We brought my parents on a Panama Canal Cruise to Celebrate their 60th Anniversary and ended up bringing their best friends who were celebrating their 61st Anniversary. Getting on the ship was pretty easy since we had the Marriott guys (SpringHill Suites San Diego) to help bring our 12 bags to the dock!! Overall the Cruise was good. We had a few issues. The ship is old so there were quite a few mechanical problems. Plumbing seemed to be a huge issue on and off through the entire 16 day cruise!! The smell in some of the hallways was intensely horrible!! Many times the public bathrooms were closed due to problems. Not a huge issue for us but an issue when older folk who have issues walking have to scout out a working toilet.

The Lido Deck Buffet had issues with the ceiling leaking water. Sometimes water would drop on your head, arm or actually into your food. Not sure I'd want to eat food that has ceiling water dripped into it... but the food was good. I also LOVE the fact they do not allow people to serve themselves at the Buffet. Admit it, we've ALL seen people who have NO IDEA that others eat from the Buffet too. I see people licking their fingers and then grabbing spoons to serve themselves. Just gross. The main Dining Room had great food but the service was HORRIBLY SLOW. We'd have to plan dinner over 2 hours prior to a Show to make sure we wouldn't miss it. My Time or Any Time Dining doesn't work on this ship. It would take 1-2 hours to be seated unless you arrived about 30 minutes before the dining room opened.

LOVED the Piano Guy Tom Wolf. He made our vacation quite memorable!! The Veendam Dancers and Singers were quite talented and we really enjoyed their shows too. The only complaints I heard around me was at times the music was so loud it was actually not pleasant and the room was like a refrigerator!! By the end of the cruise, many people were coming in with pool towels to use as blankets. Read more