h20skibum

Costa Rica - Part 1

Our tour in Costa Rica was one of our favorites after the Panama Canal. We were on the tour of a banana plantation, a train ride through the rain forest, and a boat trip on the Tortuguero canals. We started at the Delmonte banana plantation and saw the banana plants and their processing center. All the banana bunches are covered in blue plastic as they grow. They have a pulley system that takes the bananas to the center, and takes bags of calcium to the fields. In the plant, they have washing bins before packaging the bananas for shipment.

The next portion of the tour was a train ride through the tropical forest. We saw three towed sloths in the trees, as well as howler monkeys. It was amazing the noise they would make when a bunch of them started howling.

Banana plants.

Bananas covered in plastic on the plants.

Bananas ready for processing

Train ride through the tropical forest.

Sloth viewed fro the train.

Howler monkey viewed from the train.

Next - Costa Rica Part 2

Panama Canal - Part 5

This part of the review will just touch briefly on the Old Panama City tour that DW took that will include a few of her photos. Their tour was not nearly as eventful, but they did have a little time for shopping. They visited the Old Panama City Ruins and saw a few of the major buildings from their tour bus. Sorry I can not offer a recommendation for this tour, but they were not overly impressed. Anyway, here are a few of their photos.

The F&F tower (the spiral skyscraper) - they built this after how many drinks?

Ruins in Old Panama City

More Ruins

French Embassy

San Francisco de Asis Church

Next - Limon, Costa Rica

Panama Canal - Part 4

After going through the Pedro Miguel single stage lock that lowers the boat 31 feet, we entered Miraflores Lake for the short trip to the Miraflores locks. This is a two stage lock that lowers the boat 54 feet to the level of the Pacific.

On the remainder of the trip to the Pacific we pass beneath the bridge of the Americas, and view the new Frank Gehry Biodiversity Museum that has been under construction for the past 10 years. Finally, we reach the dock at Balboa to get our bus for the return cross country to Colon.

Unfortunately, we had arrived during rush hour, and we were just leaving for a one and a half hour trip cross country as the ship was scheduled to sail. As the bus navigated a two left turn intersection in Balboa, a lady ran her car into the side of the bus. This is when we found out a little about the traffic laws in Panama. The police were on the scene almost as soon as it happened. Our tour guide used to be a police officer there, so he told us that as long as one person admits fault, it pretty much ends there. However, the bus driver said it was not his fault, and the lady said it was not her fault. The driver and the lady would have to appear before a judge in a couple of weeks ( I guess to figure out which one is lying). Although several on the bus said it was the lady's fault, our guide said they do not take witness statements, and any witnesses would have to go to the judge with them in a couple of weeks if they wanted to help out.

As it turns out, this tour had an empty bus following the tour in the event any would break down, so our replacement bus was there in a matter of minutes. Once we got to the thruway, we were flying low across country. Our guide liked to point out that Panama had no regulations about lights on vehicles, and sure enough, no trucks on the road had tail lights but only reflective tape. Vehicles coming toward use were lit up light Christmas trees with lots of red lights or blue lights.

As we approached the interchange where the ramp was closed that started our morning detour, the guide pointed out that is where we were at. Our new bus driver then filled in some information from the news about it. As it turns out, the driver of the dump truck had some type of conflict with the drug cartel, and drug cartel members had driven by and shot him causing the truck to crash. We were about an hour and a half late getting back to the ship, so there was no time for shopping. The ship left as soon as we got onboard.

All in all it was quite an adventure. Would I do it again? Absolutely, if it was my first time there. To experience the locks from a smaller boat gives you a much different perspective than that from 15 decks up. I feel like we got a bonus with our tour. A drug shooting, a detour to see much of the country you would not normally see on the tour, and a bus wreck. All for no extra charge. Not to make light of any of the events, but is gives you colorful stories to tell.

Miraflores locks.

Exiting Miraflores locks.

