Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Random thoughts on Caribbean Princess partial Panama Canal transit

sabreline

By sabreline,
in Princess Cruises

 Share

Recommended Posts

sabreline

sabreline

Posted
Posted

One sea day left on this trip before disembarking Wednesday morning. The crew has been lovely...friendly and efficient...except in the MDR. We quit going to the dining room unless it is the Crown Grill or Sabatinis. The MDR service has been so slow and the "private" tables for 2 are a joke! Literally 8 inches between tables...you can hear every word said. The World Marketplace buffet has been consistently good...always find something we like. The bartenders are great..they tend to remember what you like and serve it up speedily! The entertainment has been a wonderful surprise, for the most part. The production shows are the exact same ones....3 of them...that we saw on the Caribbean Princess in 2019 but after the first 2, that cast..sadly mediocre...got off and the new cast was brilliant for the last show. There was a pair of comedians that were outstanding..we saw them both in the theater and Explorers Lounge. Also a comedian/ ventriloquist who was great fun. The trivia and quiz shows pretty routine...mostly just a good excuse to sit in a bar! The canal transit itself was surprisingly interesting...we have done over 200 locks on our own boat, some higher than the Panama, but it was different in a huge ship. The shore excursions were well managed and the tour guides very good. They clearly are happy to have people back post Covid. They biggest surprise to us was Grand Cayman Island. The water is beautiful....but that's it! Pretty dumpy place, except for the few resorts and the huge waterfront homes of celebrities..Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Tom Selleck, Demi Moore and a few others...NONE of whom spend any time here apparently, because, well...it's a dump. Speaking of Covid...no sign off Amy outbreak on board, although we haven't walked all the decks. Hear no particular coughing or sneezing, very few masks worn by either passengers or crew and none at any of the shore excursions. Overall, this cruise accomplished our goals....cruise from a port we could drive to and not go all crazy with shore excursions but it definitely doesn't rank in our top 10. YMMV.

 

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ombud

Ombud

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, sabreline said:

The production shows are the exact same ones....3 of them...that we saw on the Caribbean Princess in 2019

So what show was missing: Spotlight Bar, 5 Skies, or Rock Opera??

7 hours ago, sabreline said:

Grand Cayman Island. The water is beautiful....but that's it! Pretty dumpy place

Which excursion did you do? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lady Arwen Holiday Sharing Rare

Lady Arwen

Posted
Posted (edited)
10 hours ago, ROXIETHEHORSE said:

Where did you go on Grand Cayman that was a dump? We love Grand Cayman and go there quite often. I have never heard anyone refer to GC as a dump.

I was thinking the same!  This is news to me, as we’ve always enjoyed Grand Cayman.

Edited by Lady Arwen
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ombud

Ombud

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

 

10 hours ago, ROXIETHEHORSE said:

Where did you go on Grand Cayman that was a dump? We love Grand Cayman and go there quite often. I have never heard anyone refer to GC as a dump.

I was thinking the same!  This is news to me, as we’ve always enjoyed Grand Cayman.

What do you do in Grand Cayman? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sabreline

sabreline

Posted
  • Author
Posted
10 hours ago, ROXIETHEHORSE said:

Where did you go on Grand Cayman that was a dump? We love Grand Cayman and go there quite often. I have never heard anyone refer to GC as a dump.

Everywhere except the beach was kind of shabby! 7 mile beach is nice but town? Not so much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
whitecap

whitecap

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, sabreline said:

Everywhere except the beach was kind of shabby! 7 mile beach is nice but town? Not so much.

Sabreline, how was the area right as you exit the tenders?  We've done most of the excursion around the island in years past and the last few visits have stayed right at the port area, plenty of shopping and restaurants.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sabreline

sabreline

Posted
  • Author
Posted
10 hours ago, Ombud said:

So what show was missing: Spotlight Bar, 5 Skies, or Rock Opera??

Which excursion did you do? 

None of those shows on this cruise!! Born to Be Wild, Bravo, and the one with the pink Cadillac set. We did theexcursuin with the island tour, distillery and lunch. The distillery was interesting, our guide was great, lunch was strange and everything on the island except the resorts and 7 mile beach are pretty run down.

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
sabreline

sabreline

Posted
  • Author
Posted
5 minutes ago, whitecap said:

Sabreline, how was the area right as you exit the tenders?  We've done most of the excursion around the island in years past and the last few visits have stayed right at the port area, plenty of shopping and restaurants.

Souvenir shops right at the port, shops across the street. Starbucks seemed to be a big deal to a lot of people.....no idea why!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
whitecap

whitecap

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, sabreline said:

Souvenir shops right at the port, shops across the street. Starbucks seemed to be a big deal to a lot of people.....no idea why!!!

Thanks!  We usually walk from one end of the shopping area to the other and then head back to the ship for a relaxing day.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
jennybenny

jennybenny

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, sabreline said:

None of those shows on this cruise!! Born to Be Wild, Bravo, and the one with the pink Cadillac set. We did theexcursuin with the island tour, distillery and lunch. The distillery was interesting, our guide was great, lunch was strange and everything on the island except the resorts and 7 mile beach are pretty run down.

 

As a family we go scuba diving, but when we went with my mom we did the Distillery tour and loved it. It included a stop in Hell. Wish someone would have said we should bring our passports, they stamp your passport "in Hell" 🙂 I don't know that I will do that tour again, but wish I had my passport on me 🙂

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
sabreline

sabreline

Posted
  • Author
Posted
5 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

Are they having the White and Gold Love Boat party? We sail this same cruise December 18, 2022. 

Yes they did but quite honestly, I saw maybe a handful of people dressed in white or gold! It's just a 45 minute event in the Piazza, where there is very.little seating so everybody just hangs over the railing on Decks 6 and 7. Pretty much  a nothing burger!!

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...