Panama Canal experience

Island Princess Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 20

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Verified Review
Island Princess

14 Night Panama Canal Westbound (Ft. Lauderdale To Los Angeles)

Sail date: January 09, 2013

Ship: Island Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 11 years ago

Review summary

For those like me who enjoy history, the opportunity to learn about the efforts to build the Panama Canal and then to travel through it were exciting. The day before we entered the Canal, the cruise offered a wonderful presentation of the history and what to look for in the canal. The stop at Cartagena Columbia to see the old town and the Inquisition museum was also fascinating. This was our first Princess cruise and I would rate it near if not at the top of our cruise experiences. While navigating through the Princess web site could be improved upon, everything else about the cruise, from the food to the programming, was top notch. I was somewhat concerned about being bored with the last 5 days being sea days. Insread, I had so many activities that I wanted to participate in, that I was unable to attend them all!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

Not a cruise I would recomment for small children

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ship tip

Attend as many of the educational and port lectures as you can! At least on the cruise we were on they did not just emphasize the jewelry buying opportunites.

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5
Easy access from Ft. Lauderdale Airport

Oranjestad, Aruba

3 out of 5
It rained hard during our tour which taints my view of this stop.

Cartagena, Colombia

5 out of 5
The Inquisition museum is a must!

Panama Canal Transit

5 out of 5
Wonderful!

Fuerte Amador, Panama

5 out of 5
The tour to see the new lock construction was interesting.

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

3 out of 5
It was very hot. Probably would not do the excursion on the train and river boat.

San Pedro (Los Angeles), California

5 out of 5
Disembarcation and customs went very smoothly through this port.
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