Princess Caribbean 3/19- 3/26 cruise review

My name is John im 17 years old , I will try to write a decent review coming from a teens perspective

We stayed at the marriot on friday night it was a nice hotel very close to the pier. Embarkation was very smooth. It was the fastest I have ever got on a boat we went to the pier about 12:30 got on liek 1:20 or so. So they did a very good job with that.

I was in a inside room it was a bit smaller then other cruises and bathrooms were really small. Im 6 ft 1 and it was pretty hard to take a nice shower. My parents had a big room with a balcony and the balcony was nice size.

Now I will talk about the teen center

This was my 7th cruise and definitely had the best teen center out of any I have been on before. There is a small room with about 7 or 8 different T.Vs so you can play new play station two games.The whole room in general is pretty

big with about 4 or 5 couches, A big screen TV which at times you play video games on and the rest they played music videos. They had a DJ most of the time or a Jukebox. Also there is a small dance floor with about 9 TVs connected together to make a big screen which they use for music videos or sometimes movies.They also have about 4 tables and chairs, with a lot of different board games,cards, and poker chips. The teen staff was very friendly with the expect ion of one but three on them were only on the boat for one week because they are teachers and just did it over spring break. There was always something going on for teens while the boat was at sea. There is definitely something to do all the time. At night around midnight you go down to club fusion and 2 nights they have a princess idol which is karaoke, They also have dances then and every night with DJ Ron there's an open bar they have virgin pina coladas , strawberry daiquiris and soda. It is a very big place set up like a lounge with TVs and a big dance floor. That's enough about that. One last thing if this is your first cruise or even if its not and you haven't heard of a soda card. I would recommend a soda card which I believe was $ 22.50 its a very good deal if you drink soda a lot because I think sodas were $1.50 or even alittle more and its good for the whole cruise including dinner which I drank a lot of soda around 3 at dinner so it was good deal for me and you also just show it and don't have to wait and sign the bill and all that.

I read a review that said something about underage drinking. The mentioned there wasn't a lot of it. I would have to disagree I don't know how late the person was up but around midnight 1 am there was more drunk kids then I have ever seen on a cruise. Kids could buy stuff in St.Maarten even St.Thomas and sneak it on the boat but there was a ton of drunk kids and kids that were high. But most of that didn't occur till after midnight.

Another thing to do at night is Movie under the stars... Definitely the ships best feature. It is a huge screen with amazing speakers. They play new movies and also classics plus Live concerts. You have to reserve spots at night but you or on a lounge chair on comfortable padding they give you a blanket and pillow and also popcorn. They also play movies during the day great to watch while getting a tan.

They have a great number of pools and hot tubs so they weren't really over crowded at anytime. They have a tennis court with a basketball hoop on it so if kids are playing basketball you cant play tennis. Up there also is two ping pong tables and a big game of chess. Its a chess board with pieces that were over 2 feet high.

There is a libary where you can get a wide variety of books and they also have like 3 pages of news so you can see whats going on in the world. A nice size card room with alot of tables plenty of games as well. Not many decks of cards though is the "card room" the internet cafe had a ton of computers and that was 35 cents a minute.

I didn't attend many shows went to the magician who was decent and both comedians were A plus very funny. The problem is the lounges and the theatre or small. That was the biggest boat I have been on in my 7 cruises with the most people and out of the 7 ships it was the smallest theater that is why you have to get there like 15 to 20 minutes before the show starts. the lounges are also small where the comedians are usually at and also fill up.So that was kind of disappointing how small the theater was.

Dinner in the dining room was pretty good. We had a good waiter and had great service. For the most part the menus were pretty good.They always have certain items you can always get. A vegetarian menu and then the regular menu which is different every night and that as good expect Tuesday Wednesday were pretty bad unless you like fish and then they had a spaghetti with rabbit that didn't interest me to much .Ethier of those nights would be a good night to go to the steak house. And you can always see the menus at anytime during the day outside the island dining room on floor 5 mid ship. The desserts were fairly good they always had a souffle. They didn't do any dancing or singing, They did on the last night little but usually they dance with things on there head or sing which is always fun to watch but none of that.

