Caribbean Princess- 7-night Southern Caribbean Review (1/8/12 - 1/15/12)

My partner and I just returned from a 7-night cruise on the Caribbean Princess from 1/8/12 - 1/15/12. What follows below is what I hope others consider a very detailed review of our experience on a day-to-day basis. I hope that everyone finds this review helpful, and I’m eager to answer anyone’s questions. Instead of posting all at once, I’ll be posting as I write. My intention is to post general observations about the ship, the service, and the excursions. What you won't find is a minute-to-minute timeline of our days. Again, I hope that everyone enjoys this review!

Who are we?

My partner is 34 years old (he turned 34 on the cruise) and has traveled more extensively than me. He’s been to Hawaii, various places in Europe, and all over the U.S.

I’m 31 years old and have mainly traveled east of the Mississippi. Most of my recent travel has been to major U.S. cities for work.

We’ve been to Walt Disney World 6 times since January 2008 and have also traveled to the lower Outer Banks, Las Vegas, and L.A. We have only taken one prior cruise (7 nights on Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas in January 2011 out of San Juan to see St. Thomas, St. Croix, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Grenada). We live in the Cleveland/Akron metro area and try to get out of town in January every year to get a week of sun while our families suffer through another NE Ohio winter. :)

The Plan

Saturday, January 7th- Fly to San Juan, PR (direct from Cleveland). Spend one-night at the Hotel Intercontinental Resort & Casino (thank you Hotwire).

Sunday, January 8th- Board the Caribbean Princess around noon.

Monday, January 9th- St. Thomas (Turtle Cove Catamaran Sail & Snorkel)

Tuesday, January 10th- Tortola (The “Baths” at Virgin Gorda & Beach)

Wednesday, January 11th- Antigua (Eco-Kayaking, Bird Island, Snorkel, Beach & Hike)

Thursday, January 12th- Dominica (Titou Gorge Swim, Hot Springs & Scenic Drive)

Friday, January 13th- Barbados (No excursion planned)

Saturday, January 14th- Day at Sea

Sunday, January 15th- Fly back to Cleveland, OH (direct from PR)

I'm sailing on Caribbean Princess in May and hope that you liked her. Were there any parts of the ship you really liked? Disliked?

Saturday, January 7th- Fly to San Juan, PR (direct from Cleveland). Spend one-night at the Hotel Intercontinental Resort & Casino.

Our morning flight to San Juan was uneventful. I love having an iPhone and being able to rent a few movies to keep me occupied. Otherwise, I’d probably just fall asleep, snore, and annoy the person sitting next to me.

I can unequivocally say that our stay at the Hotel Intercontinental San Juan Resort & Casino was one of my most disappointing hotel stays ever. Between the lack of an alarm clock and safe, the outdated room, the horrible television, the dated bathroom, and the sub-par casino, I wasn’t thrilled. That said, the hotel grounds are nice, the pool is pretty, and the location was good (on the beach, close to airport, good dining options around). We hit up Friday’s for a quick lunch/dinner around 4 and basically called it a night after a few pulls on the slot machines (or what I like to call, "boxes that make noise and take your money..."

I guess that I really can’t complain too much since we got the reservation online for dirt cheap. This was one of two lowpoints of our vacation, which is good since it happened early on. The other involves anytime dining on the first day. And to get you hooked... we didn't have a wait, and we got a table for 2. You'll have to read on to find out what happened!

I'm sailing on Caribbean Princess in May and hope that you liked her. Were there any parts of the ship you really liked? Disliked?

Yes, I liked the ship a lot! What I'll share now is that I really liked how there are 4 pools and the setup of the bathroom in our balcony stateroom. What I didn't like was the food selection at the buffet and our experience with anytime dining on the first night.

Sunday, January 8th- Board the Caribbean Princess around noon.

Our plan was to leave the hotel around 10:30, get to the pier around 11:00, and be on the ship shortly after 12.

While we did leave the hotel around 10:30 (and make a quick stop at the Walgreens beforehand), we didn’t get to the pier until 11:30. The traffic was absolutely awful right as you got near the new convention center (we’re talking about what could have been a 15 minute cab ride turned into an hour). As I sat in the taxi freaking out about how crowded the cruise would be since we didn’t experience this traffic the year before, my concerns were alleviated once we got to the embarkation area for Princess. The line waiting was relatively short, and we were on the ship by 12:15.

Princess definitely has the embarkation process worked out. At noon, we went through security and were placed in lines of about 30 white, plastic chairs. Each row was called to the next giant room in order, and you waited in a short line to then get your cruise card. Again, we were on the ship by 12:15.

