Upon entrance into this massive ship, we headed to our room with somewhat confusion. There weren’t that many people telling us where to go. It didn’t take long though. Our room was an inside cabin since it was free. It had a mini bar and fridge, 4 twin beds, a desk, a closet, a safe, a decent little bathroom, a dresser, and a flatscreen tv. Within 45 minutes, I was invited to take a tour of the ship and Joyce, my wife, took her own tour. I did know the ship slightly better because of the tour, but we didn’t go everywhere. After the tour, the whole ship had to do a lifejacket safety briefing. Our first stop was Grand Cayman, but that was a day and a half away. We left on Saturday from Fort Lauderdale, a day at sea formal night on Sunday, and arrived in Grand Cayman Monday Morning. In this post, I am going to write the positives and negatives about the cruise line and the cruise.
Positives:
There are a variety of things to do. They have what is called a “Princess Patter” that is delivered to your stateroom on a daily basis listing times and places of things to do. Each place was hosted by one of the crew members.
If you have kids, you never have to see them if you don’t want to until bedtime.
Movies Under The Stars – this is a great concept; from 8pm or so, a popular movie is played on a big screen while you sit in comfy lounge chairs under the stars.
Easy disembarkation at the ports.
Free laundry. (this was b/c I was an elite member)
Our cabin attendant was timely and extremely efficient. The service this guy provided was the best service from an employee of any kind – ever. Plus, he always had a positive attitude.
4 pools, one being an adult only area with a small current to swim against. It was quite easy.
A large fitness room.
Liquor was decent and occasionally at a good price.
Continuously free pizza and ice cream.
Shore excursions were very convenient and not a bad price either.
Excellent shows and comedy.
Formal Night
Negatives:
On Sunday morning when we woke up, we woke up to a strange noise. It was our toilet overflowing into our cabin. It took a few minutes for us to contact someone, but eventually we did. Our carpet was soaked and our bathroom was filled with water. We went to breakfast and by the time we came back, they sucked up all the water or replaced the carpet.
The charge of 10.50 per person per night for tips.
They include gratuity on every drink you buy, then ask for gratuity on the receipt.
Speaking of drinks, soda was expensive and few drinks were complimentary.
ATM was a $6.00 fee. This was the highest I have seen.
Casino? Ugh…. You have to use your cruise card to cash out of the machines instead of getting cash or a ticket. We did not like this at all. At the end of the cruise, Joyce won over $400 on Let It Ride. Slot, Texas Holdem, and Blackjack Tournaments were high buy ins for a small prize. This casino is more greedy than most. We didn’t like the concept of it.
I must also mention that I enjoyed each destination and will explain each below, but I really didn’t feel we were in other parts of the world. I have been to a few different countries before, and I really didn’t feel as if I was out of Florida, where I live. For example, when we disembarked from the ship in both Honduras and Mexico, the port, of course, was commercialized. In other words, I can find the same stuff in Florida for the exact same price, yet people go here to shop. The true shopping areas are not near portside, but in local markets. Cozumel is 80% tourism so you probably won’t find “true” markets. Did they have good deals? Of course, but I wouldn’t take a cruise there to shop. The best thing to do is to get out of the touristy areas and into the heart of the cities. Meet locals, get to know them, and get a real feel of where you are. I really did enjoy this cruise. The positives do outweigh the negatives. However, I soon must compare to other companies. Princess is a good cruise line with superior service. My suggestion with Princess is to do an Alaskan or Norwegian cruise with a balcony if you’re from the south and a Carribean cruise if you’re from the north. As someone said on the ship, “if you don’t have fun, shame on you.”
Champaigne Waterfall
Our last stop was in Princess Cays in the Bahamas. Our shore excursion here was a workout. We rented aqua bikes? Has anyone reading this rode these things? We had 30 minutes to ride these aqua bikes in the crystal clear frigid blue waters of the Bahamas. Within the first minute on this water gym, both our legs and feet were extremely tired. If you want one heck of a workout, get an aqua bike. If you look closely to the right side of the above photo, you will see an aqua bike. The tree is blocking the right rear wheel. At this island, there were plenty of non motorized water sport activities, little air-conditioned cabanas, plenty of lounge chairs, plenty of beaches, and lots of little tiki bars. 
