Live from Emerald Princess, April 16 - May 4, 2023, full Panama transit

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, gottagocit said:

We also used the Princess airport transfer but our driver didn’t have quite as many issues as yours I guess. For those who’ve I’ve seen in these boards asking questions about a “safe flight time” out of LAX I made note of the time at various points during disembarkation and airport check in. I may should add this info to the west coast departures board but will add it here before I loose my notes. Our United flight to Houston departure time was 1:09 pm. 

Worth noting we disembarked San Pedro on a Thursday (ie: traffic)

 

9:10 Appointed gathering time in Elite/Platinum Lounge 

9:00 Our group called to begin disembarkation

9:08 Located luggage in terminal and entered immigration queue

9:28 Cleared queue and began ~150 yard walk to bus

9:38 Boarded bus

9:52 Bus loaded and leaving

10:35 Arrived at airport terminal 1 (Southwest)

10:42 Arrived at terminal 2 (Westjet)

10:45 Arrived at terminal 3 (Delta)

10:49 Arrived at terminal B (International-didn’t stop)

10:49 Arrived at terminal 4 (American)
10:53 Arrived at terminal 5 (American,JetBlue)

10:55 Arrived at terminal 6 (Alaska- didn’t stop)

10:57 Arrived at terminal 7 (United)

Quickly checked  bag (prepaid) with curb agent 

11:32 Through security screening (no TSA Pre) and at gate 71B

I believe “early walk off” passengers were allowed to begin walking off around 7:30. The earliest Princess airport transfer scheduled disembarkation times were 8:50 am if I recall correctly. 

Once we cleared the terminal parking area traffic, while heavy, was always moving until we reached the congestion at each airport terminal during our transfer but I can’t say if the early walk offs found the same or not. 

 

 

You zipped through the terminals.  In October it took at least 45 minutes from the first stop at terminal 1 to our stop at terminal 7.  Traffic was miserable and we had a packed bus.  Our United flight was around 2ish so we had plenty of time but it definitely took longer for the bus to get through the terminals than it did to get to terminal 1 from San Pedro.

[SquirrelOnBoard]

Thanks for letting us travel along with you! My group is traveling through the Panama Canal on the Emerald Princess next April on the total solar eclipse cruise, so reading about your experiences was particularly interesting.

 

I am seeing conflicting information on the internet about the Sanctuary, and I'm hoping you can enlighten me. Is there a delivery fee for food in the sanctuary (even when ordering off the Sanctuary menu)? Also, I see references to Evian misters, which sound refreshing when transiting the Panama Canal or when the ship is somewhere else that is pretty hot. Do the misters have a fee? (Fees aren't always a BIG deal, but I don't especially like cost surprises.) Finally, when you chose and paid for the Sanctuary for Panama Canal day, did you feel like you had to stay there the whole time? (As in, to get your money's worth.) And if so, was the view adequate? Were there any downsides to choosing the Sanctuary for the Panama Canal? 

 

Thanks!

[jaycruising]

21 hours ago, lakegirl16 said:

@jaycruising Thank you for taking us along.  I'm on the Panama Canal Transit/Eclipse cruise next April.  Enjoyed so much a glimpse of what we will see!

 

I am so happy I could take you along, I have some more photos to add and final thoughts.  I hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did!

 

11 hours ago, gottagocit said:

We also used the Princess airport transfer but our driver didn’t have quite as many issues as yours I guess. For those who’ve I’ve seen in these boards asking questions about a “safe flight time” out of LAX I made note of the time at various points during disembarkation and airport check in. I may should add this info to the west coast departures board but will add it here before I loose my notes. Our United flight to Houston departure time was 1:09 pm. 

Worth noting we disembarked San Pedro on a Thursday (ie: traffic)

 

9:10 Appointed gathering time in Elite/Platinum Lounge 

9:00 Our group called to begin disembarkation

9:08 Located luggage in terminal and entered immigration queue

9:28 Cleared queue and began ~150 yard walk to bus

9:38 Boarded bus

9:52 Bus loaded and leaving

10:35 Arrived at airport terminal 1 (Southwest)

10:42 Arrived at terminal 2 (Westjet)

10:45 Arrived at terminal 3 (Delta)

10:49 Arrived at terminal B (International-didn’t stop)

10:49 Arrived at terminal 4 (American)
10:53 Arrived at terminal 5 (American,JetBlue)

10:55 Arrived at terminal 6 (Alaska- didn’t stop)

10:57 Arrived at terminal 7 (United)

Quickly checked  bag (prepaid) with curb agent 

11:32 Through security screening (no TSA Pre) and at gate 71B

I believe “early walk off” passengers were allowed to begin walking off around 7:30. The earliest Princess airport transfer scheduled disembarkation times were 8:50 am if I recall correctly. 

