This was our first Princess cruise and like good little cruisers, we purchased the cruise air and transfers.  We purchased the cruise air, although probably more expensive, because the cruise line will guarantee that you make it on the ship (if it's not your fault for getting off course).

In today's day and age, I thought the peace of mind was a pretty good buy.  The Princess transfers will pick you up at the airport and take you directly to the port.  A good buy if you can't remember where you were supposed to go or if you just prefer a mindless vacation once you get on the plane.  If you want to purchase your own air, you can purchase transfers, you will just have to specifically request them and keep in mind that this is a pre-paid service.  You cannot take advantage of it if you decide at the airport.  We, unfortunately, saw people being turned down for the transfers and shown where they could catch a cab.

Cruise Travel Tip:  If you are in an unfamiliar port area, purchase the transfers through the cruise line, even if you don’t purchase air.

So, we got off of our plane in San Juan, Puerto Rico and headed down to baggage claim where there was a nice lady waiting with her “Princess Transfer” sign.  Halleluiah. After everyone arrived, we put our bags on a truck (they would magically show up about 3 hours later in our stateroom), and were whisked off on a nice, air-conditioned bus to the port (see, I don't even remember the name of it, because I didn't have to!).  At the port, we stood in line (although thankfully, we are Princess Elite Members because of my education and experience with Princess, so the line was short) and received our room key/shipboard credit card.  This all in one card served as our credit card on board and created a cashless society, which we enjoy very much.  Even tips are covered through your onboard account via a $10 per person per day charge on your account.

Cruise Travel Tip: Many cruise lines will allow you to check in and set up your shipboard account (with credit card) prior to your sail date.  It saves quite a bit of time during check-in.

We set off in search of our stateroom R508 (Riviera Deck, stateroom 508).  There were many guides to help us.  We did decide on an inside cabin, as we typically do not spend too much time in our stateroom.  Although throughout this cruise, Chris and I have found that a balcony might have been nice, as with 3000 people, the public areas are rather full.  I digress . . . .we opened our door and we were very pleased with both the location and the size of our stateroom.  The Riviera Deck is deck 14, which is one deck below the Lido deck, which contains the pools, sunning areas, Horizons Buffet, pizza, burgers, and ice cream.  We are mid-ship, which means we really don't have to walk too far to anything on the ship and we are close enough, but far enough away from the elevators.

Cruise Travel Tip:  Think about where you want to be positioned on the ship.  Each ship has a number of categories and you can pick your stateroom based on its location on the ship!  Do you want to be close to the elevators?  Do you want to be close to the dining rooms so you don’t have to walk too far in those heels?

Our room was nicely appointed and large enough for us to fit comfortably.  Our twin beds were combined to make a queen (requested via Princess' Cruise Personalizer), there were side tables with lamps on both sides, a nice sized desk with mirror to be used as a vanity, a bar with storage and refrigerator, a flat screen View Sonic TV, and a large amount of closet space.  The bathroom is as small as can be (they typically are), but it is large enough to fit both of us if one is in the shower and the other is brushing their teeth.  The stateroom comes with a hair dryer, shampoo, conditioner, soap and robes (on request).

For dining, we did choose the second seating (815PM), which we thought would be good timing, so we didn't have to rush after excursions.  I think that would be true in most cases, although we have a 4 month old at home and we typically go to bed at 830!  So, we've found that second seating is a little late for us on this trip.  We did try to change it to first or anytime dining, but we were 28th in line to see the Maitre de, and figured it wasn't worth it.

Cruise Tip: Make sure you know what dining time you want when you reserve your trip.  Cruises can fill up fast and so can the dining rooms!  Our second seating started at 815PM and we were finished eating around 1030PM each night.

There are quite a few amenities on the ship.  There are two freshwater pools in the middle of the ship, an adults only pool at the rear of the ship, and the adults-only Sanctuary (you pay for a ½ day membership to this – AM and/or PM) pool in between.  All are a nice sized, and have hot tubs.  They also have a ledge that served as a bench around them.  It was nice to sit in, read and stay cool. No indoor pools.  If it was raining, you were outside.  We did find a small pool for tots that was 10 inches deep and had a small slide.  It was really cute and would have been perfect for a preschooler and under.

There are bars everywhere you turn around, so there is never a problem finding a drink!  They had a bucket beer special, where you paid for 4 and received 5 Beck, Dos Equis, Bud Light or Budweiser.  It was about $20 for a bucket (tip of 15% included) and mixed drinks were between $6 and $8 depending on what you got.  For example, my pina colada and my mojito were $6.75 each and were made with Bacardi.  We did REALLY enjoy the wine bar, Vino before dinner.  You could purchase a bottle (or glass) of wine from a very nice selection and take it to your table for dinner.  This worked out nicely for us several nights.

Cruise Tip: At some of the ports, Princess would allow you to bring back one bottle of wine or champagne for consumption in your stateroom or for a $15 corkage fee, in the dining room. Otherwise, no alcohol was to be brought on board.

The Internet Cafe was very nice and had several computers to use.  You could purchase packages (ours was 150 minutes for $75) or you could pay by the minute at $.75 per minute.  The Internet could be slow, so if you want the quickest service, try off times like during dinner or when everyone else is off the boat.

The fitness center, located on Deck 15 forward along with the Lotus Spa and Sanctuary, was a great little spot to work out.  They didn't have every machine that you desire, but it was a pretty good set up.  The area was window lined, so that you could see the open ocean or the port from the front of the ship.  There were roughly 6 elliptical machines, 20 treadmills and a few bikes.  There were free weights and a variety of machines.  An open area also catered to their class schedule or could be used for free weights and yoga ball or bosu ball workouts.  I did see some spining bikes, so I assume that they had a small class sometime during our voyage.  I was able to do all of my trainer-inspired workouts in the fitness center with only a few substitutions here and there.

Cruise Tip: If you are a runner, a great way to experience some of the islands is by taking your morning jog through them!  We saw quite a few people jogging in Bonaire and St. Thomas.

Although I know that Princess has great children's programs, we didn't participate in them this time, so I can't speak to them directly.

The evening entertainment was bountiful!  There were shows in the Princess Theatre, acts in the Explorer Lounge, Movies under the Stars, the Casino, the Skywalkers Lounge (which we found we loved to sit while we were leaving ports – great views!) and countless Sail Away Parties with the entertainment crew.  There were bands and games throughout the day at the main pool as well.