So, the duty-free store. Yes, it’s there. Yes, you can buy alcohol. And no, there was absolutely no bag check for us after this point. If we wanted to, and I’m not saying that it would be in line with Princess policy, we could have bought liquor bottles and brought them on board if we put them in my carry-on bag. I should clarify that I think we could have, but we didn’t. I like a variety with my alcoholic drinks and I’m not that much of a wine drinker anymore, due to getting migraine headaches (this detail is important… migraine headaches, that is). So, I’m not quite sure if there was security or something in the store prohibiting you from buying liquor, but there was no bag check after the store that we experienced.

So, we went to our stateroom (B608) which was a balcony stateroom. I knew it would be a small space, but wow. If you’ve been on Serenade of the Seas, you will think it’s small since there isn’t a couch. However, the closet area is amazing and the bathroom setup is great (despite there being a shower curtain). The bed was comfortable and the room was very clean (carpet in VERY good condition). Our stateroom attendant, Adonis, was very friendly. Though, when I asked for a sheet for our bed, he put it on top of the comforter/blanket, not under. I’m not one to complain, so we just left it that way.

I’ll post more about our first day later on.

Nice start.

Thanks for posting your thoughts. looking forward to reading more.....:):):)

Bob

I'm hooked, and waiting for more observations!

Day Two: 1/8/12 (continued)

I apologize to anyone who experienced our server later in the week. I should've said something to someone, and I didn't. Honestly, it's still nagging me as I write this.

So, here’s the deal on the anytime dining situation that I spoke of earlier. We went to our assigned dining room around 6:30 to ask for a table for two, and we were sat immediately. All good so far, except our table for two was actually a small round table for two that was right next to the serving station. It was in the back right of the Island Dining Room up a few steps.

Think of a compass for a second. I had to sit at “S”, my partner at “E”, and the serving station was at “N”. I had a wonderful view of the serving station.

What I can say is that our main server was possibly the rudest server I’ve had in the past couple of years in any dining venue. What bothers me is that we didn’t take down his name nor the table number. I will forever regret not saying something to someone at some point. So, I’ll have to describe him. He was a middle-aged Filipino man who was sort of round. His assistant was a younger blond guy from the Ukraine. It was immediately apparent that the Filipino man liked bossing around his assistant. It was really off-putting. I felt bad for his assistant.

That said, our server never made eye contact with us, mumbled, and we went through over half of our main course without getting served more Diet Coke and without any more water. When we asked for more Diet Coke (“Could we please have some more Diet Coke” with smiles on our faces), he literally glared at us and said something along the lines of “it’s coming.” He never engaged us in conversation and was just generally a grump. And if you’re going to scrape the bread crumbs off the table, scrape them in your hand, not the ground, and do it for both of us. Not just one of us. He was an awful server and represents Princess very poorly.

I mind my P’s and Q’s and have very good table manners. I eat at restaurants from greasy diners to one of Michael Symon’s restaurants in Cleveland. I wouldn’t even expect this service at a restaurant about to be shut down by the health department. Again, I feel so stupid for not saying anything and not getting his name or our table number (for some reason 237 or 239 is coming to mind). I was honestly shocked because our service on the Serenade of the Seas was amazing the year before and set my expectation for good service on a cruise ship. Our food was good (not great) and the deserts were small yet enjoyable. I can’t remember what we specifically had, but the prime rib was good.

I would love to know what his deal was, but it made me uncomfortable. There was a small part of me that thought he didn’t like serving two males, or assumed that two 30 year-old males would be obnoxious (which we aren’t). I don’t know what it was. I try not to assume things.

So, that was the other low point of the cruise. As I write this, I may still write to Princess Cruises in case they can figure out who it was based on my description.

Oh, I forgot… there is one other low point… and it involves a fellow passenger who decided that it was appropriate to talk politics and race relations during an excursion in Tortola with anyone who would listen. That’ll come later.

Oh good, another Caribbean Princess review. I'll be sailing on her in April, although on the other itinerary. Still I'm looking forward to hearing about your experiences on the ship. I don't have a hotel reservation yet so we'll avoid the Intercontinental (you're not the first one to give it a thumbs down).

Can't wait to hear the rest of it :)

Day Two: 1/8/12 (continued)

 

I apologize to anyone who experienced our server later in the week. I should've said something to someone, and I didn't. Honestly, it's still nagging me as I write this.

