Just Back from Caribbean Princess -- Review

Caribbean Princess – March 19-26

Itinerary: Ft. Lauderdale, St. Thomas, St. Marten, Princess Cays, Ft. Lauderdale

Embarkation:

An absolute breeze! Dropped off at the front at 2:20pm and met by a bunch of friendly porters, into the reception hall, filled out a “Norwalk Virus” questionnaire, and proceeded to Dolphin Deck “Express Check-In” There was only 1 other couple in front of us, so we were checked-in extremely quickly. Scanning up and down the check-in line, there were only 3-4 people in any other line. After that was completed, we went through the Welcome Aboard photo, then directly onto the gangway and into the ship. Total time was only 18 minutes and everyone we met along the way was very friendly and courteous.

First Impressions:

The ship is beautiful…lots of dark wood, granite countertops everywhere, and subdued colors with brass accents. It reminded me of being in a very expensive hotel lobby. We went directly to our cabin, D616 (a mini-suite on the Dolphin Deck). The room was perfect…plenty of room and we really loved the exposed balcony! Almost immediately after we walked into the cabin, our room steward, Arnaldo, knocked and introduced himself. Arnaldo is a great gentleman from the Philippines who really took pride in his work, and our room was always perfect! We walked around the ship and the layout of the decks are very easy to navigate, although I must admit I did have to use the pocket-sized map of the ship on more than one occasion to find where we were going! We got a great Pina Colada from one of the many bars, and then headed to the buffet for lunch.

Breakfast and Lunch:

I’ll start with Café Caribe and the Horizon Court. Both are located in the aft of the ship on deck 15. Between these two buffets, you can always get some food 24 hours a day. We ate in one of these 2 buffets everyday for both breakfast and lunch, and had dinner in the Horizon Court once. My overall impression of the food was good but nothing special. There was a rather limited variety, and they tended to serve the same dishes with only a couple of “new” items everyday. One exception to this was their Sushi lunch…VERY good! We never ate breakfast or lunch in the dining room so I’ve got no comments on that. However, the burger/hotdog/French fries and the Pizza place located next to the Calypso pool served awesome food…perfect for a deck-chair lunch or snack.

Dinner:

We signed up for Personal Choice dining, and had dinner at Sterling Steakhouse and Sabatini’s Trattoria as well. Food and service at Sterling’s was good, but the ambiance was not as “nice” as I would have expected. It felt to me like we were eating in a nice chain restaurant. (side note--when on Carnival Legend last year, we ate at the Golden Fleece restaurant, and were blown away by every aspect of the place….I expected that Princess would have taken their “additional fee” restaurant above and beyond that of Carnival…unfortunately they didn’t.) Sabatini’s had a much nicer atmosphere and the food was very good, however we felt that we were hurried in order to turn the table for the next group.

The next night, we had dinner in the Horizon Court. I had read on another thread that the food in the Horizon Court for dinner was exactly the same as what was served in the dining room, but just buffet style. That was not accurate. The food we did have was just OK.

We ate in the dining rooms for the remaining nights. We never had confirmed reservations; we just walked up and asked for a table. Once we were sat immediately, and the others we were given one of those beepers, and were called for our table in the exact amount of time it took to go and get a Martini! Our experience in the dining rooms was perfection. The service was unparalleled, and the food was the best on the ship… that includes the food in Sterling and Sabastini’s.

Entertainment:

The cruise director James did a good job, and there was just the right amount of announcements and activities happening each day. We saw both of the comedians, the magician, and one of the “big” shows. All were good, but nothing super special. One day at sea we sat around the MUTS screen and really liked that feature of the Caribbean Princess. The quality of the picture and the surround sound were just as good as sitting in any movie theater! We never saw one of the actual MUTS at night, but we heard very good reviews of those as well. We went to Skywalkers nightclub twice, and it was great! Good music and the place was really jumping!

Spa and Gym:

We worked out in the state of the art facility every day, and also utilized the rubberized running track as well. Reminded me of Gold’s Gym…everything was very new, and clean. We only had to wait for a machine on the first day, but never again. I booked the “hot stone” massage and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I also got the professional teeth whitening service, and am very happy with the results.