Once we cleared the terminal parking area traffic, while heavy, was always moving until we reached the congestion at each airport terminal during our transfer but I can’t say if the early walk offs found the same or not. 

 

Thanks for the timeline, since we got off on terminal 2, I didn't have a full timeline of events.  Aside from the smoke smell on the bus and his general terrible attitude I was ok with it.  Our flight was scheduled to depart at 12:44, and we made it with plenty of time, again with TSA Pre, etc.  I'm not sure I would want to book any earlier to depart.

[jaycruising]

9 hours ago, ocean happiness said:

 

Steve and I had a great time getting to know you and your Mom!  We were glad Mike and Molly invited you to join us.  It was such fun!

I couldn't agree more, we really enjoyed getting to know all of you and really enjoyed our time together!

[jaycruising]

2 hours ago, SquirrelOnBoard said:

Thanks for letting us travel along with you! My group is traveling through the Panama Canal on the Emerald Princess next April on the total solar eclipse cruise, so reading about your experiences was particularly interesting.

 

I am seeing conflicting information on the internet about the Sanctuary, and I'm hoping you can enlighten me. Is there a delivery fee for food in the sanctuary (even when ordering off the Sanctuary menu)? Also, I see references to Evian misters, which sound refreshing when transiting the Panama Canal or when the ship is somewhere else that is pretty hot. Do the misters have a fee? (Fees aren't always a BIG deal, but I don't especially like cost surprises.) Finally, when you chose and paid for the Sanctuary for Panama Canal day, did you feel like you had to stay there the whole time? (As in, to get your money's worth.) And if so, was the view adequate? Were there any downsides to choosing the Sanctuary for the Panama Canal? 

 

Thanks!

I hope you guys enjoy your cruise as much as we did.  The crew and people on board our journey were amazing and really made the trip!

 

We never paid a delivery fee for anything we got in the Sanctuary aside from our daily fee.  We had cocktails, tea service, food service, etc. and I never paid any extra money for it.

 

I never saw Evian misters, or heard of them as an options.

 

For canal day, I didn't stay in the Sanctuary for the whole time.  DM did, but I moved about the ship, getting photos and videos from other parts of the ship.  It was open for extra time on the Canal day from 7-5 (usually 8-5), but we actually stayed up there until 6:30 when we cleared the final lock, and there was no problem with that.  For me, the fee that I paid was more then worth it, as the day was very hot and there are no other fully forward facing views that are covered, so I really appreciated the shade, I actually could have used more of it, but that is me and my ginger skin.  This was my actual view from my seat.

 

I would not have thought it worth it, if I didn't have front row seats, if I had one of the further back seats, I wouldn't have done it, as they had to come up front and stand by the massage tables, no where to sit and they were asked to move if they stood in front of our loungers.

 

Let me know if you have further questions!

[jaycruising]

I am going to go through each port, add some final thoughts on them and pictures that I have gotten off of the DSLR.

 

Bonaire

 

I absolutely loved Bonaire, I am not sure that I ever saw water that colour before, it is the most brilliant view.  Again we rented a golf cart for $100 and toured the island at our own pace, it was so good, I would definitely do it again.  I would also visit Bonaire again in a minute and would consider the golf cart again as well, or I would also like to take the water taxi over to Klein Bonaire.

 

These are from the north loop of Bonaire

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cactus Island

 

These trees are so cool looking, I made DM turn the golf cart around (on a one way road to take a picture of this tree)

 

[jaycruising]

Bonaire Continued

 

I also love taking pictures of flowers, so you will find these throughout!

 

 

South side of the island.

 

Salt flats on one side

 

Gorgeous ocean on the other

 

 

Break time

 

 

This area is a semi dried out salt flat, and while it looks pretty cool, the smell was next level, breathe through your mouth!