 

So, here’s the deal on the anytime dining situation that I spoke of earlier. We went to our assigned dining room around 6:30 to ask for a table for two, and we were sat immediately. All good so far, except our table for two was actually a small round table for two that was right next to the serving station. It was in the back right of the Island Dining Room up a few steps.

 

Think of a compass for a second. I had to sit at “S”, my partner at “E”, and the serving station was at “N”. I had a wonderful view of the serving station.

 

What I can say is that our main server was possibly the rudest server I’ve had in the past couple of years in any dining venue. What bothers me is that we didn’t take down his name nor the table number. I will forever regret not saying something to someone at some point. So, I’ll have to describe him. He was a middle-aged Filipino man who was sort of round. His assistant was a younger blond guy from the Ukraine. It was immediately apparent that the Filipino man liked bossing around his assistant. It was really off-putting. I felt bad for his assistant.

 

That said, our server never made eye contact with us, mumbled, and we went through over half of our main course without getting served more Diet Coke and without any more water. When we asked for more Diet Coke (“Could we please have some more Diet Coke” with smiles on our faces), he literally glared at us and said something along the lines of “it’s coming.” He never engaged us in conversation and was just generally a grump. And if you’re going to scrape the bread crumbs off the table, scrape them in your hand, not the ground, and do it for both of us. Not just one of us. He was an awful server and represents Princess very poorly.

 

I mind my P’s and Q’s and have very good table manners. I eat at restaurants from greasy diners to one of Michael Symon’s restaurants in Cleveland. I wouldn’t even expect this service at a restaurant about to be shut down by the health department. Again, I feel so stupid for not saying anything and not getting his name or our table number (for some reason 237 or 239 is coming to mind). I was honestly shocked because our service on the Serenade of the Seas was amazing the year before and set my expectation for good service on a cruise ship. Our food was good (not great) and the deserts were small yet enjoyable. I can’t remember what we specifically had, but the prime rib was good.

 

I would love to know what his deal was, but it made me uncomfortable. There was a small part of me that thought he didn’t like serving two males, or assumed that two 30 year-old males would be obnoxious (which we aren’t). I don’t know what it was. I try not to assume things.

 

So, that was the other low point of the cruise. As I write this, I may still write to Princess Cruises in case they can figure out who it was based on my description.

 

Oh, I forgot… there is one other low point… and it involves a fellow passenger who decided that it was appropriate to talk politics and race relations during an excursion in Tortola with anyone who would listen. That’ll come later.

I would think regardless of name, they would know by the table number or even close as you have alluded to well worth a shot with the way you were treated

Pete

Day Three: 1/9/12

Today was our Turtle Cove Catamaran Sail & Snorkel excursion. Having done a St. John snorkel last year, I love this area of the Caribbean. I was looking forward to a short excursion with a little bit of activity and some sun.

While not the best snorkeling spot in the Caribbean and a little crowded with other snorkelers, there is nothing like seeing some sea turtles along the bottom of the ocean floor eating some breakfast. It was basically about an hour sail, an hour snorkel, and followed by an hour sail back. It was fun, relaxing, and the crew was very friendly. Oh, and it turns out that I have a slight fear of not being able to tell if something is floating up behind me (e.g., a shark; a sting ray). Nothing was… but it started freaking me out a little bit. Our excursion was not sold out and had maybe 24 people. They said something about how the ship can hold almost 80.

The downside? Having a migraine during the sail back and keeping it to myself while pretending that the sun was getting to me and putting a towel over my head. But, I had a really good time. I’ve been on better and longer excursions, but this was a perfect excursion if you’re looking for an active, 3-hour excursion in St. Thomas. And if someone with a migraine likes it, then it must be good. J

After taking some meds for my migraine, the rest of the day was spent relaxing at the Neptune Pool, which is perfect if you want to take a quick dip, have a drink, and avoid the noise of the Movies Under the Star pool (or whatever its real name is… Reef Pool, maybe?). We spent almost all of our pool time at the Neptune Pool. The Reef Pool was a little too loud; and the adults-only pool was too small/crowded and too close to the kid’s area. I never really went near the Sanctuary/Lotus Spa pool area.

One suggestion to newbies to Princess is to ask your room attendant to have two sets of pool towels in your room at all times if he/she doesn't do that already for you. It helps if you’re going on a water-based excursion in the morning and then pool time in the afternoon (or vice versa).

What I can say very positively about Princess staff is that they really are everywhere trying to sell you some alcohol. While I definitely won’t object, I found that it was usually faster to just walk to the bar and get the drink myself (Perhaps I should relax?). May I recommend the 24k Gold Margarita on the rocks ($7.95 or so)? Yum.

