Panama Canal
Island Princess Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America
15 Night Panama Canal Ocean To Ocean (Ft. Lauderdale To San Francisco)
Sail date: February 28, 2017
Ship: Island Princess
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: E711
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
Panama Canal was amazing, should be on everyone's bucket list.
Service staff on board were excellent. Very friendly and helpful. They kept that ship so clean and in turn kept the passengers healthy.
Princess Line itself I was not impressed with. The up sell and general gouging on board was ridiculous. It literally took me more than a half hour to buy 3 pictures due to sales pressure to buy crap I didn't need or want. I rec'd a coupon for the Effy store ( as I had purchased jewelry) that read 'As good as cash' for $200. Turns out it only applied to items in the store that were over $1,000. $6 to do a load of laundry (yourself not the steward!). Drinks were over-priced and they attached another gratuity to each drink (in addition to the daily per person gratuity). They charged double for a shuttle to the airport ($34/person, we paid $17/person). On and on....
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Get a sticker for your forehead that reads 'I'm not interested' for the sales people, it will save you a ton of time ;-)
Ports of call
3 Comments
ItaVero 7 years ago
Thanks for the review. 'Been through the canal on a Princess ship and loved it - that was just before the "mandatory daily gratuities" became common place and before they infiltrated the bars with additional mandatory gratuities - while expecting ADDITIONAL tipping on top of all that. The tip scams make passengers feel like prey with the hotel staff as the predators - it is a real downer.