Caribbean Princess Review 10-8 Sailing

This is our review of our October 8th sailing on the Caribbean Princess. Along with details of our pre-cruise trip to south Florida. My DH, an attorney, drove down early on business and I flew down a few days later to join him. We are jointly writing this review.

Pre-Cruise

DH drove down on October 3rd and spent the night in Atlanta, Georgia at the Omni at CNN Center. Check-in was quick as he had signed up prior to arriving as an Omni Select guest and his key was waiting and credit card already on file. The quick service was a pleasure as he arrived late in the evening. Valet parking was available for $20. The hotel room was very large and very luxurious. He was given a room on the 19th floor overlooking downtown Atlanta. He received a rate of $87.26 on Priceline. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being extremely poor ad 10 being exceptional, he would rate the Omni a 10.

The following day, he arrived in Miami and checked in to The Palms at South Beach. We obtained this hotel at a rate of $89 per night, including tax, through Orbitz. Valet parking was $13 per night and a resort fee of $11.77. The resort was South Beach art deco, the room was large, modern, but old furniture. The bed was very firm and uncomfortable. The room had corner windows overlooking Collins Avenue. Pool area was small but well landscaped and tropical looking. He enjoyed spending an evening lying in the hammock between the palm trees out by the beach. His first night, he had dinner through room service and thought the food was above average. Checkout was quick and efficient. We would rate the Palms a 6.

On Thursday, we moved up the coast to the Sheraton Beach Resort and Spa at Bal Harbour. This was our third stay at this property. This hotel as $120, including taxes through Priceline for a standard room. Valet parking is $23 per night. Prior to arriving, we informed the hotel we were celebrating our anniversary and upon check-in we were upgraded to an ocean view. Our room overlooked the tropical pool area, the beach and the ocean. The room was very large with typical hotel room furniture and could use a little updating. The beds however, with Sheraton’s Heavenly bed bedding, were extremely comfortable. The resorts pool area is very tropical and relaxing. The only complaint that we have with the Sheraton is that our first two stays, at checkout, there was a charge for the mini bar which we did not utilize. Each time the charge was removed. It appeared at that time, that Sheraton automatically added this amount to your bill. This stay, upon checkout, there was not a mini bar charge so we commented that they had obviously had corrected this problem. However, when looking at our credit card charges upon return home, we noticed that our account showed an extra charge of $45 from Sheraton. Upon inquiry with them, we found out that they had charged the mini bar to our account after we checked out. We had to fax them a letter stating that we did not use the mini bar and they told us they would then remove this charge from our credit card. On billing service, we rate this hotel a 1. On all other aspects, we rate them a 10.

Dining in South Florida

We picked up pizza one evening from Pizzafiore. This establishment is located at the corner of Lincoln and Washington in South Beach. It literally looks like a whole in the wall however, their pizza was very good. We would rate this establishment an 8.

We also had dinner at Flanigan’s Seafood Bar and Grill. Their website is http://www.flanigans.net. We discovered this establishment on a previous trip. Their food is fantastic and prices are very reasonable. You must try their pasta salad! We would rate this restaurant a 10. It is located on Harding Ave just south of Bal Harbour Shops.

We also drove to Aventura Mall to do a little shopping and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Portions here are very large, prices are a little high but, the food is excellent. The Cheesecake, of course, is out of this world. We would rate this restaurant a 10.

For breakfast, we ate at Denny’s which was about 6 blocks south of the Sheraton. Cheap prices, lot of food and in all honesty the quality and taste of the food was better than the breakfasts which we had on the ship. We would give the all American Denny’s a 8.

Embarkation Day

We left the Sheraton at 9:00 am and drove up to Ft. Lauderdale. 6n the way we stopped at Walmart off of Highway 826 for a few items then onto I-95 North. We exited off of I-95 the exit right before I-595 and stopped by McDonalds for some breakfast as we were too early to arrive at the port.

