For background sake - my fiancE and I are in our late 50's, from NJ and have plenty of cruise experience - over 30 collectively. This was our first (and last) cruise on Princess. Air Travel: The cruise was offered with "free airfare" - the first time we've done this and a massive mistake on our part. Specific flight details weren't confirmed until well after we had committed to the booking and consisted of Miami connections to San Juan in both directions. Layovers were four and five hours respectively and had us leaving out of Newark at 6 AM and arriving back at midnight (and since the home-bound flight was 2 hours late, actual landing time was 2 AM)! Two long and very boring travel days bracketing the vacation created negative perceptions going in and confirmed them going home. (And the air fares were not "free" actually, but "at no extra cost" since we paid normal charges for our mini-suite). Itinerary: The cruise was out of San Juan with stops in St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire, Aruba a day at sea and a return to San Juan. Bonaire and Aruba were first-time stops for both of us and one of the primary incentives for choosing this trip. We didn't use any of the ship's excursions. preferring to make our own. (Our day-sail on the High Pockets out of Red Hook, St. Thomas was the highlight of the vacation!) The islands themselves were wonderful and it was good to see Grenada rebuilding after the hurricane damage of Ivan in '04. Ship: The Caribbean Princess is an imposing-looking ship and the mini-suite was a great room choice. Lots of storage, a queen-size couch in the divided off sitting area, bathtub and a 4-chair balcony. (Unfortunately Dolphin deck balconies are visible from all balconies above. A bit creepy!) Virtually everything else about the ship was 3 star average or way below. OK, here's where things get pretty negative. Cruise Critic's review of the ship alluded to the fact that the extra deck on this ship created some potential for service problems because infrastructure services (dining areas and theater most notably) had not been increased to account for the extra passengers. They also indicated that it did not seem to be a problem at that time. The reviewer must not have travelled on a full ship. The buffet restaurants were a nightmare! Scrounging for tables at breakfast was like nothing I've ever seen this side of mall parking on Black Friday. You often had to walk through three restaurants before finding a empty table. Additionally, the food service is laid out in a cafeteria style making the lines insufferable. (Obviously these folks had never seen the food service stations common on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean!) No trays are available, so if you didn't want to return to the line for juice or fruit, you had to balance dishes on dishes. I actually took to stashing my silverware in my pocket! Food and personnel service were mediocre to begin with, but with the angst of fighting for tables and the resultant cold food, we're talking about a terrible way to start the day! (Day-at-Sea lunch offered similar problems.) Princess grossly augmented this problem by offering super low fares (less than $400 per person with children free). Not only did this fill the ship beyond capacity, it did so with a hoard of...let's say, less experienced cruisers - a good number of whom didn't have a clue about ship board behavior and etiquette. Call me elitist if you want, but we didn't pay good money only to be exposed to tin pan alley at sea! With so many other great cruise lines to choose from, this will decidedly be our last venture on Princess!