A Nice Cruise but.........

Island Princess Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 61

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5
Verified Review
Island Princess

10 Night Panama Canal With Costa Rica & Caribbean (Fort Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 26, 2019

Ship: Island Princess

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: P403

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Overall it was a good trip. We would travel on this ship again.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Easy, caught a cab at the airport who took us to the terminal, checked in and boarded the ship.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
I did not care much for the food. There was a lot of things on the buffet that didn't appeal to me. Food was often on the cold side. For example, the omelets were cooked to order and were great but the grits were watery and cold. The pastries and salads were wonderful but the sandwiches were made of unusual combinations of ingredients. Dining room food was better and the service was great.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
Because of limited mobility I didn't go to many of the activities. I did use the indoor pool a lot and enjoyed talks by the English lady about our destinations and their histories.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
I went to all the shows and they were wonderful.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Everyone was great. Absolutely no complaints.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
One of the criteria I used when selecting this cruise was the size of the ship. I think the Island Princess that holds about 1900 passengers is much better than one holding 4000. The ship was always clean and my room was immaculate.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
The room was small and the shower was tiny. Next time we'll book a larger room. But we had great room service.

Ship tip

I would say Do IT. I would sail on her again.

Ports of call

George Town, Grand Cayman

3 out of 5
Did not do an excursion just walked around town and bought a hat.

Cartagena, Colombia

5 out of 5
We didn't actually book an excursion but was offered a special deal aboard ship for $15 per person to go to the Emerald Center in the middle of the old city. We enjoyed having a cup of coffee in the square while admiring the old church. The crafts people were really talented and we bought a few items. As a mineral collector, I was also able to find a nice emerald in quartz matrix and my wife a natural emerald pendant.

Panama Canal (Cruise Into Canal)

4 out of 5
Did not take an excursion. The locks were interesting but the $380,000 cost for the ship to go thru was outrageous.

Cristobal, Panama

3 out of 5
There was not much to see, just a tent setup on the pier with a few dancers and vendors.

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

5 out of 5
Took a great excursion to the rain forest where we saw several sloughs, an alligator and birds. The banana plantation visit was nice but we couldn't get off the bus because of local rules.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Followed instructions and was off the ship in just a few minutes.
Was this review helpful? 61

3 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing

paulandmaria    5 years ago

Glad you like Cartagena. I read a lot of negative comments about aggressive vendors.

truecapricorn9    5 years ago

Thanks for sharing will be on that boat next week for the first time

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