We just returned from the 19 day Partial Transit of the Panama Canal out of Los Angeles on the Island Princess. We had planned an excursion while anchored over night in Gutan Lake to the rain forest and Iberia Indian village. Unfortunately 2 days before the cruise we received an e-mail notic that the excursion had been canceled. This was a big dissapoinment because the other excursions really didn't interest us and we ended up just staying on board and wandering around the ship looking for things to do.

We had a mini suite on Caribe deck with a balcony that is bumped out further than most of the balconies. We could sit on the balcony and look out both Port side and to the front of the ship. We spent a lot of time sitting on our balcony on sea days and while traveling through the locks of the canal. We were truly spoiled with the mini suite and booked another cruise to Hawaii while on board in a mini suite as well.

We thought the food was very good both in the dining room and the buffet. The only bad meal we had was at Sabatini's which is one of the specialty restaurants with an upcharge of $29 pp. We both had the lobster and it was tasteless. We actually had a better lobster dinner in the main dining room! Needless to say it was a bit of a disappointment and we won't be doing that again. Read more