Great Panama Itinerary on Most Crowded Ship

Item: Island Princess
Rating: 2.7
Author: bighiner

Island Princess Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

bighiner

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 46

Overall rating:

2.7 out of 5

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

Sail date: January 24, 2016

Ship: Island Princess

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: P527

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Good itinerary on one of the most disappointing cruises we have been on yet. We have been on over 40 cruises. This is the most crowded ship we have experienced and the staterooms down below were noisy. I am surprised that the rating system gives this review a 2.7 since they calculate the cruise experience as a whole. So good ports visited on a not so good ship gives a relatively high overall rating.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Very crowded. Too many people trying to get seats compared to other ships.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Too crowded to enjoy.

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Too crowded. Had to get to the theatre very early to get seats.

Service and Staff

2 out of 5

Service staff did their best, Good people. Could not get a decent stateroom.

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

Ships layout was the problem. Too many staterooms added where on similar ships there are public spaces. Ship was still clean.

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5

Noisy being too close to engines. Torn shower curtain. Room was clean.

Ship tip

Consider that the Island Princess has a high passenger/crew ratio and very crowded at peak dining hours.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5

Cartagena, Colombia

4 out of 5

Panama Canal (Cruise Into Canal)

3 out of 5

We did an excursion but saw very little of the cruise into the canal because we were stuck inside the theatre waiting to be sent to the coaches. Were waiting a long time.

Thumbs Up 0

Colon, Panama

4 out of 5

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

4 out of 5

George Town, Grand Cayman

4 out of 5