Service:

We had breakfast delivered a few mornings to our cabin, and only called on room service once. Food was always the correct temperature, and they were very prompt with their timing. Drink service on the decks couldn’t have been better…I never had to wait for a drink. The servers were everywhere, yet were not obtrusive or annoying. We purchased a “soda stickers” and it was a great deal for us, as I like to drink quite a few Diet Cokes. All the bartenders were friendly and very efficient.

Excursions and Port of Call:

We didn’t take any excursions through the ship. In St. Thomas we utilized Sunny Liston Tours, and would definitely recommend him! His tour was awesome, and is such an engaging and genuinely nice guy. In St. Marten we shopped and then took a taxi to Orient Beach for a great day in the sand. Princess Cays was beautiful, and we enjoyed our time there a lot.

Debarkation:

This is always a stressful time, as we are all trying to exit the boat, get our luggage and then get out to the airport. We had an early flight, and from the time our color was called to the time we were out on the curb waiting for our transportation was about 30 minutes. As always, it is worth the money to get a porter! Princess did their best to control the chaos, and I thought they did the best they could under the circumstances.

Overall:

This was a beautiful ship and the weather and service couldn’t have been better! If I were to do the same cruise again tomorrow (I only wish!) the only thing I would change would be to have eaten in the dining room every night. I cannot say enough good things about Princess and the Caribbean Princess. Can’t wait to do it again

Each of these reviews I read makes me even more anxious to get onboard and cruise. Still have a few months left, but enjoyed your comments.

Hate to know you didn't enjoy the HC and CC food better. Dh and I aren't much for the regular dining room, but do enjoy that area, plus the specialty restaurants. We will see what we think when we go. So far, I have never let someone else's review keep me from trying and enjoying. :D

Thanks again...Deena

Thanks for the great review!!! I do have a question...when I was on the ship in February, the second night was a formal night and the Caribe Cafe had unlimited lobster tails and king crab legs. I noticed that you didn't care for your dinner the second night :confused: ...did they not have these things or do you not care for shell fish? Again thanks for the review...I had a wonderful time as well. I will be going again in 12 days...yea!!!

Nicecara,

We ate in Sabatini's on the second night, which was formal night and their menu is the same every night, so they didn't have the seafood extravangaza. However, I remember everyone talking about the lobster and crab legs in the Caribe Cafe...and everyone was raving about them! Enjoy your cruise...I'm jealous!

Thank you for a wonderful review. You make it sound very luxurious!:D

I can't wait until July, I also have a Dolphin deck room.

Quick questions, is it going to be crowed with my wife, daugther (8) and myself in there? Were there recliners or just chairs on the balcony? If just chairs, was the balcony big enough for recliners and could you ask for them?

Thanks agian,

Ron

Ron,

There were just 2 of us in the room, and had PLENTY of room. There is a fold-out couch in the "sitting area" that will more than accomodate an 8 year old child. With the bed out, it will make it a little tight, but I believe you will be very comfortable.

For the decks, there are 4 chairs (2 reclining with pads and 2 non-recliners) and a small table...there were no chairs like you see on the upper decks for sun bathing. You might be able to fit a chair like that out on the deck, but I think it might be a little too big for the deck.

Enjoy your cruise on CP....you'll love it~!

Rollsf16:

Thanks for checking out our room (we'll be in D616 starting 4/23:D ) and letting us know how it is! Hopefully we will end up with Arnaldo as well.

A great review - thanks for taking the time to write it!

Alice

Thanks for the review. We will be sailing on our first Princess cruise April 9. We have been on 8 RCCL ships.

Since we had anytime dining we chose to spend our first formal night up in the Carife Cafe--casual. We had a wonderful meal, excellent one on one service with the server, and a grand bottle of wine. To top it off, we had a beautiful sunset. It was the perfect setting for us.

As we were invited to eat with a few other couples from our roll call on the second formal night, we did dress up knowing that the others would be in their best duds. It was in the Palm Dining Room. We had a nice dinner in there-but, couldn't wait to get back into our casual attire. We enjoyed our time on the ship very much last September. Lynne

My wife and I were also on this cruise. We had a fabulous time. The best surprise for us was the quality and selection of food available in the Caribe Cafe. We are both seafood lovers and this was like heaven for us.

