Caribbean Princess Western - JUST BACK!

Hello all….

Here is a quick review of my 6/3-6/10 Western Caribbean Princess Cruise. So many of you on this board have taken the time to write reviews and answer my mindless never-ending questions, that I want to return the favor and write a comprehensive review. This is the second time we have taken this cruise. The first time was during her inaugural season so I was anxious to see how things had changed in 2 years.

Day Before – stayed at the Embassy Suites on 17th street. I have nothing but good things to say about this hotel. They had a nice happy hour on Friday and a spectacular breakfast. We ate lunch at Waxy O’Connor’s Pub across the street. My DH is a home brewer and enjoyed the vast selection of beers on tap. The rooms were clean and great for our family of 4 (DH, and daughter 12 and 9) We rented a car from COASTAL CAR Rental. They picked us up at the airport after we called within 10 min. We drove all around Ft. Lauderdale Friday night and had a great time. Returned the car at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday and they took us straight to the port.

Embarkation – The process was different and more efficient than our first cruise. Princess had us wait outside for about 15 min in a line. We got there at 11:40. An attendant let about 150 folks in at a time. You go through scanners with all your carry on baggage. You are given a number 1 – 5 and then told to wait in a waiting room with chairs as each group was called into check in one at a time. Total wait time was about 15 min outside, 10 min inside and 2 min at the window to check in – very efficient! We were given our cards and were in the ship within a min. We purchased COKE cards for the group and got our money’s worth. I always got a large coke to take back to the room with me. FYI – we took both RUM and GIN in plastic bottles, double wrapped in plastic bags in our checked luggage. NO problem at all….we were glad to have them for spur of the moment late night cocktails on the balcony!

ROOM – we had B704 and B706 balcony rooms. The rooms were nice. There was a large closet area with plenty of room for our empty luggage. The balcony was nice - not super large, but totally covered and given we had a lot of rain, this was a plus. Plenty of room in bathroom for personal items. I brought an over the door shoe rack and NEVER used it….save your money, there is plenty of room for your stuff. DH put all his clothes in the small closet with shelves. There is also a safe there. I put all my clothes in the drawers of the desk and bedside tables…….There were plenty of nice wooden hangers. Over 20 so we did not need the wire hangers I brought. There was a desk and 1 plug. I brought a small extension cord. I plugged in my camera battery charger and our 2 way radios. I also kept my cell phone charging at all times even thought I only use it 2 times. I got cell signals in Jamaica and Grand Caymen. Got one in Cozomel too, but when I tried to call home and check in, everything was in Spanish so I gave up!.... The extension cord is a must as were the 2 way radios. It was nice when our family and group wanted to do different things but meet up late. It was great when we ate the buffet and tried to find a large table. Everyone went a different direction and whoever found the table first, used the radio. We had 3 sets of radios and set them to the same frequency……..They did NOT work from the casino back to the room. I would usually go out on the deck of the 7th floor and call back to the room….no problems at all.

Room attendant was Roger and he spoke very poor English. He was efficient and very serious. He immediately got us robes and egg crates for the bed. He provided us a fruit card and kept our bowl in the room full with apples and grapes….loved this! Unfortunately, we never got any towel animal. I asked around a no one in our party got them. Sounds silly, but I was disappointed. Oh well! I worried about the location of our room as it was right outside the elevators, but was pleasantly surprised. The noise was minimal.

Ship – she is just as beautiful as we remembered. I saw very little wear and tear and always saw workers sprucing things up by power washing, painting or changing carpet. The ship never felt crowded. The only 2 places where you knew you were on a big ship was in the photo gallery. It gets a bit close there when reviewing pictures and on deck during the sail away party. The sail away party was also crowded but fantastic. We were a group of 8 and we danced and just enjoyed the sights. It was something to behold. We went all the way on top of the ship looking down on the Neptune Pool. Rum punch was great. Found myself waving to strangers on the shore…..loads of fun!

