My wife and I have just returned from our Western Caribbean cruise aboard the beautiful Caribbean Princess ship. We sailed May 20 - 27, 2006. This was our first cruise ever and we celebrated my wife's 34th birthday (shhhh...) and our 10th wedding anniversary.

I am going to make this review quite detailed because I know that I had several logistical questions as a first time cruiser that I did not find answered in the reviews.

I booked all of my arrangements through Princess, but I purchased travel insurance separately. Our flights worked out so that we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale around 11:00am. Transfer to Port Everglades was quick and easy. When we arrived at the baggage carousel, there were a few Princess reps handing out placards with numbers on them (I think it was 1-4 or so). My wife and I both received a number 2. Each number represented a bus. After we retrieved our luggage, we congregated will all of the other folks with a 2. We arrived at the port terminal around 11:45am. There was a very long line. The doors do not open until noon. We were in our cabin by 1:00 pm. Not much in the way of logistics here -- you make your way into the terminal, complete two forms (one stating that you have not had any gastrointestinal problems in the last 48 hours and the other was the Jamaica visitors form that was sent in previous documentation - keep that for embarkation - do not mail back to Princess). Then you proceed to the line for the deck that you cabin is on. You give them your name, they give you the keys to your cabin, and you make your way to the gangway and board the ship. Any bags that you do not carry into the terminal (the ones that the bus driver loads in the bottom of the bus) are delivered to your room within several hours. Read more