EMBARKATION: Arrived at the pier around 11:30AM, checked our luggage with the porter, took our carry-on and got in a line where about 500 people were already standing, and thought #*#*! The line however was well managed by Princess personnel and it moved right along. Within about 10 minutes we were inside and within a couple more minutes we were registering. Registration was fast and simple. We proceeded to security, had our bags checked and our pictures added to our ID cards. We then went up the escalator, had our welcome aboard pictures taken and proceeded onto the ship. Since we had already been on the Golden Princess and the layout is the same we knew exactly where to find our room. We unpacked our carry-on, went up to the Horizon Court and had some lunch. We then proceeded to Sabatini's to make a reservation there. You must go directly to the restaurant on that first day if you want to make a reservation there. They start taking reservations at 1PM so we got there just before then and there were only 3 people ahead of us. We then toured the ship and ended up at the aft pool area, had a couple of drinks and watched the ship leave Port Everglades.
SHIP AND CABIN: The Caribbean Princess like the Grand and the Golden is a very large and very beautiful ship, the only difference being the extra deck of cabins which led to a lot of overcrowding during the cruise, the Caribe Cafe which is a very nice touch, and helped relieve some of the main dining room overcrowding. Club Fusion is now replacing the Vista Lounge. It is debatable whether this was a workable alternative as there are many areas in the Club where you do not have a clear view of, or you back is to the stage. It also attracts many teenagers who have nowhere else to go. It would be to Princess's advantage to turn Skywalkers Lounge over to the teen crowd during the summer months, as with all the activities in Club Confusion (as it is called on the ship), it doesn't get much adult business in the evening. That would relieve some of the overcrowding in Club Fusion.
We had been upgraded from an inside cabin to a Caribe deck balcony. The room was a little bit larger than an inside. The bathroom was the same size as on the Golden; However, nowhere near as large or laid out as well as the Carnival Glory where we had the biggest and best bathroom we'd ever had. It could be our imagination but the shower seemed to be larger than on the Golden. There was plenty of closet and drawer space to store everything.