We arrived at the Port of Everglades entrance at 10:15 am. We were given a pass and instructed on how to find the pier. Upon arrival to the pier we were in a line of vehicles that were picking up passengers disembarking, after about 5-6 minutes were out of the line and pulling into the ground level of the parking garage where porters were standing near large bins. We unloaded the luggage, tipped the porter ($15/5 bags) and I went to get in line and DH went to park the car. He parked on the third level on the south end of the structure close to the elevators. This location allowed us to be close to car when exiting on our arrival the following Saturday.

We were in line by 10:30 with only about 50 people ahead of us. At 11:30, they opened the terminal doors and we were brought inside and placed in a line. Within 15 minutes, the line was moving through the metal detectors. Each deck of the ship has its own check-in area. After passing through the metal detectors, we were second in line for the Dolphin deck. Registration took no more that 5 minutes. Then we were directed up to the second floor. We were instructed to take a seat as they were not ready for boarding. Within 10 minutes, the announced boarding was ready to begin and we were on the ship and directed to an elevator. Cabins were ready and we were in our cabin by 11:50 a.m. Upon entering the cabin, DH got on the phone, made our dining reservations in the Palm dining room and for the balcony dinner. We attempted to make reservations for MUTS but were told that it was on a first come first serve basis now. Various items which he had preordered, such as flowers, champagne and other items were delivered to the room over the next several hours. Our vow renewal package information was awaiting upon arrival to the cabin. Our time had already been scheduled. We then left the cabin and went to Sabatini’s to wait in line and make reservations for Sterling’s. After doing so, we went and had a quick lunch, back to the cabin to change into our swimsuits and headed to the Jacuzzi on the sun deck where we spend the next few hours.

Then came the boat drill. We enjoyed this boat drill more than any other ship we had been on as we were directed to proceed to the comfort of the Princess Theater and bring your life jacket with you, rather than standing out on a hot, steamy deck, with our life jacket on as we have done on all other ships. Afterwards, it was to the Outrigger for the CC get together. Hi everyone, it was a pleasure meeting you and we hope everyone is doing well. Upon sailing out, we headed to our cabin to enjoy sailing out of port from our open air balcony.

Cabin

The cabin was very spacious and comfortable. The bathroom was very roomy and it was nice having a bathtub. There was plenty of storage space, the pillow menu was available and we requested a couple more pillows since we each like sleeping with 3, cabin was always cool, it was nice having 2 televisions, and our room steward kept our room clean and straightened at all times. We were in cabin D232, a mini-suite. While the cabin was very nice, we did notice some areas on the walls that were scuffed up and looked a little more worn than they should have given the age of the ship. We also had a couple of tiles that would come out of the bathroom floor and it looked like several of them had come loose before and each time a tile was missing, it was always promptly fixed the next time our room was cleaned. We had an open balcony and thoroughly enjoyed the same. We would sit on the balcony many times in the evening and also spent a couple of times sunning on the balcony throughout the week. We had 4 chairs and 1 table and only a few times noticed people from up above staring down. On occasion, we would have conversations with our upstairs neighbors who were a nice couple from California. The only thing that we didn’t like were the few times when our next door neighbors were on their balcony, obviously smoking about 80 cigarettes at 1 time, we would be overcome with smoke. This generally only happened right before dinner.

Dining

Breakfast and lunch, we ate primarly in the Horizon Court or by the pool. Horizon Court breakfast food left a lot to be desired. One thing that DH did find good was the corn beef hash which they only had 1 day. He is a big omelette fan and did not like their omelette set up where you put in an order, rather than stand at an omelette station, pick your items and watch them cook the same. The orange juice was absolutely pathetic, it was more like orange water in that it had no consistency and no taste. Lunch in the Horizon Court was much better but was basically just standard buffet food. The pizza, hamburgers and hotdogs were very good.

We had dinner in the Horizon Court a couple of nights and it was nice to have the same sort of items that were served in the dining room. The quality of the food was OK but not spectacular. At dinner time, the Horizon Court line gets very confusing when you reach the meat area because 2 lines converge at the center with different types of food on each end of the line and people would often get frustrated with this. We would rate the Horizon Court a 5 at lunch, a 2 at breakfast and at dinner, a 6. The pool grill and the pizza, we would rate an 8.

