Panama Canal Cruise

Coral Princess Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 13
Helpful Votes: 329

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Coral Princess

11 Night Panama Canal Partial Transit (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 10, 2015

Ship: Coral Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: D227

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

This year my husband and I decided to celebrate our 28th wedding anniversary by going on another Princess cruise.  We chose the Panama Canal 11 day partial transit.  It was an experience I wouldn't have missed.  The weather was beautiful and the 5 different countries we visited were educational and lovely.  We visited Aruba, Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica and Jamaica.  Princess cruise lines have always been our top choice in cruising.  The Coral Princess ship is just the right size as the ship was not overcrowded.  Food was good and fresh in all areas we ate (buffet, the grill and the dining room).  Our balcony stateroom was clean but the size of the bathroom is quite small.  I would recommend the mini-suite for all cruises (we are going to try to afford the upgrade on all our cruises from now on).  The towels in the bathroom weren't the best quality.  The daytime entertainment (or lack of) by the pool was very disappointing.  Not much really was happening during our sea days.  However, every night there was good entertainment throughout the ship.  

The excursions were very reasonable in price and enjoyable.The seas were a little choppy and windy the first couple of days.

I would recommend this cruise - seeing the Panama Canal in action was quite interesting.  I always recommend Princess Cruise Lines.

The employees in the photo gallery took the greatest pictures of us while on board.  Lloyd the bartender next to the grill serves an awesome drink.  The woman in the ice cream area was very friendly and all smiles.  In fact all the crew members we encountered always had smiles.  This is one of the many reasons we choose Princess. 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
food was okay

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
could use more activities

Entertainment

3 out of 5
could use more daytime entertainment by the pool, the band in the explorers lounge were great

Children's Programs

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Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Lloyd the bartender by the grill and the woman serving ice cream were great

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
could use a little sprucing up

Ship tip

visit Lloyd the bartender by the grill for great drinks. visit the smiling woman at the ice cream bar. book a mini suite for a bigger bathroom and shower

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5
visiting the beach and eating at Il Mulino's Restaurant

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5
visiting and feeding the ostriches was spectacular

Cartagena, Colombia

5 out of 5
educational tour of cartagena was interesting

Panama Canal (Cruise Into Canal)

5 out of 5
watching our ship go through the locks was amazing

Colon, Panama

5 out of 5
taking a boat ride and seeing sloths and monkeys were a highlight

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

5 out of 5
taking a boat ride and seeing sloths and monkeys were a highlight

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

5 out of 5
riding the aerial tram over the canopy was a sight
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1 Comment

glomarrone    9 years ago

It seems that you and Princess are a good match.  I loved transiting the Panama Canal twice and never tired of watching the ship and other ships passing through the locks.  It was quite educational and entertaining. 

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