We booked our trip through our travel agency early in August and sailed Jan 26 2008 to the western Caribbean aboard the Grand Princess. We compared prices in Canada and the US and decided to fly out of Seattle transfer in Houston and on to FLL. We transferred through Houston as there was no chance of snow to delay our flight. We traveled on Friday the day before our cruise so that we would have plenty of time at our destination. In Seattle we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express, the room was very clean and well appointed. The front desk staff were one of the friendliest I have encountered. They have a shuttle bus to and from the airport and will even go a little out of their way to take you to local restaurants. Great buffet breakfast as usual. We stayed at the Best Western on State Rd in FLL. The room was clean and adequate and the hotel has a free shuttle bus from the airport to the hotel. The hotel is in the same area as the Holiday Inn Express, and Hampton Inn. Small strip mall beside the hotel included McDonald's, Win Dixie food, Radio Shack, Subway, Wendy's, Dunkin Donuts within easy walking distance. Not much else around the area. The free breakfast at the hotel had a good selection. They have a shuttle to cruise port for $7.00 per person or you can take the taxi for $10.00. There are lots of taxis, even though the hotel staff led us to believe otherwise. We arrived at the cruiseport by hotel shuttle at 10AM and dropped our bags with the cruise ship porters. We then walked over to the terminal building and waited for the side doors to open at 10:30AM. You will be given some additional health forms to fill out as you need to answer 5 question concerning your health during the last 5 days prior to your cruise.You will also be given a number according to the time you enter the building, hundreds of chairs for everyone to take a seat. A very large group of people are given the number 1 upon entering. This will determine when you are called to check in. Everything is very organized and Princess has many ' meet and greet' people to answer any questions that you have. Once our number was called we were checked through in 5 minutes and we were on board by 11:15 and in our room. Room 606 Caribe deck with a balcony was everything I thought it would be. Large balcony 4 chairs and a table with plenty of room to fit 2 more chairs. Small fridge with ice, a desk area, and an in room safe in the closet. Plenty of room to slide our luggage under the bed. The bed and pillows were great - I had the best sleep. I noticed that Princess was off loading mattresses and bringing on new ones in Jamaica. The bathroom has plenty of room for storage as it has side shelves on the wall for all your amenities. The shower is quite large and has a small retractable clothes line. The hair dryer is located beside the sliding balcony door and was very powerful great for my thick hair. Lots of light in the room to read and blackout drapes to pull at night. A/C in the room. No iron in the room but there is one in the laundry room. Towels were refreshed twice a day and we always had fresh beach towels. The activities on board were the best. The Princess singers and dancers put on a show eveynight and they looked like they were having the time of their lives. The really looked like they enjoyed every minute of entertaining us. Cinematastic, Motor City, and Do you Wanna Dance all were my favorites, and Laurie's voice is so clear and powerful. The Sailaway party set the mood for the whole cruise. Come party relax and have a good time. Cindy Chavez and her band put on a fabulous sailaway show,up tempo, she has such enthusiasm and energy, don't miss her. There is so much going on it is hard to choose what to do. The piano player in the atrium is fantastic. Rebecca Bowman gave me a new appreciation for modern age Soprano, a must see. Take in the MUTS shows at least 2 - 4 different shows playing daily. Comedy with Jay Moore and hypnotist Fernandez were also very good. Jacqui Michaels has a great voice and I enjoyed listening to her songs. Lee Childers director of entertainment, Gavin and their team did a fantastic job. Everywhere on the ship there was entertainment, bands, pool games, martini making and vegetable carvings, and quiet places too. Reading or sleeping around the Atrium pool or just quietly soaking up the sun on deck or playing cards. There were children on board in various ages babies through teens, I never saw or heard one child misbehave or cry. Lots of on board activities for them and well supervised. The pool games were the best to watch they gave me some great ideas.

We ate most of our meals in the Horizon court. Very good selection of food I can't think of one thing that was missing. The menu changed nightly, roast pig, lamb, roast beef, turkey, pasta, salads and standard foods and various ethnic foods. Such a great selection for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Coffee was good in the Horizon Court I am really puzzled about some of the prior comments I have read about the coffee. Free with your meal- coffee, every kind of tea, milk and water, juice with breakfast. We never bought a Pop card. We had 3 drinks of pop on board. Each time we ordered two drinks of coke the bill came to $4.02 taxes etc included. We preferred to eat at the buffet for a matter of convenience. Be aware that they change over for dinner at 6PM. We only ate in the dining room twice.Formal night saw ever kind of outfit imaginable. Many men were in sports jackets and slacks, grey pants and navy jackets, some had green jackets on, some had brown slacks and matching tweed jackets. All were welcomed into the formal evening dinner. One fellow arrived in a golf shirt and the maitre d lent him a tie. Ladies were in pant suits and dresses and every thing in between. We chose anytime dining and had a very interesting time meeting and talking to new people at our table. We had no trouble getting in at 5:30 for dinner. Shore excursions in Jamaica we chose the Shaw Gardens and Dunns River Falls and ½ hour shopping tour. We did not climb the falls as we thought it might be too difficult for us but we really enjoyed watching our fellow passengers climb the falls and get wet. Be aware that if you choose Shaw Gardens there are is a lot of stair climbing too much for those with limited mobility. In the Grand Caymans we booked privately through Captain Marvins and they are a first rate operation. Within easy walking distance of the pier - 5 minutes tops. Snorkeling with Captain Marvin's and Sting Ray City was the highlight of our trip as we had never snorkeled before. They take you to three locations and all three locations you can stand up in the water, it is not deep. They have you back on time, no problems. In Cozumel we took the Discover Mexico Park and Chankanaab Park tour. This tour is perfect for those that have difficulty walking but want to see replicas of the Mayan Ruins. Our guide Ramon was extremely knowledgeable and answered all our questions. He took us to Chankanaab Park. We snorkeled at Chankanaab Park and used Sand Dollar Snorkel they charged us $10 and that included the use of a locker. I highly recommend them and they are also approved by the cruise lines for their cleanliness of their equipment. The snorkeling at Chankanaab Park was very easy as you can walk in off the beach and see lots of fish. There was enough time left to ship in Cozumel by the cruise ship pier. This was our favorite city. We would go back in a heartbeat. All in all a fun filled cruise with lots of time to relax, with a good selection yummy food. Great beds and pillows, fabulous sunsets, the best staff on board, and entertainment not to be missed.