We chose this cruise for the date and the itinerary...and we needed to take it this fall as my father's dementia was rapidly progressing. So, in terms of age and ability (and the kindness of other older passengers), it was perfect. The re-furbished ship and wonderful new beds were amazing...and there are just no words to describe the excitement of going through the new locks! We had been to Alaska on Princess and loved it. Logistically, it was the perfect trip. This one was not. First problem, the ship docked late and 2,000 people were trying to get off and on at the same time. This caused confusion and we never saw any luggage porters So we lugged our big bags (and my parents'!) all the way to the check-in desk inside the terminal and they chastised us for not checking them in. Sigh--we stood in line for an hour, you'd think ONE staff person from Princess who passed us would have mentioned that we need to check our bags. Other passengers had the same problem. Our premium aft balconies (B748 and B754) on the Baja deck (11) were awesome, as was our room steward, William. However, there was crowding for meals and we had to go an hour early to see the Broadway-like shows in the Princess Theater. Really, they need to do is add a 6:15 show. The 8:15 show was tremendously crowded and I heard 10:15 was the same.

The food just wasn't what we experienced on our Alaska cruise--too much repetition. Dinner the first night in Sabatini’s was amazing, but the Crown Grill the last night was not and the service was terribly slow. We had to "search and save" most mornings to get a breakfast table for four at the World Marketplace...However, let me be clear that the staff were wonderful, welcoming and excellent.

And although the ports of call were great, the excursions really did NOT live up to their descriptions. A "submarine ride" in Grand Cayman was more like a glass-bottom boat with fifty people trying to see out the windows. I went to the excursions desk and complained about the "adventure park" my husband and I went to in Jamaica with three other guests. We were told when to do the offered activities instead of being given a choice and thus did not get to go tubing on the river because we waited for 30 minutes and gave up (we were told we could not go because we did not wait longer—it was 3:00 and we had not eaten lunch). A "snorkeling and scenic cruise" trip was great for snorkeling but the "cruise" was going about 100 yards offshore, which is where the reef was; but I was glad no one came along just for the ride! We also never received our room robes we requested (I never complained though) and we were also surprised because we did not understand that when we sent our bags all the way through to Dallas for our Southwest flight, which has no baggage fees, we were charged $25.00 a person for Princess to handle them. It was unpleasant that this fee was not clarified in the three-page "embarkation document" we were asked to read and complete. Read more