Panama- Princess vs RCCL

[cousins]

P.S. we live an hour from the FT Laud. Port!!!

[Dave]

I'd be in serious financial trouble if I lived an hour from Port Everglades. Cruises would be too convenient.

[Dave]

I just went to look at those Baja deck cabins on the Princess website. One other thing caught my eye - on the main page it says one can "pre-reserve" spa treatments and excursions. Is that like making a reservation to make a reservation? I hate this type of "new speak". We do it at work too, with "pre-meetings" where we discuss what we will discuss at the meeting.

I won't go into one I heard from a manager - how we needed to "pre-think" a problem.

[f-mattox]

No Dave, it's not a "reservation to make a reservation"; just bad marketing copy.

We get real-time (speaking of "new-speak") shore excursion reservations up to four months before sailing. The site even tells you how many spots are available, or if the tour is closed or waitlisted. The tickets are waiting in your cabin and you are not charged until you are actually onboard.

Same with spa and salon services; you select the service, the day and time (the site tells you what's available), and your reservation becomes part of your cruise documents.

I work in proximity to a lot of "green" MBA's who parrot all this stuff they just learned, but have no clue what it means.

Rick

tick...tick...tick...

[peter l]

Love the last two comments ! Retired from banking after 36 years approx 3 yrs ago and that was definitely one of the things that would drive me bonkers on a regular basis...

Happy cruising f-Mattox !!

I got on this topic as we are definitely wanting to look into the PC
soon, although the wife is usually restricted to a week during the spring months as she works in education. It may be time to break with the scheduled vacation times.

Peter1

[cousins]

Have a great trip Rick! I'm jealous!

[daddyx2]

I would agree that Princess is probably your better bet...and I would like to throw in Holland America Line as well. Regent Seven Seas is an incredible cruise line however its somewhat more expensive...but considering what is included it might be less. Check them out and have fun.

[GrannyC]

We have been trying to decide between the HAL Amsterdam - San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale (18 days) or the Island Princess - Acapulco to San Juan (10 days). It's been a few years since we sailed on HAL. All of our recent cruises have been on Princess. Time and money aren't deciding factors. The daily cost is about the same, both leave the same day, Nov. 24. Any thoughts on who does a better job on Panama Canal cruises?

[cousins]

Personally, we're deciding acording to the ports...we like a lot of ports. Also the timing of the trips with our scedule. FMattox may be able to help you here...I know a lot of big time cruisers are gone on cruises right now and will be back in a couple of days. Good Luck!~
P.S. Why go 10 days if you can afford 18????ENJOY!

[tncruiseman]

I'd go with the longer cruise on the Amsterdam for sure! Even though international flights aren't that big of deal, SanDiego to FtLauderdale would eliminate that hassle. If money isn't really the factor, I'd spend as much of it as I could! Enjoy the cruise, whichever you decide!