Caribbean Princess 11/13-20/04 -- our views

We just got backSaturday night. The cruise connection bus ride back was a lot worse than we remembered: last off the ship (10:30 -- at least we got to wait in Club Fusion: the platinum/elite lounge), through customs and wait for the bus, boarded by 11:30, stops along the way to let people off and lunch, change buses midway, arrive home about 6 PM. It would have taken 5.5 hours even if we'd been driving, but we were beat. One of the good things about the bus is we could watch movies instead of having to drive, but it was a rough trip, so went to bed early.

The ship itself was beautiful, but the extra deck & 500 pax make it too crowded. One must get to the Princess Theatre more than 30 minutes ahead of showtimes, and it is difficult to walk on deck or in the buffet due to the extra lounges and tables added. The very best part of the entire cruise was the aft balcony!! We got 2 loungers and spent a great deal of time out there since it was completely private & peaceful.

The jury is still out on MUTS -- we enjoyed it one evening to see "I, Robot" (I dozed) and the Tina Turner concert one afternoon. But if you aren't interested in watching the movie, it is a horrible noise (especially if you are under an overhanging roof or nearby at an outside table at the grill).

We found the food to be extrememly good (as usual), with 3 seafood extravaganzas at the Caribe Cafe part of the buffet. We ate in the PC dining rooms and the Caribe Cafe for dinners, and lunches almost all at the Caribe Cafe. Each day they had a theme, and it was always good. Breakfast we sometimes ordered to the balcony, but most of the time went to the buffet.

The production shows are our favorite form of entertainment, but we missed "Let's Rock" at the first of the cruise. "Carribean Caliente" was the last 2 nights, and it was spectacular! Kimika was very entertaining with 2 different shows, there was a comedian that wasn't impressive, and Bert Stratton was fun with his sing-alongs. It seemed as if we couldn't get to everything we wanted to do due to being too sleepy or the theatre was too crowded. While at the same time, we were left with nothing we wanted to partake in at times. We avoid the casino like the plague as we hate crowds and smoke and just have no interest in gambling. Same for Bingo. Trivia can be OK for a short while, and we did do this a couple of nights in Club Fusion. There was a travel agency with some of the Survivors on board (Big Tom & Lex being the most well-known) and we got a glimpse of them, which was a little thrill since we've been Survivor fans from day 1. We were only awake one night til midnight and went up to Skywalkers, but it was taken over by an unusually large group of mentally & physically challenged adults. It was nice to see that their caregivers helped them to participate in all aspects of the cruise.

The itinerary had us stopping at San Juan from 4 pm - 11 pm in place of Princess Cays. BTW, I wanted to let you know what I found out about P Cays. I asked the Future Cruise Consultant, Kacey, and the Captain's Circle Hostess, Dawn, and both gave me similar stories. The building is completed, and all that is lacking is hauling in enough sand to fill in what was washed away by the storms. Evidently a large amount was washed out to sea, and each time they dredge up more and haul it to shore, it still needs more. Kacey wouldn't give me any prediction, and although Dawn said it is changed week to week, she did say that originally they had thought the 11/13 cruise would stop there, then said 2 weeks, and now are saying 3 weeks. She said that San Juan and Nassau would be alternates, depending on where the Captain could obtain berthing. That since neither ports are regulars for Princess, that P doesn't have priority.

In San Juan, we docked in Old SJ and walked into town. Some pax onboard had recommended the Cathedral, then we walked to Fort San Cristobal. By that time it was getting dark and starting to rain, we stopped at Wendy's for a Frosty, and walked back to the ship.

In St Thomas we had a ships excursion, snorkeling at St John in a Captain Nautica zodiac. We made three stops to see turtles, fish & coral, and at Honeymoon Beach on St John. It was lots of fun and we saw turtles, a stingray, fishes, etc.

St Maarten means going to Orient Beach for us and we took the ship's excursion French Riviera Rendevous which included a guided tour of the island as we went past, 2 loungers, and lunch at the Waikiki Beach Bar & Grill under the palms. We took a nice walk on the beach up to Orient Bay nudist resort, and spent the rest of the time on our lounger just "vegging out".

It was all lots of fun and ended too soon. But although we enjoyed seeing the CB, (and she is beautiful!!) I don't think we will sail her again -- just way too many people for our tastes.

