First, kudos to the Island Princess staff for excellent service in trying work conditions. The primary problem with this cruise was the emasculation of the Island Princess in dry dock. Along with the sister ship, Coral Princess, this had been one of our favorite Princess ships because of its scale and on-board experience. In dry dock the marketing gurus of Princess decided to see how much more they can milk from his ship by adding 120 more cabins (240 berths) without adding additional service staff, other than cabin stewards. The results are lines to get into "anytime" dining, needing to claim seats in entertainment venues 30 minutes before shows, over-crowing with harried wait staff in the Horizon Court buffet, and subway station crowds in the atrium. And, there is no more pool lounge space than before the additional 240+ passengers were added. Oh, just try to find a machine for your exercise in the relocated, crowded, windowless gym. There is at least twice the space devoted to the teen-age entertainment centers after dry dock, that on our voyage had few, VERY FEW, takers. If the Coral in its dry dock has been similarly ruined, these two ships should be avoided, unless you want a mob scene for your hard earned vacation or retirement trip.

This was a "partial transit" of the Panama Canal. If you can't do the full transit which we did several years ago, this cruise does give a good experience of the locks; the Gatun locks are 3-stage, enough to get a sense of the full canal experience. The ship drops anchor on Lake Gatun, where passengers are tendered to land for excursions. They can be good or bad, depending - one involving 300 passengers was 3 hrs late returning because of transportation problems (captain was not happy). The problem with any of the tours is that all dump the participants at Colon, where one has to wait for the ship to re position from the lake and berth at the port. All that one can do is peruse the schlock shops (you can barter). The only places to sit down are restaurants' patios where, if you don't buy something, you are TOLD to "move on." Princess does have a decent waiting terminal that is a bit of a walk from where the tours dump their customers. Tours taken from the Pacific Ocean side of the canal are handled much better.

As far as the other ports: Aruba. Our fifth time there. We always enjoy it. The new hydrogen-hybrid trolley is a must see for a transport system that puts the USA urban transit in the 19th century. Cartagena- check out the descriptions carefully. All the tours seem to include the Bodega, which is nothing but tourist crafts. Be ready for aggressive sellers of all ages Limon, Costa Rica - offers several good in land tours. Grand Cayman - do your beach visit, snorkel or scuba here. Read more