My wife (31) and I (38) cruised on the Grand Princess from 2/1/04 to 2/8/04 on its Western Caribbean itinerary. Overall, we had an excellent time.

Embarkation: Our flight landed in Ft. Lauderdale on 2/1/04 at 11:30 a.m. After collecting our bags, we got a cab and were at the dock in 10 minutes with a $7.00 fare. There is no need to pay more for a transfer - for the cab is cheaper and faster. The traffic was very heavy so we got out of the cab at the entrance to the docks and walked a block or two to the ship. This walk was worth doing time-wise, but was a bit tricky - as the port's entrance had no sidewalks. As a result, we had to navigate between cars and eventually got to our ship through the parking garage. After arriving at the embarkation center at around noon, we breezed through the process in less than 5 minutes - bravo to Princess on the process - it was really smooth.

Despite handing off our bags to a porter at the ship at around noon, however, the bags did not arrive at our room until nearly 5:30 p.m. Had we known it would have taken so long, we'd have put a change of clothes and a bathing suit in a travel bag - so we could hit the pool (or be dressed for warm weather) on the first afternoon. So be forewarned and prepared - put stuff in your travel bag that you'll need in the afternoon. Read more