Gloria, thank you so much for your review! I appreciate when someone takes the time to write a bit about their experiences! :)

Thanks for the info about getting to the shows! I enjoy them, too. And I'm glad the food was good!

Thank You Gloria!!!:cool:

I leave in less than 2 weeks!!!!:D

Thanks for the review. I too am booked in an aft balcony cabin on an upcoming cruise on the Caribbean Princess. Actually 2 adjacent aft cabins. Did you ask your room steward to bring you the 2 lounges for your balcony? I am curious, which aft cabin did you have? Thanks.

Gloria -

Thanks for the review :)

So what is next for the 2 of you?

Theresa

MrBill64 - we had B753 = it is not the best aft to be had, but was all that was available. We had a beam to the far right side of the balcony, but it did not obstruct the view. It did make things a little more crowded. We had to ask for the 2 loungers, and added a $20 upfront tip. The table & 2 chairs fit in the spaces between the beam, but were not easily used. The table could have fit between the loungers but the sea view would have been obstructed. It worked for us, but preferable would be a balcony w/o a beam and best yet either B 748 & 749 and C 752 & 753 (end units).

Coral - we are planning Alaska next in summer 2005. Tentatively thinking sailing out of Vancouver northward, then renting a car and touring thru portions of Alaska southward. Using FF miles, flying into Seattle (it must be a continental US airport or costs extra miles) & driving to Vancouver for a day or 2 of sightseeing. I will need your advice and will be asking all kinds of questions of you. Thanks in advance for the help!

We, too, found the ship to hold way too many people. The areas around the pools were crowded and it was impossible to find more than one or two lounge chairs together. Again the "Chair Hogs" were onboard as when we walked by the pools early in the morning (ie: 6:30am) there were already chairs with towels and books on them but NO people :mad: . We didn't attend any of the shows in the Princess Theatre so don't know about chair saving there. I'm sorry we never got down to see your cabin, (we were so busy with our group ) do you have any pictures of your balcony you could email to me? I think I will look into a Princess Cruise (for our 2nd annual Friends and Family Cruise) on a little smaller ship. We've been on the Grand and the Golden - those are huge too! We really liked the size of the Island Princess when we did the Panama Canal last year. Does anyone know if any of these "smaller" Princess ships do a Caribbean itinerary?

We enjoyed meeting the Cruise Critic gang onboard and ran into Wally and Al quite frequently. You and Bob MUST HAVE spent alot time enjoying your aft balcony because we never saw you again! ;)

Don and I are trying to re-group and get into the swing of things at home again. I haven't taken one thing out of my suitcase yet - been busy with my ill Dad.

Have a wonderful Holiday season and HAPPY CRUISING!

PAT :p

Thanks for your review, Gloria.

Hi Guys-

We too found the ship to be too crowded. After a couple of days we learned to make some moves that helped us to avoid some crowding at certain places, but all in all there were just too many people to deal with.

This was our 13th cruise-3rd on Princess.

Here are some brief opinions and thoughts.

Food- very very good. In the dining room(1st traditional seating), and in all the cafeterias. I never had a bad meal.

Production shows- We only went to one. It was fairly good.

Entertainment- Bert Stratton is great. He acts silly a lot, but he's a very talented singer and musician. Knows how to entertain an audience.

Cabin D706- Comfortable with plenty of room, closet, and shelf space. Air conditioning was adequate, but not cold. Room Steward Raymund did a fine job. Johnny on the spot!

Over all service- I can tell Princess has cut back(like all other lines I suppose) , but I could really tell it in the bar areas. This was the first time on a cruise ship that I saw a number of people have to go to the bar and get a drink themselves. Nobody is above doing that I know, but there are usually enought bar waiters to take care of everyone. Now some bars had adequate staff. The one I noticed that needed the most help was in the "Crooner" bar. It was noticeble in other areas as well.

Boarding the ship went well considering how many people were trying to get on. It was hectic, but Princess did at least have some kind of a plan, and it worked pretty well. Getting off on Saturday was again crowded, but we got off around 10:15 AM.

Then the nightmare began.

