We sailed on the Crown to the Eastern Caribbean for 7 nights on 11/9. Sailed with DW and 2 friends who had never cruised before. Had a balcony cabin on the Aloha deck.
We flew down the day prior and stayed at the Springhill Suites in Diane. Good hotel for the night before the cruise. The hotel is a little far from anything nice in FLL. We did take a cab to a restaurant to meet with some of the cruise critic group the night prior which was a blast. Shuttle from the airport and to the cruise terminal was not well done. We ended up getting out own transportation to the pier. Embarkation was a breeze. Waited about 20 minutes and were on the ship. Luggage arrived well before dinner. Cabin staff was very good and accommodated our request for an eggcrate mattress, robes, and 4 wines glasses in the cabin everyday.
We had been on several other Grand Class ships and we really liked the modified Grand Class layout. Only complaint would be that there is 500 more people on it and it was difficult getting a seat for one of the shows in the lounge one night. I do give Princess credit for adding 3 shows in the lounge as opposed to 2 on the other ships to accommodate for the increase in passengers. Some longer lines at lunch for the burgers and pizza, but nothing horrible. Never had a problem getting a seat at the Princess theater for any of the shows. We thought we might miss Princess Cay due to hurricane Paloma, but we made the stop without incident. Was somewhat overcast, but all things considered it was a nice beach day.