When looking for a spring break cruise, as a teacher, I tried to find a ship with some "adult-only" amenities and thought the itinerary might be less 'kid-friendly' than the Western Caribbean ports. Don't get me wrong, I love kids, just not while on a break from them! My review isn't about the kids, it's about the ship and the cruise. Embarkation and disembarkation was really smooth. Before we got on the ship, we breezed through the duty-free liquor shop. The people there tipped us that they were hardly checking the bags and it was easy to take liquor on board, so we got a bottle of rum and had no problem. We paid ten dollars at the store, but later found that the cruiseline itself offers bottles of liquor at fifteen dollars a bottle for consumption in the staterooms. That was nice! You are allowed to take on wine and champagne for your room. I heard they charge a cork fee if you want to drink it in the dining room, but we didn't inquire about it. They also allowed soda and water bottles to be brought on.

The cruise itself was wonderful. We sailed the first five days, seeing St. Thomas/St. John, Antigua, Tortola, St. Lucia and Barbados, with the last day of the cruise being the only one at sea. That was enticing, as we wanted to see the islands, not spend a lot of time on the ship. The stops were all from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, which was really nice. The tours we took from the cruiseline were smooth, organized and interesting. I liked that they were either early in the morning or for the afternoon so you could spend some of the day doing your own thing if you wanted. We did take the all day land and sea cruise in St. Lucia and it was well worth it, despite the morning rain. The Pitons are far from the port, so it was a good way to see island.

I have cruised three times on Costa and once on Royal Caribbean. This was my first Princess cruise, and probably my last, unless some great deal rolls around that is too good to pass up. It's confusing and disappointing, because I have read very few reviews that weren't favorable about Princess. The Caribbean Princess itself is attractive and clean. We got a double upgrade to a balcony and our room was nice. We liked how the bathroom was situated near the closet, giving a sense of privacy while changing. Our cabin steward was awesome. Our waiter was ok. The staff itself was helpful and attentive. So what was wrong with the cruise? The food was not the best, pretty bad at times, compared to my other experiences. Breakfast is over at 9:00 in the dining rooms and we were usually on the run to get to the island in the morning anyway, so we ate at the buffet. It was basically the same food every day. One day they had eggs Benedict in place of the "Egg McMuffin" style sandwich, and the omelet changed daily, but other than that, it was exactly the same every day. Lunch didn't change much from day to day either. But there were some interesting selections, such as mozzarella and tomato on crostini, and veggies on bagels. The International Cafe had some light choices as well. The pastries were always good there, with very good sugarless mousses and light cakes. Read more