We were 2 couples who have competed 17 cruises on Princess, RCCL, Disney, Carnival and NCL, with the majority on Princess. One couple is young 50's and the other young 70's and in good health without special needs. The other couple sailed with MSC Melody twice in the past. That's our background.

We took the Cruise Connection shuttle from Tampa to FT Lauderdale and it was included in the cost of the cruise. We have used them before and had the usual good experience with them. We arrived at the terminal and had a traffic backup for about 30 minutes before we were allowed to get off the bus. Check in was fairly quick, but the clerk spoke very little English and didn't understand that my cabin mate and I wanted to register 2 separate credit cards. We waited until another clerk was free and got it taken care of. Minor problem. We had a short wait for them to call our number so as to be escorted to our cabin which was a nice touch.

The ship itself is a pretty ship and done in muted blues, pinks, golds with lots of mirrors and brass. It was kept spotless throughout. The shops were a little lame from what we are used to on cruise ships. They don't have daily sales of the "inch of gold-loose gems stone" variety. Everything is understated. There were two free cocktail parties and an extra cocktail party for returning passengers. Read more