DINING – we did anytime dining. Our group of 8 ate most nights in the PALM dining room. We tried the CORAL dining room one night, but it was much closer and way too busy. The PALM had more space between tables and I felt it was more relaxed. I would recommend it highly. Our server was LEO 3 times and we loved him. We ate the first night at 6:30 and that seemed to be the magic time. We never had to wait for a table. After the first night, we asked for Leo at table 131 by name and were sat immediately. As we left, however around 8ish, there were folks waiting to be seated….usually about 15 to 20, so 6:30p.m. is a great time for anytime dining without a wait. We did dining room 4 times, the buffet 2 times and PIZZA during movies another. Two of the folks in our party did Sterling and loved it. We had reservations at Sabatinis for 6:30 on Thursday, but had so much fun on Cozomel, we stayed until the last tender at 6:00 and ended up canceling. The food quality was top notch and there was plenty to choose from. Even my children liked it and they tend to be picky. My girls loved that they had an always available menu if there was anything on the menu they did not like. One night I could not decide between 2 dishes, so Leo brought me a little of both on 1 plate. That was so neat!.....For those of you afraid of anytime dining, give up your fears. The dining experience was top notch and you will be pleased. Having the flexibility to go when you are hungry is really wonderful. BEST DISH OF THE WEEK - stuffed pears with almond souffle!!!!

We ate at SCOOPS several times and the prices are very low and the quality was great. Did not mind spending the money for good Sundays and milkshakes. Never found the free icecream. The buffet food was very good but sometimes the buffet gets crowdes and the layout could be better.

TOURS – Princess Cays had really bad weather. The weather was very overcast and the water very choppy due to the wind. Our banana boat ride was cancelled. We did get a beach cabana, but it was not needed since we never saw the sun. It then started to rain and we decided to leave. We had to wait in line over 40 min. to get a tender back to the ship. If it is threatening to rain, either stay on board or be prepared to wait as everyone decided to leave at the same time. The lunch was just ok, perhaps I was just not in the mood for picnic food due to the weather.

Jamaica was as I remembered. I am not impressed. We decided not to do a tour since we got stuck on a hot un-air conditioned bus last time and the traffice was awful!. This time, we just went shopping. The TajMahal shops are not nice. Very dirty with lots of beggars. The people are very pushy and I did not feel safe. The island shops right next to the boat were very nice. My friend got a great deal on a TAG watch. We ended up at Margariettaville. They have a nice pool and water slide. We got 2 tables under an umbrella and good thing as it poured!. But the drinks were cold, the music fun, and me and my girls played on the water slide in the rain for over an hour. Purchased some fun stuff in their shop and then headed back to the boat.

Caymen – we did a snorkel tour with CAPTAIN MARVINS. Book this outside of the cruise and save a TON of money. We checked in at their office at 9:15 a.m. and took a bus at 9:30 to their marina. The tour ran 10:00 – 1:00. We did 2 snorkeling stops. It was great because sting-ray city early was absolutely PACKED. Our guide took us to areas where no one was around and the snorkeling was great. We then did sting-ray city after all the large tour boats left and we were one of only about 5 boats there. If you have never done this trip, I highly recommend this tour operator. We have used them twice and have been very happy. We ended the day with shopping and lunch in town. Guess what – it rained!!!!! Ugh…….

Cozomel – we went shopping in town and bought lots of neat stuff. Took a cab to paradise beach and spent the entire day there eating , drinking, playing on the pool toys, and taking a banana boat ride ($12 per person for a 15 min ride)….yes we fell off!... - super fun best day….It was overcast, but hey – it did not rain! This is my favorite place, the people were so friendly and appreciative of our business. The food at paradise beach was fantastic. You could rent jet skies there as well.

ENTERTAINMENT – there really is something for everyone on this ship. I recommend the shopping seminar...I got lots of useful information there. My friends loved the sea day pool games. They participated in their Princess Survivor game…..tons of fun. There was also a battle of the sexes game, belly flop competition, and tons of other stuff. We did the BINGO 3 times and really loved it…..The jackpot went on Friday at $2500….I personally did not win, but my friend won 175 dollars. I took my kids with me to play. They were allowed to play the cards, but they asked parents that if you were close to winning that the kids give the card to the parent. Great compromise. We did 3 different comics and loved each of them. One was in the Princess Theater and the other 2 in the Explorers lounge. Burt Stratton was nice, but not my taste in music. He always had a crowd though and I listened for about ½ hour for one night. I did the casino about 4 times. I won at Roulette and never hit ANYTHING on the slots. I wanted to play craps, but the table was ALWAYS crowded. Had lots of fun at the casino. It is a bit smokey, some nights were worse than others, but not enough to deter from my fun! I did movie under the stars one night and watched WALK THE LINE. We all got pizza and fries and curled up and watched the show. It was soooooo fun. Other movies playing were National Treasure, Titanic, Monsters Inc., Back to the Future, and a bunch more.

