I had sailed the Panama Cruise before and this is the first time I was able to go to Panama City. Also wanted to see the new canal and the itinerary included other ports that have not visited in many years. Loved the destination port San Francisco. I am not a fan of the mega ships and love the size of the Island Princess. It is starting to show it’s age a little bit but would sail on it again. I booked the mini-suite and always enjoy the extra space on longer cruises. The Princess sleep system beds are wonderful and had the most restful night sleeping during the cruise. The entertainment was very good and really enjoyed their new production, “Silk”. Selected first seating for dining and did not like the change in time with dinner starting at 5:15. The meals were very good in the dining room and the waiters were more than willing to get additional items on the menu. Have sailed on the Island two other times and visited the Bayou Cafe. Was disappointed this time in the attempt to deliver Cajun food. I am sure it didn’t help that I visited New Orleans in June. The service is stellar and usually make great friends with the servers. I stuck with the ship sponsored tours and was glad of that. There was a parade and blocked the streets and a tour was thirty minutes late from sail time. The ship was held until they arrived. Princess has the embarkation / disembarkation down to a science. It is so smooth getting on and off in record time.
I have been spoiled with the mini-suite that has more space to stretch out on a longer cruise. Cabin steward kept it spotless and attended to our every needs.
Got a great feel of the city with this tour. The excursion went to Old Panama in addition.
This tour gave us a good feel of the city. We also visited Old Town Panama and made some stops. Our tour guide was excellent and gave us lots of knowledge about the city.
Scenic drive was very interesting. We covered a lot of ground in just 3 hours. Got to see a cultural show that was fascinating. There could have been a little more content in the tour but we had a very knowledgeable tour guide that shared interesting facts about the city.