Let's see if I can make this short but efficient..... We did go out early and spent one night at the Holiday Inn downtown Long Beach, which was fine for the one night. Took advantage of late check out and toured the Queen Mary, which we highly recommend to any non-Californian.

The free hotel shuttle also took us to our Island Princess when we were ready. We must have hit the crunch embarkation, (1-2PM) as the line was fairly long. Even with Platinum check-in, the wait was about an hour, including the security procedures.

Cabin- mini-suite very near the aft of the ship which is where we prefer to be, less foot traffic and noise.(although the first sea day was rough, and I was very ill, and would have been better off near the middle). The cabin steward was simply the best we have experienced in 8 Princess Cruises. We really appreciated having extra room with the mini as we do actually spend time in our cabin. The new linens on the mini suites are very nice, plush. As this trip has many sea days, we felt it was worth the extra money to have larger accommodations. The one disappointment was how little you use the balcony. The sea days are just too blustery and cold, and you are too busy on port days. Read more