MISC – impressed with YOUTH SECURITY officers. Only a few times did we see kids out of control and ALWAYS someone was right on them. We saw one young man beating a cup against a rail trying to break the cup. Within seconds, he was approached by a youth security officer and written up and lead away with him to find his parents. BRAVO…….

PHOTOS – take advantage of the pictures. We had a long overdue family picture taken. We did not like the first set so had another set done and loved them. They prints are expensive, but you would pay that much at any professional studio. The only bad part is they are not set up to reprint shots of varying sizes. I wanted a picture of my husband and I redone in 2 5x7 shots for the same price…..(2 on a page) and they could not do it. They would print 1 5x7 per page and charge me the same price. I just bought 1 of each shot and will have them scanned and reprinted.

Favorite thing to do is to get a drink of choice (rum runner) and go to the very back of the ship at sunset (we never saw the sun however!) and sit and watch the wake of the ship…….Also enjoyed after dinner playing ping pong!....forgot how much fun that is. Our kids did not do camp….they just played by the pool and at night watched DVDs they rented just before we left. I brought a portable player and it worked out great. My kids favorite thing was making a dancing heads video. That is where your head goes into a music video….you have to see it to understand, but it was so fun for the girls and for $24.95, they got to take home the DVD. It was a great memory.

DISEMBARKATION – our luggage was taken the night before. We were out of our room by 8:30 and waited about an hour for our group to be called. – note during this time, all the bars are closed so if you want a drink, you need to plan ahead. Customs was efficient and we immediately found all our luggage. We tipped a porter to take the bags to a van and were at the airport in no time.

All in all, the trip was everything we expected. The only downside was the weather and that did not spoil the trip in any way. We met so many new and interesting people. Sure there were things that frustrated us – people, attitudes, and some service/food, but for a vacation with that many people, our experience was fantastic. I LOVE THE SHIP and would highly recommend any one considering a trip on her to just do it…you will not be sorry.

thank you for that wonderful review. Great job. Although I am going on the Eastern I enjoyed what you all did. Our trip is July 8th and I cannot wait.

Thanks again,

Thanks for the review. Me and the Mrs. are going on our first cruise together on the Caribbean Princess Eastern in Sept.:)

When you travel during hurricane season, there is always a chance of some bad weather, even if it is just rain.

Alberto has dropped 10-15+ inches of rain on the cayman islands and cuba...and there was some concern about mud slides in those areas.

Of course I booked a cruise at the height of hurricane season, on avg there has been over the course of the last 75 years almost one Tropical storm of some kind during the week of sept 1-9 ..... :eek:

Thanks so much for posting a review--sounds like you had a fantastic time!

We're on Caribbean Princess (Western as well) July 29. I'm pleased to hear you had such a good time with Captain Marvin's. We're booked for the stingrays and snorkeling followed by their turtle farm and Hell tour.

I'd love to know more about the DVD your kids made. I know mine will be all over that! Where do they go to do it? They made a tape in Las Vegas about eight years ago (not just their heads though! LOL) and we just love to watch it. I'm sure it'll be the same with this, so please tell me more!!

Any shops in any of the ports you especially liked? My DDs and I will most certainly go shopping at each port. Since we've never been to any of them, would love to hear your suggestions on shopping. Thanks!

Thanks again for the review. Just making me more excited for our cruise. :-)

Cheers!

Jayne

Jayne - the DVD is called "Dancing Heads". Up to 3 people can be in the video. The videos are animated...that is the background, and bodies move but are animated. The song choices included FUN FUN FUN by Beach Boys...we did this one, HOT HOT HOT, I WILL SURVIVE, RESPECT, etc plus a whole lot more to choose from....you sit in front of a BLUE Screen. An attendant will put a blue screen drape from the neck down so all you see is the head. They somehow link each head with the video. While sitting on a stool, the person can see their head and video. As the music video plays, the girls just moved their heads around, sang the song and made crazy facial expressions...It was a real hoot!....so cute. It was $24.95 and they give you a dvd with the video on it......It was well worth the money. They did it a number of times during the cruise....sometimes in the atrium, sometimes in club fusion. It was written up in the patters when and where they would be. We did it on the last evening of the cruise.

