Overview: This was probably one of the best cruises I have ever taken in my life. The ship was elegant and beautiful, the staff was superb with excellent service. I had the most amazing table mates possible and was even a part of a Cruise Critic member's (foolds) proposal to his girlfriend. I met lots of great friends on the ship and I am so lucky to have had this experience. Embarkation/Bon Voyage Program My grandfather joined me on the ship before it left port as part of the Bon Voyage Program. As soon as we arrived we were taken in and led to the priority check-in line and were taken to board the ship. The whole process was very smooth. He absolutely loved the ship and one of the bar servers, Nhorman, helped us get him and his wheelchair on to the ship. He was exceptionally nice and friendly to us and to my grandfather. Ship Overall the ship is pretty nice. There are a few design issues such as moving between dining rooms but overall it is nice. The public areas are well decorated and somewhat elegant. Overall the ship appears well maintained. I find some people have unreasonable expectations for ships (remember that they operate 24/7/365). I saw plenty of maintenance taking place and did not feel the ship to be in disrepair or dirty. Crew/Service I must say that the crew on the ship was very helpful and kind. Dining room service was decent but not outstanding. The bar people were nice and friendly. My cabin steward (it's steward, not stewart by the way) was great. I take a medication that I have to mix with water. I usually use a fork to mix it in a cup so the first night of the cruise I went to Horizon Court and picked up a fork and brought it back to the cabin. The next morning the steward took the fork, which I figured he would, so I went to and picked up another fork that night. Well the next morning the steward brought me a clean fork and extra glass and left them in my restroom for me to use with the medicine. I find this to be extraordinary service that he did this without me having to ask. I gave him the Consummate Host card. Ports/Shore Excursions I have been to Cozumel and it is more of the same it has always been. The only excursion I took was in Belize which I really loved. I took the open air trolley tour. I am kind of torn because I loved the tour and the people seemed nice but Belize is a horribly homophobic place so I do not plan to spend any money at all there in the future. Mahogany Bay at Roatan blew me away. Let me say this now: I heard an Princess Elite member telling people on the ship that they could NOT use the beach at Mahogany Bay because it is owned by Carnival. This is 100% FALSE. The beach is free for any cruise passenger that docks at that dock. If someone tells you any different they are simply misinformed. I spent the day at Mahogany Beach and it was simply amazing. The water was beautiful and so was the atmosphere. Entertainment The only show I really attended was the magician, Michael Barron, and he was excellent. This was probably the best magic show I have ever seen and was very entertaining. I did attend the Princess Pop Star competitions as a friend I met on the ship was competing and they were amazing. We (a group I met on the ship) also went to Skywalkers most nights and had a blast. LGBT Get Together There was a LGBT get together every day at 5:30 in one of the bars, usually Wheelhouse. I met a few other guys there and we all hung out together for portions of every evening. The only thing I would like to see them change is maybe have a crew member host it (there are plenty of gay guys in the crew) and have some way of marking where the event is within the bar such as a sign. Cabin I was in cabin A403, an interior cabin on deck 12. The cabin was small but comfortable with adequate storage and closet space. The bathroom was small (as all are) but it served it's purpose. The Elite bathroom amenities were nice. Captain's Circle Elite Benefits The Princess Captain's Circle is awesome. The benefits are outstanding. I received a free mini-bar, priority service at the pursers desk, 10% boutique discount, priority tender embarkation, 150 free internet minutes and much more. These were all awesome benefits. Bad Parts Avoid the shopping show on the second sea day. You will lose part of your life if you go. There was little to no actual port info given and the whole thing was a long, drawn-out sales pitch and the man (Vince) was repetitive and not very genuine. I would not lose sleep if they did away with his position. Disability Accommodations I have some medical problems including a damaged spine. I did not ask for or sign up for any disability accommodations but the facilities seemed ample and appropriate. I did use the elevators which were usually available but sometimes had a wait. There were quite a few mobility impaired people onboard who seemed to get around easily (as easily as possible). The tender ride in Belize and the trolley were a little uncomfortable and I had to take pain meds after returning to the ship but that was the only real annoyance. Solo Cruising I have taken many cruises but this was my first solo cruise. I was nervous at first but it worked out really well. I did not attend any of the SOLO cruiser meetings as they all interfered with the LGBT get together or other activities. Summary The cruise was amazing. I absolutely loved it and am looking forward to another. Read Less

We actually flew in the previous night to Houston, late; all went very smoothly getting on the ship the next morning, light drizzle... Our cabin facilities were outstanding, and the surprise gift was there with beautiful tropical flowers from my husband with our surprise breakfast the next morning when we were underway with a full wait staff to our cabin on the balcony! Food delivered was fresh, hot, and delicious as well as the service! Throughout our voyage facilities on the ship were like no other we'd been on. Clean, respectful service, and once in a great while a waiter would ask us if we wanted a coctail on deck, but not pestered every 5 minutes!!! We are a gay couple of 12 years now, and felt respected, and no discrimination whatsoever, myself I am 56 now, and Rich is 57, and we love cruises, have never really had a bad experience, also there were a group of Bears aboard we befriended, and hung out with on occasion...; except.....When we were scheduled for Belize POC, we teathered for awhile; but the weather was to bad to stay, so we were redirected to Costa Mya(exuse spelling) but it was a nice little short 5 hr stop before we headed to Cozumel, with a day at sea, we still had a wonderful time in Costa Mya, rented a funky little car and drove all over the area, went swimming in a small village with the locals, and had some of the best grilled fish tacos I think I ever had! All other POC's were great, and ship's crew and captain took our safety first in concern about the weather. We would recomend Princess Cruises to everyone looking for an outstanding cruise experience. Our next cruise is coming up Dec 18th 2016 Carribean once again... Read Less

Our cruise out of Houston was delayed about 18 hours. Though they blamed the delay on traffic in the channel, then weather, the fact is that the ship was still being provisioned more than three hours after we were supposed to leave. Our scheduled departure time of 4:00 would have been impossible considering that trucks were still lined up and being offloaded after 7:00. Add to this a pallet of champagne was dropped on the pier as well as one of tomatoes was tipped over, the level of incompetence at Houston was unmatched by any port we have sailed out of. Then there was the pallet of luggage that was dropped into the water. It was recovered, but the people affected weren't told what happened until their soaked bags were delivered to their door. Two people in our group were affected, so I saw very closely how this was handled. Once the proper supervisors were notified, they did take care of cleaning..oh and a bottle of wine for the inconvenience. After all of our delays, we finally left on Monday morning about 10:30. Our first stop in Honduras was cancelled, so Costa Maya in Mexico was added. The docking there was aborted because of the weather. Our next stop was in Belize. Somehow, even with our cancelled port the day before we were late. Most of the water based shore excursions were cancelled because of the weather, but that was to be expected. We were able to book a tour on the pier. Our final stop was in Cozumel. We arrived on time, but for some reason we were kept on board for about 45 minutes while another ship was docked. This resulted in the shore excursions being cut short. While we can't blame the weather issues on Princess or the port, the initial delay was not weather related. If you are scheduled to sail from Houston I urge you to look into changing your reservation. The Port of Houston does not seem to be ready for large passenger ships. Read Less