--cruise length of 15 days is a good amount of time to really get to know a ship and enjoy its features
--there was a good balance of days at sea and port stops
--two excellent lecturers, one who addressed the ports and their history (no shopping pitch!), the other spoke about various topics related to space travel.
--an extra day in Panama: this itinerary features the 'Princess 2-day Experience' including a day spent at Fuerte Amador so that passengers can further investigate the Panama Canal, visit Panama City visit the rainforest. I found port this to be a great addition; this port and Puntarenas Costa Rica were our favorite port stops and we hope to visit both countries on a land-based trip sometime soon.
Partial Transit or Full Transit? Canal cruises are available as a partial transit, generally 10-days from Florida, in which they enter the Caribbean-side locks into Lake Gatun, then exit these same locks and return to Florida. Full transit voyages are generally 14 or 15 days from Florida to LA or San Diego or reverse. I prefer a longer voyage so I selected the full transit. I chose to start in Ft. Lauderdale primarily to get the longer flight out of the way at the beginning. We took a Jet Blue red-eye nonstop SFO-FLL flight, checked into an inexpensive hotel (Days Inn Dania Beach), spent a fun day hiking around the area, purchased some wine for the cruise and had a great fish dinner at a Florida-style diner. A disadvantage of the full transit is that there are 2 Mexican Rivera ports that many people may have already visited.
The ship: Island Princess: this ship was built in 2003 and carries just under 2000 passengers. It has recent improvements like "Movies Under the Stars" but it is too narrow to incorporate the Piazza-style atrium. I found the ship to be in excellent condition and quite user-friendly.
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| Island Princess at anchor at Cabo |
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| "Movies Under the Stars" screen at sailaway |
The food: I'm generally quite happy with the dinners in the main dining room so I've yet to try any of the Princess specialty restaurants. Our experience was enhanced by an excellent waitress who helped guide us to good menu selections each evening. We ate about half of our lunches in the main dining room. In addition to a more civilized dining experience you get to meet some interesting passengers who are randomly assigned to your table. I had a really good bratwurst at the grill and the pizza was quite good if it was relatively fresh.
Shore excursions: During this trip we used a combination of independent shore excursions (coordinated by using the Cruise Critic Roll-call message board) and Princess shore excursions. The independent excursions weren't much cheaper than the Princess excursions but group sizes were much smaller. The Princess excursions offer somewhat lower prices if booked online prior to the cruise rather than onboard. And yes, I know that there is always a measure of risk of being stranded when on a non-Princess excursion but this risk can be minimized by careful selection of tour operator and itinerary.
Aruba: We had a relatively short stay in Aruba (7AM until noon). Many of the passengers did beach oriented excursions but we were up for something a bit more adventurous. I booked us on a Princess excursion featuring a nature hike in Arikok National Park. This hike was led by a park ranger who was very knowledgeable about the plants and wildlife. During our few hours on the trails we saw lizards, goats, colorful flowers, and interesting cacti. At the conclusion of the hike we were taken to a beautiful beach where I was able to swim in the warm water for about 1/2 hour. On our ride back to the ship we drove through the hotel zone; someone who enjoys fancy hotels and beautiful beaches could really enjoy a trip to Aruba.
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| Divi Divi Tree |
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| A typical Aruba beach scene |
Cartagena, Columbia: I booked a private tour coordinated by a cruise critic member. This tour used Lee Miles private tours, tour C-CC, http://www.destinationcartagena.com/privatetours/, This tour began at the fort and continued with a walking tour of the old town including a famous church and palace. The streets of the old town were quite scenic, reminding me somewhat of New Orleans. We really enjoyed our day there but I wouldn't likely revisit Cartagena for a longer stay.
The Canal Passage: The Panama Canal is an amazing feat of engineering, perserverance and medical beakthroughs. It was initially begun by the French who were defeated by lack of money and disease. Americans took over the effort in 1904 and the canal opened ten years later. Prior to the cruise I obtained an excellent video from the library: A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama. This video was also shown onboard the ship and was augmented with a lecture about the history of the canal construction.