I posted frequent updates during the week in a Live From the Caribbean Princess thread on this board, if anyone's interested in further reading on this cruise.

Alice,

You will absolutely love cabin D616. The room is located almost exactly half-way between 2 sets of stairs--aft leads you to the Caribe' Cafe & Horizon Court, and the forward puts you between the MUTS and the Calypso pool. We never had any "outside" noise from the hallway at all.

Arnaldo is a dream of a cabin steward, and you'll be amazed by his dedication and personality. He has a 1-year old little girl (not sure how it is spelled, but it is pronounced Gee-Em-eey) and I'm sure if you asked about her, you would make his day!

After our initial introductions, he called us both by "Mr Scott & Mrs Jen"...never once missing a beat!

Have a great time on the CP...we did!

Alice,

You will absolutely love cabin D616. The room is located almost exactly half-way between 2 sets of stairs--aft leads you to the Caribe' Cafe & Horizon Court, and the forward puts you between the MUTS and the Calypso pool. We never had any "outside" noise from the hallway at all.

Arnaldo is a dream of a cabin steward, and you'll be amazed by his dedication and personality. He has a 1-year old little girl (not sure how it is spelled, but it is pronounced Gee-Em-eey) and I'm sure if you asked about her, you would make his day!

After our initial introductions, he called us both by "Mr Scott & Mrs Jen"...never once missing a beat!

Have a great time on the CP...we did!

Thanks for the details. When we booked the cabin, it looked great (as you said, great location and all). However, it was one of the few cabins on the Dolphin deck that was not booked. I was hoping that we wouldn't get on the ship and find that D616 had some bizarre fault that we couldn't see online:eek: !

I'll definately remember to ask about Arnaldo's daughter - we are travelling with our 5 y.o. daughter as well. It must be hard for him (as well as other crew members) to be away from their families for so long.

Thanks again; glad that your cruise was so great!!

I was on the ship the week before you and read something about teeth whitening. I meant to find out who performed this service. Was it a licensed dentist or hygienist? Did the person apply a solution and use a special light?

I'm just curious to it being done in the spa atmosphere, in ONtario it can only be done in a dental office. Thanks,

The "Professional Teeth Whitening" (as it was called in the brochure) was performed by a dental hygienist right there in the spa. They started with a consultation where they determined my current tooth color. Then they applied a gel to my teeth and put a light directly in front of me for 7 minutes at a time, and they do that 5 times for a total of 35 minutes of treatment.

They advertise that they can increase your tooth color by 8-11 shades. When it was all over, I had a 9 shade increase in my tooth color and the guy sitting next to me had 11 shades of difference.

My teeth don’t look overly (or fake) white, but they are much whiter than they were. All in all--I was happy with the procedure.

The "Professional Teeth Whitening" (as it was called in the brochure) was performed by a dental hygienist right there in the spa. They started with a consultation where they determined my current tooth color. Then they applied a gel to my teeth and put a light directly in front of me for 7 minutes at a time, and they do that 5 times for a total of 35 minutes of treatment.

They advertise that they can increase your tooth color by 8-11 shades. When it was all over, I had a 9 shade increase in my tooth color and the guy sitting next to me had 11 shades of difference.

My teeth don’t look overly (or fake) white, but they are much whiter than they were. All in all--I was happy with the procedure.

Could you tell us the cost of this treatment? I've looked into but it seems expensive...Should it be done early on in the cruise or do they run a spa "special" later in the week?

Thanks...Em

Em,

The cost is $199 per person if you book alone, or $175 per person if you can find someone else to book with you at the same time...it doesn't have to be your friend or spouse, just you and another person booking at the same time. The spa did have a couple of "demonstrations" where people could ask questions of the treatment and there were people there that were "buddying-up" to get the discount. Also, they charge each person's ship card individually so that isn't a problem either. The actual name of the treatment they use is called "Gentle White".

As for "specials"...they didn't offer any for the teeth whitening (like they sometimes do at the end of the cruise or on port days).

