Our Caribbean Princess Adventures...Aug. 28-Sept. 6!

Back to the real world now and I've gathered a few thoughts in order to

share some of our experiences on the Caribbean Princess last week.

Since this was our first cruise I don't have any reference points to make any type of comparisons to other ships or ports, but just plan on paying back the members on this board with some of our trip highlights.

Pre-cruise: We ( wife and myself, and 15 yr. old daughter, 9 yr. old son) flew into FLL on Thurs. afternoon for 2 nights at the Marriott Marina. We used Priceline for this hotel and would recommend it highly. I was offered a choice of rooms and asked for a port view which we had on the 9th floor with a great view of Port Everglades, 17th St. bridge, and the inter-coastal waterway. We also rented a car for 1 day to do a bit of sightseeing. This was also through Priceline (a new Cadillac for 34 bucks!).

We took a water-bus tour through Ft. Lauderdale with a coupon that I found here on-line and marvelled at the beautiful properties. We really enjoyed Lauderdale and especially the Marriott, great way to start our vacation.

At the port we learned of the change in itineray to the western caribbean. Some people were upset, but most seemed to take it in stride. In hindsight, this move should be applauded and hopefully will be remembered by future cruise passengers who have their plans changed.

Quickly through the non-US line (we are Canadians), no problem at the desk (we didn't get passports) and on to this magnificent ship. It didn't disappoint even with all the overkill we did in advance in checking various boards and websites. We all went for a swim while the band started to play to get us in the mood. Our first night my wife and I did our dinner with 7 others in the Coral dining room. I sat next to Mel, who has been in Florida for 30 years after moving from NYC. What a great storyteller, obviously wealthy (they had just returned from a 60 day cruise), but so down to earth and made us feel so comfortable. We really enjoyed meeting others at both the afternoon tea (which was great), and the personal choice dining. It was a nice sense of community, and that would play a big part later in the week when our plans changed dramatically. Again I cannot compare the food to other ships, but for us it was top notch. We really hit the wall early on Saturday after our busy days in Fort Lauderdale (and my wife filming the CB coming in at 5:45 from the 17th St. causeway!), so we skipped any of the shows and had a relatively early night.

Ugh end of Part 1, work is getting in the way...

Scott.

Looking forward to hearing this story!

Nunu,

Keep the review coming... waiting for the next chapter!

Hi Scott!! Sounds like pre cruise was awesome!! I can't wait to hear the rest!!! :)

Scott,

Sounds great, keep it coming!!

Scott,

Can't wait for the next chapter. We're from next door (Guelph) and will be on the CP Sept 18. Looking forward to hearing more about your extended vacation.

Debbie

********

Rick & Debbie

Guelph, ON

Hi Scott also looking forward for the rest of the adventure, Just curious How were you able to use PriceLine from Canada. We tried before but were not able to perform the full reservation. Is Visa works or need to be Master Card and what did you gave as your area code.

thanks

cnr1978, when using priceline from Canada you must use MasterCard. you can put in good old 90210 as a zip code. I have used it for years and never had a problem. We got the Marriott Marina with port view for $60 per night vs. I think around $120-$140 on the Marriott site. And the Cadillac through Avis was well over $100 per day. We also cancelled our Saturday night post cruise stay with priceline since it was in an evacuation zone and will be credited the amount.

Nunu,

Great review and looking forward to hearing more. Will be sailing CP on Oct. 23.

Also as a Canadian use Priceline all the time and my fav for zip code is 99999 :) Tried to use Visa but never works for me so only use MC.

Question did you have PC dining or Traditional? Have always had traditional so this is our first try at PC and hoping I will like it fine.... change is good :)

Emmy :)

Hi Emmy we did PC dining and loved it. It was nice to meet new people and a couple nights we reserved a table for 2 for ourselves. Others have commented that they liked traditional because the waiters get to know them but after seeing how much the waiters hustle around keeping everyone happy I was happier just being easy on them and getting to know fellow passengers. I'm sure others love Traditional but people at our tables who have been on other lines said that the PC would be sure to catch on. Bottom line, keep both options open like Princess done and everyone should be happy.

more please:) :) :) espeially anything about the kids programs

Any word while on board about Princess Cay??

Nope, not a word was said about the fate of Princess Cay.

There's a paragraph about it in the CC's News. It says it's damaged and will take 6 weeks to fix it.

"What has not escaped Frances' wrath unscathed are cruise lines' private islands, which are part of the Bahamas string of isles and thus located in the path of the storm. A Princess Cruises' spokeswoman says that its Princess Cays is damaged -- and will likely require more than six weeks worth of effort to restore it. "

Excellent! Thanks for posting - we are really excited to sail her. Aft cabin, too! ;)

Great review and looking forward to more. We will be on this ship 9/25/04 and can hardly wait.

~Kathi~

We are sailing 9/25 also and can't wait to hear more about your cruise. Especially your extra two days! :D

Whoever asked the question about the kids club...My son age 8 and a half absolutely loved it. If they had been open 24/7 I would not have seen him all week