Room service was fine when ever we ordered it they were down there pretty quickly with the food.

Lunch buffet That didn't really interest me too much as most of the time the food was cold so I would recommend going to the Dining room for lunch if you have time. Wasn't up early enough for breakfast, But I did go to the dining room twice and it was good the food is defiantly hot.

The pizza parlor was good the first two days and then went down hill from there the cheese wasn't even all the way melted on the pizza. The sandwich place with chicken and hamburgers also had hotdog's that was good all week.

Room service was fine when ever we ordered it they were down there pretty quickly with the food.

Cafe Caribe is a good place to go if your up in between 11 PM and 4 am they have steak,omelettes , fish and a couple other dishes , soups and salads if you sit down and order. Also there is a small buffet line with fruit, sandwiches,pizza,desserts,salads and a couple other things.

There is an ice cream place and on the ship you have to pay for ice cream

I don't remember the price but it was good ice cream and you can get special kinds for 3.75 or scoops were around 1.50 or so.

I guess I will talk alittle about the place I went.

In St.Maarten we went to a beach bash. We booked it online at port promotions. There web site is http://www.portpromotions.com there phone number is 1-800-929-4548. The tour cost 40 dollars when we booked online, I head it was more on the ship but im not sure. They are waiting for you when you get off the boat and had a bus for you to take where you go to bikini beach which is part of orient beach. It was a fantastic beach white sand and the water was very nice , clear and no rocks or see weed any of that. They have deck chairs and umbrellas that cost like 6 bucks for each chair and 3 for each and umbrella but its included if you do the tour. You also are given tickets for lunch and have a choice of Mahi Mahi, BBQ ribs or BBQ chicken all served with a salad, rice and vegetables. We looked on the menu walking out and the prices were about 15 to 19 dollars for those meals. You are also given a drink card you are given one fruit or rum punch then you have a ticket which allows you any non frozen alcoholic beverage.

On the beach they have shops and plenty of bars, people brading hair. They also have water sport rentals, Jet skis are 45 dollars for 30 minutes or like 80 for an hour. It was a fun time with big waves out there. They also have pairsaling and kayaks, banana boats. All cost money they also have a water trampoline looked fun didn't do it. You can stay as long as you want but don't forget to get on the boat. So it is something you don't want to pass up if you don't have anything booked you definitely get your moneys worth. The bus will ethier take you back to the pier or to town. Then if you go to town you need a taxi to get back.

In St. Thomas we walked around town it was nice a lot of shops.Then went on the kon tiki rum boat which was 35 dollars or so. All the rum punch you can drink your on a boat they take you around the island then when you get to the middle of the ocean they open up part of the boat which was glass bottom. They then take you to an island nothing special. A lot of see weed in the water have to go out aways to touch nice sand. They have a party on the way back and do the limbo. If you cant find anything to do then you might enjoy this but it wasn't really anything too special.

Princess cays the private island was pretty nice. They had bars and people taking your orders, shops and everything was charged to your room. You could get kayaks and other water sport things there ... no jet skis. They had beach volleyball and a basketball court on the other side. They had plenty of chairs.

Overall it was a pretty fun cruise always something to do. My room steward did a good job. Everyone on the boat for the most part was friendly. I hope you liked my review if you have any questions feal free to email me at Jmurar06@aol.com or write them on here and I will try to get back to you ASAP.

Outstanding review John!

I'm sorry to hear about the under age drinking and some kids that were high. Too bad!

The important thing is that you had a great time and thanks for sharing.

Jonathan

Thanks and if you have any questions dont hesitate to ask.

Nice job on the review. You gave more detail than most people do and it's greatly appreciated!

Great review.. You sound very responsible. Your parents must be proud.. :D

Great review! Thanks so much for taking the time to write it! Can't wait till next month!!!!!

