Great Cruise Experience, Terrific Excursions, Best Cruise Staff Ever

Emerald Princess Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 93

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Verified Review
Emerald Princess

10 Night Panama Canal W/Costa Rica & Caribbean - New Locks (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 29, 2021

Ship: Emerald Princess

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: E208

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

Choose this trip because of the Canal after having to cancel a European trip re-Covid. The one day at the Canal was Great, but the other nine days were great as well. Good to be back Cruising with good people. The stories of some of the staff were inspiring.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Quick, Friendly and Welcoming

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Expected major changes due to Covid, but not much at all---except ALL Staff wearing Masks ALL the time.(I come from a state that has very lax masking)

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
With only 1340 passengers on a 3000+ ship, crowds were small for everything

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Stage shows were very good and other entertainers were top notch as well

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Everyone went out of there way to be extra friendly. Shout out to George at the Internet Cafe.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Third time to Sail on The Emerald Princess and will again in April. Everything was Bristol clean

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Asked for and received an upgrade

Ship tip

Use the DaVinci or Michelangelo Dining rooms; the Botocelli is awkward to get to

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

5 out of 5
Same ole Nassau, and is open for business

Cartagena, Colombia

5 out of 5
Surprising modern and bustling

Panama Canal (Cruise Into Canal)

5 out of 5
Went all the way through the old locks to the Pacific on an excursion. Great lifetime experience

Colon, Panama

5 out of 5
Actually docked in Cristobal; tour bus took us directly to ship, so didn't see anything of Cristobal or Colon

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

5 out of 5
Small port with not much to do in the town. Probably best to take one of the jungle/forest adventures

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

5 out of 5
Always Love Dunn River Falls

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Bags were easy to find; US Customs only had three lanes open leading to long line (30 min)
Was this review helpful? 40

8 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe     3 months ago

Thanks for sharing

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

LifeIsCruising    2 years ago

Glad you had a good time and your review of the Emerald Princess as I'll be sailing on her in March

javawoody    2 years ago

Glad you enjoyed your experience

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

We're sailing in 22 on the Emerald from Canada to fla. And again in the British isles.

AuntPinkie    2 years ago

Appreciate your feedback. Deciding if we want to sail on her in 2022. Your review makes us lean towards doing it. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

cruising2004    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing

kdorman    2 years ago

Thank you for sharing. We will be in Dec. 29th. Do you recall the name of your excursion that went through the locks to the pacific? And did you book on ship or prior to sailing? Looking for advice.

Other reviews of this sailing