Island Princess Review

Panama Canal Round Four!!

Review for the Panama Canal & Central America Cruise on Island Princess
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donnajl
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Mar 2009

After three Canal cruises aboard the Coral Princess, we decided the Island Princess was our choice for spring of 2009. Previously, Cartagena, Colombia had been removed from the itinerary for security reasons. We were anxious to see if we would indeed finally reach South America aboard the Island. Any fears we had were reduced after reading a recent Chicago Sunday Tribune travel article on Cartagena. The historic city was once again welcoming cruise ships!

As we routinely fly from Minneapolis the day before embarkation, we arrived in Fort Lauderdale mid-afternoon. The free shuttle bus to the Holiday Inn Express on State Rt. 84 arrived a few minutes after we announced our arrival at the airport. The desk staff offers take out menus for nearby restaurants and our Italian pasta arrived within a reasonable time. We ate in the breakfast area and then sat at poolside until we got chilly!

Embarkation day was busy at the Holiday Inn. Shuttle service to the pier is again free (during the oil crisis, a $7 surcharge had been added but now removed - Hurrah!) and the crowd of people anxious to board one of the eight ships in port caused us to sit patiently in the breakfast area until the lobby thinned out. We were able to board the shuttle at 12:30 pm and minutes later went through security and received our cruise cards and boarded the Island Princess a little after one o'clock.

Cabin Review

Ample room for hanging clothes, also enough shelving and drawers to stash "stuff". Shower was entirely too small.

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