My husband and I booked our Southern Caribbean cruise on the Golden Princess about nine months in advance and followed our travel agent's suggestion for a balcony cabin mid-ship starboard side on the Aloha deck. We are in our mid-50's, and our previous cruise experiences had been on much smaller ships (750 passengers compared with 2600 on the Golden Princess) with NCL and Commodore Cruise Line, which no longer exists. Our trip began in Virginia where we flew to San Juan via Newark on Continental a day in advance of our sailing. Flights were great on Continental, no delays or hassles. On the recommendation of our travel agent, we stayed at the Marriott Stellaris Resort & Casino in the Condado district, about a $17 cab ride from the airport. Although it's a nice hotel on the beach with a casino, we probably overpaid at $200 for the night. Next time I'll do Priceline. The check-in time was 4:00 p.m. but when we arrived @ 2:00 we were given a room right away. We asked for a king smoking room and the desk clerk explained to us that although they did have one available, she did not recommend the room because it had an obstructed city view. The alternative was two double beds, so we took the king room with the obstructed view. She wasn't kidding! Our view was of the hotel's air conditioning equipment and the room was in need of redecorating/updating and did not have the mini-bar it was supposed to have (not that we cared). We ate lunch next to the pool and then walked around the area to get our bearings and check out the nearby restaurant where we planned to have dinner. There are lots of boutiques and high-rent shops, such as Cartier, in the Condado area. Several high-rise hotels in proximity to the Marriott along the beach were undergoing renovations. I had made a dinner reservation at Ajili Mojili, which was several long blocks up the street, but after checking their menu (expensive) we decided to eat instead at the Latin Quarter restaurant located right next to our hotel. The Latin Quarter had a modern/art decor with lots of neon. Our waiter was very pleasant and entertaining and recommended a local Puerto Rican special dinner which is available only during the Christmas season. Food was quite good, and prices were reasonable.

Our cruise documents had indicated that embarkation started at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, but to plan to arrive after 2:00 p.m. due to expected long lines. When we arrived (another $15+ cab ride) at the Pam Am terminal @ 12:30, there were indeed lines, and we discovered that embarkation had actually started at 11:15! It was a bit confusing with so many cabs dropping people off. We got in the line to check our baggage but noticed people rushing by us, luggage in tow, who were going straight up to the front of the line! This was annoying, but I figured they were probably all French . . . After checking the bags, the rest of our embarkation probably took only @ 20 minutes and went smoothly.

The ship is huge but once you're on board, you don't really get a sense of how large it is--the only area that always seemed to be crowded was the atrium area where there was usually live (excellent) piano music. It took no time to locate our cabin, and our luggage arrived a few hours later. Our cabin steward, Gio (or Joe) was great, very congenial and efficient. I had read a tip to request a foam mattress cover for the bed since ours were configured from two twins into a queen. Gio didn't understand what I was requesting, however, until I said "eggcrate" - within 5 minutes he returned with the mattress cover and put it on the bed later while we were at dinner. Having a covered balcony was fantastic and made the cabin seem even more spacious. But I feel obligated to complain about the sliding glass balcony door--it was extremely heavy and difficult to open. In fact, I wrenched my back the first day and had to take Aleve for pain relief during the rest of the cruise. Honestly, I think an elderly person would have a real problem with the balcony doors. Read more