Sorry for taking so long to get this review out! I really appreciate Cruise Critic forums so I want to contribute. I am going to go through the whole trip but I will be brief.

Destination: RT FLL to Panama Canal. 11/30 /09 Embarkation: Hit a snag couldn't find our cruise cards so they were remade still pretty smooth process. 2 days at sea: We had a mini suite Caribe deck all the way forward. It was nice to have 2 TV's and a sitting area. Balcony was a tad bigger. Wait time in lines are reasonable, elevators fairly fast, good deck layout, ship seems very well maintained and crew service was just fine. Food was just OK overall. We had late seating and it was very empty. Aruba: Our third year in a row so we booked a tour on our own with LaPonderosa Horseback riding (a Princess vendor). The only problem was we had to get to the terminal to meet our transportation. No big deal they had a shuttle the Island was parked farthest from the terminal. Cartagena: Ships Volcano mud bath tour, nothing exotic about this. Your in a man made hill that has pit full of mud. Everything about the mud is slippery (railings, steps and ladders you must climb) and not well maintained so if your not careful you can fall or slip and bust your head open. Its a lawsuit waiting to happen. To be fair the people are friendly and it was different then normal cruise tours. A word about Cartagena we went through a long ride and had a policewoman on the tour with us the whole time. I saw nothing unsafe about the time I was there but the security presence cannot be noticed. Panama Canal: You get to the locks early so if you want to see all of it get up early! Caribe deck all the way forward you can get a nice view from under the bridge deck. They anchor and let tours out, that takes about 2 hours. Tenders, so you know that takes time. Did the ships fishing tour, the bite started out fast and furious then didn't catch anything else. $120 kinda pricey but it was fun. I was up for something different. Colon: just shopped Costa Rica: Cruise Critic members recommended Charlie Soto tours and we booked a tour through them. We had some problems communicating over e-mail about a custom tour but it all went smoothly. We did horseback riding, zipline and riverboat tour. The ship scares you off booking your own zipline tour saying it wasn't safe but we had the best time here, our guide was very friendly and the operation was safe and professional. Overall the tour was great everything was smooth, had nice lunch and were right on time. Our guide (Carlos) and driver (Marcos) looked after us all day, kept us laughing and did a great job. The company is well aware of Cruise Critic and I think they really try to please so they don't get bad reviews. Definitely would use them again.

Jamaica: Lets just start out by saying I hate Jamaica on a cruise tour and have met others who felt the same way. Dunns River falls has nothing to offer me. They switched from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios and I and many others were disappointed. We docked at the pier farthest from town and took a taxi in and walked back (figure 20 minutes). They have tried to make Ocho Rios more cruise friendly by making cruise traveler shopping areas by port called Island Village. We shopped at the Taj Mahal and after looking at too many $25 t-shirts went to Island V. The big thing here is Margaritaville, which we skipped and went for the beach that was pretty small but safe and clean. There were some guys hawking souvenirs but they were nice about it. Read more