The good and the bad

Item: Caribbean Princess
Rating: 3.7
Author: greggwallner

Caribbean Princess Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

greggwallner

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 7

Overall rating:

3.7 out of 5

10 Night Panama Canal With Costa Rica & Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 03, 2018

Ship: Caribbean Princess

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: D404

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

I would give this cruise 3 stars, the buffets were terrible but the dining room was good. Not much time in some ports and not much to do in others

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Very quick

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Buffets were terrible!!! I can not stress this enough! Luckily we bought the club class dinning so we used the dinning room when our tours allowed. The dinning room was fantastic!! The staff was amazing!

Crown Grill

3 out of 5

The food was good but it took us 3-1/2 hours to get through it

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

There was not much going on if you are under 50. The entire ship is geared towards the older crowd.

Casino

3 out of 5

Very small casino

Entertainment

3 out of 5

The theater was to small if u weren’t there an hour ahead u did not get a seat

Children's Programs

No kids with us

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

The staff was amazing it was the only saving grace on the ship

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

Well maintained for the age of the ship. The layout was terrible, we had to go up to go down in quite a few spots

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Very nice rooms. Could use some updating

Ship tip

Do not rely on the buffet to eat. Pay extra for the club class dining

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

4 out of 5

Cartagena, Colombia

3 out of 5

If u do not take a tour it is hard to get anywhere

Thumbs Up 0

Panama Canal (Cruise Into Canal)

5 out of 5

Take a tour or u can’t get off the boat till u get back through the locks and then u don’t have much time

Thumbs Up 0

Colon, Panama

5 out of 5

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

4 out of 5

Not much time here but lots to see just outside the dock

Thumbs Up 0

George Town, Grand Cayman

5 out of 5

Very little time here. But lots of great beaches and shopping and bars just off dock

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

4 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Oops

Thumbs Up 0

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booger1xx 6 years ago

Remember that the ship being late is not necessarily the cruise lines fault. The harbor master determines when ships depart a port. I was just on this ship on a panama cruise and we left about 2.5 hours late from colon panama due to the traffic of the other ships. This ship just came out of dry dock for an 8.2 million dollar update. Yes Princess Cruises is geared to an older crowd. If you are of a younger demographic, Carnival Cruises might be your best bet or more family oriented Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

Thumbs Up 2

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greggwallner 6 years ago

Yes I did and I’m not a first time cruiser by any means. Our ship was late from port on 2 separate occasions.

Thumbs Up 0

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majmom96 6 years ago

Interesting comments on the ports. Didn’t you choose this itinerary? It’s always important (especially for first time cruisers) to do some research in advance to make sure the itinerary supports the length of time they’d like to spend in each port as well as the activities they’d like to do in each port. Sorry this one didn’t work for you.🍸

Thumbs Up 1

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Other reviews of this sailing

The trip was well organized, starting from embarkation to debarkation

Great trip

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