The ships look much bigger from down here.

Bridge of the Americas

Boats along the way. where did the water go?

Frank Gehry designed Biodiversity Museum.

Next - Panama Canal Part 5

Panama Canal - Part 3

We traversed through the Culebra Cut and arrived at the Pedro Miguel locks about two and a half hours after boarding. It was interesting that they use a couple of guys in a rowboat to gather the lines to attach the ship lines to the mules. The locks are a sight to see from a small boat.

The Culebra Cut

The Centennial Bridge

Centennial Bridge

Gathering lines for the mules

One of the mules at the Pedro Miguel locks

You can appreciate the size of the locks and gates from a lower vantage point.

Next - Panama Canal Part 4

Panama Canal - Part 2

Two of us scheduled the Panama Canal and Locks transit by Boat, and the other two scheduled the Scenic Drive and Walking tour of Old Panama City. I will first cover the Locks transit since that is the excursion I took. For the Locks transit, this group is the first to tender off the ship. It is potentially the longest tour since the entry time into the locks is controlled by the Panama Canal Authority. The excursion brochure lists this as a 6 hour tour that can take up to 8 hours depending on traffic in the locks. Our experience would take us much longer, with the time from tendering from the ship to the return to the ship around 11 hours.

Although we were among the last to board the first tender to the Gatun Yacht Club, we were the first off the tender boat to get on lucky bus number one. There were eight bus loads, or about 320 who took this tour. The busses transport you to Gamboa where you board the ferry boat for transit through the remaining locks to the Pacific. When we reached the exit from the thruway to Gamboa, the exit ramp was closed. We could see a dump truck crashed into the hillside, and the guide pointed out that there was a fatality since you could see a body under a sheet and a wagon to haul the body away. Thus, we had a 30 mile detour that took us to places most do not get to see. The remaining busses took the opposite ramp and went against traffic instead of following the lead bus on the detour. With the detour, it took about two and a quarter hours to reach the ferry boat which worked out fine, since the ferry boat was just arriving.

After boarding the ferry, we had to wait for a smaller ship to go through the locks with us. As we started toward the Pedro Miguel locks, we passed the prison holding Manuel Noriega.

Tendering from the ship

The new Rod Carew Baseball Stadium on our detour route.

the Centennial Bridge as seen from our detour.

The bridge in to Gamboa.

The ferry boat, TURIA II.

The prison that holds Manuel Noriega along the Canal.

Next - Panama Canal Part 3

Thanks for the review. We did this in Feb. and loved it. It's bringing back some great memories. And I like the watch you're rocking in Colombia.:)

I know. I had to crop my ugly face out of the picture so everyone could tell which one was the sloth.:)

Panama Canal - Part 1

The Panama Canal, that's why we are here. 2014 is the 100 year anniversary, so we decided that would be the year to do it. As we approached the Gatun locks, you could see the gates for the expansion project along the left side awaiting installation. Although we had a port side balcony, the best vantage point for photos is deck 15 forward. There is enough space between the glass panels for your camera lens. I was on deck at 6:15, and there were already quite a few passengers there.

The ship entered the first of the three chambers at 7:30, and entered Gatun Lake at 8:50. The Gatun locks have three chambers that raise the ship 85 feet from the level of the Atlantic to the lake level. Each chamber has a useable length of 1,000 feet and a width of 110 feet. Our ship is 964 feet long and 105 feet wide, so it is about the largest ship that can pass through the Canal.

After passing through the first lock, I moved aft for more photos, and went to deck 7 jogging track for different photo vantage points.

New gates awaiting installation.

Traffic crosses the swing bridge below the gates while the "mules" await the ship.

The gates open as the ship enters the first lock.

A mule passes in front of the lighthouse at the Gatun locks.

Everyone awaits our entry into Gatun Lake.

