This was our 7th cruise with Princess, sailing previously in the Caribbean on the Grand, Star, Coral, and Sun. You will find this a lengthy review, but I will attempt to provide information that is valuable to both seasoned cruisers and those cruising for the first time.

Prior to Embarkation: We flew down to Ft. Lauderdale a day early and stayed at the Hampton Inn. A run-of-the-mill hotel, it is clean and suits our needs for a one night stay, with complimentary shuttle service from the airport and to the cruise ship, as well as a hot breakfast buffet. Be prepared for a long wait at customs at the airport. We avoided it by using Air Canada, which has a US customs area located in the Toronto airport to go through prior to boarding. But for those from the UK in particular, they had a 3 hour trial at Ft. Lauderdale customs, who are rude and behave as though they truly don't want you in their country. UK passengers can avoid this by flying to Barbados and embarking their instead, because this cruise is unusual in that you have a choice of two places to embark from.

Embarkation: A breeze, with no line-up at all, and we were on the ship within 5 minutes of arriving at the terminal. It probably helped that not all passengers embarked at Ft. Lauderdale, with the UK passengers often opting to embark in Barbados. Read more