstructed our view would be and just don't want to take the chance.

Cabins E208 and D206

I've searched and searched but I haven't come up with much because it appears the pictures have expired. How bad is the obstructed balconies on Coral Princess? I'm thinking of booking one for a Panama Canal cruise in 2018 to save some money, but I don't want it to be a waste and not be able o see anything. Or would I be better off going for one of the partially covered balconies on the Caribe deck as they appear to be larger? Thanks for any advice :)

Thank you everyone for all the helpful responses. I am leaning heavily toward Princess for this cruise. Especially after reading such great things about the Coral :)

Thank you everybody for all the helpful replies. I'm definitely leaning heavily towards Princess for this voyage as I've always wanted to try them. I'm going to be deciding if I want to leave from California or Florida, and such things. Also, big thanks for the advice on the Coral!

I second the recommendation for the Coral Princess. I did a review of our Panama Canal trip a couple of years ago, if you are interested in what Princess offers. The link to the review is in my signature.

 

 

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Thanks for the recommendation, and I will definitely be checking out you review :).

I would recommend Coral Princess as the ship of choice for the Panama Canal. She was built specifically for this route ["Panamax design" = maximum length and width to fit the old locks], which makes the transit particularly breathtaking [only inches to spare!]. It also makes the ship long and narrow compared to most cruise ships, which harkens back to the golden age of ocean liners -- and cuts down on crowding. Note: Island Princess used to be a clone of Coral, but a recent drydock added many more cabins at the expense of one show lounge and other public spaces -- customer reaction was so bad that Princess dropped plans for a similar travesty of Coral and she continues to sail as designed.]

Thank you for the recommendation on Coral. I've been trying to decide which one would be better between the two ships.If memory serves me correct I believe the itinerary offered on Coral is the one that has a two day canal experience.

One of the biggest pluses of sailing with Princess, especially to destinations like the Panama Canal, are their enrichment and destination lectures. To my knowledge NCL offers nothing of this sort. NCL simply cannot compete (and chooses not to) with Princess in this area. Instead NCL fill The day with endless rounds of trivia, spa seminars, art auctions and other drivel. Princess offers those too, but at least the lectures offer balance

 

As far as crowding, ship amenities, etc it will largely depend on which ships you are comparing? Passenger demographic will be similar age wise regardless of line if it's a 15nt full transit coast to coast. If it's a 10nt Roundtrip from Florida NCL average age may be a tad lower. NCL in general caters more to a late night crowd than Princess, again depends on which itinerary.

 

If you like a quiet place to sun by the pool don't look to NCL! Princess has multiple pool areas on their ships and there is always one or two that offer quiet and relaxation. The same has been my experiences with indoor venues during the day - harder to find a quiet spot to read, play cards, watch the sea, etc on NCL ships.

 

NCL has more extra cost dining venues than Princess. I find the food quality good on both lines in general. That said food is very subjective, and can vary from ship to ship depending on the executive chef and his/her galley team, what time and where you eat, what you eat, etc

 

After my last two NCL experiences I have personally decide that despite good food and entertainment they are not the right fit for my cruising personality. I much prefer Princess, Holland America and Celebrity.

Thanks for the comparison, our last two cruises on NCL seem to be getting more and more crowded, to the point it has me looking elsewhere. We are looking at a 15 day full transit.

It puzzles me why so many cruise lines do not offer the port call in Panama when they transit the Canal. Many of Princess' Canal itineraries do not offer a stop in Panama in addition to the transit. To me it would be a huge advantage with their 2 day experience. Not only would you be able to take a closer look at the Canal if you like, but Panama City has so much history from the Henry Morgan sacking the original Panama City, (Panama Veijo), then there is the preserved Casco Antiguo, where Panama City was moved to after Morgan's attempt of urban renewal. Then you have modern Panama City that just blossomed all around those two sites. If you want the closest thing to a Nat Geo experience, then you may wish to visit the Embera Indians. Of course there are other things like riding on the first and fastest trans continental railroad in the world as diane in ny did... The Panama Railroad, well maybe it isn't the fastest, but it is the quickest!

 

Take a look and see what tours are offered that you maybe interested in. Panama is a different stop unlike many of the other Caribbean beach port of calls.

 

To me the four sea days would be a welcome addition, a win-win in my case.

Thank you so much for the helpful reply. My Dad was in the Navy, and was stationed in Panama in the late 60's or early 70's for three years, part of his duties being giving ships their routing orders to go through the canal. This is one reason I am interested in Panama City. I'm with you in regards to the sea days, I love them! However, my BF has a tendency to get bored easily, so I try to consider that when looking at itineraries

We did the train excursion from Panama City to the first set of locks. We were bused back.

 

Our tour consisted of a short bus tour around the city, the train ride, viewing the locks from the land and then busing back.

 

I know it doesn't sound exciting but I am a train nut plus wanted to experience as much of the canal as possible and I'm glad we did it.

 

Second cruise through the canal that we just completed did not stop in PC. Didn't miss it.

 

I would suggest looking at possible excursions on that cruise to help you decide.

Thank you for th suggestion, my BF also enjoys trains, so that would definitely interest us. I've read somewhere that you HAVE to book ship excursions for this port, do you know if this is true?

Cruise line wise, I can speak t the general feel of the lines, as I have cruised both (but not the itinerary). I have always been a loyal royal. It was my honeymoon and and first anniversary line. For our 20th we cruised with Princess due to the port options, and I do have to say I LOVE LOVED Princess. For us it was an incredible cruise. I am hoping our next cruise is with Princess! The service and food is ever so subtly better, and the ships are gorgeous. No digs to Royal, but I felt like Princess was able to offer so much more in terms of service.

 

NCL for the cruise we spent with them was very upsell-y, everything was additional, extra, not included. I think this is part of their culture, strip,the cruise to the bones, and make you pay a for the extras you want, similar to the flight industry, but I felt less so with Princess and RCCL

 

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I have to say that I enjoyed my one cruise with Royal more than my others with NCL. I just felt it to be a better quality experience. How was the crowding on Princess? With all the promos the NCL has been doing, I've found the ship to be getting more and more crowded. From the pictures I've seen Princess ships look gorgeous!

We did the canal on the NCL Sun in 2015 from Tampa to Vancouver. There were no crowding problems, good information available, and we loved the ports, including Cartegena, Columbia, Costa Rica, Acapulco, and Cabo San Lucas. They were all new ports for us, and currently includes stops in Nicaragua and Guatemala. If you read David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas you will greatly appreciate what went into the history of acquiring and building it. Such long cruises have an older clientele, especially in May. There were 3 children on our cruise, we got no rain. .From what I have read, it would be difficult to age the cruise population of any Princess ship.

I've read a lot of good things about the Sun, even though she is an older ship. Also, I will try to find that book and read about it. When my Dad was in the Navy, he was stationed in Panama for three years, and part of his duties included giving the ships their routing orders. It's always great listening to his stories from that time :).

I am researching a Full transit Panama Canal cruise for spring of 2018, and one of Princess's itineraries offers a two day canal experience where they offer a full day in Panama City as one of the port stops. My only concern is that we wil have four sea days in a row at the end of this itinerary instead of having it broken up with ports at the end. Is Panama City a must see type of place or is there not much worth seeing? Any thoughts or input is appreciated.