Island Princess Review
Great round trip Panama Canal itinerary on the Island
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This cruise was a 19-day round trip Panama Canal cruise out of Los Angeles. I loved this itinerary. If you're going to do a round-trip Panama Canal cruise, do one like this from the Pacific side - you see much more of the canal. We sailed by Panama City, went through the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks, sailed the entire length of the Calebra Cut, then sailed through Gatun Lake. We also went under both the Bridge of the Americas and the newer Centennial Bridge. The ship anchored overnight right near the entrance to the Gatun locks, so we saw 80-90% of the canal. If you do a round-trip Panama Canal cruise Caribbean side, you really only see the Gatun Locks and a little bit of Gatun Lake. The next day we retraced our route, sailing back out to the Pacific. I also really liked having two days in the canal. The return trip on the second day was very laid back: because we had already been through the same route the day before, you could really just enjoy the experience in a very relaxed way. I was just on a full Panama Canal transit in 2014 (on the Coral), and if I did another canal cruise, I would pick this round trip itinerary.
The cruise also included some great stops in Huatulco, Puerto Chiapas, Puerto Quetzal (Guatemala), Puntarenas (Costa Rica), San Juan del Sur (Nicaragua), and Manzanillo. We especially loved Puerto Quetzal (where we took a bus up to the beautiful old colonial capital of Antigua) and San Juan del Sur (where we just hung out in this beautiful laid back little beach town).
I found the Island Princess to be a great ship. There’s been lots of discussion on the recent changes to the ship, but they didn’t bother me. I spend a lot of time on the Promenade Deck, so I really appreciated the wide teak deck and teak loungers on the Island – much nicer than on a lot of the Grand Class ships. It didn’t bother me that the aft section of the Promenade is now closed off – most people just cut through by the aft stairs. If you want to look out the back of the ships, there is still public deck at the back of Deck 8 (Emerald). There are also forward observation decks on Deck 10 (Baja) and Deck 11 (Caribe).
Cabin Review
Port Reviews
Huatulco
This is a nice little resort area. We walked into the town of Las Crucecitas, which is about a ten minute walk via the wide pedestrian pathway they have built connecting to the port and beach area. We also went swimming at Santa Cruz beach, right near where the ship docks - it's very convenient.
Puerto Quetzal (Antigua)
We took a bus to Antigua, the former colonial capital of Guatemala. It was an interesting bus ride through the countryside and up into the highlands. Antigua has many beautiful old buildings and ruins of old colonial churches. It's great for spending a day wandering around. I would definitely like to come back on a land based trip and spend some more time.
Puntarenas (Puerto Caldera)
We spent the day exploring this interesting little town, which is built on a narrow peninsula. We enjoyed the local market, and there is some great architecture from when Puntarenas used to be an important port in the early twentieth century. We also went swimming at the town beach - beautiful warm water.
Manzanillo
The ship docks right beside Manzanillo's beautiful old town. From the ship, it looks almost like a town on the Italian Riviera. It was an interesting place to explore for a few hours. We also took a local bus (a bargain for 7 pesos) around the bay about 10-12 km to the Santiago Peninsula. From there we walked about one kilometer to Playa La Audiencia, a beautiful little beach with calm warm water for swimming. The only drawback is that the Las Hadas hotel is on this beach, so it might get quite busy at peak times. This is the beach where the movie "10" with Bo Derek was filmed back in the 1970s.
San Juan
San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua is a beautiful laid back little beach town. It's popular with surfers and backpackers, but it hasn't yet been discovered by mass tourism, so it has a great vibe. We loved the day we spent hanging out in this little town and on the great town beach. When the ship stops at places like this, so many people immediately get onto tour buses and head somewhere else. That's really a shame, because they miss out on a great experience - although perhaps it's a good thing because it keeps the town more "unspoiled" for the rest of us - no streets lined with jewelry shops yet!