Next - Panama Canal - Part 2

Cartagena - Part 3

After the brief stop at the Plaza, we went to the Old City, which is a walled city with narrow streets and Spanish Colonial buildings. We had stops at the San Pedro Claver Sanctuary, the Palacio de la Inquiscion, and the Navy Museum.

San Pedro Calver Sanctuary

San Pedro Claver Sanctuary

Old City

Architecture in Old City

Guillotine at Palacio de la Inquiscion

Statue of Simon Bolivar in Bolivar Plaza

It would have been nice to spend more time in this Port. We would have liked to wander around the Old City some more and had more time for shopping, but with just a short time, it is not possible.

Next - Panama Canali

Cartagena - Part 2

We were on tour 100A in Cartagena along with 500 others. The excursion guide said it was the most popular tour. Lots and lots of busses. This tour included the Highlights of Cartagena, the Fortress, and Las Bovedas. Our guide was Matorel, and although he knew his history of each place well, it was too much information for anyone to remember. Our first stop was the Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas ( Fort of San Felipe ). Construction of this fortification began in 1536, and it is alway amazing that they could build such massive structures given the tools of the time period. As soon as we got off the bus, there were many street vendors hawking their wares as you walked up to the fort.

Four hundred year old La Popa Monastery is on a 500 foot hill overlooking the fort.

After a walking tour of the fort, we stopped at Perino Gallo Plaza. Here again, there were more street vendors and only a few shops. Within the Plaza there was a gentleman offering you an opportunity to hold a sloth while you had your picture taken for $2. I always said I would like to do this if I had the chance.

Next - Cartagena Part 3

Thanks for all the pictures. We will be on the Coral for the first time on the 24th. Was there a coffee bar next to the international cafe? We love to get a coffee with a treat from the IC.

Yes there is a coffee bar there. There is a charge for all coffee at the I.C., even a cup of regular coffee.

Thanks for the 'adventure spin' of the same excursion. ;) I'm sure that it livens up the telling of your trip through the canal!

 

There is no doubt that we want to go all the way through the canal in the ferry - have to get to the Pacific. Then maybe someday we can do a full transit on a ship.

 

The photos and videos that people have shared on my 2 threads (see the one on HAL) are spectacular. Please alert me if you post pics. Thanks again!

 

:D

I finally started a review of the trip with photos. It will probably take me a few days since i am still uploading photos to a share site.

The review is started at

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42728972&posted=1#post42728972

Hope it helps you with your decision.

Cartagena - Part 1

Our stop in Cartagena is a short one. We are here from 7:00 until boarding time of 1:30.

Entering Cartagena Harbor

The Virgin Carmen Statue in the harbor is the patron saint of navigators.

If one word describes Cartagena, it is HOT. The temperature listed in the cruise summary said it was 83, but the one website we checked said it felt like 130 degrees with the heat index. After a long cold winter, we had no complaints about the heat.

On the way to our first tour stop, we saw that DMV's must be run the same way everywhere.

Next - Cartagena Part 2

Ship Pools

The ship has two main pools and a couple smaller pools. The main outdoor pool is the Lido Pool on deck 14. There are three hot tubs around this pool and this is where the Movies Under the Stars screen is. Princess shows "almost first run movies" at night, as well as some older ones. They also have concert videos at various times. This was the most popular pool where everyone was " watchin' the sun bake; All of those tourists covered with oil." ( with apologies to Jimmy Buffett for use of his Margarittaville lyrics).

The second main pool is the Lotus pool which is covered. This was our favorite, and we never had trouble finding lounge chairs regardless of what time we came here. This pool is 6'-7" deep, so you should be able to swim before venturing in here. I had to pull someone out the first sea day who got in over their head and was struggling to get to the edge.

There is also a small splash pool on the 16th deck that is about 15" deep. Never saw anyone using this pool.

The Sanctuary also has a small pool. Not sure what people find as the attraction here. The area was small with most loungers in the shade. Given the ease in finding empty loungers in the lotus pool area, we were content there.

