I enjoyed a wonderful spring break cruise aboard the Grand Princess from 4/4 to 4/11. This was my 2nd trip on this beautiful ship; the first time was in August of 2001. Since I live about 20 minutes from Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale and about 30 minutes from the port of Miami I must admit that I am somewhat of an avid cruiser. I used to be a dedicated RCI cruiser but have been experimenting with different lines over the past few years. My past cruises with Princess have been on the old Star, Crown, Golden and Grand. I was curious to see if there would be much of a change since Carnival had bought Princess. My last cruise was the Golden during Christmas week of 2002.

Embarkation was a breeze, even easier than I ever remember it being. We got to the port at about 2:30 so we missed the early rush. I had filled out all of the paperwork online so we only needed to present our passports (id) and tickets and give an imprint of our credit card. They took our welcome aboard photo and we were on our way. The elevators were pointed out to us and we made our way to our cabins. Does anyone remember the old days when they actually escorted you to your room?

We booked 2 balcony cabins side by side, Caribe 735 and 739. Our children, a 10 year old girl and 14 year old boy were in one room and my husband and I in the other. The cabins were clean and in good working condition. There was the normal wear and tear of a ship this age but they really were immaculate. The balconies were a very nice size and while not totally private that never seemed to be a problem. We asked our room steward to unlock the door between them allowing us great access to each others rooms. Read more