What also surprised me about Princess was the price of alcohol, in a good way. Not bad at all if you live in a large city. Plus the drinks were top shelf. I’ll take a smallish $7.95 martini with top shelf liquor from the bar on the Promenade Deck of the atrium over a larger $9.00 martini with borderline well liquor from the bar down my street anytime. My favorite? The black martini, straight-up. Yum.

Up next? We eat raw meat and have a good steak.

And feel free to ask me any random questions you may have...

Great review so far Ohio !

I love your ability to move past stupidity and still enjoy ! We leave in 34 days and just can't wait ! Thanks a lot ! Will be waiting for more ! Ted

Hey great to see someone from Cleveland. I live in Mayfield. Going on this exact cruise march 18th. Im 23 and this will be my 9th cruise. 2nd with princess. I was very happy with the 1st one, aside from the night life on the ship. I dont know if i went during an off time, or if princess is predominantly geared toward an older crowd. I love the class 5 star service, but i still like to let loose a bit at night.

Did you get a chance to experience any of the clubs or bars at night?

Hey great to see someone from Cleveland. I live in Mayfield. Going on this exact cruise march 18th. Im 23 and this will be my 9th cruise. 2nd with princess. I was very happy with the 1st one, aside from the night life on the ship. I dont know if i went during an off time, or if princess is predominantly geared toward an older crowd. I love the class 5 star service, but i still like to let loose a bit at night.

 

Did you get a chance to experience any of the clubs or bars at night?

The Princess mean age is probably around 50 whereas CCL and RCL are probably 35 (you need to factor in the kids), HAL is probably 60+. Just my observation, not based on any statistics. Shorter cruises will trend lower.

5 star service? According to ???

excited to read more. I'll be going on the cruise this November. Do you have any pictures of the trip??

PJ

Looking forward to the rest of our review!

Hey great to see someone from Cleveland. I live in Mayfield. Going on this exact cruise march 18th. Im 23 and this will be my 9th cruise. 2nd with princess. I was very happy with the 1st one, aside from the night life on the ship. I dont know if i went during an off time, or if princess is predominantly geared toward an older crowd. I love the class 5 star service, but i still like to let loose a bit at night.

 

Did you get a chance to experience any of the clubs or bars at night?

Yes, we hit up a couple (ok...all) of the bars throughout the week. Given being in your 20's, I would recommend the casino bar or Skywalkers after 10pm (18th deck). If you're looking for W. 6th, E. 4th, or Ohio City (Clevelanders will get this reference), it's not what you'll find. It's not super trendy, but they played great 70's - 10's music throughout the night. Agnes was typically our bar server, and she did a really great job keeping us with drinks. The pool bars typically cleared out a little after dinnertime. This ship was not like what I've heard about Carnival cruises, but it was on par with what I experienced with Serenade of the Seas last January. The bars in the middle of the ship tended to trend towards an older/calmer crowd, so while we did spend some time drinking martinis listening to jazz music, we also enjoyed Skywalkers.

I'll speak to the other poster's comment about the average age on the cruise later in my review (it's a fairly complicated situation, in my opinion). While the average age was probably older than Carnival, there were more kids under 18 than what I experienced on Serenade of the Seas. At times, I felt like I was on 3 or 4 different cruises at the same time.

Day Three: 1/9/12 (continued)

So, we went to the Crown Grille for dinner at 6:30pm this night to celebrate my partner’s birthday. We were seated immediately at a table for two and had a good dinner. I particularly enjoyed the cart with the random cuts of meat wrapped in saran wrap. More for the absurdity of it, but it was nice.

While I enjoy really good food, I’m not adventurous by any stretch of the imagination. So, while in Rome (or the Caribbean), we had the carpaccio of pine nut-coated lamb loin with gooseberry chutney. Um, that was an interesting experience. Very tasty, but I’m not sure I’m that much of a raw meat type of person. This was followed by The Grill Salad, which was, well, to be honest, a salad. Nothing too special, but the dressing was extremely tasty.

For the main course, we both had the New York Strip, one cooked medium rare (I would get rare, but I only save that for restaurants I’ve been too) and one cooked medium (boring!). They were very tasty and cooked perfectly. I especially liked some of the special salts they brought around. Try them out, but don’t go overboard.

And what I’ll say is that we had asparagus and mashed potatoes, but my partner loved, loved, loved the creamed corn. For him to say something positive about food, I have to take his word for it. So, try the creamed corn. Honestly. For $50 plus a tip, I felt like it was worth it. However, I was just reminded from across the room that it took entirely too long to get another Diet Coke when he was without a beverage, even though he could stare at it from across the room, sitting there, waiting for him. I've said this elsewhere on these message boards, but Princess should do a better job with serving people soda who don't like wine with their dinner.

