johnandlinda

We had a premium balcony on Island mid forward deck 10

The size of the balcony was much larger

For the first time ever though we rarely used the balcony

The more open design on Island seemed to make it seem windier

We found the best viewing to be Deck 7 where you literally get the "ground" feel and Deck 14 just aft of the Lotus Pool

We were just there

We used Honors points and were in the tower but only 5th floor so really couldnt see the port area as the bridge was in the way

We had an updated room and since it was free we were more than happy

We kept reading reviews that were mixed and were a bit concerned

Check in and out was quick and easy and we got there about 230....since we arrived on a Wednesday and only 4 ships leaving Thursday it was pretty quiet

Shuttle is 6 per person and can be reserved day of departure and they were leaving every thirty mins...we were gonna do taxi but this shutlle was perfect

Gbar had pretty good food too

The shows on this cruise were pretty good....early show was 800 pm but if you were not seated by 730 seats were difficult to find

AIBP worked perfect for me...Linda didnt have. Loved being able to order just about anything and never sign, eexcept did sign in MDR. Could ask for specific brands, bartenders even offerred doubles sometimes...definitely worth it overall

How was the bed? I guess it was a normal bed for a cruise

We slept fine

The balcony is half covered, half not...no privacy from above

We had a lot of wind, so spent lil time out there

Plenty of storage and closet space

No problems with hot water or pressure

Very convenient location to elevators

Easy room to find as its right under an eergency exit sign in the hallway

Loved the AIBP...just off Island Princess...so convenient...nothing to sign except in MDR....and was even able to get doubles from some bartenders...I asked when he offerred cause I thought that was illegal but he said his bosses said to use his judgement

We definitely prefer the smaller ships! I cannot remember the class of ship similar in size on Carnival, but those were our favorite on that line too...Miracle is one of them. The highlight of course was the Canal...we did not do a tour. We were on Deck 7 as we went thru in the morning and in the afternoon we were on Deck 14 right past Lotus pool. Since we had a cargo ship going thru with us in parallel on the return was really able to get great views of the locks and how they work. The biggest negative we had was early dining time of 515 is too early and although the menu changed every night, we thought the food was ok to good, not great. But I can say that about all our recent travels...food quality is not as good. Food portions were not an issue, but we want quality, not quantity. We wanted to do Crab Shack but when we called we couldnt get a reservation before 830 or 900. We were on deck 10, C335, happy with everything there, huge balcony but we hardly used it. Loved the Lotus Pool!

I promise to write a review very soon, but if anyone has questions will try to answer. This was first Princess cruise and for the most part we really enjoyed it

I am definitely getting the AIBP for myself but it makes no sense to buy for my wife. At dinner if I buy a bottle, can she have a glass or two?

We have used shuttles from hotel to port on previous cruises

Last time it took forever and we said we would just taxi next trip

We assume its easy to arrange a taxi for pickup embarkation day...correct?

So since this is done in a part of Horizon Ct, can one person choose the Crab Shack option while the other opts for the normal buffet? Wife does not do seafood!

No stabilizers?

We stayed here March 2014 and really enjoyed it. The room/suite was more than enough, a bit dated but clean, and the balcony was huge overlooking the Bay. We think the Intercontinental would have a great view of the port though. The Doubletree as mentioned had shops and restaurants on the lower level and we had a great meal there. It seemed the hotel also was used by many as a condo. We used the hotel shuttle to port also.

We have always asked the waiter after dinner what the next nights menu highlights were and he could let us know and would suggest the meals to order

If the price is right book it

Its a 3 min cab ride to Los Alos Blvd where dining is a plenty

Rooms were clean, not fancy

Staff was good

Like people say its not a place to be walking the streets after dark, but we never do that in a strange city anyways

And when we got to the point of being processed the agent wanted to carryon a chit chat session after processing us...might explain why things were moving so slow...worst we had ever seen!

Early December when we got off Carnival Freedom there were only 3-4 Customs agents working for 2700 passengers so the line was very long and very slow moving and we were zone 1 off! The line filled the baggage pickup area.

We would have been on the cruise following this one going from Costa Rica thru the Canal and to New Orleans to Miami. For medical reasons we had to cancel. We were so looking forward to this cruise and am anxious to hear reviews of the follow up cruise we woulda been on. Rough seas noone can control but to have that so bad on the Caribbean side vs the Atlantic side is a bit unusual. The toilet issue in my opinion should have been fixed before leaving port!

Just wanted to shout out to all the people headed to CR to board Journey

We were to be on that cruise too but had to cancel due to medical reasons

Hope you all have a fun safe journey!

Decision has been made

Hilton Marina it is

Thank you all!

We thought the Garden Inn being smaller would just make it quieter plus we thought dining might be a bit less expensive around the Garden Inn. Our cruise is a Thursday departure and it looks like maybe three ships depart that day. Garden Inn seems to get pretty consistent good reviews on TA

Agreed the Hilton Marina is appealing, but kinda looking forward to a quieter morning at Garden Inn when its time to head to port...we stayed at Hampton Inn Downtown last trip and shuttle to port was chaotic and long

Both price the same essentially for a one night precruise stay

Am leaning towards the Garden Inn located in Dania

Thoughts anyone?

Thats exactly what I thought!

We just recently had to cancel a Costa Rica/Panama Canal cruise due to my wife being treated for breast cancer so am wanting to rebook another!