Hubs and I travelled with two other couples, who are great friends of ours. Five of us are mid-60’s, the 6th mid-70’s, all very healthy and active. The one couple is elite status, the second is platinum (almost elite), and we are merely gold! Sure do wish Princess would recognize cruises on Carnival toward status! But, oh, well! Because we were with our elite friends, embarkation was simple, as we were able to wait in the special lounge with them. Disembarkation equally simple, as hubs and I have global entry cards. (Highly recommend that if you travel out of the country!) The Crown Princess is smaller than the Royal, which we were on last year, but still lovely. The only thing I liked less was the walking track being the Promenade deck, vs the dedicated walking track on the Royal, as we like to take daily walks. The Princess crews seem always to be helpful and friendly, and they always make it a pleasant journey. I’m always amazed, though, at fellow travelers who are crabby, no matter what happens! Getting on and off an elevator, there’s often someone with a sour expression on their face. I mean, you’re on a freakin cruise in the Caribbean! How do you act when you really are faced with adversity? Lol! But I digress! The ship is beautiful, the staff wonderful, the ports delightful, the weather was perfect (ok, so that was good timing and luck), the food wonderful, and it was fabulous to get out of winter weather for ten days! Our very favorite stop was an excursion on Dominica, purchased through Princess, called “Cooking Caribbean,” in which we were driven in a van up to the top of a hill (breathtaking scenery) to the home of island residents. Daria (pronounced Dear-iya) taught 20 of us how to make her signature dishes, and we had samples of her flavored rum, then we all sat down to this delightful meal. She is a wonderful person, and we fell in love with her! We would take another cruise just to take her cooking class again! The rest of our cruise was fabulous, but this was really special! Also, on one of our sea days, we splurged for The Sanctuary, and it was just so peaceful and worth it. $40 pp, for the day. Very quiet and peaceful! This was our 5th cruise overall, and third on Princess. We’re sticking with Princess.