Great review, did you have to take your passport or was a copy ok when you did the virgin gorda excursion? Can't wait to read more!

Seadeck2

Really enjoying your review :) We also had bad service a few times in that dining room on our cruise in Oct/Nov and your bad server sounds like one of our bad servers.......hmmmmmmm

I am also a fan of the 24 K Ritas...on the rocks, salt the rim and no orange extra lime.....YUM

excited to read more. I'll be going on the cruise this November. Do you have any pictures of the trip??

 

PJ

Yes, but all 500 of them are on my camera. I will post a section with pictures once I get them loaded on my computer. I promise.

Great review, did you have to take your passport or was a copy ok when you did the virgin gorda excursion? Can't wait to read more!

Seadeck2

I carry my passport with me in my bag whenever I leave the ship. That said, besides "punching" my Princess cruise card when leaving the ship, no one asked to see any identification other than the cruise card when going through Port Security after the excursion and when getting back on the ship.

I carry my passport all the time onshore in case something goes awry and I'm stuck on the island. But never in my back pocket.

I've pasted some pictures below of the Caribbean Princess on our first day. More pics to occasionally follow in the review.

Neptune Pool

Reef Pool

Adults Only Pool

Day Four: 1/10

Waking up in Tortola was exciting. Having never been the island, we really didn’t know what to expect. After a stop at the buffet (may I recommend the banana nut bread?), we went outside to look at the craft tents to pick up a magnet and then to get in line for our excursion. Nothing really exciting, and we didn't venture into whatever city there was.

Before that, here’s my review of the Horizon Court & Caribe Café breakfast buffets:

And remember how I mentioned 2 low points of the trip and then remembered a 3rd? Well, here’s where it begins.

A word of wisdom to travelers: Don’t talk politics, religion, or race while in line for an excursion. And please don’t assume everyone agrees with you. A man in his 60’s, traveling alone until his wife showed up for the 2nd 7-day portion of this cruise, from Southern California would talk to anyone, and I mean anyone, about his views on politics, religion, and race. It took everything in my power to not turn around and either punch the guy or scream at him when he said that black kids in America can’t hold pencils. And his very inappropriate and false thoughts on people who vote for candidates from one political party. Not based on anything factual; just based on what he heard somewhere. He said a bunch of other things while in line and while in a van this day. I’ll spare you all the details, but he was truly awful. My favorite part was when he assumed the political leanings of a civilian that works for a branch of the armed services. His assumption was incorrect.

I’m proud of my partner, because we had joked prior to this vacation that we better not have a repeat of what happened in Antigua last year. In a van of 20 people, he ended up saying rather loudly “I’m glad I’m in a van trapped with a bunch of racists” after listening to 4 people from S. Florida go on about their views. What is it with people?! And when white people from Ohio are calling you racist, there’s probably an issue (meaning that Midwesterners usually don’t like making scenes). This year he kept his mouth shut because saying something wasn't going to change this guy's opinions. And it was really interesting to hear racist and closed-minded thoughts expressed so openly. Though I would venture to guess that he wouldn't think he was racist.

So, the Baths at Virgin Gorda… 140 people on a two story boat (30-45 minute ride), 10 minute van ride, and then a 5 minute talk with the tour guide. At this point, we walked about 5-10 minutes by ourselves at the front of the pack through the trees to the beach, and then took off on a 15 minute walk through the giant rocks. It was beautiful, save for the piece of human feces floating in the water. And I know what I saw. Ick.

We spent about an hour or so on a small beach area. The water was crystal clear and beautiful. It was relaxing, and I enjoyed it very much.

Here's some pics from the day:

We then walked about 15 minutes back to the vans, got some run punch at a restaurant by the vans, 10 minute van ride to dock, and then waited about 20 minutes for everyone to get back to the dock. And then, there was another 30-45 minute boat ride back to the cruise ship in Tortola.

If you’re looking for an action-packed excursion, do something else. It wasn’t the most beautiful place I’ve ever been, but it was very pretty, relaxing, and I’m glad that I went. I really enjoy being able to float in calm ocean water and still being able to see the ocean floor 10-15 feet below me. It was a perfect day except for the occaional sprinkle and crazy person.

And please don’t talk politics, religion, or race when in line with strangers. Or on a van with strangers. Or with strangers. Ever. Please.

Thanks for posting your review. I'm enjoying it. You mentioned a black martini - what is a black martini?