It was a rough first day with U.S. Airways losing our luggage. They said that it may be on the next flight and they would bring it to the ship if it came, otherwise, they would bring it to St. Maarten. Never fly on U.S.Airways. They are notorious for losing luggage. Anyway, it put a damper on the beginning of our vacation. The luggage did show up after the Muster Exercise, which was the easiest one I've ever experienced. We sat in the Princess Theatre and the staff demonstrated. We were done in 15 minutes. When we returned to our cabin, a miracle happened. Our luggage had arrived!! We were so relieved! This was our second time on the Caribbean Princess. We had gone 2 years ago, and enjoyed it so thoroughly that we booked the identical cruise again. The ship is humongous and very beautiful. The carpeting is gorgeous and so are the pictures on the walls. Our cabin was small, but had plenty of closet and storage space. The entertainment was exceptional with the Beatle Maniacs, Piano Man (a Broadway show), Caliente (a Caribbean singing & dancing show) and Sarge, the funniest comedian I've ever heard. Be sure to get to the venues at least 30 minutes ahead of time if you want a seat. Also, save your lounge chair by the pool before you go in for breakfast. I swam in the Neptune pool every day and it was warm and wonderful. By the afternoon it's pretty crowded, so if you're going to swim, do it in the early morning. The dining rooms were attractive, but the food was inconsistent. On the days that they served lobster, filet, and prime rib, it was delicious. The other days, I had trouble finding an entree that appealed to me. The Horizon Court Buffet served a nice breakfast daily, but it was always the same, which was okay with me. The dinners in the Caribe Buffet were mostly Caribbean, and I didn't care for the choices. The pizza was delicious at the Pizzeria and so were the chicken breast sandwiches by the Neptune Pool. The ship is so huge that I really got some good exercise just walking back to my cabin and using the stairs sometimes. The staff were always friendly and greeted us often. We didn't go on any shore excursions this time and felt that we would just enjoy the shopping near the port. This was a major disappointment. There weren't many shops at St. Maarten, and at St. Thomas (where we had wonderful shopping 2 years ago at Havenhurst, or something like that), we were at a much smaller shopping area called Crown Bay. It was a waste of time. Evidently, Crown Bay made a financial arrangement with Princess for them to patronize that area, rather than the other one. I don't think Princess was thinking of their passengers, as much as they were thinking of their pocket book. Luckily, the ship had some nice sales of tee shirts and other souvenirs. I did all of my shopping on board and did not feel as if I was ripped off. Embarkation and debarkation were so efficient and well-run. They were really painless. All of our luggage was color coded and very easy to find. We were dropped off by our airlines, which this time was Delta. The Fort Lauderdale airport was a mad house, with shoulder to shoulder people and luggage. You could not stand in line unless you were within 2 hours of your flight. We were dropped off 3 hours ahead of time. We had to sit on the floor. Luckily, after about 30 minutes, I spotted the skycaps at the curb and they weren't busy. They allowed us to check in 2 and 1/2 hours ahead of time. What a break! We really enjoyed this ship and will cruise again, either on the same ship, or another Princess ship. They do a great job for the passengers.