Embarkation in Ft. Lauderdale is a breeze!! Princess gets it right every time. We arrived at the port at noon, dropped off our bags with the porter, parked our car in the garage ($15 a day paid when you exit), and were on board in our cabin by 12:45pm. Book the Caribe deck balcony cabins, they have the deepest balconies. We were able to sit 4 adults on the deck with lots of room to spare. There were 4 chairs and a table on the balcony.

Princess holds the muster drills in the public rooms (Princess theater, Explorer's lounge, Vista Lounge) it beats standing on the Promenade deck.

We had a very successful Cruise Critic M&G. the Captain and Cruise director showed up and stayed for quite a while. One of our members sent personal invitation to all the ships officers through the Purser's desk just after embarkation. I highly recommend this if you want them to come to your M&G. Read more