About us: We are a family of five: my husband (52), me (49), our daughters (18 and 16) and my mother (70-ish). This was our 2nd Princess cruise; we sailed the Canada/NE itinerary on the same ship in August 2008. Our cruise history consists of 8 additional cruises: 4 on Royal Caribbean Voyager-class ships, and one each on Carnival, Costa, Home Lines and Cunard. Another family of five traveled with us; our friends and their three children aged 20, 17 and 12. They were first-time cruisers.
We selected this cruise because of the convenience of departing from Red Hook, Brooklyn. Although Royal Caribbean is our preferred cruise line, their equivalent cruise on Explorer of the Seas was significantly more expensive (about $500 pp). Additionally, the Princess itinerary was slightly more attractive because it included a new-to-us port (Grand Turk). We are quite weary of visiting the same old ports each time we cruise, and it's increasingly hard to find refreshingly different Caribbean itineraries, especially during the summertime! With children still attending school, we unfortunately cannot sail at other times of the year when there are more options available.
Some background info: The five of us were originally planning to take this cruise last summer (July 26, 2009). Three days before that sailing date, Princess contacted us regarding a move-over offer. They wanted our 3 balcony cabins in exchange for 3 mini-suite cabins on any future sailing, plus a full reimbursement of our cruise fare ($7800) issued as refundable onboard credit (OBC). We accepted the offer, essentially receiving this cruise for free by agreeing to postpone it for one year.