Background: My wife and I are both 50+ and now cruise at least twice a year. We've only cruised on Princess (Platinum card), Carnival (Gold card) and Disney (one time). We're easy to please, use a AAA travel agent and always book a balcony cabin BUT we're always on the lookout for the best deal. We tend to book an aft cabin on a deck or two below Lido and the casual buffet eateries. That way we're close to the food but always use the stairs so we do get some exercise (LOL).

Arrival: This was our second cruise on the Crown and we arrived a day early in FLL - coming from New York State, we never want to take a chance on the winter weather. The TA booked a room at the Ramada a few miles from the pier and while it was ~$170 total (using a discount from the Entertainment Coupon book - if you know what that is), it did include shuttle to and from the motel and a continental breakfast. To me, that's a deal. There's not much around the motel within easy walking distance but we've been there before and knew what to expect. We ate at their restaurant and had a great Meat Lasagna for 2 ($25) - another deal for me!. We shuttled to the pier the next day and got there about 1:30. Since we're Platinum, we used the preferred check-in but there were no real lines anywhere so it was no big deal.

The cabin: We were on Riviera deck aft - one deck below Lido. We originally were on Baja but I checked the Princess web site for price changes multi times for weeks before departure and found several price drops. We ended up two decks higher for $25 p/p LESS than the original. It pays to re-check prices. The cabin was the usual that you would expect but having that balcony and the "wall of glass" with sliding door makes me feel less claustrophobic. And to me there's nothing like sitting on the balcony reading a book or watching the sun go down to make you feel like you're on vacation. And since this was the Riviera deck, there were no people above us to look down. Sometimes/rarely some noise floated down from the Lido but it wasn't much distraction. Our room steward Rudy was so very pleasant, helpful and (although I sensed he might be tired from the long work days) never showed any sign of negativity. He also spoke English very well so there were no communication issues. The food: We had anytime dining and only went to the dining rooms on the two formal nights. Service was very good and there was enough time to make the meal feel enjoyable and not rushed. The offerings were many and we especially enjoyed the lobster tails and giant prawns. There are so-o-o-o many places to eat and so much to eat that in the evening we usually opted for something quick, light and easy from the buffet. Also, Pizza, burgers and even sandwiches from the International Cafe filled the bill. The buffet offerings for breakfast were so numerous, I think that you could have a different type of egg(s) without repeating for the whole cruise (fried, poached, scrambled only, scrambled w/ ham/cheese, boiled, omelets, eggs Benedict and even egg (Mc)muffin). For evening buffets, there always seemed to be shrimp and/or scallops which made me happy - especially when they had lobster claws. On Carnival we had snow crab (good stuff) but the lobster claws took the cake. We never used room service or the specialty restaurants so I can't comment on them. If you can't get fat and happy on this ship, pay more money and try Cunard Lines. Read more