We chose this cruise because of the itinerary- one port in Mexico, four ports in Central America, and one port in South America, and the length of the cruise - eleven nights. Watching the ship go through the Panama Canal was very interesting and as good as going on an excursion. Those who didn't book an excursion could only get off the ship for an hour in Colon. We couldn't disembark until 6:30 p.m. because it was an hour and a half delayed so it was already dark. Colon was the only port we should have skipped. It consisted only a shopping area and beyond that area it didn't appear safe. The other ports were lovely. We saw sloths up in trees in a local park in Costa Rica, had monkeys and parrots sitting on our shoulders at an animal sanctuary in Honduras, and Cartagena, Columbia was amazing- old walled city across from the water and the modern city in the distance. Walking through the old city was delightful. Their private island in Belize was very pretty and large, but it was the only private island we have been on that didn't provide a complimentary lunch.
We booked all but one excursion on the pier with local companies and were very pleased with the results. We paid less than half the money for what appeared to be an extremely similar excursion. The only one we did through the ship was fine , but we lost two hours of sightseeing stuck in the theater waiting for them to sort out if the boat was tendering or not. We kept being told, "Just a few more minutes". It was very frustrating and so poorly organized.
The daily trivia games were a lot of fun. The entertainment was ok. We were later told that a couple acts did not show up so they had to repeat a couple of the shows.
Our cabin was pretty quiet except for our neighbors the first two nights. Our room steward was nice and kept our room clean. The only thing that struck me as odd was my extra comforter from our closet disappeared off my bed one day. When I asked the steward, he said he gave it to someone else. He asked if I wanted it back and I definitely did ( I was clearly using it).
Not worth getting off ship.
We took a three minute taxi ride to Mahualal and walked near the water and shops.