Awesome trip and awesome ship!

Island Princess Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 4
Helpful Votes: 83

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Island Princess

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

Sail date: November 25, 2015

Ship: Island Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: A304

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

Boarding the ship in Ft. Lauderdale and at all ports was a breeze.  Their organization made getting off on the last day so simple....no lines, luggage exactly where they said it would be.  The Island Princess is beautiful through and through.  Loved the layout, the ease of getting from point A to point B, the daily "Patter" newsletter, and all the crew.  Food was amazing both in the dining rooms and at the Horizon Buffet.  And the hotdogs at the grill were incredible!!

Ports were good.  We explored Aruba on our own.  Cartagena was our city tour.....kind of boring and fast-paced.  Limon was our canal and train ride.  That was so beautiful to experience.  The banana plantation was so interesting and the wildlife on the canal trip was extrodinary. My husband got amazing pics of the sloth. 

The Panama canal is interesting and the new observatory at the new locks was very, very nice.  The movie about the history of the canal was well worth viewing.  But Ochos Rios wins for best tour!  We did the aerial tram and bobsled.  That was absolutely the highlight of our excursions!! 

Loved the sea days.  So much to do on the ship or just sit on our balcony and relax.  The shows in the evening were ok.....I've seen much higher quality shows on other ships.  Our favorite performers, by far, was the Trio who played in the Atrium before dinner....violinist, piansist , and guitarist from the Ukraine.  Most beautiful music I heard in a long time.  Our only disappointment was the casino on the ship.  We enjoy playing but they took half of the casino to add more cabins recently so there were less than 60 machines and not much of a selection.  Our room was very nice.

Overall, we loved our trip and are already looking to book our next on Princess.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Cabin was perfect. Plenty of hangers and drawers for storing clothing. Loved having satelite TV throughout the trip. Balcony.....my favorite spot!

Ship tip

If you choose anytime dining, call ahead in the morning to make a reservation for dinner between 5-6 to avoid the long lines. After 7ish, there are no lines.....

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5

Cartagena, Colombia

3 out of 5

Panama Canal (Cruise Into Canal)

5 out of 5

Colon, Panama

3 out of 5

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

5 out of 5

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

5 out of 5
You gotta do the bobsled ride!!!!
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1 Comment

Melanizzy6    8 years ago

Do you know if they had video poker or if they had a decent sized smoking area in the casino?

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