 

 

 

The Atlantic side of the island

 

 

[jaycruising]

Aruba

 

In Aruba we did a private island tour booked through Viator, via Aruba Fantasy Tours, our guide was fantastic and I learned a ton about the island, I highly recommend it.  I'm not sure what I would do on return to Aruba, maybe a beach day, exploring the street art downtown or something like that.

 

Aruba aloe factory, I don't usually love these shopping stops as I feel like there is so much pressure to buy something, but I didn't necessarily feel that at this stop, but did buy 3 products, tried a couple of them so far and am really happy with them so far!

 

 

 

Aruba has beautiful beaches too!

 

California lighthouse

 

The little church

 

 

This island is seriously covered in so many cactus!

 

Dutch Army vehicles, these were super cool!

 

 

Views from the lookout rock

 

 

[jaycruising]

Aruba had a natural bridge that collapsed some time ago, but they also have a baby bridge that you can walk on at your own risk.

 

 

 

Riding UTV's is a thing in Aruba too, maybe next time!

 

I also love photographing crashing waves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is also an old abandoned gold mine on the island.

[jaycruising]

Our guide took us through downtown area and by all of the wall mural's, these are all taken through the bus window, I sure wish I could have gotten out for these!  Most were painted by one guy.

 

 

 

This one is unreal!

 

 

 

This is actually a mosaic

 

So impressive.

 

And then a few shots from the beach we stopped at.

 

[plantlady095]

Thank you for sharing your photo review of our wonderful Emerald Princess voyage. The crew was the best that we have had and it was terrific to have the luxury of time to get to know them. We found the food to be very good most of the time. The Lido Salty Dog chicken tacos were spicey and very tasty. (I didn't see a mention of them.)  We also loved the free aviary at the Cartegena cruise terminal and would visit it again. The LA(Longbeach) cruise terminal was very, very slow. It was a disappointment to see that they weren't using the facial recognition (iPads on stands) like in all of our post Covid cruise returns. It is so fast. We had a noon flight and I was getting more than a tad nervous. We made it in just enough time to grab sandwiches to eat on the flight. 

 

We were on very similar excursions and saw many of the same places. At Cartegena, our excursion included climbing the gigantic fort. We were proud to have been successful. It was such a hot day.

 

I will keep an eye out for you on CC and future cruises. Bon voyage!

[jaycruising]

36 minutes ago, plantlady095 said:

Thank you for sharing your photo review of our wonderful Emerald Princess voyage. The crew was the best that we have had and it was terrific to have the luxury of time to get to know them. We found the food to be very good most of the time. The Lido Salty Dog chicken tacos were spicey and very tasty. (I didn't see a mention of them.)  We also loved the free aviary at the Cartegena cruise terminal and would visit it again. The LA(Longbeach) cruise terminal was very, very slow. It was a disappointment to see that they weren't using the facial recognition (iPads on stands) like in all of our post Covid cruise returns. It is so fast. We had a noon flight and I was getting more than a tad nervous. We made it in just enough time to grab sandwiches to eat on the flight. 

 

We were on very similar excursions and saw many of the same places. At Cartegena, our excursion included climbing the gigantic fort. We were proud to have been successful. It was such a hot day.

 

I will keep an eye out for you on CC and future cruises. Bon voyage!

Thank you!

 

I agree about the staff, best we have ever had. Thanks for the mention about Salty Dog, I only ever made it there for cheese fries, wished I had more… just not a big lunch person!

 

Congrats on climbing that fort… I got too much sun that day and am pretty sure I was on the verge of sunstroke.

 

I am looking at my next cruise right now, I love to have something booked. 

[gottagocit]

You know it just occurred to me that I never saw the first little duck onboard outside one sitting in our cabin stewards cart. I had intended to look for them after the discussions on our roll call. Oh well maybe next cruise. 

[jaycruising]

2 hours ago, gottagocit said:

You know it just occurred to me that I never saw the first little duck onboard outside one sitting in our cabin stewards cart. I had intended to look for them after the discussions on our roll call. Oh well maybe next cruise. 

 

I kind of kept my eyes open for them, but I never saw a duck anywhere on this cruise.

