Great Destination /Horrible Ship

Island Princess Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 106

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Island Princess

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

Sail date: December 20, 2016

Ship: Island Princess

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: E520

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

I went on this cruise with my husband, my daughter (11) and my friend.  We enjoyed all the ports of call especially going through the Panama Canal. In Some of the ports it is advisable to book excursion since there is nothing to do in the port (Costa Rica and Nicaragua) On the other hand in other ports you can just go to the beach and visit some stores ( Aruba, Huatulco ) The entertainment on the ship was great, since there was so much variety (your typical shows etc but also they had a guest former LA District Attorney giving seminars> I really enjoyed his seminars) The entertainment director was amazing. I think she never slept. Food was ok and the staff was very courteous. The shore excursions were very well organized accept one when we got back from Granada one hour after everybody was supposed to be on board. Luckily we booked through Princess so the ship was waiting.  (This taught me a lesson not to book with local vendors to save few $$) Huge disappointment was the ship layout. The ship was remodeled and redesigned in 2015 and more cabins were added. I do not understand who could have designed the remodel…. Actually … who would approve such a remodel! As a consequence of adding more cabins the running tract does not go all the way around the ship, but as you are nearing the bow you have to run through the ship to the other side!  One has to open the door run pass the elevators open the door out and keep running. (I would be probably ok with all this if I did not call Princess before I booked the cruise and asked them if there was a running tract on the ship, since the Grand Princess does not have it.) I decided that I would run on the treadmill in the gym. That is when I found out that the gym is not on the upper floor overlooking the ocean as usual, but in the middle of the 6th floor! The gym is small and when you are running you are looking at the wall. It has NO windows at all - NADA.  I have never seen anything like that.  Another thing I like to do on a cruise is to play craps. However, I was informed that since they added more cabins next to the casino, they shrunk the casino and took the crap table away.  As a result of more cabins being added the kids club for different ages is located on different floors and it is like a little hole.  To summarize, if you go on this cruise on Island Princess for the ports of call, buffet and entertainment you will love it. If you like to run, go to the gym and play craps do not go on this ship.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

1 out of 5
The entertainment for kids was not very good.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5
The worst ship layout I have even been on.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Our cabin was as expected. Cabin Attendant was very attentive.

Ship tip

Ship layout was not good, gym was horrible and running track on deck 7 did not go all the way round. Casino is small and there is no crap table.

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5
Take a taxi to the beach early morning. ( it is not so hot, nobody is there and the shops are closed anyway. ) Go to see the shops and restaurants after the beach.

Cartagena, Colombia

5 out of 5
Book an excursion or take a taxi to downtown. Excursion might have been better, since we were wondering aimlessly through the town in the heat.

Panama Canal Transit

5 out of 5
Just beautiful. Get up early to see how the ship enters the canal

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

5 out of 5
Took an excursion to see animals and then a boat ride. > Flawless

San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

5 out of 5
book a tour ... any tour

Huatulco, Mexico

5 out of 5
Do not book a tour, beach is right there with umbrellas tables and margaritas!

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

5 out of 5
Book a tour or go to the shops.
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2 Comments

CruiserLoverMom    7 years ago

There was no water slide , no kids karaoke. My daughter enjoyed since she made some friends but she would have enjoyed it if there was more things to do for the kids. 

jjaginski    7 years ago

So bummed about he craps table my husband will be disappointed for sure. Did your daughter enjoy the trip? We are taking our 11 yr old son of this cruise in Oct ? Is there water slide on this ship ? I don't see any when I'm looking on the decks

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