Overall we had a fantastic cruise to celebrate our 35th anniversary. The food, service and entertainment were excellent. The excursions we chose were also pretty good in general but not as exciting as other more costly ones.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
We decided to go for an onside stateroom with no porthole and obviously no balcony. By the time we booked, there was not much else available at a good price. Our room was fairly large with a queen bed and a mirror on the far wall which made the room look bigger. It was also very clean. We did not miss having a balcony as we were out and about the ship most of the time especially when we crossed the Canal.
Ship tip
The ship was great and one of the largest we’ve been on. I would say that the majority of the passengers were in their 70s and 80s so that might bother some people who are 40 and under. We are in our early 60s but we still felt that the music and entertainment suited all ages. The younger people just stayed up later.
The Port has the usual souvenir shops but we didn’t spend too much time here. We had plenary of time to walk around town before our tour. Since it was a Sunday some of the shops were closed but a lot were open for the 2 cruise ships that were docked including ours. I found the city of George Town very commercialized and you can tell there is plenty of wealth here.
For our Princess excursion, we hopped on the Trolley Roger Train for a scenic tour of George Town. We drove through some of the major streets we had already walked but learned some interesting facts this time. They took us to the South Sound district where we saw many beautiful houses among tropical flowers and trees.
Everybody was up by 5:00 am to see our ship enter the new locks. Since we only did a partial transit we only saw the ship enter the new locks at the beginning of the canal but not at the end on the Pacific. Apparently it is more interesting going all the way through the original locks in a smaller vessel.
Only passengers on tours were allowed to disembark in Gatun Lake. We did a 6 hour scenic drive and walking tour of old Panama City and we are sure glad we did. Our first stop was at the ruins of old Panama. very interesting history. We also did a couple walking tours in the old colonial city. Very interesting architecture.
The Port at Falmouth is fairly new and was built by Princess. Very nice stores. We did the Good Hope Express Tour. Once a sugar plantation, today the 2,000 acres serves as parkland and a citrus farm. We took a bus up a hill to the Great House. This 18th century home has been restored to its original splendour but I wasn’t that impressed with it. I thought it would be much more Grand. Maybe I’ve seen too many castles in Europe. The view though was spectacular. We then went to another part of the estate with a pool, man-made waterfalls, shops etc. A bit too commercialized for me.
The mini zoo at Port Cartagena was a wonderful surprise. There were many different species of birds including peacocks and flamingoes. We saw the ant eater but missed the howler monkeys because we were too tired after our excursion to spend too much time here.
We did a tour of Getsemani and the Old City. Our tour guide was excellent and took us down many narrow cobbled streets with festive flags, umbrellas, flowers and murals. We also had time to do some shopping and enjoyed a cooling coconut lemonade drink at the Hotel Armenia Real.
The port was pretty nice with some welcome signs to post in front of. There were also more opportunities for shopping and a band entertaining us.
For our excursion, we took a boat ride through the backstreet canals of this little run-down fishing village. We were fortunate enough to see a variety of birds, an iguana, and a sloth sleeping in a tree. The best part was seeing 2 dolphins chasing some fish and popping up every once in a while. The tour guide had many interesting stories to tell.
This Port was great. We did an excursion on our own when we got back to Fort Lauderdale. We rode the water taxi all day and we saw many beautiful homes and yachts. The commentaries were also interesting and humorous. Definitely worth while doing.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
