Caribbean Princess Panama Canal review

Just finished a 10 day cruise with stops in Cartagena, Columbia; Panama Canal; Limon, Costa Rica; and Grand Cayman. Enjoyed it very much. Had a deluxe balcony cabin C259 that was great. 6 of us traveling together ages 63, 65, 75, 80, 84 and 88. Three adjacent cabins with connecting balconies. Two oldest were in a handicapped accessible room. Very spacious. Huge balcony. Shower in the regular rooms was phone booth size but that’s typical. Room steward was efficient and friendly without being intrusive. Food in the dining rooms was wonderful. Get anything with goat cheese! Yum! Buffet was fine. Nothing to write home about but decent food. Biggest complaint is lack of sufficient seating. Especially with 6 of us, we searched for at least 10 minutes for a table several times at different times of day. Very annoying. Anytime dining for dinner is a joke. One dining room available all evening. Second dining room only available for Anytime dining after 7:30. First night and last night we waited an hour for a table. Again, very tough with three octogenarians. Same problem with theatre. Earlier shows require showing up 45 min early and standing in line. The entertainment is good. Final show (Broadway) was disappointing. Music selection was boring and singers/dancers who were great in previous shows, were lackluster. Maybe they were tired by the 9th night. Didn’t want to schedule excursions for the whole group at every stop. Hired a taxi/guide just off the pier in Cartagena for $20 each... made sure he spoke English. Great ride around town and had a great chat with the driver about life there. Did the same thing in Grand Cayman. A couple of us did the 6 hour train/bus at the Panama Canal to The Visitor Center and Panama City. Great excursion. Highly recommend it. Did the train/boat excursion in Costa Rica. Great excursion. Got an excellent tour of the area and saw tons of wildlife on the boat. Sloth. Monkeys. Lizards. Iguana. Herons. Toucans. Lots of other birds.

Lots to do on the boat if you’re willing to just get out of your room and do it. Zumba classes. Art lectures. Movies up on deck.

All in all a fun 10 days. It give it a strong B+.

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Thanks so very much for this review ! We are booked to the Panama Canal in November 2018, so I was interested to read all about it.

We have 2 adjacent cabins with connecting balconies.

Question about the balconies: When the balcony partitions are opened, can a normal size adult walk back and forth from one balcony to another? Those balcony doors look kind of small, like you could see through from one balcony to another, but only a child could actually fit through the partition. Thanks very much, from EBC.

Walking between the balconies is no problem. We were back and forth throughout the cruise. Have fun!

Balcony doorways are about 6 1/2 feet high.

Glad you enjoyed the ship like we did last Sept. We were just a couple so we did not encounter a problem with ATD late seating. Thanks for the feedback.

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Thank you for the review, we leave on this itinerary on November 30th 2017.

Glad you had a wonderful cruise!

Thanks for all of helpful info on port stops! :)

Thank you so much for the great review! We are sailing on her, this same itinerary Dec.10

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Thanks for the review. We leave on Dec 10th for the same. Did you attend the book club meeting? I am somewhat reluctant to read the choices given but might if it seems worthwhile.

thanks for taking the time to write a review.

any idea who the main bartenders are in Crooners.

Sorry to hear there was a wait in the MDR. Were they checking cruise cards to make sure everyone was assigned to anytime dining? They have been having a terrible time with Traditional dining people going to anytime. On our Baltic cruise, they were turning many Traditional people away, especially on port days.

Thanks for your review. We are booked on this itinerary for end of February and are happy to see positive feedback on the frequently derided Caribbean Princess.

Thanks for the review.

Thank you for your review and glad to hear that your overall cruise was enjoyable for you.

Welcome home.

Keith

Thanks for posting your review. We had a great time on the Caribbean in August around Great Britain.

We had traditional dining, so we never had to wait. I'd recommend traditional dining for a party of six or more. Anytime dining doesn't have as long a wait for parties of two willing to share a table with others.

Thanks for posting your review. We had a great time on the Caribbean in August around Great Britain.

 

We had traditional dining, so we never had to wait. I'd recommend traditional dining for a party of six or more. Anytime dining doesn't have as long a wait for parties of two willing to share a table with others.

We always say we'll share and have always been seated quickly in Anytime! :)

Here is my version of the same cruise with four people, 51, 59, 71, and 79. We had two separate rooms on the Aloha deck, floor 12.

The only issue with the rooms was that when you turn on water from your bathroom sink, there is no cold water. And, beware, some of the stations for hand washing has water that was much too hot!

