Party of six, DH, two grown suns and their SO s , had one balcony cabin and two obstructed view outside cabins. All have had 2 previous cruises, last one for us was on the carnival Sensation out of Tampa three years ago. Loved that cruise, only problem we had was the number of preteens running the halls and elevators a night.. We booked Princess this time, only because we wanted to leave from some where we could drive to, and the Carnival Miracles Monday departure didn't fit into our schedule. Once we got to Brooklyn, the actual embarkation went quite smoothly, no real wait to speak of, and the parking was close to the dock.Grabbed a quick bite at the buffet,and were in our cabin by one. Our steward a young Hungarian Gentleman was great, his name was Gabor (as in Zsa Zsa) he was quite friendly, but more important seemed to know when we gone and always updated our cabin while we gone. The room itself was decent, the bath was tight, but was worth the sacrifice for the extra storage space it allotted. I don't think we would pay what amounted to an extra grand for the balcony again, the chAIRS WERE UNCOMFORTABLE, AND THE WOODEN RAIL OBSTRUCTED YOU VIEW OF THE HORIZON. If you looked down below you at what I assume were mini-suites, they had nice cloth recliners, but that was probably another 500 per to upgrade.Next time We will probably just get an inside and sit on the promenade deck. Dining, We really enjoyed the dining on this cruise. Withe the exception of the Filet Mignon on the first formal night (*How do you ruin a tenderloin) all our meals were excellent to exceptional. We ate same time dining in the Botticelli Dining room and our waiters William and his assistant Zaldi from the Philippines were Fantastic, we didn't need to ask for anything, they seemed to know what we would want.(especially on lobster and crab nights). We ate some of our breakfasts in the main dining room, but the head waiter there was a jerk so we ate most breakfasts at the buffet. (wasn't bad, eggs cooked to order.), Lunch, didn't eat a lot of lunch aboard (full from breakfast) but we had one at sea in the main dining room, A ciappino that was to die for. Shows. The ship was fully booked, and it never seemed crowded until you tried to see a show. Again there were six in our party, but even a half hour before show time we couldn't get seats in the theatre. WE did enjoy the comedians in the explorer lounge, most of whom were pretty funny. Ports, Grand Turk, basically just a beach, but a nice beach. got some loungers in the shade and vegged a bit, which was a change after 2 straight sea days. enjoyed it a lot. Avoid the margaritaville here, limited menu and overpriced. San Juan, our favorite, took a ferry and a publico to Bacardi Factory, ($7 per person) then visited the old city before a trip to Senor Frogs. Overall a great port trip. St Thomas DH and I did the Hardhat dive and really loved it. But it didn't leave much time for shopping. This was probably a mistake as the shopping Bermuda was lousy, and we probably could have done the diving there. Disembarkation was hit or miss , we were off by 9AM, but our youngens who were on lower decks didn't get off for another hour and a half. Bottom line, although we enjoyed our cruise, we missed the frozen yogurt machines and the juice stations from carnival( may seem slight but , but you can sick of Ice Tea pretty easily). Wioll probably try to book carnival again next time,,,