I travelled with a friend on this nine-night cruise, round-trip from Brooklyn, New York. I have cruised for many years, including several cruises with lines other than Princess. This was my 8th Princess cruise (of a total of 14 cruises). My travelling companion has cruised four times, all with Princess, and all within the last 18 months. I started cruising at 33 years of age (now 48) and my travelling companion is 66.This trip was nothing more than a break for us, with me having completed my "busy" season at my work, and my companion being retired and working on contract only, with flexible free time.The pricing was excellent, and we had the nine-night cruise for just over $1100.00 total (fare and taxes included), charged in Canadian currency. Subsequently a credit was also granted because of some difficulties with the stateroom.We drove from MontrEal to New York, and parked at the Brooklyn terminal. There were no issues or problems with the parking. It appeared to be plentiful (lot not full), and certainly with my car there were no security or damage issues.Embarkation was smooth, taking no more than fifteen minutes from arrival to stateroom. This was helped along by the fact that we require medical boarding expediency, so we do not wait in line.The stateroom was a normal, inside stateroom. There were issues with it which are described below.Stateroom A625, on the Aloha deck of Caribbean Princess is, unfortunately, directly below a service area which apparently has no noise control. The constant banging and dropping of items overhead made for very unpleasant accommodation -- considerably more bothersome to my travelling companion than to me, but I use medical equipment which blocks out some sound.We did complain, repeatedly, to the Princess staff, and while the noise never stopped, it did lessen for a few days. However, it was back full-force by the end of the cruise.The passengers in the next stateroom moved. We were offered a change of cabin, but given the medical equipment this was more of a nuisance than a help, and we declined.In the end, Princess did refund us a certain sum each for inconvenience.Otherwise, the cabin was a normal inside stateroom, with the usual items one might expect to find. The safe was annoyingly small, however. Usually I can put two SLR camera bodies into the safe. This one wouldn't even take one of them.The cabin steward (Martin) was adequate. He was by far not the best I've ever had, but certainly not the worst, either. He did his job as expected, and when we did see him he was generally polite. We did not have to ask for things more than once. Soap (highly perfumed) was promptly removed and not replaced. Drinks in the mini-fridge were removed, and as requested not brought back. Towels were promptly supplied and plentiful.Until the last day, we had no issues with the cabin steward. On the last day, however, he barged into the stateroom, despite the "do not disturb" notice and the double lock on the door. He made it clear, even though we were not even up, that he was not pleased we were still in the stateroom.This was reported to the front desk, in particular the entering of the room, and I will be addressing it again with Princess management.We had late dining, and attended the dining room all but one evening. We had requested a table for 2, and were annoyed to find a table for six. This was promptly corrected. The waiter (Miguel) and his assistant (Janos) were both excellent. The assistant was especially entertaining.Food was good. I have had somewhat better on Princess, but it certainly was not sub-par. Attending to some severe dietary issues was done with precision by the waiter. The head waiter was not the most helpful of persons, and things functioned better when he stayed out of the way.We did not attend much entertainment. We did hear a band several evenings, and the singing was quite good. The string quartet was also good, when one could find them.Carabbean Princess still retains the "shopping cart" handle of the Skywalker's disco. This has recently been removed from Grand Princess. It is a charming area to just sit and relax during the day if one has the correct status (Platinum or above) to be allowed to enter.Disembarkation was smooth, although not uncommonly for the cruise lines, the luggage was damaged.With regard the ports of call: Sydney, Nova Scotia is a pretty little town, with very pleasant and helpful local residents. The weather, which was not the best for most of the cruise, was in fact excellent in Sydney, thus making for a pleasant day for walking about.Upon arrival at the dock, one is greeted by highland-attired staff, bagpipe players and a giant 17-meter tall fiddle which of course attracts much attention, thus creating considerable congestion in the area as people jockey for photographs. (Recommendation: wait until you return to the ship to take your photos. There will be fewer people lurking about. Also, even better, go up on deck and look down at the giant fiddle, and you'll get much better photos of it.)The "walking" tour which is offered by Princess is not worth taking as evidenced by the fact that I and several other people were strolling the same route at no cost, and getting precisely the same information from the local volunteers who manned the historical buildings which were along the way. The local attractions have minor (two dollars) entrance charges, which are easily paid. The staff provides the same information to independent visitors as to those on tour.I did not hear any comments with regard other more extensive tours, so cannot comment or repeat any data. However, I was booked on the tour to Louisbourg and this was changed because the facility was not going to be open and fully functional when the ship docked. One would think this would be something the cruise line might have checked on ahead of time, prior to allowing such a tour to be booked.There was a substitution which was not suitable for me, and as such I cancelled the booking completely. There was no complaint from the Shore Excursions personnel with regard this matter, and the credit was promptly given.My travelling companion previously lived in the Sydney area, and went off on her own to visit with people she knows in the area. Thus, she had no tour information to offer.Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island is a small but attractive city, with much to recommend it. Unfortunately, as a result of a tour coach breakdown, my companion and I were not to have time to visit local sites after our scheduled tour.Fortunately we have both been there in the past, and as such were not dreadfully disappointed or frustrated by the lack of time at the end of our tour to explore on our own.Persons electing to avoid tours should make a point of seeing such things as the locations where Canadian history and the formation of the Country of Canada are described and historically referenced.The tour we opted for was the Island Sightseeing drive, with a visit to Confederation Bridge -- the longest bridge over ice-covered waters in the world.The Bridge was not clearly visible because of heavy fog, but this did allow some photography with a certain mystical quality to it.Unfortunately, immediately after the stop at the Bridge, the coach experienced a transmission collapse, and the whole tour was stranded for several hours while a replacement coach was tracked down and obtained.The woman conducting the tour, as well as the man at the stop where we were located (a gift shop) went to considerable effort to address the matter as best they could, providing free coffee, muffins and doughnuts to all, as well as access to toilet facilities.Fortunately the group was also an understanding and co-operative one, and there were few if any complaints or comments.Princess did credit 30% of the cost of the tour back to our accounts, but whether this was across the board, or only to those who brought the matter to the attention of the cruise line, I cannot say.We did have a few minutes to kill at the end of the tour, and spent it in the harbour building watching some excellent highland dancing.In another vein, Princess did have constant misspelling of Charlottetown, and no amount of bringing this to their attention resulted in corrections being made. I'm quite sure there were people, especially Canadians who would know better, who did not purchase photos and other items because of the incorrect "Charlotte Town" which appeared everywhere.Halifax, Nova Scotia is an average, small city, in a Maritime environment. Unfortunately we were there on a Sunday, and it was rainy, so there was not a lot to do. I did not take a tour, nor did my travelling companion. She because, again, she resided in Halifax for years and had friends to meet up with. I, because the weather and the fact that I know the area did not cause me to much want to bother with any official tour.Individuals can visit many things in Halifax without benefit of tours, including the Citadel, and when open (i.e. not on a Sunday) the Parliament buildings. One can also visit Alexander Keith's Brewery -- this is not offered at all with Princess, but must be arranged independently.After disembarking the ship one has the option of visiting a Canadian museum addressing the many immigrants who formed the country. This is one option which should be considered.At the dock is also a Farmer's (and crafts) market, which was open on the Sunday in question. I do not know the regular schedule for it, or if it is open every day. However, there were a number of items which were quite reasonably priced if one wanted to explore this area.The waffles being made a few stalls over from the door were excellent!A few minutes walk will bring one to the main street, and pharmacies, banks, and the like can all be found there with ease.Bar Harbor, Maine is a small town, with pleasant people. I found an excellent restaurant near the tender landing, which has a brick-fire oven, and generally excellent pizza. Other items on the menu also seemed to be popular and generally received positive reaction from what I could observe.Unfortunately the day overall was a bit dreary, and for some people it was downright cold if they were not used to such weather.My friend again had people to visit, so I opted for a tour which included Acadia National Park (too foggy to see much, but likely an excellent tour in other weather), as well as a scenic drive and a visit to a manor home.Unfortunately, despite being warned ahead of time, the tour guide chose not to inform the coach of people that one passenger was deathly allergic to peanut and nuts. Usually this is not an issue, as most travellers are quite co-operative.However, in this instance, the lack of a general announcement was exacerbated by the hostess at the manor house deciding to "kindly" provide a snack of cookies to her bus load of visitors. Unfortunately these were peanut butter cookies, and with no one having been informed of the allergic passenger's presence, everyone re-boarded the coach, spreading crumbs, peanut oil and the like everywhere and preventing the peanut allergic passenger from continuing with the tour.This was of course not 100% avoidable -- no such thing is. However a more conscientious tour leader might have mentioned it as requested, and perhaps some passenger might have remembered and forestalled the complication which resulted.Other than that, the tour was decent, and is probably the best one for people who wish an overview of the area to take.As I will be returning to this area in a few months, again by ship, I will likely explore on my own, as the place is not big, and much can been seen easily on foot in the town.Boston, Massachusetts: We both took a tour here, covering Boston highlights and Cambridge (primarily Harvard). The tour guide, named Chris Ballou, was a retired Naval man, who conducted his tour with a certain precision which many other guides could learn from.He was clear in his expectations of timing and of what would be seen. As well, he was precise in detail and was quick to point out that the walking part of the tour involved a hill. In the end, I'd have to say the hill was not nearly as steep as it was made out to be, but erring on the side of caution was probably wise. Two people remained on the coach, rather than take the walking part of the tour, one of them being my travelling companion. However, I suspect she would have had no trouble with it.The guide was knowledgeable, the tour was conducted in a precise and orderly fashion, right down to lining up in ranks of two (which he managed to maintain, too!) and to disembarking the coach one side at a time.I'd actually say it is one of the best tours, and guides, I've encountered -- and I've seen many!As the ship sailed early, there was no time for any other activity. This is something which should be noted by Princess. Boston, like Halifax above, is a place were an early departure severely curtails what one can do, and both cities have much to offer.Newport, Rhode Island proved to be an exceptionally pleasant stop, and the one day upon which we had no rain at all. The tender service was orderly and well managed, and the port being shielded was calm. As such, several handicapped people were easily able to transfer to the tender, and I would have no qualms about attempting it with my mother, who is wheel-chair dependent.We took a short tour which basically pointed out old, large homes of the rich and famous. It was amusing, and I would do it again -- although one could probably find most of them without benefit of the tour guide.We found a nice Irish pub for lunch, and the service was excellent, as was the fish and chips (well, mashed potatoes for us!). The pub was not at all out of the way, but no other "tourists" seemed to locate it. This made the meal pleasant and conversation with local persons easy.We also visited the oldest pub in the town for a drink. We did not eat there, and I was not impressed with the menu, but it likely would appeal to others.I overheard no major complaints about the stop beyond some people being less than courteous at the tender landing.