Ft. Lauderdale Int. Airport!!! Avoid it if you can. I have flown all over the world, but have never witnessed anything to beat that in my entire life. In summary- 5,000 people in line in side and wrapped around the building- and this was just at US AIRWAYS side alone. 2 hours in line to get to the auto. ticket dispensers. Then line up to check luggage into TSA area. Then line up at the security checkpoints. Absolutely noone in charge or giving direction. No order to the lines, and no final destination for a line. Lines just crossed other lines. People would wait an hour, then be told they were in the wrong line, and have to start over.TSA could not process the mountain of luggage they were accumulating, so our plane was one and a half hours late leaving, so we barely caught our connection out of Charlotte, but of course without our luggage. We did get it later that night, which is no big deal. I don't know what they need to do at that airport to help the problem. I know there were about 5 ships unloading at the same time, but I know this- I will never fly to Fla. again to leave on a cruise. I will take extra time, and drive. In my years of travel, that was the first time I have ever seen a situation in an airport that was totally out of control.One example, then I'll hush- I had both our passports in my pocket. My wife was trying to get the tickets and things together. I was asked by airline personnel in this mob for my ID,and I accidently handed her my wife's passport, she looks at it, and passes me on through to the next mob. People there were trying-but they were just overwhelmed> I guess this happens every Saturday. It won't happen to me again ,at that airport.

Over-all- Very nice cruise. Very nice,big ship. Too many people, but that's just us.

Enjoyed meeting the CC people at the get-together in the Skywalker! Graham Seymore is a great cruise director!

goboy

Goboy,

Sorry to hear about your experience at FLL. We live about 15 min. away and only fly from there. One thing I've learned in 30 years living here is to stay away on Sat. and Sun. when the cruise ships are in. I'm sure that if you're able to stay a day or two post-cruise, you'd find a totally different airport.

Joan

Pat, Bob & I are kind of loners, I guess. We did see Wally & Al at a table on the deck occasionally, and seemed to run into BarryH & Heather and FranD and her husband all the time. We did see you and your entourage at the Captain's Welcome Party, you were busy with them and we got pushed along with the crowd and lost sight of you. It was nice to see and meet everyone, though, wasn't it? I do have a photo or two and as soon as I download them will email them to you. I totally understand about your being so busy with your group. I hope your Dad improves rapidly.

Goboy, we have never flown out of FLL, but I thought maybe I should suggest Miami as an alternative. Have no idea if it is better or not.

It would seem the consensus is that the CB has too many people. I noticed just now that there is another review that I am eagar to read.

goboy/gloria,

Would you recommend the Outriggers bar as a good place to meet up with our fellow CC friends for a sail away party?

Thanks.

Rustynail-

Yes, I think it would be fine. I think the Outrigger opened up each day around 4:30 PM, but you probably could arrange to have it to yourselves at any time. It certainly is large enough, and I love the atmosphere there. It's easy to find and convenient.

One thing that I forgot to mention when I posted earlier- If you smoke cigars, or if cigar smoke dosen't bother you- visit Churchill's lounge. It is behind the casino. Great TV monitors. Laid back attitude and comfortable.

goboy

We were also on Caribbean for the November 13-20 sailing. We agree the ship is beautiful, but will probably not sail on her again. It is just too large and crowded in some areas. We were in a mini-suite with an exposed balcony. We did not like the totally exposed balcony. We had only been aboard for maybe an hour when a cigerette landed on our balcony from above. This continued to be a problem throughout the cruise. This could really be a safety issue if it landed on someone who was sitting on the balcony. Also, the smell of smoke was strong from a nearby balcony. Several mornings there was a black residue on the chairs and railing of the balcony. Again, it is a beautiful ship, but not for us. We will continue to sail with Princess, but probably will stay with the sun class size ships.

Is smoking an issue on the balcony's??? I hope to enjoy my breakfast in the am without a steady stream of smoke heading my way.

Rusty, there were a lot of smokers on the ship on the pool decks, and my husband thought he smelled smoke while walking in the hall. I am very sensitive to smoke smell, and didn't notice it, but ... On our balcony we didn't have a problem with smoke at all. It was a lovely place for breakfast!

BTW, your name reminded me: I brought back a litre of Drambuie for $22 from the pier at St Maarten. BJ's has 750 ml for about $28, so it wasn't an extraordinary savings. We didn't shop prices at all, just went to the most convenient shop. We got it for a friend that watched the house & fed the cats -- his fav drink is a rustynail.

We will be anxious to hear your views on the CB.