He had a few dinners in the Palm dining room and in our opinion, the food in the dining room seemed to be above the quality served in the Horizon Court. We enjoy the concept of any time dining however, in the future, we will make sure we will dine in the dining room at dinner time instead of the buffet. Service in the Palm was excellent the first night we dined there but rather slow the second. In the dining room, you must try the fetuccine alfredo appetizer, the loveboat dream dessert and the New York cheesecake. We would rate the Palm dining room an 8.

On Monday night, we ate at Sterling’s. It was excellent and well worth the $15 per person. I had the filet mignon and DH had the porterhouse. Both cooked to perfection. The only negative to the meal was that the baked potatoes were cold. We would rate Sterling’s a 9.

On St. Martin night, we had the balcony dinner and it was excellent. It was very nice having dinner on the open balcony. Service was very attentive, food was excellent and it was well worth the experience and the $100 and we tipped each waiter an additional $15. We had surf and turf and everything was cooked to perfection. We would rate this experience a 10.

We ordered room service on a couple of occasions. Food was good and service was quick but the room service menu was very limited compared to other ships we have been on. We would rate room service a 7.

Daytime activities

We spend our daytime by the pool and in the Jacuzzi and doing much else. Our favorite locations are, the pool and Jacuzzi on the sun deck, we enjoyed watching the wake of the boat at the adult pool on the back for the ship and we thoroughly enjoyed the aromatherapy Jacuzzis at the spa as they were empty on most evenings. We also spent a couple of days sitting by the pool watching MUTS all day long.

Entertainment

We saw Piano Man, which was a pretty good performance however, we saw it on our second attempt in that the Princess Theater is way too small for the size of the ship and there weren’t enough seats for the early performance. We also say the marriage show, which was funny, comedian Carl Strong, who was hilarious. We even bought his DVD and we also saw comedian, James “The Kid” Michael, whose show was rather funny. It was rated PG-13 however, we think it should have been rated R. We wouldn’t have wanted our 14 year old to see this show. By far, however, the best entertainment of the week was Bert, with an E, Stratton. We saw 3 of his shows, bought his CD, which is fantastic and periodically, through the week since our return, have made comments such as “2-fer” and “participatate.” We started as Bert referrals, became Bert returnees and now we are kin. People who know Bert Stratton will know what this means.

St. Thomas Day

It was raining on this day so our excursion to Meagan’s Bay and most other excursions for the day were cancelled. We went shopping downtown, $4 each way, per person for a taxi. Don’t arrive before 9:00 a.m. however because the shops will be closed. Due to the weather, the entire day was spent shopping, shopping and shopping.

St. Martin Day

We spent the morning shopping and the afternoon taking the Orient Beach bash excursion. The day was warm and sunny. The excursion was $39 per person. This was our second time at Orient Beach and it was as beautiful as ever.

Princess Cays Day

We decided to stay on the boat this day and had it pretty much all to ourselves.

On board miscellaneous

Shopping on board the ship was disappointing. They need more variety and more shopping venues. The ship seemed to be not a clean as we have seen on some of the other ships. Occasionally we would see trash lying around in public areas and dirty dishes would accumulate regularly.

We did a vow renewal while on board. The information was left for us when we arrived to our cabin on embarkation day. Our ceremony was on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. It was a private ceremony with the Captain officiating, the Assistant Cruise director, Head of Hotel Services and a photographer were also present. We were given a certificate signed by the Captain and a copy of the vows we exchanged. This was a very nice and romantic ceremony and something that niether one of us will ever forget.

