This was our third cruise together as a family of four (Veendam 2/05 to Western Caribbean, Radiance of the Seas 7/01 to Alaska). My wife and I are in our mid-late 40s, daughter is 16, son is 10. We did the Presidents' Week sailing to the Southern Caribbean.

EMBARKATION: We arrived at San Juan International Airport on Friday evening and stayed overnight at the Marriott Courtyard San Juan Miramar. Especially during the winter months, when weather in the northern United States can be problematic, we make it a routine to arrive the day before embarkation, to lessen the stress and equilibrate. It was an inexpensive cab ride from the airport to the hotel, where unfortunately, only smoking rooms were available, despite our

request for a Non-Smoking room, which had been booked on Expedia and paid-in-full eleven months prior! Although Princess stated that passengers could board the ship beginning at 1PM, we arrived at the pier by 12:30PM, and within 15 minutes, were already on-board (our paperwork was done via internet in January). Among the paperwork to complete was a form asking whether any member of the party had experienced vomiting and diarrhea in the preceding 48 hours, presumably to minimize the risk that a norovirus would sneak on-board. We then proceeded to our mid-ship balcony cabin on the Caribe level(Deck #10). Our luggage was delivered by mid-afternoon. Read more