First of all we have 9 cruises with Carnival and was very excited about going on a b2b on Princess. So, many of our comparisons were based on our experiences with Carnival. We have always gotten a balcony cabin so booked sidexside with our Canadian friends, who have never cruised before. We are in our middle 60's.

Embarkation and parking was so smooth at the Houston Bayport Terminal. Too bad they are leaving this port. Was surprised to get on the ship in a area by the elevators. No fanfare at all. Went straight to our cabin. Nice. Liked the little larger balcony and "Smith" opened the door between our cabins. We used a bungy to keep it open. Smitty was a great cabin steward. Always had a gentle smile.

My biggest complaint about the cabin was the very small shower with a stationary shower head. The bathroom is smaller overall. Several mornings our toilets wouldn't flush and they had to work on them in our area. We found almost every public bathroom had stalls blocked due to maintenance and so there were always lines in the ladies room. Lots of sewer smells throughout the ship for two weeks. Read more