On Sunday, we left our new digital camera, $650, lying on our breakfast table in the Horizon Court. It was very early in the morning and not crowded. We went back to the cabin, realized we had left the camera, went immediately back to the Horizon Court and the camera was gone. We reported the loss to the Purser’s desk and was advised that if it was found by a staff member, they were to turn items in. we checked throughout the week and the camera was never turned in. The Purser’s desk never advised as to the availability of making a written loss report. Our cell phones worked on St. Thomas so DH called State Farm, our insurance company and was advised to obtain a written report as to the fact that we had reported the camera as lost. We went back to the Purser’s desk and made such a report. When in St. Martin, we purchased the exact camera to replace the lost one at Boolchand’s at a cost of $100 less than in the US. Due to the lack of people in the Horizon Court at that hour, our hunch is that it was taken by staff who cleaned the camera and kept. While it could have been a passenger, our thinking is that most passengers would have hoped that if their camera was lost, that it would be turned in as their vacation pictures would have been lost.

Disembarkation Day

We were up at 6, out of our room by 7:30 and waiting for our number and color, which was aqua 2, to be called. We quickly discovered, unlike all other ships which we have been on, that they call the numbers and colors in a particular order and that is, from the top deck down. There is a time listing taped on the counter of the shore excursion desk that we spied, wrote down and followed. The began by running about 15 minutes behind schedule and by the time they got to our color, they were about 25 minutes behind schedule but went in the exact order of that list. We were off the boat at 10:40 a.m. If you want off the boat right away, I would suggest that you book a cabin on a high floor. While we did not enjoy waiting, this of course is just part of the disembarkation process. However, we did have a 1200 mile drive in front of us that had to be completed that day so we were anxious to get started. Once our color was called, we were through customs and looking for our luggage within 15 minutes. TIP: Look at the list of colors being called and once, you are 2 colors away, move close to the disembarkation gangway. Then, as the line for the color before you is finishing up, get in line and go. We were already out the door when our color was being announced. This way, you don’t get clogged up in everyone with your color making their way to the gangway. All luggage was already out in the terminal and we figured that you could probably go a color or 2 early as it appeared some were doing that. We grabbed a porter, got our luggage and were out the door. We told him we drove. He was going to put our luggage right outside the entrance and was going to have me drive my car around. I knew that it would take a lot of time getting into this line of traffic. Therefore, I told him if he would take my luggage to my car, I would make it worth his while. This brought a smile to his face. We were straight over to the elevators, over the car, loaded and driving out of the parking garage at 11:00 a.m. We saved at least 45 minutes by not having to get in line and loading our luggage at the entrance. We had 6 bags and we tipped the porter $5 per bag. We were on the interstate at 11 a.m., 10:00 a.m. central time and arrived home, 1200 miles later at 12:14 a.m. central time.

We have copies of the Patters and numerous other information which we kept from the ship and this week will work on scanning it. If you would like copies emailed to you, please let us know and we will be glad to do the same.

Up next.......Freedom of the Seas, 11 months and counting down!

Thank you for such a detailed review! It was very informative. One thing to be noted, that if you have a good reason to get off the ship early, a quick trip to the purser's desk a couple of days before will usually result in an earlier departure tag. Also, I just have to ask: 5-6 bags for two people!! My DH starts unpacking my stuff before we leave the house!!! Say they were big bags please....I want my DH to know it's OK to take alot of stuff!!!!! :D We were shocked to hear your digital camera was not returned.....I guess I'm just to trusting....I could not believe it would not be returned......sorry to hear this. Glad you had a good time, however, it sounded like you enjoyed yourselves!!

Thank you for a very informative and helpful review. We will be on the Caribbean Princess sailing 10/29 and also plan on doing the Balcony Dinner. What time would you suggest planning it.? We are thinking of the night we leave St. Thomas and hope to catch the sunset as well as the port fading into the distance.

Murphey: bags were one large, two small, one garment bag, one duffel and a collapsable that was used to pack our shopping items. Plus we had a week in Florida prior to the cruise so that increased the bag count. We were suprised the camera wasnt turned in also, DH was really disaapointed in human nature of whoever decided to keep it, but thank goodness for insurance!

Crusinpeg: Book Balcony dinner asap once on board, call conceirge and they will set it up. Our waiter told us they only do two each night maximum, excluding embarkation day or night before disembarking so only 10 a week. They do not begin before 7 pm. They arrive about 15 minutes early to set up the balcony. One waiter stays with you at the room outside your door and the other runs and gets the food. All of the food was excellent, its a very enjoyable and romantic experience.