Next - Cartagena

Aruba

Aruba was our first port of call, and we arrived there on Easter Sunday. We were the only ship in port that day, so there was some concern that most places would be closed. We scheduled the Snorkeling Cruise and Antilla Shipwreck excursion through the ship. We took all ship's tours this cruise and booked them long in advance of the cruise.

The first stop was at Boca Catalina for reef snorkeling. The reef and the marine life was not as colorful nor as abundant as other sites we have snorkeled. The second stop was at the "Antilla" shipwreck. A remnant of World War II, the "Antilla" was scuttled by its own captain, to prevent it from being captured by the Dutch Marines. The seas were choppy, and you needed to be a strong swimmer at the shipwreck site. The catamaran had 75 to 80 onboard for this excursion, so it was crowded. The crew did not offer any instructions for beginners, and they did not provide a guide in the water as many snorkeling excursions do. I would not recommend this excursion, since there are many better sites in the Caribbean.

Back ashore, the open air market was open, but many of the restaurants and other shops were closed, or had closed early, so we did not get to enjoy all that Aruba has to offer.

Next - Ship Pools

Cruise Critic Meet and Greet

We had our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet on the first sea day at 11:00 a.m. Since we had a group of about 40, Princess opened up the Wheelhouse Bar for us and provided dry snacks and a bartender. Shelia, the Customer Relations Manager was there to greet our group, and Cruise Director, Daniel Falconer stopped by as well as others.

Several from our CC group participated in a slot pull on the second sea day and a pub crawl on the third sea day. We had 21 for the slot pull at the Wheel of Fortune machine, and 20 for the pub crawl / poker run.

Next - Aruba

Easter Displays

Our Cruise was over Easter, so there was an elaborate display in the Atrium. It reminded me of the displays you would see when they still did the mid-night buffet on cruise ships.

Next - Cruise Critic Meet and Greet

Fitness Options

There is a small fitness center located on deck 14 aft with a number of treadmills, ellipticals, bikes and weight machines. We were typically at the gym early each morning. Others on earlier sailings indicated the gym was vacant, but on our cruise, it was packed. If you got there later than 6:30 a.m. All the machines would be in use. Deck 7 has a walking / jogging track that takes 2.8 laps to equal one mile.

I don't know if anyone considers mini golf as a fitness option, but they do have the Princess Links on deck 15. It was a little hard to find. The basketball court, shuffleboard and the giant chess set are on the Sports Deck (deck 16) aft.

Next - Easter Displays

The Ship - Dining and Bars

Besides the Horizon Court Buffet, the Coral has the Provence Main Dining Room and the Bordeaux My Time Dining Room as the main dining areas. Other options for food include the Pizzeria and the ice cream bar on deck 14 and the Grill on deck 15, and a small International Cafe on deck 6. For fee restaurants include Sabatini's and the Bayou Cafe on deck 7.

We did not use any of the specialty restaurants. Our lunch favorites was to get something from the Grill. Here, they offered cooked to order hamburgers, hot dogs, knock wurst, bratwurst, and chicken sandwiches. The Pizzeria usually offered a specialty pizza each day as well as plain or pepperoni. We had no complaints from anything we ordered at either place.

We had a table for 10 in the Main Dining Room at the early dinner seating, and we are all of our dinners there. Our table mates were all thoroughly enjoyable. The meal choices were usually six main entrees, four "always available" entrees, a couple of pasta choices, and three or four soup, salad and appetizer choices. Most of the food was good, but was not up to the same level we have experienced on other cruises. Maybe we just notice this more the longer we cruise. The meal choices seemed to be very similar, to almost repeat some options later in the cruise.

There are eight bars or bar/lounge areas, with some only being open if there are activities going on there. Most beers were 4.25 to 5.95 plus tip, and cocktails averaged 7.95 plus tip. Crooners had the best Dirty Banana. I guess all bartenders are not created equal.

