A few years ago we took a cruise on the grand princess, a western Caribbean cruise that last 7 days (not long enough).
It was one of the most amazing vacations I've ever had and I can't wait to take another one.
This article is about that trip and my advice for you.
We chose the Princess line because of the flexibility of anytime dining and not being forced to sit with strangers.
We didn't want our entire day planned around a specific eating time, especially if we were on a shore excursion.
Princess was great about that.
We boarded at Galveston, and were late departing because a crew member had jumped ship to immigrate to America.
As a result we were late getting to our first location, which was Belize.
We had planned a fabulous trip to go cave tubing but had to cancel it.
Very disappointing.
The ship itself was spectacular.
The food was amazing, the entertainment very good, and the balcony stateroom just wonderful.
I recommend a balcony if you don't cruise very often.
Sleeping with the door open and listening to the sound of the water outside is so blissful.
The bathrooms were small, but hey, it's a cruise ship.
We stopped at Belize for a couple hours, then Grand Cayman, which has amazing Tortuga rum, Cozumel and Costa Maya.
Each place was incredible.
Swimming with the Stingrays is not to be missed.
At the time we had an 18 month old son and we left him home with grandparents.
We did miss him, but it was great to be out on our own to rebuild the strength of our marriage.
The trip was fantastic and we can't wait to board the next Princess cruise when our second child is old enough to be left with grandparents, too.