Do you still have the info regarding the renewal of vows. I really want to do that for our tenth anniversary. Did you just do the standard one that is on the website for 420.00 (i think-been awhile since I checked.) Thanks for any info

cruisegirl25: did the $205 pkg. Had ceremony, 8x10 photo, engraved champagne glasses and champagne upon embarkation as well as glass of champagne at ceremony, bouqet of flowers, and flower for DH's lapel. Other package includes Balcony breakfast and I think spa treatments. We had those items as well but not as part of the package, we set up spa treatments separately and DH purchased a Balcony Breakfast which we had on last sea day prior to leaving from the Princess website. We do have the papers that were in our cabin and copy of vows that were recited. Would be glad to email the info to you.

Can you please send those to me- girlcub23@comcast.net. Was there a limit of people that could come. TIA-

devinelaw: Thanks for taking the time to post your review. My wife and I will be sailing on the Caribbean Princess in a couple of weeks. If you wouldn't mind please email us a copy of the Patter's to nu1fan@sbcglobal.net. Thank you.

Hey Jeff...we enjoyed meeting you guys also...sorry to hear about the camera..glad you were able to get a replacement in St. Thomas...great review but I have to tell you...we were on the top deck...Riviera..and we were close to LAST to be called to disembark...we had White7 tags...I don't think being up high was an afvantage...no problem for us as we zipped thru the line and had 3 hours to spare at the Ft. Lauderdale airport...which by the way..only took us 10 mins from hitting the doors to walking thru the metal detectors...must have hit everything JUST RIGHT as there was NO WAIT whatsoever...we are now in countdown for March..lots going on between now and then so the time should fly..glad you made the most of a "rainy" cruise...I know we did...:D

Very nice review. We must have been in the pools and hot tubs together, as my son and I really enjoyed that part of the week. Especially the large hot tub at the rear of the ship overlooking the adult pool and wake.

We planned on the last flight from FLL to BWI so that we could visit my DW's Grandmother. As it turned out, she was visiting family up north and not returning until later on the 15th. We kept the rental car instead of sitting at the airport all day. Drove to Aventura mall and then to another really big outlet mall near FLL.

It was good to finally sleep in my own bed when arriving home, but I MISS THE CB!

Jeff

Hi Em.....I think they called white almost right off the bat. Suzy and I wrote down the times that each color was called but that list is out in the car and I am too lazy right now to go and get it. Will take a look and let you know. Are you sure you were in one of the bars having a drink and missed your color being called?? Ha ha...

Hi Jeff....we miss the CB also. Wondering what type of weather those on board are having right now with Wilma and Alpha out there.

Cruisegirl25....you may have 25 guests at the vow renewal. An email is on the way with the information.

MoCruiser....the Patters are on the way

We have scanned our information and have the following files available to email.....

- The Patters

- Going Ashore - which includes shore excursion and port and shopping guides

- Vow Renewal

- Ship info - which includes dining info, spa info, onboard shopping info, internet, entertainment, future cruise info and TV and movie guide

- Scholarship at Sea Programs

- Log of the Cruise

Devinelaw.

Thanks for the wonderful review. Going on the CB in three weeks. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you email all the info. you have to cruiseseeker@aol.com I appreciate it very much. Thanks

Hey Jeff....don't think we missed white being called right away...unless they called it twice and I don't believe they did, but hey...we are OLD and hard of hearing...so who knows...LOL...

Looks like Cozumel will be in the same shape Grand Cayman's were in...unfortunately I think they got hit harder and will take longer to recover. The news pictures of Cancun were disheartening...such distruction....We might have to stick to the Eastern Itinerary or do others which are longer once we retire...

Off to work..have a great day...Em

We are going on the CB in January and would love to see the Patters especially, as well as the other information as long as it isn't too much trouble! Email address is (change the "at" to "@" - trying to avoid too much spam! ;)) redsgj at yahoo.ca.