Thanks for the review. It sounds like you had a great cruise!

How many cruises have you been on? It sounds like you have cruised quite a bit. I am curious how you compare the lines you have cruised on.

John,

Thank you for your detailed review. You did a great job. I especially enjoyed all the information about the food options.

John -- Thanks for taking the time to write such a comprehensive review. A lot of us have had questions about the teen program, but we usually get responses only from the parents. Yours gave us a lot more information !! Do you have any idea how many teens were on your cruise, and how it broke down by age ?? Were the younger teens sort of off by themselves, or did everyone hang out together ?? Did you do either of the teen dinners instead of eating with your own family ? Thanks in advance for your input--

Thanks for writing a very good review.

Scott

John,

Thank you for taking the time to write your review. We are part of a group of 30 taking this cruise in June. There will be 4 teens in our group ages 13 - 16. I have been wondering how they will like the ship, what there is to do for them, etc. Most of the reviews come from adults commenting on what they see teens doing. Thank you for letting us know from a teen perspective. Glad you had a fun time on your cruise.

tootiesmom :)

I have been on 7 cruises in the last 5 years.

Carnival - It is my personal favorite as I have sailed on the Conquest,Triumph, and Inspiration. There teen programs are all definitely awesome pretty much what carnival strives in things for kids. They have a great teen staff and always different things to do. There were arcades and the usual teen clubs. I think I had more fun on these because of the people I was around and didn't meet the same group of people on the princess.

Royal Caribbean - They have a decent teen program think its probably the worst of the 7 cruises I have been on. I was on Enchantment of the seas which there teen program was horrible but that was four years ago. I went on the Serenade of the Seas in August and they had a fairly good teen program. A lot of different things to do.

Norwegian - I went on the Norway a couple years ago which I think is now out of service because of a boiler room accident, but it was a ship of its own very unique and I enjoyed it. Don't really know how the new Norwegian ships are.

Princess - The Caribbean of the Princess is definitely probably one of the best boats around for teens for doing things. I really like Carnival and would do that over a princess again because the food and shows are better. You can also go to almost any show and not have to stand cause the theaters are big enough.

But on the princess as I said it had all kind of Video games for teens to play even in the 10 to 13 year old room they had pretty much the same set up.They have a basketball hoop and tennis court if you want to do that and its lighted so you can feel free to go play whenever you wish. Ping pong. Forgot to mention the Miniature Golf course its ok but hard to play on cause the ball rolls. There is a Golf simulator not sure how much it cost but im sure it cost some amount of money. Also with the huge game of chess out there. A lot of different pools and hot tubs which close around midnight or 1 am.

Back to the teen center there is so many games and things going on they have ice cream eating contests,card game completions,teen feud played like family feud, Movie trivia game,scavenger hunts. There is always something to do on the boat and I was up till 3 am or so every night sometimes later you can go eat in the caribe cafe or just sit on lounge chairs and talk with friends.

Also the best feature I have seen on a boat and definitely a fan favorite is the Movie under the stars. Always something going on they play Big, Grease, Finding Nemo different movies like that during the day and things like the incredible's,mean girls, pirates of the Caribbean to Beyonce or Tina Turner in concert. The screen is huge and the sound is amazing. So if you go your sure to be busy the whole trip.

So if I had to pick to go on any cruise line overall it would be Carnival if I had to pick with number of things to do for kids it would definitely be the Princess Caribbean.

I am so glad everyone liked my review and anytime a question comes up I don't mind answering it as I said email me at Jmurar06@aol.com or just respond here and hope everyone had a great Easter

I know there is a thing for 10 to 12 year olds I think wish I could give you more I don't know how late it goes or what they do but they stay in one place and are supervised.

Then its 13 to 17 I think which has a great teen center which is open to midnight usually sometimes a teen person stays in the center and then its also open after the dance usually till 3.

