We booked our Panama Canal cruise with Princess Cruises direct. My husband and I sailed on the Grand Princess to the Caribbean out of Galveston in 2006 and the Diamond Princess to Hawaii out of San Pedro (LA) in 2007. We arranged our own transportation to all 3 embarkation ports. It was our first time to sail from Ft. Lauderdale and to Florida's credit, the harbor is breathtaking, sparkling new and Huge! There were 4 cruise ships docked with the Island Princess and to a amateur photographer like myself, an adventure to get such close up photos from our mini-suite balcony.

The mini-suite on Dolphin Deck (9) on the Island is an exact copy of the those we had on the Diamond and the Grand. It is spacious, with a queen size comfortable bed, a sitting area with a love seat sofa, small tea size table and single chair. We opted for a Continental breakfast there throughout the cruise. The bath is very small, not for the oversized occupant, but well equipped with a tub w/shower and curtain, tile floor and a medicine sized open cabinet for bath accessories, a wall to wall mirror and excellent lighting, but bring your own magnifying makeup mirror if one needs it. The hair dryer is located in the desk area between the sitting room and bedroom. There is a tiny refrigerator, all libations provided are extra; but space enough to accommodate the ice bucket and limited space for one's own beverages. Two CRT TVs and 2 remotes. Satellite programing of year old movies, some TV series, BBC and CNN international news as well as ship information is broadcast 24 hours. The balcony is crowded with 2 lounges, a small table and 2 chairs. It seems private with divider walls on both sides, but the balconies on the decks above are afforded an open view of the mini-suites below.

The ship is well appointed, again similar to the Grand and the Diamond. Of the 3, we preferred the Diamond for its Italian kitchen and friendly, well-trained dining room service. The Island's seating map placed us at a table for 2 hard against a busy service station. After 3 nights, we requested a new table, but it wasn't easy to make an appointment with the head waiter to make the change. Second site was better, but placed us in an area where the waiter and his assistant served 3 tables; one 10 seat table and two others of 6, along with our table of 4. Service was adequate but erratic because of the volume these 2 service people had to accommodate. Read more