Our cruise on the Coral Princess through the Panama Canal started on 2/14/2012 at Los Angeles and ended at Fort Lauderdale on 2/28. We had port stops in Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, and Aruba. We enjoyed the cruise very much. We had a room with a balcony where we spent a lot of time. I would recommend to anyone going through the Panama Canal to have a balcony. Our room was on the left side of the ship so we had a view of the shore when we were close enough.

The first 5 days were at sea except for a brief stop outside the harbor of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico where we saw a Disney cruise ship go by. During the days at sea, we explored the ship and watched the birds and fish from our balcony.

We had anytime dining for the dining room (Bordeaux Room). This dining area was only open during the evening (5PM to 10PM) and required smart casual dress (business casual) on all but 3 formal dress nights on the cruise. We tried the formal night once and were not impressed by the food or the service. The waiters seem to be irritated that we did not order wine with our meals (we don't drink). We also did one night with business casual and most of the same food on the menu was also available in the buffet dining area (Horizon Court) which is open most of the time and the dress is casual. The assigned dining room (Provence Room) was open for lunch (casual dress) on all days except the days we were stopped at one of the ports and the food was good but menu items here are also available in the buffet most of the time. Read more