We woke up very early to be able to see the entry into the first lock. Much of the canal passage was narrated by the port lecturer and available on all of the outside decks.
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| freighter entering lock, we will use the lock on the right |
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| Clearance to the edge of the lock |
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| on our way out to the Pacific Ocean |
Fuerte Amador, Panama: this is the port for Panama City. We arranged a private tour to visit an Embera Indian village. This tour was guided by an American woman, Anne Gordon de Barrigon, who is married to one of the local Embera. Princess offers a similar excursion but the reviews told me that Anne would do a much more personalized tour (and we were not disappointed). The tour included a scenic drive, a trip on the river in a dugout canoe, a visit to a waterfall, and a visit to a village. The village visit included a dance performance, lunch, a Q&A session with one of the village leaders, and a tour of the village compound. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and I highly recommend a trip with Anne (http://emberavillagetours.com/).
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| Our welcome to the village |
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| Part of the dance demonstration |
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| Anne showing kids some photos on the laptop |
Puntarenas Costa Rica: For this stop I booked a Princess excursion called "Forest Sky Walk and Pura Vida Gardens". We had a small group, about 14, with an outstanding guide. After this excursion I am anxious to return to Costa Rica to see more of this country, likely to visit Panama at the same time. A highlight of this excursion is a hike through the rainforest including crossing several bridges suspended high in the tree canopy.
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| Our very knowledgeable guide |
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| Sharon on the suspension bridge |
Acapulco: On a recent cruise visit I attempted a self-guided walking tour from the cruise port but we found that this was not very satisfying. For this trip I booked an independent tour arranged through Rosie's tours http://www.acapulcorosiestours.com/. Rosie met us at the dock and handed us off to a driver-guide who gave us a nice overview of Acapulco including some of the famous sites from the 1950's when Acapulco was a mecca for the Hollywood types. The Cruise Critic group was divided among 3 vehicles; ours had about 10 passengers. I was very happy with Rosie's operation and highly recommend it.
The two pictures below are us with Acapulco as the backdrop and one of the famous cliff divers. There is also a link to a very short video of a cliff dive.
Cabo san Lucas: another short port stop (7AM-2PM). I booked a Princess excursion to Todos Santos, an 'artsy' town just over an hour north of Cabo. We were given a short walking tour of the town finishing with lunch at Hotel California (some claim that this hotel was the inspiration for the well known Eagles song but that claim is generally in dispute.) I found this excursion to be mildly amusing but I don't highly recommend it.
Some tips:
--one of the main dining rooms was open at embarkation. This is a more civilized way to start your journey and avoids the crowds of newbies in the buffet. This feature is not advertised, you must seek it out through a search of the various dining rooms.
--there is a dessert that it available but never on the dessert menu: the Volcano. It is basically a glorified banana split but it is a beautiful presentation. Order it early in the sailing; your tablemates will be jealous and will order one for themselves the next night.
--there are two 'semi-secret decks' at the front of the ship which are great for watching the passage through the locks. Go to either the Baja or Caribe deck and go all the way forward through a pair of doors to the outside. We spent several hours here during the day and it was never crowded. It's a great place from which to take photos.
Some tips:
--one of the main dining rooms was open at embarkation. This is a more civilized way to start your journey and avoids the crowds of newbies in the buffet. This feature is not advertised, you must seek it out through a search of the various dining rooms.
--there is a dessert that it available but never on the dessert menu: the Volcano. It is basically a glorified banana split but it is a beautiful presentation. Order it early in the sailing; your tablemates will be jealous and will order one for themselves the next night.
--there are two 'semi-secret decks' at the front of the ship which are great for watching the passage through the locks. Go to either the Baja or Caribe deck and go all the way forward through a pair of doors to the outside. We spent several hours here during the day and it was never crowded. It's a great place from which to take photos.
