Late Review - Island Princess - Panama Transit Nov / Dec 2013

[English Tim]

Panama Canal Transit

 

The much awaited transit was to start at first light, about 06.00, so we took an early night and were up as soon as the ship approached the canal. We'd spent the previous day anchored nearby and hardly moved overnight, so it was a bit surreal. It was difficult to work out which direction we were heading and the sun seemed to rise in the west! It was very disorientating.

 

Some pictures are from our balcony and some from the open deck at stern.

 

 

 

 

 

[English Tim]

Panama Canal Transit continued

 

 

These little fellas (actually not so little!) oftner stood by or assisted lock access

 

 

 

 

Railway lines for locomotives which aligned and controlled ships transits

 

 

Container ship, higher up in adjacent lock

 

[English Tim]

Panama Canal Transit continued

 

 

Some videos

 

Click

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152060528020747&l=2525616227182636887

[English Tim]

Some sunsets (some may not be from this cruise, but look good anyway)

 

 

 

 

[English Tim]

Some final thoughts

 

This full transit took 15 days, with many sea days, so if you are easily bored it's not for you, but it can be a wonderfully relaxing vacation. It is also easy to gain lots of weight, so our cabins proximity to the gym was very important, as was our use of the stairs. The easy access to the lifts / elevators was also useful if having too much alcohol in system!

 

It was great to be able to walk all the way around deck 5, which was a popular pursuit, but there were always some who wanted to walk the opposite way to everyone else, despite there being arrows pointing the way to go!

 

No smoking on balconies was a major factor for us, so until other lines adopt this practice, we shall avoid them.

 

Rosy drank water most of the time and didn't gain any weight. I took the ultimate soda package and drank far too many shakes and malts, which although delicious, lead to a weight gain of 10 pounds over the 18 day vacation.

 

We were fortunate enough to have about $700 OBC, so at the end we had a credit on our account. Guest service agents seemed completely 'at sea' ;) with what to do about this. Eventually they reluctantly gave me $200 cash and after some emails, stated that they would return $30 by cheque, which I've yet to see.

 

Service and crew friendliness was fantastic.

 

We had a wonderful cruise, but after so many days away from home, we were happy to disembark.

 

Disembarkation went very smoothly, but there was a long line in immigration, with no separate lines for porters or foreign visitors, so we all took our turn. Upon exiting the building there was some confusion as to where were supposed to walk, to find Hertz car rental shuttle. Eventually we found it and they don't go to FLL, only to a nearby hotel so we went by cab. Cab driver didn't seem too happy with short journey and didn't help us with our bags on arrival at the airport.

 

We quickly found our rental car and headed off to the local Pro Bass store, to buy hiking shoes etc. We love their Christmas exhibits, range of firearms, boats, etc. A typical in-store exhibit

 

 

After completing our shopping we headed for the nearby John U. Lloyd Beach State Park, where it's possible to relax, walk, launch boats, fish, etc right by the Port Everglades cruise terminal. It's a great place for watching cruise ships come and go.

 

 

Island Princess from State Park

 

 

 

[BillB48]

Panama Canal Transit

 

The much awaited transit was to start at first light, about 06.00, so we took an early night and were up as soon as the ship approached the canal. We'd spent the previous day anchored nearby and hardly moved overnight, so it was a bit surreal. It was difficult to work out which direction we were heading and the sun seemed to rise in the west! It was very disorientating.

I think I know why you may have been disoriented E. Tim and it's not uncommon to get your internal compass off course in this case. The entire trip from California to Panama the sun was setting on the starboard side in a general direction. As you actually began your transit of the Canal in the Pacific headed towards the Bridge of Americas, the ship is now heading North (NNW to be more precise). So all of a sudden the starboard side of the ship is now facing east and the sunrise! You now have witnessed the sun rise in the Pacific without having to go to somewhere like Hawaii!

 

Enjoying your pics:).

[English Tim]

Just realised I missed out ports of Cartegena, Columbia and Aruba.

 

Not many pictures though.

 

Cartagena

 

I seem to have lost my photos of Cartagena, which is a shame, as words do not do justice to the fantastic visitor facilities close to the dock gates, which many cruisers miss by taking ship tours. The tour buses depart from and return to the ship, so most people don't visit the cruise center, which houses a large air-conditioned shop, wifi, a cafe and best of all nature gardens. here you will find flamingo, parrots, macaws, toucans, howling monkeys, etc. I would have been happy to spend my time there rather than visiting the old town.

