vfangue

Hi, although not new to cruising, our first cruise with Princess is in Oct. I'll answer what I can. First, what ports will you be visiting on this cruise. Some locations offer excellent shore excursions, some areas it seems best to just stay at the beach closest to the ship. I've booked shore excursions through third party vendors as well as the cruise ships just depends on the location. I did a lot of research on island excursions via trip advisor too. If your going to Jamaica or Grand Caymans, I've got two companies I can highly recommend. Cozumel has many, many private beach resorts that are easily accessed by a taxi ride and taxis are at each resort waiting to bring you back to the ship.

Dining is a personal preference having done large tables and then just a table for the four members of our family. We love the large tables of 8! We've net some wonderful folks that we still stay in contact with. And remember, you can always request a table change if you don't feel comfortable with your dining partners.

Hope this helps!

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We've booked an upcoming 4 day cruise in Oct. (Stops in Princess Cay and Grand Turks). Looking forward to just laying in the sun and celebrating my birthday! We've previously only sailed Carnival and thought it was time to try something different.

Can anyone gives pros/cons or opinions on whether it's worth the up charge for The Sanctuary? Any other must do's on this ship.

And finally, what's your opinions of the atmosphere in the lounges/clubs. What type of music, vibe, Etc?? We're not much for the theatre type entertainment but do enjoy finding a good band to listen to.

Thanks!

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Thanks to everyone for your comments. Hubby and I are planning a cruise in Oct. 2014 and am trying to decide which to take. He wants a short cruise, so I'm leaning towards the Caribbean Princess. We just need a long weekend to veg in the sun and enjoy some good music in the evening. Any comments on the bands in the clubs/lounges?

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Great review, looking forward to your port days. As a Texan, we always cruise the Caribbean and it's fun to follow along and learn about other regions.

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Following!

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Starting to plan our vacation for Fall 2014 and I'm stumped! This will be our first cruise/vacation without our kids (who are now in college!). We've mostly cruised Carnival (Caribbean) either with the kids or large groups and that was great cause we love the upbeat fun atmosphere. Done the Western Caribbean so many times!

Now that it's just the two of us, are there any other cruise lines and port of calls that you might recommend for two empty-nesters who are quite ready for the recliner/tv lifestyle!

Thanks!

While enjoying laying out near the slide area, we noticed 2 crewmen scoop "poo" out of the pool ... and everything went back to normal. No closing of the pool, no extra chlorine added, just scoop it!

I will NEVER swim onboard again!