Island Princess Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Island Princess - Central America/Panama Canal

Review for the Panama Canal & Central America Cruise on Island Princess
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cal grizzly
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Oct 2007

My wife and I just completed our sixth cruise, three with Princess and three with Royal Caribbean. I booked travel on-line, with non-stop air travel from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale set up independently through American Airlines. A couple we met on the cruise left the same night from L.A. on a flight booked through Princess, which had a 2AM plane change, for three times the price. Because their second flight had to make an emergency landing and delayed their arrival, the ship waited just under one hour for them and some other people (because they booked travel through Princess).

I took an offer by a booking agent of a mini-suite without balcony at a competitive price. The room turned out to be rather odd. A 350 to 400 SF (pretty large), plain, claustrophobic box. It had minimal furniture and two side-by-side TV's! It was extremely quiet. My wife tried to cheer me up and lied to me about how great the room was. I knew I was taking a gamble on this room so it was nobody's fault but mine.

But the real reason we took this particular cruise was the itinerary--stops in Jamaica, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Mexico. We booked tours in each of the countries except Mexico. Every stop was interesting and gave an opportunity to learn a little about a country the easy way. The tour guides, especially in Nicaragua, were all informative and fun. Highlights included the canal, Panama City at night (including the US bombed-out Old Town, a mangrove river cruise in Costa Rica with numerous animal sightings, and an elaborate lunch at a coffee plantation in Guatemala.

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