My wife and I (60'ish) just returned from the Coral Princess 11 night partial Panama Canal cruise. We flew out of Michigan a day early to avoid an approaching ice storm that would have delayed us many hours, which put us in a bind for a room in Ft. Lauderdale. We ended up getting a great room at the Westin Diplomat on my Starwood Preferred Guest points which saved the day. We had a confirmed room for the next night at the Sheraton Airport Hotel which is very near the cruise port. You'll read some negative reviews of this Sheraton, but we found it to be super clean, and the staff could't have been more friendly and cooperative. The Hotel Shuttle took us to a nearby mall where there were a number of dining options in the evening and then took us to the port the next morning. It's not a resort hotel, it's a business hotel, so don't expect luxury, but don't be afraid of it. Cab rides in the area are costly.

The Coral Princess is an older ship, but is in good repair and very clean. We had a balcony stateroom on Deck 10. Not real roomy, but adequet. The only down side is the tiny shower. I'll be sporting bruised elbows for weeks after banging into the soap dispensers and grab bar for 11 days. Our cruise was sold out, so there were a lot of people around. It wasn't really a problem, but finding a quiet spot to sit and read on sea days was tough. Fortunately we had some great balcony days. The bars and shows were very crowded at peak times. We were never unable to get served and generally found a spot to sit in most venues, but it was tight.

As on other cruises, this one was short on activities of interest to men. I don't get seaweed wraps and steam massages. My wife loves them, but I got a lot of reading done. The average age of passengers on this cruise appeared to be well north of 60 years old, with many approaching their 80's. I don't think we saw any children or younger teenagers, and the youngest couples appeared to be in their mid-30's. Read more