The wife and I went on a cruise to celebrate our 25th anniversary.This was our 3rd cruise and first on Princess. We arrived a day early and stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott in Ft. Lauderdale. We have always had good luck with Courtyard but this stay was a nightmare. There was record rainfall for Ft. Lauderdale on that day and we ended up having our toilet backed up. The hotel staff said it was the fault of the city of Miami(?)and they never really did anything else about it. Also while we were there our fire alarm in the room went off. We hurriedly took the stairs down to the lobby only to find out the the cause of the problem was that some hotel workers had brought a bbq grill into the hotel to satisfy a party that had been booked for outdoors. The severe weather had forced the party indoors and they decided to cook indoors. We were on the 5th floor and could smell the smoke. The hotel finally brought in some fans to dissipate the smoke. Our complaints about this situation brought the same indifferent response from the hotel staff as the backed up toilet had. On the plus side,they do have a free shuttle from the airport and they do have a shuttle that goes to the various cruise line docks although the one we were on was pretty cramped. There was a restaurant adjacent to the hotel as well. Now for the cruise.I must admit I was a little nervous about it based on reviews from others on this site. The wife and I had a great time. The embarkation process went well. We arrived at the dock at 11:15AM and were in our room by 12:15PM.Our luggage got to our cabin around 4PM.While waiting to embark we spoke to a family taking their 5th cruise on this particular ship so they gave us a few tips and told us about the great times they had every time they sailed this ship. As far as our cabin(A508),it was bigger than we expected and we never felt cramped.It was next to a work area for the ships staff and occasionally you could hear noise from it especially in the morning but it was never a big problem but might be for a light sleeper. On the up side we were 2 decks below Deck 15 where the pools as well as the buffets were. We usually walked up the 2 decks as the elevators were difficult to get at times. Our cabin steward,Ian,was just great.

I know from reading other reviews some thought the crew was indifferent but we thought they were just great. They were very polite,cheerful and helpful and were the best we encountered in any of our cruises. We did the anytime dining and thought it was just great. We always requested a table for two and never had to wait for a table. The dining rooms generally did not start getting crowded until after 6pm so you might want get there when they open at 5:30PM. As for the food,we thought it was very good. The desserts look better than they taste but we recommend the Love Boat dream. The wife thought the cheesecake was very good. We usually ate breakfast and lunch at the buffets and we found both the quality and variety good. We ate one breakfast in the dining room and it was nice. The buffet areas are usually crowded so if you want a more relaxed atmosphere I recommend you have your breakfast and lunches in the dining rooms. The pool areas get crowded early but we never really had a problem getting a lounge chair. There are adult only pools at the front and back of the ship. One nice thing we both liked is that they were freshwater water pools so you didn't get the saltwater taste. The pool near the Movies Under the Stars was usually the most crowded especially with the younger kids. As for the shows,we thought they were pretty good but go early to get a good seat. They sell a soda card for $3.95 a day for unlimited soda but we stuck with the iced tea. The drink prices were comparable to what you would find at any bar or restaurant. They automatically add a 15% gratuity. The ship was in excellent condition.

Debarkation was not too bad. We elected to carry our own luggage off. There was a bit of a logjam where we all gathered at 7:15AM but once the process got started we were off the ship and at the Ft. Lauderdale airport by 8AM. To sum up-we had fantastic time. It exceeded all our expectations and our next cruise will most likely be a Princess cruise we highly recommend them.