Island Princess Review
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Did the 15 day Panama from L.A. to Ft. Lauderdale. We sailed with a group of 19 friends and totally enjoyed this cruise. While the ports were alright, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Cartagena, and Grand Cayman. However, the sailing through the locks were absolutely terrific. What a wonderful experience and wonder of engineering since these locks were built over 100 years ago.
Shows were good, food was good, and on this cruise we had a least one sea day between ports that made this trip very nice. This Island Princess still goes through the old locks, however, you can see the new locks and the bigger Princess ships will start using the new locks soon.
Be sure and look for the secret door, forward on deck 10 and deck 11 that gets you out onto the front of the ship to watch the canal transit. You can also go aft on deck 8 to watch the transit. Be sure and get there early, like 6:00am or sooner to get a good spot as these areas fill up very, very fast.
Cabin Review
Mini-Suite with Balcony
Mini Suite is nice with the extra space and larger tub.
Port Reviews
Puerto Quetzal (Antigua)
Thought this area was very poor and dirty. Tour was alright, but wasn't expecting to see so much trash around.
Fuerte Amador (Balboa)
Long bus ride, but takes you to East side of the canal. Got to see the Gatun Locks and several ships going through. Get to see a lot of county, but the locks were truly amazing.
Grand Cayman (Georgetown)
We just took the tender over to the port, lots of shopping and clean shops. No street vendors which was very nice. Go to Margaritaville, it was a lot of fun.