Embarkation was pretty ragged, not all Princess' fault - they had to do a in-depth cleaning of the ship due to some ill passengers on the previous cruise. We did know about this via an email sent to us 3 days prior. However, when we arrived at the cruise terminal we dropped off our luggage, then had to go to the convention center for check-in. There was a line - about 1/4 mile, moving very slowly, to the check-in desks. My husband is unable to stand or walk very long without sitting to rest. There were very few wheelchairs available, and fewer "pushers" to move the wheelchairs. They would not let me use the wheelchair by myself. After getting to the check-in desk, we were taken to a huge ballroom where 3000 of our closest friends were crowded together at round tables. There were drink/bar stations where refreshments were sold, and there was food available somewhere - we never did see that. Finally there was an announcement that boarding would begin, and everyone tried to leave the room at once. We did get outside without injury, and were told that the boarding was just a "short walk away". Maybe a half-mile later we found the actual terminal where we got in another line for security check. By the time we arrived on the ship around 4:30 we were sweaty & exhausted. The wine bar right inside the embarkation door was a welcome sight. It's a great place in the atrium to sit & visit - nice selection of wines and free tapas.

The stateroom: Pretty small, the bathroom reminded us of an airline restroom with a shower. There wasn't any way for the 2 of us to be in there at the same time. Only 3 small shelves at the corner of the mirror, and a shelf under the sink. The closet was great!!! Very long, open and lots of nice wooden hangers. Plenty of shelves for small stuff by the closet and some others in cabinets in the bedroom. Had read complaints about the beds - we thought they were great. No place to sit to watch TV though, had to sit on the bed. Only a desk chair & a small barrel chair in the room. The verandas on Caribe deck are larger than the other decks. Two very comfortable lounge chairs and 2 regular chairs, plus a round table. We did enjoy it for happy hour in the afternoon. Our room steward was great - ice twice a day, extra pillows, but only one night with a towel animal. The robes provided are lucky to fit a size 14 female, males are sort of out of luck. Since we were on the ship for a "cousins' reunion" we spent a lot of time catching up with each other, and didn't really take part in many of the activities.

Dining: We had 2 tables together in the dining room, early seating, and we changed seats every evening so we could sit with a different relative. The waiter acted confused, but he managed to keep us straight and knew our preferences. The food was good, we always found something to our liking on the menu, only comment is the same as all the cruises we have been on - not enough spice or flavor on the food. I guess being from the Southwest US we are accustomed to more spicy food than most folks. We ate our breakfasts in the dining room also, found the Lido buffet very crowded at lunch so we did the little buffet at the aft of the ship (can't remember it's name). They had "theme" food each day - Mexican, Asian, Italian, etc. We didn't do the extra-fee restaurants, didn't see a need to do them. Meal service was variable, some servers were excellent, some seemed confused. Read more