We drove to Ft. Lauderdale and parked our car at the Park'N Go lot at Port Everglades. We booked ahead on-line and paid $5.99 a day. This was such a great decision - it was close to the port, the lot was manned 24 hours a day and was well lit. We pulled into the lot, they unloaded our bags and put them on the shuttle, and then parked our car. We arrived early for check-in with Princess at about 10:30 and brought snacks, water and something to read during our wait to board the ship. We were in the 1st group to board and had no lines but did not board until a little after 12:00. It was great to be on the ship, eat lunch and get settled ahead of the crowds. We loved the balcony!

The Island Princess was a very comfortable, clean ship and the staff was wonderful although customer service did not appear to be well informed on various disembark details. The food was great. We selected the early sitting in the dining room and ate there every evening except two when we were just too full to have a large evening meal. Most of our breakfasts and lunches were at the Horizon Court. There were so many activities provided on the ship that you had to use your highlighter to mark the PrincessPatter to avoid missing something you were interested in. I recommend attending all the port lectures by William Fall. We did not use any of the Princess shore excursions and booked our own to be a smaller group and pick the places we wanted to see. It was a great decision for us. I relied cruise critic and trip advisor for information. I've reviewed our excursions below. When it was time to disembark, we chose the 1st group and carried off our luggage. The shuttle to the parking lot was on its way and in no time we were in our car. David McCullough's "The Path Between the Seas" provides a great pre-read for the trip.

In Aruba we had 5 hours so we got off the ship early to avoid the heat (ha, ha), picked up a map at the welcome center and walked the street that our port lecturer recommended. After that we took bus #7 and got off at the 2nd beach - Eagle beach where we walked and loafed some. There were folks in the water. On returning to the port, we had the local beer (good) at Iguana Joe's above a shopping center, did some shopping and returned to ship. We had planned to go to the National Archaeological Museum but ran out of time. WIFI available at Starbucks through a Marriott site. Read more