Crown Princess Jan 2-9 My college age daughter and I cruised on the Crown Princess Jan 2-9. Overall, after 6 cruises, I would say this was the best ever. This was my first cruise on Princess. The Crown Princess was a lovely ship, the service was great, the food was excellent, the ambiance pleasant and the ports were very fun. We flew into Ft Laud and stayed at the Springhill Suites the nite before, and then took the hotel shuttle to the ship. We boarded around 1:30 and it was a breeze. (Note: there is a shopping center across the street with a Kmart so you can pick up anything you might need including last minute wine) We had a Caribe deck cabin amidships. It was a great cabin and convenient to everything. The larger balcony was a nice option to have, and I would recommend it to anyone. I would definitely stay in that cabin again. We had been "upgraded" to the caribe balcony from guaranteed balcony upgrade. What a treat. There was plenty of room in the cabin. As has been noted by prior CC members, the closet works well as a walk-in and dressing area. The shower was small, but we brought the clothespins to hold the curtain and that worked fine. No shower hugging. The suitcases fit under the bed easily. The ship is beautiful and well maintained. The International Cafe is the BEST! By all means, buy the coffee card. We had lattes, etc and we fell in love with the smoothies. There are three flavors and were very refreshing. I also had breakfast at the IC each morning. When we had an early excursion, it was easy to grab an egg-muffin sandwich, a cup of coffee and head out. The entertainment that we saw was good. The three musical shows were a lot of fun and the music and talent was fine. DD used the gym regularly and found it to be perfect for her needs. She did note that right before dinner seemed to be the busiest times. We did anytime dining. I thought that it was a really good option and would never go back to traditional. We simply went to the dining room when we were ready (typically between 7-8PM). We always said we would share a table and NEVER had to wait. We had different waiters each nite and they were all terrific. The food was very good and there were plenty of choices. We couldn't help ourselves and had the fettuccine almost every nite. Because we are not big eaters, sometimes we just combined salad and appetizers for our dinner. The waiters did a good job of pacing the different combinations with the rest of the table. We also met some wonderful folks each nite. In the ports of call: Grand Cayman we did the horseback riding. It was fun (we are novices) And they actually took us the whole time on the beach in the ocean. It was beautiful. In Roatan, we took a Victor Bodden private tour. We saw the iguanas and did the zipline. Also fun. On Cozumel, we did the 4-wd jeep tour. All our tours were fun and the tour guides were really fun and helpful. Princess Cays is a lovely spot. Again, it is a little hard to get chairs, so take an extra towel and throw them down on the beach. I have to say; by night time we were exhausted and often couldn't make it to any shows. In fact, we never made it to MUTS. I want to highlight that at our CC meet and greet, although small was very nice. And Captain Nash and Ron Goodman were there. Ron treated us to a round of cocktails. They were both very informative and we all appreciated them taking the time out to be with us. Ron filled us in on his past and what his plans were. Captain Nash told us about three weddings he was performing that day. We also saw two brides at dinner that nite. They looked beautiful in their gowns. Although the weather was not perfect - some rainy and/or overcast days, it still was a blast! Some items- Horizon court can be crowded to find seats, especially in inclement weather. So you have to go back to your cabin or seek out another place to sit. Also, the pool decks, when sunny was hard to find a chair to use. The hamburgers are great and the pizza is great. It was always a quick and easy meal to grab and enjoy. The formal nites were lovely. Overall, folks dressed very nicely every nite. It really makes you feel very special. DD had a dress on every nite. We ate at Sabatini's one nite. The food was excellent and a lot. Plan on at least 2 hours. Things to bring and misc: I was happy to have had the input from other CC members. If like us you have multiple items that need to be plugged in, bring a power strip. Definitely bring a small alarm clock. Don't count on your phone as it may cost you to leave it on. The clips or clothespins for the bottom of the shower were a good idea. There was not a shower gel - so bring your own if you like that. We also brought a small softsoap pump for the bathroom sink, rather than use a bar of soap. I also brought one of those cheapo clear plastic shoe holders. Although I couldn't get it to hang over the door, I hung it on a hanger. It was so handy to keep although the items. And I could just run over, grab it, and then throw it back in. The laundry rooms were very handy. The purell laundry sheets were perfect and take up no room in your bag. Sea days (especially the last one were busy for the laundry rooms). The laundry room is spotless and the irons were clean. Also, you might want to bring some quarters as the machines in one laundry room ran out of quarters. $1 for wash and $1 for dry. I also brought all those little packaged items - like little packages of nail polish remover, package bug stuff, eyeglass wipes etc. They take no room to pack and I don't have to worry about things leaking in the luggage. Also, you will want to bring some sort of beach bag or carry all to go on excursions or the beach. If you have a younger person who likes the internet to stay in touch, buy extra minutes. We went through two packages and then a short one. The internet is slow. I absolutely loved this cruise. There was a mix of all age groups. It was very comfortable and the crew, staff and all were helpful and pleasant. We had no problems at all. We were never bored, and actually couldn't even take advantage of everything that was offered. I will definitely cruise on Princess again - and actually I can't wait.