We were all "anytime dinners" and had to make reservations for every night for the dining room. The food was not worth it, but it was much better than the buffet. No fear, there are two restaurants up by the pool and International Cafe has good tuna sandwiches.

I agree completely with JOWgrandma regarding the seating at the theaters. Once we missed a show because we started going 60 minutes early to ensure seats, and even then, one night my hubby had to stand. But, that could also be due to a woman saving six seats and then only needing three. For the shows that we attended, we enjoyed, including the Broadway themed show.

Yes, try everything that is offered, especially the "Escape Room." Not only did we complete the challenge without 1/2 of our team; the two seniors did not know what to expect but participated fully and had a great time. One thing, when you do attend the events, no matter what your preference, bring a sweater. Every room is freezing cold.

At Crooners the bar tenders were Chest and Artie ( I think) but the best ones were at Explorers.

What times are the shows?

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Thanks for the review!

Was wondering JOWgrandma how many cruises have you been on?

Very informative, thanks for sharing

Srpilo

Thanks for the review, JOWgrandma! We’re on this same itinerary, sailing 1/3, and we can’t wait! 😊

Here is my version of the same cruise with four people, 51, 59, 71, and 79. We had two separate rooms on the Aloha deck, floor 12.

The only issue with the rooms was that when you turn on water from your bathroom sink, there is no cold water. And, beware, some of the stations for hand washing has water that was much too hot!

We were all "anytime dinners" and had to make reservations for every night for the dining room. The food was not worth it, but it was much better than the buffet. No fear, there are two restaurants up by the pool and International Cafe has good tuna sandwiches.

I agree completely with JOWgrandma regarding the seating at the theaters. Once we missed a show because we started going 60 minutes early to ensure seats, and even then, one night my hubby had to stand. But, that could also be due to a woman saving six seats and then only needing three. For the shows that we attended, we enjoyed, including the Broadway themed show.

Yes, try everything that is offered, especially the "Escape Room." Not only did we complete the challenge without 1/2 of our team; the two seniors did not know what to expect but participated fully and had a great time. One thing, when you do attend the events, no matter what your preference, bring a sweater. Every room is freezing cold.

At Crooners the bar tenders were Chest and Artie ( I think) but the best ones were at Explorers.

We are going on this cruise in Feb 2018. What is the 'Escape Room'? I have never heard of it.

thanks, Kaye

The Escape Room is a new fad found in small cities or big towns, at least here in New Jersey. An escape room is a physical adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints and strategy to complete the objectives at hand. Don't let the word physical deter you, it means physical as in tangible. On the ship, we had to find a missing vase. To find the vase, the puzzles were physical, not on paper. We had to sign up a few days in advance, so watch the Patter for the time to sign up.

The Escape Room is a new fad found in small cities or big towns, at least here in New Jersey. An escape room is a physical adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints and strategy to complete the objectives at hand. Don't let the word physical deter you, it means physical as in tangible. On the ship, we had to find a missing vase. To find the vase, the puzzles were physical, not on paper. We had to sign up a few days in advance, so watch the Patter for the time to sign up.

Sounds like fun, thanks!

Thanks for the review!

Was wondering JOWgrandma how many cruises have you been on?

This is my 4th. Two Caribbean and Alaska.

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Here is my version of the same cruise with four people, 51, 59, 71, and 79. We had two separate rooms on the Aloha deck, floor 12.

The only issue with the rooms was that when you turn on water from your bathroom sink, there is no cold water. And, beware, some of the stations for hand washing has water that was much too hot!

We were all "anytime dinners" and had to make reservations for every night for the dining room. The food was not worth it, but it was much better than the buffet. No fear, there are two restaurants up by the pool and International Cafe has good tuna sandwiches.

I agree completely with JOWgrandma regarding the seating at the theaters. Once we missed a show because we started going 60 minutes early to ensure seats, and even then, one night my hubby had to stand. But, that could also be due to a woman saving six seats and then only needing three. For the shows that we attended, we enjoyed, including the Broadway themed show.

Yes, try everything that is offered, especially the "Escape Room." Not only did we complete the challenge without 1/2 of our team; the two seniors did not know what to expect but participated fully and had a great time. One thing, when you do attend the events, no matter what your preference, bring a sweater. Every room is freezing cold.

At Crooners the bar tenders were Chest and Artie ( I think) but the best ones were at Explorers.

Did the Escape Room and had great fun. Also went to the art lectures and auctions. Informative and fun to watch other people spend money!

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