I live in Phoenix, and had looked into the cost of this type of procedure and it was $349, so I think $175 was a good price.

Em,

The cost is $199 per person if you book alone, or $175 per person if you can find someone else to book with you at the same time...it doesn't have to be your friend or spouse, just you and another person booking at the same time. The spa did have a couple of "demonstrations" where people could ask questions of the treatment and there were people there that were "buddying-up" to get the discount. Also, they charge each person's ship card individually so that isn't a problem either. The actual name of the treatment they use is called "Gentle White".

 

As for "specials"...they didn't offer any for the teeth whitening (like they sometimes do at the end of the cruise or on port days).

I live in Phoenix, and had looked into the cost of this type of procedure and it was $349, so I think $175 was a good price.

Thanks Rollsf16...the cost is very very reasonable...here they wanted to charge upwards of $600... I'd take a chance for $200 epecially knowing someone who has done it and was pleased with the results..Hopefully my teeth will be as "white" as this smile..:D Many years of coffee and cola might have made them beyond help...

Rollsf16,

Sounds like you had a wonderful cruise on Caribbean Princess! I've got a couple of questions for you:

1. Did you have to book the teeth whitening early in the cruise? Did it fill up quick? How long did it take?

2. You mentioned that you didn't have any reservations for PC dining, but were able to get a table "in the exact time it takes to get a Martini!"--How were you able to do that?

LuvSun,

They were offering the teeth whitening the entire cruise, and I didn't get it done until the 3rd day of the cruise. I was able to get the exact time I wanted becuase they have 2 stations to do the treatment. The entire process took about 45 minutes fromt the time I walked in, until I was leaving the Spa.

For the PC dining, when I would call the concierge number to book a reservation for the dining rooms--I admit it was always an afterthought at about 3pm each day...the only reservation times were very early (not my style) or very late (not my style either). We would go to the early shows (around 7pm) then just walk up to the Maitre'd and he told us "I should have a table in about 20-40 minutes..please take this and it will flash when your table is ready" It was the exact same thing as you get at Outback/Olive Garden/TGI Fridays--looks like a coaster and flashes and buzzes when you are paged. Both times we had to wait, we went up a floor and stopped into the Martinin Bar, ordered a yummy martini, and just after we would take the first sip, the beeper would flash and we had a table ready. Worked like a champ!!

Thanks for your review and coming back to answer questions too!

Thanks for the terrific review. We'll be on the CB in August and can't wait!

A few questions about Sunny Liston Tours: What time did you meet them, and was there any problem getting to the meeting place on time? Did you pay be credit card when you reserved, or when you met at the dock? What is their cancellation policy in case of bad weather, etc.? Why did you pick Coki beach and how is the snorkeling there?

I would love to try this tour, but after missing our pre-arranged tour with a company in Belize 2 years ago on Carnival due to the late arrival in port and delay in immigration clearance, I swore off all independent tours. :( If there is the slightest chance that the timing would not work out, I won't even consider it.

We too were on this trip and had a wonderful time. I agree with all the above comments but wanted to add a few. Firstly, this was a packed ship! The official capacity is something like 3200, being Easter week they said it was the fullest capacity ever for this ship, over 3500 passengers, 500 of them teenagers. Now they did a great job of keeping them occupied but it was just too crowded for our liking. We too had no choice but to go Easter week, but in the future we won't. I just prefer a slightly smaller ship with less people. They were everywhere, you could barely walk in some places. The hot tubs were filled with people and their kids and with diapers too! I thought diapers were not allowed in the hot tubs! People let their kids do anything, spill food everywhere, down the stairs and things like that. I felt sorry for the staff. I spoke with the youth director and they die hire extra people in anticipation, as they knew the situation. There were employees with yellow "youth security" shirts on patrolling, and around the elevators, so they did their best to control the kids and there were plenty of activities, the teen disco was open until 3AM in Club Fusion, as they felt it was better to have them in there, rather than running around the ship. Overall it worked, but for us it was just too many people.

