My husband and I (boomers) celebrated our 25th anniversary by cruising to the canal on the Coral Princess. This was our 8th cruise overall and 2nd on Princess Here are the highpoints -- embarkation was a snap - Cabin steward Ray was terrific. Minisuite was more than ample for our needs. We chose anytime dining and rarely had to wait. We generally dined around 8 pm. and because the average age of the other cruisers was one year younger than God, they ate early. We lucked out with a terrific waiter whom we stayed with for most nights -Gabor. I thought that the food was better than average. Some of it was even inventive and superior. Bayou steak house was great. The ports were interesting but I would not choose to visit any of them again other than Aruba where we had been before on several occasions. The highlight of course was the canal -- We got up early, grabbed a coffee ( more about the coffee later) and watched the ship go thru the first lock. Thereafter was had ultimate balcony dining for breakfast and watched the balance of the transit from our balcony. DOWNSIDES -- the coffee on the ship including the coffee brewed in the patisserie was nothing short of atrocious. The first thing I did when we returned to the Ft. Lauderdale airport was to get a cup of coffee from Dunkin Donuts. If America runs on Dunkin and there are Starbucks on China, why cant Princess brew a decent cup of coffee?

I don't know if it was the itinerary, the time of year or the length of the cruise, but could people have been any older? As a result, nightlife was dead. We will cruise on Princess again. They give you great value for the money you spend and certainly know how to pamper. The spa and gym where I spent alot of my time was lovely. The spa did not try to oversell you on products. After the novelty of the gym wore off for most passengers, getting a treadmill or other piece of equipment was no problem. Disembarkation was also relatively quick and painless.