Sea Princess Review

4.5 / 5.0
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Sea Princess - Panama Canal - April 2011 - Brilliant

Review for the Panama Canal & Central America Cruise on Sea Princess
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Paul Knight
6-10 Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Apr 2011

We have just returned from an excellent 22 night cruise between April 11 and May 10 2011 on the Sea Princess around the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and up the Pacific coast of America. Outward Travel:We got a train to Gatwick the day before flying and stayed in the Russ Hill Hotel were we have stayed before. It is fine for one night, but probably not for any longer.For some reason Princess Cruises had advised getting to the airport 4 hours before the flight, so we had to be at Gatwick by 0630. There were 2 flights checking in at the same time which meant quite a queue, but we only waited about 20 minutes before getting to the check in desk. Princess had chartered 6 planes from Gatwick for this cruise, 3 Thomson from North terminal and 3 Thomas Cook from South terminal, with the departure times staggered.We were on the Thomson flight departing at 1030, which was on time and actually landed half an hour early in Barbados. Very impressed with service on flight, including a good hot meal with complimentary wine early in flight, 2 complimentary bar services and a nice snack just before landing.Ship Transfer and Check in:At Barbados airport we got off the plane and straight into coaches for transfer to the ship -- it was great not having to go through immigration and waiting for our cases. These were delivered to our stateroom soon after we had boarded the ship.We did have to queue for around 30 minutes in a shed on Barbados dock for check in and security procedures.Ship:The Sea Princess is slightly larger than the OV1, and takes just over 2000 passengers when full, which it was for this cruise. Some reports have said she is looking tired in some areas, but we thought the ship was clean and in good condition. Incidentally this is the twin ship to P & O's Oceana, so the lay out and size are exactly the same.I realise this is an emotive subject, but one of the first things we did was to remove the automatic tips from our bill. We considered that $10.50 each per day was a lot of money on a 22 night cruise, and we would rather tip who we wanted when we wanted.There are self service laundrettes on most decks, and these were free apart from paying for the soap powder.Sunbeds were plentiful, and we never had any trouble finding one, although on some sea days the ones in the shade were very popular. There is plenty of information on the web about bars, pools, theatres etc so I won't mention much about them here.Cabin:We had booked a guaranteed outside obstructed view cabin, but luckily were upgraded to a deluxe outside. This was very clean, tidy and comfortable, and although not as big as on Ocean Village, it was a reasonable size with plenty of storage space. However, the shower and toilet area were pretty small.We had a couple of problems with a light and the hairdryer during the cruise, but these were sorted out quickly and efficiently.There wasn't tea and coffee making facilities, but room service is complimentary and available 24/7.Food and Dining arrangements:We were on anytime dining for evening meals, and it was nice to eat when we wanted to. Always opted to share a table, which was a great way to meet different people, and on some evenings met up for meals with people we had been in touch with on Cruise critic. The food in the anytime dining restaurant was excellent, and the waiters were very attentive and friendly. There is a separate Pizza restaurant where we ate twice and again it was very good.Breakfast and lunch were mainly taken in the Horizon buffet, and although not as good a choice as on Ocean Village, the food was still good. As some other reviews have mentioned it did get very busy at peak times, but we always managed to find a table and move around the food serving area.We did have a few breakfasts in the waiter service restaurant (mainly on sea days), and these were excellent, again opting for a shared table.Drink prices were quite expensive with a 15% service charge added on, but after 8pm there were certain drinks on offer for $2.99.Entertainment:Overall this was pretty good, although we did have one awful comedian who only did one show before the ship took him off because he was so bad.The best entertainment we saw was Journey South (X-factor), Siobhan Philips (comedy-vocalist), and the show 'Great British Invasion'. We weren't very impressed with the resident group 'Magnitude', but thought the duo 'Walking Miracles' who played in the Wheelhouse bar were good.Apart from the odd night, the disco was very quiet, similar to what used to happen on Ocean Village.There was always plenty to do on Sea days, including dancing, quizzes, demonstrations and talks.Ports of call:These were Martinique, Dominica, St Kitts, Tortola, Princess Cays, Fort Lauderdale, Cartagena, transit of the Panama Canal, Fuerte Amador, Puntarenas, Cabo San Lucas and San Francisco.We should also have called at Aruba, but a few hours out of Fort Lauderdale the ship had to turn back due to a passenger being taken seriously ill, and the next day had another delay for another seriously ill passenger to be airlifted off the ship by helicopter.We mostly did our own thing in the ports, but took an organised ship tour in Fuerte Amador.Homeward Travel:In San Francisco we were taken to the Sheraton Hotel, after chaos on board caused by the American immigration authorities because they couldn't access the electronic visas, so we all had to fill out green cards and then queue up for the immigration procedures.Later in the afternoon we were transferred from the hotel to the airport for our check in. We flew back on United Airlines, and despite poor reviews of the company on the net, the flight was fine with plenty of leg room and good service, and actually landed early at Heathrow.Unfortunately the Sea Princess will not be doing the Caribbean again this winter as it is yet another ship that is going to Australia. However, other passengers we spoke to that had been on other Princess ships said they were just as good.So would we cruise with Princess again -- yes.

Cabin Review

Cabin DD

We had booked a guaranteed outside obstructed view cabin, but luckily were upgraded to a deluxe outside. This was very clean, tidy and comfortable, and although not as big as on Ocean Village, it was a reasonable size with plenty of storage space. However, the shower and toilet area were pretty small.

We had a couple of problems with a light and the hairdryer during the cruise, but these were sorted out quickly and efficiently.

There wasn't tea and coffee making facilities, but room service is complimentary and available 24/7.

It was very quiet but quite near the front of the ship, so we did occasionally feel some movement.

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