*LIVE* aboard Caribbean Princess

[APH]

Hi all!

Well, what a fabulous cruise it has been so far. We are currently on route to Fort Lauderdale. The weather is fabulous and sailing is smooth.

Just thought i would drop a quick line and do a half-way summary:

Pre-cruise: The night in the Inter-Continental Hotel in Miami was a shambles. Three of us in a room, and just one bed - we werent the only ones either. Breakfast was very poor.

Embarkation - This was a nightmare! It took 90 minutes to get onboard, immigration was painfully slow owing to the fact that we had to fill out forms that no-one had previously been given.

Ship - Absolutley wonderful! She is in beautiful condition. The decor is truly stunning and it is easy to find your way around.

Princess Cays - Excellent! This was the first call here for the ship in a month, as Captain Nash said, we were his "guinea-pigs". The weather was superbs and the beach, games and BBQ great fun.

St Thomas - Wonderful as always! The Screamin' Eagle jet-boat was incredible - make sure you take a towel though - we were dripping from head to toe! The shopping was a little disappointing however.

St Maarten - Great! The island is beautiful, the people are friendly, the weather wonderful, and boy were there some nice shops! We were a little late leaving owing to what the Captain called "a few tardy passengers"!

Entertainment - Brilliant shows. The cruis staff are excellent and CD Graham is HILARIOUS!! His turn dressed as ballerina in a thong last night at The International Crew Show was fantastic. Most of the audience were wetting themselves they were laughing so much! I also enjoyed his joke about the how there were two kinds of Princess Smoothie - the mocktail and the Italian Officers!!!

Captain Nash - The Captain has been excellent. He has a great sense of humour, is friendly and approachable. At the Captain's Cocktail party he amused us all by telling how he came aboard to find a handbook on the bridge for his use. The three key points were 1: the ship uses diesel not gas, 2: the ship's service stop is every 25,000 miles and 3: port is left and starboard is right!! Best of all, he has blown the ships horn in all the ports - even Princess Cays - that sound makes the hairs on the back of my neck standup!

Maitre D' Nicola Furlan - This is our third cruise with him, the last being in 2002 and after three years he still recognized us and treated us to a complimentary bottle of wine. A true Italian gentleman!

Anyway, see you all soon, now im off to find some more food!

Andy.

[kpauley]

Thanks for taking the time out of your vacation to give us your review. It's great to hear you're having a wonderful week and that you actually made it to Princess Cays. Sorry it ends in a couple of days.

[Pam in CA]

Glad to hear you're having a great time. I'm curious, however, to know what additional immigration form everyone had to fill out and which wasn't in the pre-cruise docs or online? That sounds very unusual.

[Boatlovers]

Oh I feel so much better after reading your post.
(Good weather and smooth sailing)
It's nice to finally hear that.
We'll be leaving tomorrow to get to her.
Thank you!

[MrBill64]

Thanks for posting a mini review. Glad you are enjoying the ship as we will be boarding her this Saturday.

Kristal, cya on Saturday.

Bill

[Rustynail]

Thanks for taking the time to post. Just a small correction - it hasn't been quite a month since the Princess Cays was visited last as we were ther on Jan 28th. Awesome place. See our pic's below.

Dan

[blue seas]

this is completely random...while you are on the ship, is there any way you can find out the address to ship something to a staff member on the ship. I would appreciate it.

thanks

[ericosmith]

Just curious since I'm also booked on a reverse itinerary, when are the formal nights?

[Coral]

Andrew -

I didn't realize you were sailing now.

Did you stay at the Intercontinental at the airport? I stayed at the one at Bayside (on Chopin?) a few years ago and it was wonderful.

Can't wait to get the full review.

Theresa

[aquatic]

What are the muts playing now, and have you enjoyed this?

[JanMD]

How come you all did Princess Cays earlier in the week than Friday, which is the normal day?

[IKE]

Thank You for taking the time to send us a review. Sounds like you have enjoyed a wonderful Cruise. We leave next Saturday on CP and can't wait. Just started to pack as We are driving to Fla. on Tuesday. After all the miserable and cold weather in upstate NY, can't wait to feel that beautiful warm sun on my face. Thanks Again and enjoy the time you have left on your cruise. Ike

[judynorth]

Andy,

It is interesting that you have Captain Nash on your cruise. He was the substitute captain on the Diamond last May when the ship rammed the dock in Victoria. He also didn't try to navigate the ship around the bend to see Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm nor did he try to dock in Victoria. We also missed Juneau because of the damage to the ship. He never showed his face on our cruise. He was just a voice over the intercom. Rumor has it that he didn't even attend the Captain's party. Many on the ship affectionately called him Crash Nash. I'm glad to hear that he has improved over last year.