We sailed on February 6 voyage of the Caribbean Princess, departing from San Juan with stops in St. Thomas, Tortolla, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados. The itinerary was a good one -- several of the top Caribbean islands. I won't focus on the islands, but instead the pros and cons of the cruise ship and personnel. In particular, I will discuss the suite perks.

Embarkation was a little confusing. There are an insufficient number of Princess staff members to direct you to luggage drop-off or check-in, much less your room. No one was overly friendly, for sure. However, despite the lack of staff, embarkation was not that big of a deal.

We navigated our own way to our cabin -- no escort as has been the case on other cruise ships. We had a very spacious suite in the aft area of the ship. The balcony was huge, with nice cushioned lounge chairs and four chairs and a table, perfect for entertaining (which we did several times, since we were traveling with friends). The only negative of the balcony -- and I really wasn't bothered by it -- was that people leaning over the rail from the adult pool area above could see onto our balcony. I was expecting the noise to be bad, but it never was. I highly recommend the suites in the back of the ship. We almost always had a decent view both in port and as we sailed away. Read more