Next - Fitness Options

The Horizon Court

The Horizon Court Buffet is located on the Lido deck (deck 14) forward. We went here for lunch after embarkation, and had maybe one other lunch here the entire cruise. We did, however, have breakfast here every day. We found some of the meats to be a little dry and the other dishes to be your standard buffet food for the lunch choices. We pretty much stuck to the fresh omelet station for breakfast each morning. They did have a good bread pudding that we had to try after our table mates from Wales raved about it.

Princess was being proactive about sanitation, and you had to have your squirt of sanitizer before receiving your silverware here.

Muster Drill

The muster drill was held at 3:15, and our muster station was the Princess Fine Art Gallery on deck 7. You have to take your life preserver from your cabin to the muster station and check-in for the safety briefing. No photos from the muster drill, but it was very crowded for space. We saw one lady who was having difficulty juggling her preserver and her martini. Maybe it was because by that time she already had ti many martoonies.:)

Next - The Ship Dining and Bars

Embarkation

Our 11:00 shuttle to the port was nearly full, but most were sailing on the Ruby Princess that was also in port. With a Thursday departure, there were only three cruise ships in port, so everything moved quickly. The shuttle dropped the Ruby passengers at pier 2 and then us at pier 21. We dropped our bags with the curbside porters and went into the terminal to check-in. There were quite a few already in the terminal, but it was only about a 10 minute wait in the line to check-in. Liked the fact that Princess did not need to scan your credit card if you were using the same one you did your online check-in with. It probably speeds up the process.

After check-in, they sent us toward the rear of the terminal to wait for boarding. When we got to the back, we went right since there were some seats available, and as it turned out, this area was the first to board. We had about 30 pounds of liquids (water, beauty products, etc.) in a carryon and was surprised we did not get pulled to the alcohol check table. Everything must have looked okay on the scanners.

At Pier 21, the Coral had two gangways. They separated rooms below 400 to the first gangway, and 400 and above to the second. Once onboard the ship, they use handheld scanners to scan your cruise card and photograph you, then they direct you to a bank of elevators to get you to your deck. This is the first and only time we would use the elevators during our cruise. Our balcony cabin was on the Baja deck (deck 11) port side on the midship hump. It was convenient to the midship stairwell and bank of elevators.

The Cabin

We were in B426, and our traveling companions were in the adjacent B502 cabin which was a mirror image of ours. The cabin appeared a little larger than other balcony cabins we have had, but it is because there was no couch and only a chair. We liked the layout of the closet space which was across from the bath. There were plenty of hangers and there was also a closet with shelves that also contained the safe. The safe was just large enough to hold an iPad Air and our other valuables. It would not be large enough for a laptop computer.

There were two outlets at the desk. We have a Belkin mini-surge protector that has three outlets and two USB charging ports. This came in handy when charging a iPhone, an iPad, camera, and plugging in curlers and other things at the same time. There was also a spare outlet at the tv shelf, but this would be difficult to get to. The outlets under the beds were both used by the nightstand lamps.

The bath was no larger than you would typically find. Storage shelves in the bath were somewhat lacking with only three small shelves along the left side of the vanity. We had to use the shelf beneath the sink to store some bath items. One nice feature was the outlet in the bath was not controlled by the bath light. We always take a small blue LED night light, and this worked perfect here. The shower had a curtain that made getting in and out easy, but it is still a small space.

The balcony was covered by the Aloha deck cabin above. It had two chairs and a small table. We used the balcony less on this cruise than on any others, even though it was a longer cruise. Maybe we were just too busy to use it. We did find out that all the furniture in the cabin will fit on the balcony - more on that later.

Next - the Horizon Court

Pre-cruise

This is the first part of a review of the Coral Princess 11 day Panama Canal Cruise from April 17th- 28th. This was the last partial transit of the Canal prior to the Coral repositioning for the Alaska route.

