Had done a few ship inspections on the Grand and Caribbean Princess and thought we would sail Princess. Picked the itinerary, due to having 3 sea days, very relaxing, ended up having 4 sea days after missing Princess Cay-due to windy conditions. Overall the ship was very clean, well looked after. Built in 2004. Very few children on this cruise, surprising as Spring breaks were starting. Very few annoying announcements throughout the day, a nice touch. Also, Captain's Circle members are well recognized with wine events, Captain's party (in our case a Commodore's party-had Giusseppe Romano in charge-top Captain in the fleet)etc Embarkation; Flew in late from BUF to FLL, day of cruise, arriving at 2 pm. Taxi to port-$12, would not recommend this late arrival, day before is ideal, especially with winter weather up north. Extremely smooth disembarkation, no waiting, we were there about 2:30 I think, but Princess has their dedicated FLL Port embarkation down pat. Riviera deck, nice balcony room, could look down and see the first 2 balcony decks exposed. Much larger balconies for these 2 decks, but less privacy. Unfortunately, had neighbors who smoked frequently, so had to co-ordinate our balcony visits with their absence.

Food: This is why we cruise, isn't it? Had Anytime dining, even though we could reserve, we did not. Service was good, but you did notice that the waiters/assistants, did what they had to do, they did not have a chance to learn your likes/dislikes and you didn't get to know them. I think they were assured gratuities and were not motivated to work harder than they had to. 2 dining rooms for anytime and 1 for assigned dining. You need to book early to get the assigned dining, as there are just fewer seats. The menu was new for 2008. Didn't seem to be as many appetizing selections for entrees as we've seen on RCCL or X. However, all meals selected were very good. Lobster the last formal night as usual. No chef's parade or baked alaska or cherries jubilee in the Anytime dining. I think the assigned dining did have this. Excellent thin crust pizza and hamburg/sausage on the Lido deck. Had room service breakfast a few times-very good and even sprang for the $28, smoked salmon/guiche/champagne room service breakfast one day- excellent. Horizon court buffet breakfast a few times. Princess has some real design problems with the buffet islands and traffic flow-through. If you were there late, you have to wait. No waffles. Omelettes were available thru a ticket selection system. Little variety in breakfast. Did not attend for lunch nor did attend the dining room for breakfast. Also dislike what RCCL and Princess do, in that there are no trays available, just large melamine platters, and elderly people had to juggle a glass of OJ and the platter, utensils in your pocket. X and HAL have proper plates, platters and silverware.

Entertainment Excellent. A major problem that Princess has with their theatre size, only seats 750 with 3200 people on board. ,For a popular show, need to show at least 30 min early. Great comedian, Sarge, had standing room only, in the aisle seating (almost a fire hazard) for his second show. Princess has to repeat shows the next day or upset patrons who missed a show. Dancers/singers did a great Piano Man tribute show and Caribbean Caliente, Beatle Maniacs were fantastic, we were all on our feet with their 3 part Beatles tribute. Comedian Tom Briscoe was OK. There were some great acts in a smaller theatre down the deck, Explorer's Lounge, which usually was packed. The very popular singer/pianist, Bert Stratton was extremely popular, but relegated to the small Crooner's bar. He has a loyal following from ship to ship, we understand, and he needs a bigger venue.; Saw a few movies, concerts on the big screen , pleasant, but picture was not HD or DVD quality, but still acceptable. Also a few movies shown in the Princess theatre-saw Into the Wild, an excellent film. Drink specials daily, did not feel overly pushed to buy drinks as on NCL, but some others did get badgered. Read more