 

We decided to walk to the old town, which provided a challenging experience, first avoiding all the touts, as we left the port confines, then the hawkers who were everywhere. It took about 1 hour, on uneven pavements, to reach the city, accessed by crossing a long bridge. Once across, it's best to keep moving, walking down the narrow streets, as as soon as you stop, you are hounded by carpet, fruit - well anything - sellers.

 

When returning to the ship, it is best to go to a taxi rank, definitely not walk, as it's easy to get on wrong side of the water. We negotiated a fare of $12 back to the port. Others paid a lot more!

 

We paid for a wifi token, but at first the service was very slow and frustrating, but it did improve as crew members returned to the ship.

 

The port operates a free shuttle bus from the ship to the cruise center, or it's a 15 minute walk.

 

Aruba

 

Rosy and I were very excited about our visit to Aruba, as we intended to return for a timeshare exchange this coming February, so we took the local bus from the town to Eagle Beach and visited our intended resort. We were shocked by it's appearance, which was not what we were expecting and contrasted greatly with our home resort in Orlando. Some of the accommodation was tatty and overlooked the car-park and there was no guarantee what we'd be allocated. Getting back home also involved a lengthy journey via Miami and JFK, so we changed our plans to a cruise from Miami instead.

 

We were going to use the beach, but Rosy had just got into the water when we had a tremendous rain shower, so we headed back to a bar in town, for wifi and cocktails.

 

 

The building in the background of the above photo is a popular bar, accessed up some stairs at the rear, but it didn't do cocktails, so we went across the street where I had two nice drinks, but Rosy was disappointed to find he drinks were straight from a bottle, rather than freshly mixed. One tasted very strange so they didn't charge us.

 

After that we walked along the shore to watch Ruby Princess departing, then returned to the ship.

[golfadj]

Very interesting thanks for the review

[English Tim]

Panama Canal Transit

 

The much awaited transit was to start at first light, about 06.00, so we took an early night and were up as soon as the ship approached the canal. We'd spent the previous day anchored nearby and hardly moved overnight, so it was a bit surreal. It was difficult to work out which direction we were heading and the sun seemed to rise in the west! It was very disorientating.

I think I know why you may have been disoriented E. Tim and it's not uncommon to get your internal compass off course in this case. The entire trip from California to Panama the sun was setting on the starboard side in a general direction. As you actually began your transit of the Canal in the Pacific headed towards the Bridge of Americas, the ship is now heading North (NNW to be more precise). So all of a sudden the starboard side of the ship is now facing east and the sunrise! You now have witnessed the sun rise in the Pacific without having to go to somewhere like Hawaii!

 

Enjoying your pics:).

 

Thanks for the explanation - makes perfect sense :)

[Willow1686]

Thank you for the review; it's moved the Panama transit several places up my bucket list!

 

It's also made me resolve to follow the advice about various areas not being suitable for strolling :D

[Nancyquilts]

Thanks for the pictures. :D

[juakkers]

Thanks for a nice review Tim - we did this cruise a couple of years ago so it brought back lovely memories (except my flight memories, which are those of cattle class, so very jealous of your first class experience!)

 

I too always have the bircher museli - i've never found it as nice anywhere on land

 

Julie

[alfieisgod]

Princess had recruited an excellent Port Lecturer, who was raised in Panama (I think) and provided entertaining lectures about all our destinations. He also did an all-day commentary during our Panama Canal transit.

 

 

 

I was on the island shortly after you (Dec 10th sailing). The port lecturer was William Fall. He was excellent. He grew up in Panama - I believe his father worked at the canal. He brought an insiders perspective to the canal visit - but also had plenty of interesting and useful information about the other ports. He gave presentations at the Princess Theatre on sea days, which would be replayed on TV later.

 

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[English Tim]

Princess had recruited an excellent Port Lecturer, who was raised in Panama (I think) and provided entertaining lectures about all our destinations. He also did an all-day commentary during our Panama Canal transit.

 

 

 

I was on the island shortly after you (Dec 10th sailing). The port lecturer was William Fall. He was excellent. He grew up in Panama - I believe his father worked at the canal. He brought an insiders perspective to the canal visit - but also had plenty of interesting and useful information about the other ports. He gave presentations at the Princess Theatre on sea days, which would be replayed on TV later.

 

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Thanks for the clarification. I couldn't remember his name.