Our trip actually started on the 16th, when we left at 4:30 a.m. to catch our 7:30 a.m. flight. We left 2" of snow we got overnight and 18 degree temperature for something much warmer. We made our own air and hotel reservations since we could get them for free with our points. We had enough Southwest points for three round trip tickets, and enough Starwood points for two rooms at the Sheraton. This made our pre-cruise costs minimal for us and our travel companions.

Our pre-cruise hotel was the Sheraton Ft. Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port Hotel. They are located near the airport and offer a free airport shuttle. Our flight got in at 10:30, so we called the shuttle to take us to the hotel. Although it was early, one of our rooms was ready for check-in. There are no restaurants within walking distance and we didn't want to eat at the hotel, so we took a cab to Las Olas Boulevard and the Riverfront for some lunch and shopping. It is 6-7 miles from the hotel and the cab fare was $5 each for the four of us. It is a nice area to spend some time in.

When we returned from lunch, we signed up for the 11:00 shuttle to the port for the 17th. The hotel shuttle to the port is $10 each and can be billed to your room. The hotel points we used for our stay got us club level rooms with free snacks at night and free breakfast in the club lounge, so those were our meals for the remainder of our stay.

Below is a photo of Las Olas Blvd.

Next is Embarkation and the Cabin.

Thanks for sharing your tour info.

 

Yikes! The ferry experience didn't sound positive - people usually rate that pretty high. What a shame...

I guess one person's bad time is another's adventure. We were on the April 17th sailing and took the canal transit by ferry. And yes, we were on the bus that got hit by a car on the way back. To the tour operator's credit, they have an empty bus following the tour busses in case one breaks down (but the busses were all in great shape). We really enjoyed the vantage point of the smaller ferry in the locks, especially when there is a large ship in the adjacent canal. Why go part way when you can go all the way through. I would recommend this tour.

A couple others in our group went to Old Panama City and felt rushed on that tour. We did all ship tours at each port, and some were good, and others we took were so-so. It depends what interests you. If there were lots of kids on board, we rarely saw more than a half dozen.

We had a balcony on the midship hump on the Baha deck. I must say, we used it so little, it was probably not worth having it this cruise. We are usually on the balcony a lot, but not this cruise.

We found the food in the Horizon Court a little dry, and some of the food not up to past cruise standards. Did all of our dinners in the MDR.

There are a wide range of ages on this itinerary, and most are 50+. I understand HAL passengers are a little north of this figure, and their activities are geared to that demographic.

I hope to get a review with photos started, but things have been too busy since the cruise. Would be happy to answer any questions about the Coral.

Enjoy

Thoughts on last night's games? The Tampa-Canadians overtime almost gave me a heart attack.

 

(I love how this thread totally derailed into a general hockey discussion :D)

I agree, but Tampa / Montreal may turn out to be the best of the first round series. Now time for a Pens fan to weigh in. Can't believe CBJ led for so long in the first game, but maybe Marc Andre has the butterflies again.

Probably not a chance to see any first round matchups onboard. At least we will be home when the Pens play for the Stanley Cup.

Hi

 

Goodness,thanks for very quick replies.Going by your replies,does that mean that it will be up to ourselves(on the roll call page) to chat and just organise a 'meeting'.?

 

I am enjoying the info available through this cruise critic.

Many thanks.

The best thing is for someone on the roll call to just start a list of those interested. Once it is started and kept up to date, interest grows. All of a sudden, we were up to 40 people plus. Contacted Princess, and they put us in a larger venue and they are providing a cash bar, dry snacks, and ships officers is their schedule permits.

We were on deck 6 in a midship balcony on the hump. Would choose it again in a heartbeat. It is close to boardwalk and Central Park which we enjoyed. We never take the elevators when we are on board and use the stairs as part of our exercise routine.

We did the luggage walk off, and it was simple from this deck. No waiting on elevators that were always packed with people.

Enjoy