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Beer and alcohol prices are comparable to those in a nice restaurant. Figure at least $5 for a beer, $7-10 for a drink.

No, you cannot sneak alcohol onboard. You may bring a bottle or two of wine or champagne, though.

Princess is a family-oriented line, but is more upscale than its sister line Carnival. Average age onboard will depend on whether your week in April coincides with school breaks.

Where You Can Smoke: Smoking is permitted in the Churchill's cigar lounge, a section of the disco and casino, and a portion of the open decks.

Where You Can't: Smoking is prohibited in show lounges, elevators, dining rooms and all food service areas. Princess also prohibits smoking in cabins and balconies across its fleet.

Cigar and Pipe Smoking: Cigar and pipe smoking is permitted only on the open decks.

My only Princess cruise was on the Caribbean Princess, after being on several Royal Caribbean ships. I felt that the public spaces were too small for the number of people on board, and traffic patterns were bad - there were "traffic jams" before and after shows in the theatre. After I got home, I learned that when Caribbean Princess was built, an entire extra deck of passenger cabins was added, with no increase in public space.

CruiseCritic.com is an awesome resource for learning a lot about cruises.

Princess Cruises Bar Prices

If you drink a fair amount, I would look into getting beverage packages. Generally, if one person in a cabin gets one, they both have to in order to ensure no "sharing". Figure $6-$8 a drink, so do the math and figure out if you are better off with or without a package. I think they are $300 or so, but they often run deals on them. The last cruise I was on, a friend did a drink package for $300, he saved all his receipts and figured out he would have spent $950 if he bought them individually. He drinks a lot.

I don't get drink packages as I tend to drink more in ports, and usually only have one or 2 a day on the ship. I may go nuts on a bottle of wine but $120 bottles aren't included in the drink package.

You can bring some with you, go on the cruise line website and search "alcohol" and see ho much. I know it's 2 bottles on wine in Celebrity, not sure about hard liquor.

The age of Princess passengers is probably higher than that of Carnival, but lower than say Holland. In April, you are likely to have fewer kids, which in my opinion is a good thing.

Tips: One of the other responders said to go on cruisecritic. I absolutely agree. Register, and go to "roll calls" and see if you can find your ship and sailing. You can "pre meet" people, which can be cool. I semi-knew 55 people before our last cruise. We all met for real the first day and had a blast. Best cruise ever. Also, check out the ports of call. Quite often, you get more bang for your excursion bucks if you book directly with vendors rather than through the ship. Cruise Critic is a great resource for finding good, safe, and responsible local excursion venders.

Check and see if they have specialty dining. Generally, the food is quite good on cruise ships, but I am a foodie, and I've had meals on cruise ships for an additional $40-$50 that would easily run $200 in a regular restaurant.

You aren't supposed to smoke on balconies, but people do it. I've never done Princess, but on the cruises I've done, you could smoke on the top deck, one of the middle decks and some outside bars. The thing is, you get to meet people really fast hanging out in the smoking areas. Everyone knows smokers are cooler than everyone else. I quit smoking before one cruise, and I felt left out. I started again before my last cruise and had more fun. I'm quitting again. Tomorrow. It sucks. And this is a biggie, DON'T bring extra cigarettes with you. Once you are in international waters, a carton on the ship is about $25. Some are 2 cartons for $40. Make sure you bring extra lighters though, they are pricey.

One more hint, pack light, and buy a T-shirt in every port. Have fun, I've done 6 and am booked for another this fall.

Try cruisecritic.com. There are lots of answers from experienced cruisers. You can post your question on the princess board, look up info under ports of call and join your roll call to "talk" to others on your cruise.

Ask a representative from the cruise line!