Embarkation We stayed at the Sleep Inn in Dania, Florida the night before the cruise. We highly recommend them and they pick up at the airport and drop off at Port Everglades free of charge. The hotel is adjacent to restaurants and to shopping for those last minute items. The complementary breakfast is good.

Embarkation was smooth and took about a half hour when we arrived at 11:30 am. After a short wait in line, we were ushered into a waiting room and issued a number. When the number was called we proceeded through security and check-in. The check-in lines were arranged by deck. If you have express check-in, the Princess representative checks your ID, collects the relevant documents, scans your credit card and you are ready to pose for the obligatory boarding photo and then board the ship. A pleasant surprise was that our cabins were ready for occupancy upon boarding.

The Ship The Caribbean Princess is huge at 116,000 tons and 19 decks. It is relatively new, having been commissioned in 2004. The central focus is on decks 5 through 7 which contain a nice atrium, most of the entertainment venues, restaurants, shops, casino, lounges, theater, photo gallery and the purser's desk. Decks 15 through 17 contain most of the pools, hot tubs, gym, sports and recreation facilities. The adult pool in the aft is on Deck 14. The children's facilities are located on Deck 18 and the spectacular Skywalker's Night Club is on Deck 19. One oddity of the ship's design is the Palm Dining Room which is accessible from the aft staircase and elevators only. If you have anytime dining this is a "best kept secret" as the wait times tend to be less than for the Coral Dining Room which is on Deck 7 adjacent to the shops and main elevators. Although with a capacity of 3,114 passengers and 1,200 crew members, never once did we feel crowded, except perhaps in the photo gallery, which even occurred on the Celebrity Zenith, which is much smaller. Read more