The teens go to Club fusion from midnight to 2 most nights and just hang out there and after that hang out around the ship most of the time outside.

I think most of the teens are in atleast groups of four or more usually more and just all hang out together and have a fun time.It being Spring break and over 350 teens there was a lot of big groups there hanging out. So for the most part people are in groups and if they are wondering around its pretty safe. There is actually youth security on the boat that makes sure everything's going well.

So there was a lot of teens on this cruise and it was a lot of fun and Everyone had fun as I said a ton of underage drinking occurred there were room parties but that was certain groups of teens but everyone for the most part acted responsible and if they weren't youth security made them go to bed.

Hope this helps!

I'm glad you liked my review

John

Two questions if I may...

Have they stopped taking reservations for MUTS at night? Is it now first come...

Also, is the basketball court working for basketball? I have heard that no one is allowed to use it anymore because of the pounding of the ball for the floor below...

The Basketball thing isnt a great set up. There is a tennis court and on the side of the tennis court like right off the edge is a basketball hoop where you can play it looked like you could play 2 on 2 or maybe alittle 3 on 3.As far as

being able to get a basketball from like pursers desk no clue and they didnt have them up by the courts so I imagine people brought there own but it always seemed like people were playing and in the cruise information where it says whats going on during the day they have basketball on there. Also if you like tennis bring your own racket cause they arent tennis rackets. There alot smaller and kind of like a ping pong thing but alittle bigger.

What do you mean by Muts?

Thanks for the basketball info...

MUTS Movies under the Stars. I thought I had read they did not take reservations anymore for a confirmed lounge chair for the night movies.

As far as movie under the stars goes in the day in first come first serve. In the cruise news for the day it will tell you which movie requires a resveration and you might not even need it. I never used the reservation as the only time I went was when it was like a teen movie at midnight. I know people had popcorn during movies where reservations were required so I would say just check with the pursers desk.

Thanks for a great review. Your comment about Carnival having better food is interesting. Was this in the dining room, buffet area, or your overall impression?

The Carnival ship definitely had better meals in the dining room that a lot of people would enjoy. On the princess the Maitre D even told us about one of the menus that they are trying to change it but it has to go through Princess Headquarters but the menu was just gross and didn't meet many peoples needs. as I said if you like Fish you will be fine cause the I had almost every fish they offered and same with the lobster it was good. The steak and prime rib were fairly good I just think Carnival offers a better selection. Another thing I like about Carnival and other ships is that the waiters sing for you or dance around with plates or whatever on there head and it makes it a fun time. The only thing done on the Princess was they walked around with the baked Alaska that had a flame on it pretty cool but not close to what other ships do.

As far the buffet go I would say they offer similar foods but on Carnival and even Royal Caribbean the food on the buffet is hot. I am sure if you go right when its open its hot but if you go the middle of lunch time you will get cold food unless they just brought it out. The food was also not very good so if you have the time I would say go to the Dining room. You get good service and hotter food. But if you want a quick bite to eat then the buffet is your only choice. They also have pizza I read something from a cruise review of the week before I went and they said it was the best pizza on a cruise they have had , I wouldn't want to eat any pizza then cause on Princess it was pretty bad again the cheese wasn't even melted and the pizza was soggy and gross. The burgers and chicken were fine.

Also on Carnival they had a deli were you could get a wide variety of sandwiches including delicious hot reubens and then also a Chinese place so Carnival is definitely a step above Princess maybe a couple steps above them so I would say overall on all aspects of food Carnival wins.

How do the different age groups work? strictly by calendar age, parent / kid choice, etc My 12.5 year old daughter will likely be happier in the 13-17 group :) than in the 10-12 group :eek: I don't expect many children will be onboard the first week of May either way...

As far as that goes im not sure. I know you take your kid to register on this cruise you have to fill out a little card before your kid can go in the teen center. I believe you can talk to the teen people and ask them but I dont think they will let you go in Club Fusion unless your 13 so you will have to check that out.