10 day Island Princess Panama

[waldocruiser1]

Has anyone taken the 10 day Panama Canal trip on the Island Princess?

 

I have a chance to go on this with the company I work for. It would be in Feburary 2011.

[kimchee1212]

Which one? Round-trip FLL or FLL to Acapulco or backwards? :)

[waldocruiser1]

Which one? Round-trip FLL or FLL to Acapulco or backwards? :)

 

Florida to Florida

[LisaroseNY]

Florida to Florida

 

I think the round trip is a 15 day cruise...the 10 day ones are usually from florida to Acapolco or visa versa

 

Im leaving on a 10 day Panama Canal cruise on the Island Princess on February 18th. I can give you a review after that

[waldocruiser1]

I think the round trip is a 15 day cruise...the 10 day ones are usually from Florida to Acapulco or visa versa

 

I have looked at the itinerary and it is Ft Lauderdale to Ft Lauderdale,

[chasetf]

We have done the 10 day partial (not on the Island but the old Royal) and the full transit. While I would recommend the full transit (get to see the whole canal), the partial in and out of Gatun locks and lake is well worth the time.

[Colo Cruiser]

There is a 10 day roundtrip from FLL partial transit.

[rdsqrl]

Do it! Do it, do it, do it!! Can't say enough good things about seeing the Canal. Even though it's a partial transit, I believe they offer an excursion on a small boat that takes you all the way through, so you'll get a big ship/small ship experience going through the locks and get to see the whole magnificent engineering achievement. Plus, if the Island is half as good as her twin sister, the Coral, you'll be on a fabulous ship.

[City_Woman]

We did this trip.

 

It was quite enjoyable.

 

Hubby really liked the Island Princess. I prefer the larger ships - Ruby / Emerald.

 

It was an education to be able to do a partial transit through the Canal.

 

Judy

[sunsetbeachgal]

If you want a very thorough, detailed review of this itinerary (which I also went on in November and would highly recommend) check out the thread on this forum by Sweet Angel. Lots of wonderful pictures too!

[m steve]

is a great cruise. Best ship we sailed on Princess and the food was terrific. Try to book Chef's Table as soon as you get on board. $75 pp and well worth it.

[west coast cruiser]

We just got off the Island. 10 day Acapulco to Ft. Lauderdale. It was a great cruise and the Island is a very nice ship.

Go for it!!

WCC

[mommy5]

Hey West Coast Cruiser....did you write a review?? Can you give us a quick one here?? We sail Feb. 28 on this itinerary...can't wait!

Deb

[gertz]

Great 10 day cruise and a great ship with plenty of room. The company is paying for it, no brainer.

[karmacruiser]

We did the 10 day Fort Lauderdale to Acapulco in December and had a great time! Even if you only do a partial transit, I highly recommend it. Plus I think the partial transit stops at Aruba? We thought Aruba was a beautiful, fun island and would consider that a plus on your trip.

[azbirdmom]

We did the 10 day FLL round trip on the Island last February and absolutely loved it. We did opt to go on the excursion ferry that took us on the smaller boat all the way to the Pacific which was an amazing experience. And yes, it does stop in Aruba although only for a couple of hours in the morning. We would do this again in a heartbeat, and the Island is a terrific "little" ship.

[Cruisers from WA]

We have sailed the Island full transit of the canal (FLL to LA), a full transit of the canal on the Sun (FLL to Seattle) and we are booked for a full transit on the Royal this spring (FLL to SEA).....needless to say we love the full transit, however, a half a canal cruise is better than NO canal cruise:).....the Island & Coral are great ships (my favorites) and were made to FIT through the canal (with little room to spare on each side through the locks)

 

GO for it!!!!:D

[Eagle River]

We were on the Island November 30 to December10th. It was great. I took along a netbook and did a diary of our trip. Please e-mail me at drlamon@hotmail.com and I will send it to you. It was a great ship and great staff.

[west coast cruiser]

Hey West Coast Cruiser....did you write a review?? Can you give us a quick one here?? We sail Feb. 28 on this itinerary...can't wait!

Deb

 

As others have said, the Island is a great ship. This was my second time on her.

The crew was great. We had anytime dining and ate in the dining room every evening and most of the time for breakfast. I have been on several Princess Cruises in the last couple of years and I thought they had upgraded their food a bit.

We met a lot of nice people. Everyone was very friendly.

There is a piano player in the Crooners Lounge. He is fabulous. I think his name is Monty and he was packing them in every night. He is great on the piano but he is so funny and energetic. If he is still on the ship be sure to go see him.

We missed two ports because of weather. Hualtco closed their port because of weather and Nicaragua was a tender port and the waves were too high to go in. We were rocking and rolling quite a bit a couple of days but that doesn't bother me. I took a Bonine on the first day and never had a problem.

I would take this cruise again in a minute. It was my fourth time through the canal.

I hope this helps. Enjoy you cruise.

WCC

[seachaser]

Do it!:D Our third time for roundtrip Fort Lauderdale Panama Canal on 10/11/09; all were great cruises. Read the excellent review our fellow Panamaniac roll call member posted: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1080738

[LeeW]

Has anyone taken the 10 day Panama Canal trip on the Island Princess?

 

I have a chance to go on this with the company I work for. It would be in Feburary 2011.

 

 

We have done both this partial transit and a through transit on Coral (sister ship) and it was GREAT. Partial has the advantage of much cheaper airfare and the ports on the Caribbean side are the better ones. Ports on the Pacific side involve very long bus rides to get anywhere for a shore excursion.

 

As another poster said, make sure you sign up for the ocean-to-ocean tour, which takes a small tour boat through the rest of the canal. Around $130 and well worth it. If in the right chamber in the Miraflores lock look for the dent in the gate that a pilot put there.

 

While the canal is the reason for taking this cruise, the other ports are also worthwhile.

[RickEk]

We've done the 10-day partial transit twice, once on the Island and once on the Coral. The current itinerary is great. Highly recommended!

[tmitchell82]

We are doing the 10 day Partial Transit on the Island in April. Really looking forward to it. Question for those who have been on this cruise, how many formal nights? 2 or 3?

[waldocruiser1]

Thank You for all the information and pictures, it looks like it is going to be fun, just wish it was not so far away, it is set for 02/18/2011

 

looks like it is going to be great,

 

again thanks for the info and pictures

[choochella]

We have never sailed the Island, and are considering doing the FLL-FLL 10 day in the fall, only on the Coral. We normally like to book inside cabins on the same deck as the pool, but I see that the Island or Coral does not have cabins on that deck.

 

Has anyone ever booked an inside on the Island/Coral? How are the cabins? Any feedback is greatly appreciated.