Island Princess, December 5, 2015 Panama Canal

[CapeCodFlyer]

My partner and I are taking our second-ever cruise on the Island Princess through the Panama Canal from FLL to LA on December 5, 2015. Our first cruise was in the 1990's with RSVP to Alaska, so this should be quite different. Not sure what to expect on Princess but anticipating an older, straight, experienced group. We are not looking forward to the three formal nights as we tend to be more casual-type individuals. Any insights or advice on Princess or the canal would be much appreciated.

Moe

[GaryR6273]

We are considering this cruise in March, but wondered about the ports for LGBT travelers.

 

Hope it was wonderful!

 

Gary

[CapeCodFlyer]

We are considering this cruise in March, but wondered about the ports for LGBT travelers.

 

Hope it was wonderful!

 

Gary

 

Hi Gary,

 

We had a great time on the Panama Canal cruise! We booked all the shore excursions through Princess and had absolutely no problems as LGBT travelers in any of the ports. In Cartagena, we did the La Popa monastery and city tour; weather was extremely hot and humid but had a fine time. Street vendors were persistent but I guess that is part of the local flavor.

 

In Costa Rica, we opted for the train ride and river cruise. Again, friendly group, very good guide, friendly locals, and a pleasant experience. We chose the Mombacho Volcano excursion in Nicaragua and were very pleasantly surprised by the warmth and friendliness of the Nicaraguan people. In both Costa Rica and Nicaragua, we got glimpses of the pretty and not-so-pretty aspects of life in those countries. Poverty still exists, but people would wave to us from their shanties and they seemed to live a happy existence. Satellite dishes were prevalent on most buildings, even on tiny, single-room homes.

 

In Cabo, we opted for the whale watch tour and were not disappointed. There were three Princess ships in port so the harbor was very crowded. Again, we felt comfortable and welcomed in the port.

 

Since our stay in Aruba was rather short (five hours) we decided to walk around town and visited the local Starbucks to take advantage of the wifi. Again, we had no problems and the locals were very pleasant and friendly.

 

The Island Princess had a number of LGBT crew and we saw them on the tenders in some of the ports. Again, everyone was smiling and having a pleasant time.

 

The Princess had an unhosted LGBT gathering every evening at 6:00 and it was generally well attended by a usual cadre of 10-12 with additional couples occassionally showing up. A crew member showed up in uniformon the first evening, so I guess maybe that initial evening was "hosted". One evening, a couple of the attendees coaxed one of the ship's male dancers to join our group; although he claimed to be straight, we decided to place him in the "LGBT ally" category. ;)

 

The Panama Canal experience was phenomenal, especially for canal novices like us. It was the main reason for the cruise and did not disappoint.

 

Hope this helps you in reaching a decision about the cruise. Shout if you have any other questions.