Panama Cruise Fun

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 49

Review summary

We have gone on two cruises with Princess in the past year. They were both in the Caribbean. However, the Panama Cruise was much more "educational" than the typical Caribbean cruise we had taken earlier. The ship (Coral Princess) was smaller and more intimate since it needed to fit in the Panama Canal. We really enjoyed this size and ability to get to know some of the crew better. The excursions at the Panama Canal weren't as "fun" as at other ports but must be looked at as an educational experience. Going through the locks is something that is worth doing once. . . but not something I'd probably pay to repeat (as far as excursions are concerned). I'd recommend booking a cruise where you can just stay on the boat as you go to the Pacific. Since we were heading back to Fort Lauderdale from here, this wasn't an option. The itinerary included Cartegena, Colombia. This was a pleasant surprise. Limon, Costa Rica is a boring port but taking one of the excursions was FUN! We enjoyed zipliniing! While we did this in St Lucia on our last cruise, the foliage in Costa Rica is much better. St. Lucia did have 3 more lines, though. Aruba was nothing special. Since we had been there before and were only in port for a few hours, we just headed to the beach after a few minutes of shopping. The Cayman Islands were a blast! We had heard that the waves were too rough to stop on the cruise before us. We were thankful to enjoy a little shopping and a fantastic time playing with sting rays before snorkeling. The demographics on this itinerary are a little older than on others we have been on. The activity staff always joked around with us because we won almost every activity we went to (since most of the rest of the boat was in bed)! Ballroom dance classes were well attended but the actual dance floors were empty except for one or two couples in the evening. We liked the short shows at night so that we could go to a couple of different options. The only problem was that too many different activities were booked at the same time so we ended up not being able to do everything we had hoped for. I guess some people eat supper early. . . . because they go to bed early. . . . The wait staff was phenomenal! They knew us from the first day and provided an exceptional experience. While I may have sounded a bit harsh about the cruise, my wife and I both enjoyed it a lot. We are looking to book another cruise as soon as we can. Princess does an excellent job.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

Oranjestad, Aruba

Cartagena, Colombia

Panama Canal (Cruise Into Canal)

Colon, Panama

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

George Town, Grand Cayman

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