Just got back from a wonderful 10 days on the Coral Princess doing the Panama Canal and wanted to post my review while things were still fresh. Some background on us, for my partner and I this was our 7th cruise and our 5th with Princess.

We flew down with Air Canada and made it to Fort Lauderdale on the morning of embarkation day. We grabbed a taxi from the airport which cost us $15 with tip. Fort Lauderdale was visibly damaged by Hurricane Wilma with many power lines down and much debris, damaged homes and businesses apparent. Our hearts sank when we saw the state of the city. We made it to Port Everglades in reasonable time given the situation and were in the terminal by 1130 and on the ship within minutes of arrival. There were almost no lines and embarkation was a breeze.

We had booked an ocean view mini suite on this ship, Caribe 204, and were really pleased with our decision. The cabin is really large, 302 sq. ft. to be exact and our first mini suite. We had previously booked either ocean view or balcony cabins so this was a real treat to have such large quarters. The bathroom was really nicely sized with a tub/shower combination and a good amount of storage space. The large closet and enclosed shelving provided more than enough space for a 10 day cruise. We did have all the promised upgraded amenities in this cabin. The towels were really thick and soft. The bedding was as promised luxurious ivory coloured Egyptian cotton. The new mattresses were firm but very comfortable and certainly much better than the usual mattresses. We also were able to choose from a selection of pillows and ask our cabin steward for the orthopedic pillows like the ones we use at home. Finally we were offered and given our welcome glasses of champagne and in fact our steward brought us 2 extra for our friends who were cruising with us. I have to say that I didn't miss having a balcony on this cruise. I certainly appreciated the extra inside space more than a balcony. The seating area of this cabin is very large, bigger than the bedroom area. It has space for 2 chairs and a couch large enough to seat 4. In addition there are two wide shelves on either side of the couch for more storage than we could possibly use. We often had both TVs on at the same time to give us the ability to watch from the bed or the seating area at the same time. To those who like to be able to be outside, there is the balcony at the front of the ship which is just steps away from the cabin. This was a great vantage point to view the Panama Canal as we passes through the Gatun Locks. Our cabin steward George did a great job for the whole cruise, he was always available when we needed something but was never intrusive. Our cabin was always miraculously tided up when we returned from breakfast or dinner. Read more