We had a really great time on the Norwegian Star Panama Canal Cruise. We have cruised on many cruise lines and enjoyed this one. The ship was in good shape for being a bit older (but remodeled recently). One good thing about the older ships, the room size is larger than some of the newer ones. Our room was great and everyone on the ship, very helpful. Some advice, if you are going to do specialty dining, book for first few nights. The dining rooms are slammed the first few nights, until everyone gets the hang of things, then it runs smoother. The ports on the Panama Canal cruise are not your typical "Caribbean" ports, not much there and shopping is iffy at best. There are some fun excursions, but for some ports, we just stayed on the ship and actually enjoyed it. Quiet and easy to get around. The Panama Canal was everything we envisioned and more. It took 12 hours to go through the whole thing and was extremely hot (close to 90). Make sure you put on sunscreen that day, since you will be outside most all day. There were a lot of burnt people from it, and several almost passed out from dehydration (though the crew was constantly telling people to drink water). This is not one of those ships with lots of "extras" such as rock wall, go carts, etc. but for what we were doing, it was perfect.