[jaycruising]

Cartagena, Colombia

 

I really enjoyed this port, a lot more than I was expecting.  I kept hearing stories about the unrelenting vendors, pushing you to purchase items and not leaving you alone and was actually dreading visiting, but at the same time, I had heard so much about how beautiful the old city was.  I am happy to say that I didn't find the vendors to be that bad, yes they would come around and ask you to purchase an item from them, t-shirts, fans, magnets, hats, etc.  But I just said No, Gracias and they made their way.  We did see the ladies in the bright dresses with fruit on their heads, but again, no gracias.  Just remember that if you do take a photo with them you should pay them.  I didn't have the rappers personally come up to me, but I did see them and they take a little more forceful, No Gracias, but no need to be rude.

 

We had an early call into Cartagena, and the skies hadn't cleared as we made our way in, it made for beautiful photos as we came in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jaycruising]

Colombia Continued

 

We had booked our excursion via the ship, and it included a tour of old town.  One of the best parts of our tour was that we were transported to old town via boat, it was so nice and fast.

 

Emerald is looking a little rusty on the outside

 

 

The Colombian navy base

[jaycruising]

Colombia Continued

 

I adored old town and could have spent so much more time down here... Our guide was fantastic, and I would break away from the group often to take photos, but I never let them out of my view.

 

 

 

The door knockers have different meanings, unfortunately I wasn't paying attention and am not sure what, but they are fabulous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behind the door

 

 

 

 

[jaycruising]

Colombia Continued

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have these statues throughout the area depicting different chores or work.

[jaycruising]

Colombia Continued

 

We also took the boat back to the ship and they had music and dancing, along with some cocktails for us.

 

 

 

[jaycruising]

Colombia Continued

 

Once back at the pier we did go visit the shops and the aviary

 

 

 

Unfortunately I had too much sun during our excursion and I was too hot to enjoy the area, so we took the shuttle back to the ship and changed quickly and went to the pool.

 

The sailaway from Cartagena was lovely as well

 

 

One thing we found interesting was there were so many boats coming from the south and they would come in batches, it was interesting to watch.

 

 

I can recommend this cruise ship excursion, it was quite good and well priced.  

 

I also really enjoyed Cartagena and would love to come back and visit one day.

[nini]

I also enjoyed Old Town and took MANY photos of the fabulous architecture and doors!

[Ellipooh]

1 hour ago, jaycruising said:

Colombia Continued

I can recommend this cruise ship excursion, it was quite good and well priced.  

Which “Old City” tour did you take? There are several offered by Princess. 

[plantlady095]

2 hours ago, jaycruising said:

 

I kind of kept my eyes open for them, but I never saw a duck anywhere on this cruise.

I hid (dropped in elevators, stairways, passageways) about 53 ducks. I found 1. It would be more fun if more people brought them so there'd be more to find. I doubt that I will have luggage space for my next cruise.

[jaycruising]

1 hour ago, nini said:

I also enjoyed Old Town and took MANY photos of the fabulous architecture and doors!

The architecture is just so good, I live in a city that tears down anything old!

 

1 hour ago, Ellipooh said:

Which “Old City” tour did you take? There are several offered by Princess. 

We did the Old City and Sea Rumba tour, we did book it early and it did sell out, then they added another tour and it sold out as well

 

18 minutes ago, plantlady095 said:

I hid (dropped in elevators, stairways, passageways) about 53 ducks. I found 1. It would be more fun if more people brought them so there'd be more to find. I doubt that I will have luggage space for my next cruise.

Thanks for doing that, it is fun to try and find them

[lakegirl16]

4 hours ago, jaycruising said:

Colombia Continued

 

Once back at the pier we did go visit the shops and the aviary

 

 

 

Unfortunately I had too much sun during our excursion and I was too hot to enjoy the area, so we took the shuttle back to the ship and changed quickly and went to the pool.

 

The sailaway from Cartagena was lovely as well

 

 

One thing we found interesting was there were so many boats coming from the south and they would come in batches, it was interesting to watch.

 

 

I can recommend this cruise ship excursion, it was quite good and well priced.  

 

I also really enjoyed Cartagena and would love to come back and visit one day.

Can you tell me which excursion this was?  Thank you.  Your pictures are fabulous!!

SORRY i just saw where you posted this!

Edited May 8, 2023 by lakegirl16
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