We booked 2 mini-suite cabins next to each other, as we have two teenage children. None of the cabins connect to each other but we were told by the cruise line that most cabins could "connect" through the doors outside on the balconies. This was true in a sense- if you like to hear the sound of a door outside swinging back and forth knocking into the chairs on the balcony all night as the ship cruises to its next port.
We flew to Houston the day before the cruise departed, which was a good thing because the whether on the day the cruise departed was so bad that Bush International had to close for a couple of hours thus delaying many people from arriving to the ship on time. As a result the ship was about two hours late in embarking because it was waiting for a bus that was arriving from the airport carrying 50 passengers. We stayed at the Four Points Sheraton in Houston which was convenient to the highway. The hotel was very nice with great beds and friendly staff. We had rented a car in Houston and drove to Galveston through what I can only tern as a "monsoon"- not a pleasant thing to do in unfamiliar territory. Many of the roads were flooded making it even more unpleasant. The only car rental company that we were able to arrange pick-up in one location and drop off in another was Hertz. They do not have a location directly in the airport in Houston or the pier in Galveston so you must use a shuttle bus.
The check-in process went well and after taking the requisite photo we got onto the ship by about 12:30pm. Our cabins were located on the Dolphin deck (Deck 9) and were ready, which was a nice surprise because we were told by the staff at check-in that they would not be ready. The mini suite cabin on this ship is lovely. It is not very spacious but the bathroom has a tub and the room has a couch, chair, small table and two TV's (but only 1 remote control-which is odd.) The balcony was a nice size with four chairs and a small table. The problem with all the balconies on the deck that we were on was that they are completely exposed from above. There is no overhang so anyone can look down from a stateroom above you. You can hear all the conversations they are having and they can see everything you are doing. There is no privacy. The balconies on the higher decks have a partial overhang so they are not completely exposed. I didn't know this when I booked the cruise. The Princess website does not give you this information. I don't understand the logic behind designing balconies this way. In addition, one day we were sitting inside the stateroom watching TV and we heard this horrible sound. It sounded like we were directly above the engine of the ship- it was so loud! We were docked so I wasn't too concerned that there was a problem, but I went out onto the balcony and looked over to see that the lifeboats (which I didn't even realize were on the deck right below) were being moved out beyond the ship and being used to clean the windows. So at one point there was a maintenance man standing outside my balcony. I have been on other cruises and never seen this before.