Thanks!

Jeff and Emmy, we were on the 11th Deck, BAJA, and our color was one of the last that was called. We were GOLD 4. We looked at the list and it was about 1/3 of the way through, but they didn't call it till much later. We even thought we might have missed it being called, so when they were calling pinks, we checked with the Purser's Desk and they assured us that it was not called. Friends of ours were on Caribe and left about an hour and a half before us. So, likewise i don't think there is an order based on decks.

Do miss everyone on the ship, spent our last few minutes at the airport with Mike and Kathy from NY.

Maybe I have my deck sequence confused, but here are the colors, decks called and the times up until our color:

Green 6, Red 4,5 -Shore excursion/flights before 11:15 called at 8:55 am

Brown 2,7 and Cruise Shippers called at 9:15 am

Silver 4,7 (Lido and Plaza) called at 9:25 am

White 3,6,7 (Riviera) called at 9:35 am

Orange 11,14,20 (Aloha) called at 9:50 am

Gold 2,4,5 (Baja) called at 10:07 am

Cream 1,2,5 (Caribe) called at 10:20 am

Aqua 2,4,6 (Dolphin) called at 10:35 am.......Our color

Cruiseseeker and Redsgj.......the info is on its way.

Cruiseseeker, what part of Indiana are you from? We're in Evansville.

We have scanned our information and have the following files available to email.....

- The Patters

- Going Ashore - which includes shore excursion and port and shopping guides

- Vow Renewal

- Ship info - which includes dining info, spa info, onboard shopping info, internet, entertainment, future cruise info and TV and movie guide

- Scholarship at Sea Programs

- Log of the Cruise

We sail the Caribbean princess next october but have only sailed RCCL ships. We would love to have any information that you can give....email is lefevers_4 at yahoo.com just change the at to @......

Also...MUTS was it hard to find a seat?? How early do you have to arrive to get a seat?? Any info on kids programs, drink programs(soda cards), onboard activities( as we are used to mini golf, ice skating and rock wall)....Princess will be a totally new experience and we are hoping it will be a good one!

Thanks

We're booked on the CB in Feb and would love to have all the ship info. Please email to marraclc at yahoo.com

We just drove 10 hours from NC to PA today and your 1200 mile drive after the cruise really sounds long. Glad you had a good cruise and safe return.

Thanks for the informative review.

Donna

Would live a scanned copy of the Log of the Cruise, if it's not to much trouble. teflonjeff@comcast.net.

Thanks

Jeff

Devinelaw, Thanks so much for the info. Greatly appreciated. We are in Goshen IN. A little farther north.

Really great review. We will be on the Dolphin Deck and glad to hear that you liked the open deck.

Please send info to susan.brody@gmail.com

Thanks

new2cruizin...No problem finding seats for MUTS the nights we were there. We arrived about 5 minutes before the movie started. Kids were not with us on this cruise so cant comment. Did buy a coke card (about $32) no problem at bars or having wait staff bring coke to us when out on deck. Glasses varied sometimes small, sometimes large. Activities, we just chilled this trip and lounged on deck or it jacuzzi. Did see area where you can paint pottery and they do have their scholarship at sea program with various classes and of course the typical casino, spa, etc. Do have mini golf, however, we have been on Navigator of the Seas and Princess mini golf is not even close in comparison. We really enjoyed the ship and had fun and I'm sure you will too. Were cruising next October too, Freedom of the Seas.

Thank you for the great review. We are off on Dec 17th. Would love to have a copy of The Patters, going ashore, ship info and the log of the cruise. This will be my first princess cruise and is a surprise for my dh. I won't tell him until his birthday in Nov. Thank you in advance for the info. my email address is cmcgarrahan@sc.rr.com

I would appreciate the vow renewal info you have. Sounds like it was great!

I read somewhere one these boards, the renewal ceremonies aren't private, but shared by those on board, all at the same time. Did you hear if that is ever the case? I'm glad yours was private and done with just the two of you.

thekoehlers@centurytel.net