This was our first cruise with Princess and our third cruise overall. My wife and I had previously cruised with Royal Caribbean and Holland America. We also went with another couple and this was their first cruise. Overall, we would rate Princess third and Holland first. We are in our early thirties; although, a few of our friends think we act as if we're much older! We had high expectations of Princess based on all the positive reviews that we had seen, but it did not quite muster up to our expectations. My wife said that she would not cruise with Princess again, but I would if the circumstances were right. We choose this cruise because of the ports of call that I couldn't find in another Western Caribbean cruise.
The cruise was fully booked, which holds 2,600 passengers. The only time it felt like there was that many passengers were the embarkation and disembarkation process. The flow of the ship and multiple dining options definitely worked; although there were multiple times I was confused on how to get from one place to another because of the layout.
I normally do not get seasick, but the first night, I am not sure if I was tired or seasick, but I could not stay awake during dinner and had a headache. The rest of the trip I was fine including a bumpy ferry ride to Playa del Carmen. The first 2-3 days of the cruise, the seas were rough. I could definitely feel the boat rocking back and forth and you see people stumble a bit. In fact, the second day, the ship must have hit a big wave as there was a loud bang throughout the ship that I had not experienced in my first two cruises.