Getting a deck lounger was nearly impossible between 11AM and 2PM, and people did put items on the chairs to save them. Princess tried to say in the Patters, no saving of chairs, but lets face it, what else could they do. One day we went up on the Sun deck and I just spread my towel on the floor.

The spinning classes in the fitness center were excellant! There are advantages of this ship, the Gym is great, I had friends that had massages, and said they were good, but after you are all relaxed and done, they hard sell you on their products, very agressively for a half an hour.

The MUTS is fantastic, they give you a nice cushion and blanket, popcorn, and the balmy breezes blow as you lie there. The screen and sound are top notch.

I thought the buffet was overall better quality than other lines. The first night they have shrimp, alaskan king crab legs, and all those lobster claws they probably removed from the lobster tails from the last formal night. We sometimes had appetizers there late afternoon, and then ate a late dinner. The personal choice is fantastic. All the waiters we had were superb but some nights service was slower than others. The food was really nice, lots of fresh fruit, always fresh rolls, bread, top-notch desserts, good salads and a varitey of entrees from beef, lamb,veal,and fish. The scallops and seafood dishes were high quality and delicious.

We enjoyed the shows, chef's cooking demo, fruit carving demo, martini class, and there are always so many activities going on at one time its hard to choose. I know the staff was stressed by the heavy load of passengers but they did their best and that was obvious. However, if they ever put MUTS on the Golden Princess, I would choose that ship in a heartbeat, one less deck of passengers, and on an off week, like the first week in Sept. when everyone goes back to school! By the way, the Easter display was beautiful, and we met our cruise critic friends and really enjoyed that. Any questions don't hesitate to ask.

We enjoyed the shows, chef's cooking demo, fruit carving demo, martini class, and there are always so many activities going on at one time its hard to choose.

I've never heard of a martini class... sounds interesting!

What kind of class was it?

One morning in the Atrium they had a demonstration on some of the various types of Martinis. They called up a bartender and a volunteer to learn how to make the Martini. They danced, shook or stirred, with music and all, it was hilarious, then the volunteer got to keep the drink! It was too early for drinks, (or I would have volunteered) but otherwise very entertaining.

Thanks for the terrific review. We'll be on the CB in August and can't wait!

 

A few questions about Sunny Liston Tours: What time did you meet them, and was there any problem getting to the meeting place on time? Did you pay be credit card when you reserved, or when you met at the dock? What is their cancellation policy in case of bad weather, etc.? Why did you pick Coki beach and how is the snorkeling there?

 

I would love to try this tour, but after missing our pre-arranged tour with a company in Belize 2 years ago on Carnival due to the late arrival in port and delay in immigration clearance, I swore off all independent tours. :( If there is the slightest chance that the timing would not work out, I won't even consider it.

Rollsf16 here...as I mentioned in my original review, we used Sunny Liston for our tour of St. Thomas. I had e-mailed both he and Godfrey and only Sunny returned my e-mail (the next day) and then followed up with a phone call later that evening. When we arrived at the port in St. Thomas, he was waiting at the bottom of the gangway at 9:00am, as we had arranged, with a computer printed sign welcoming us by name! We walked about 100ft to his very new and nice truck, and then he drove the 4 of us to downtown St. Thomas, all the while giving us some history and pointing out the interesting places on the island.

He dropped us off in downtown--next to Little Switzerland--and told us to be back at the truck at noon. We spent the time walking around the town and shopping. At noon we met him and about 10 other people off the other boats at his truck and he took us on a 1 hour tour of the island, stopping at some great places for picture along the way, and picking up a cooler of drinks to keep us nice and cool. He dropped us off at Sapphire Beach (VERY nice!) Locked up our bags and such in the cab of his truck, and gave us 3 hours to enjoy the beach.

When the time was up, we met him back at the truck and he took a different route back to the ship--once again with lots of commentary along the way.

He dropped us off exactly at the time we had agreed, and right at the bottom of the gangway to the ship. All of this for $20 per person!!!! He does not require a deposit when you book, and I think he only accepts cash for payment at the end of the tour.

I've got absolutely nothing but praise for Sunny. I was a bit apprehensive about using him, but am I ever glad we did. He is a great person who in engaging and very funny. Try him and I'm sure you'll agree!