Shopping - The girls favorite stops were Margarittaville in Jamacia...they have a cool gift shop and each girl got a shirt. Go there for lunch and have the girls wear their swim suits. The pool is a great touch and their water slide is soooooo much fun...I went down it multiple times and had a fantastic time. A highlight of the trip. All the stops have a DEL SOL shop...this is the shop where they sell color changing stuff......the shirt is black and white but when you go into the sun, it comes to life....they are a bit pricy, but worth it. They even got color changing hair clips and nail polish. I would suggest the one in Caymen as they had the best selection. My daughter bought for $16, a Jamacian Soccor team soccer ball...that was her favorite gift. My 9 year old bought a mexican doll from one of the vendors at the port in Cozumel....she cherishes it soooo much.

After our snorkel trip with Captain Marvin, I bought at their shop for a real cheap price, some stuffed sting rays and some carved ones in onyx. These were real favorites as well.

I am not much into jewelry, but if I was, there were plenty of shops to go to. My least favorite port was Ocho Rios....did not feel safe. My advice if you are not doing a tour is to stay in the ISLAND SHOPS right off the boat....they were the least pushy and were fairly clean. Just be prepared for the unbearable pressure you will get from tour guides, taxi drivers and beggars. Once in the island shops, it was ok....stay away from the Taj Mahal shops....that was the worst....

Thats about all....we really had fun and I am sure you and your kids will too!..

Lisa

Lisa,

Great review, and you summed it up quite well in regard to the ports. My DW had never been on a cruise in this direction and I kept telling her that Cozumel was the only port that she would like (she does not snorkel). We also hung out at Margaritaville in Ocho Rios. We weren't too bothered by the taxi/tour guys as I am somewhat larger than the locals and they may have been intimidated when I said "NO".

Sorry we never got to meet while aboard....we started out on deck for the sail away party, but ended up enjoying the solitude of our balcony when the shipped finally sailed. Did you see the guy with the megaphone on shore????? He was quite funny.

How about those thunderstorms around 3 AM the first night!!!!!!!!!!!!

Despite only seeing the sun on Friday for a few brief hours, all in all, it was a great trip. I agree with your review of the ship condition....we found it pristine. The youth security folks were omnipresent, which I thought was great. Never saw any incidents you described, but it probably had a lot to do with their presence.

We booked trip #3 on the CB while we were on board for 4/07. This time, we are bringing the kids.....God help us!

Yes - those thunderstorms were enough to wake the dead...I was pretty frightened....DH slept through the whole thing. Do bring your kids.....mine had a real blast. We got 2 balcony cabins and had the partition opened up. My girls are 13 and 9 and loved having their own room. I booked with one and DH with the other but we switched once on board......Our room attendant never said a word. We kept a close eye on the girls and all worked out great.

Sorry we did not meet up........maybe I can convince DH to do next year too!........

Lisa

Lisa:

Thanks so much for your quick response. We'll watch for the "dancing heads" opportunities. Sounds like a blast!

Thanks also for the shopping advice. In Ocho Rios we're meeting Phil Lafayette first thing to go to the falls and then tubing down the White River. He's taking us somewhere for authentic Jamaican food for lunch, but I'll ask him to drop us off at Margaritaville when we're done. The girls will already be in their suits because of the falls and tubing, so we'll be all set. 47 days!!!

Cheers!

Jayne

Nice review Lisa. Sorry we could not all meet. DW and I were in the crowd dancing at the sailaway having a great time. This was one of the best sailaways we've been to. I asked around for CC folks, but never met any.

I want to add that the band playing in Explorer's club (Wavelength) is a very talented rock band. If you like power rock with heavy guitar you will enjoy their sets. They play just about every night and cover groups like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Metallica, Aerosmith, The Eagles, John Mellencamp, and the list goes on. They also do a set they call "So you want to be a Rock Star." They provide the music and lyrics and you go on stage to sing with them. Karaoke with a live band!

Jayne - DW and I went on Phil Lafayette's tour. He is very accomodating and works hard to be sure you enjoy his country. He ended our tour at the Island Shops, which is just down the street from the pier. Margarittaville is inside the Island Shops area.

Jeff

Forgot about the ROCK STAR THING....yes that band is really good.....a bit loud, but they sounded great, especially when they played the Eagles!!!...my friend sang in both the Kareoke and the Sing with the band. He really liked singing with Wavelength......said it fulfilled an itch he always had....he was not half bad!

Something for everyone!

Lisa

What time was your returning flight? What time did you get off the airport? We have a 11:50 am flight (return) and I am trying to get an idea of how early we are going to get to the airport.

Jayne - DW and I went on Phil Lafayette's tour. He is very accomodating and works hard to be sure you enjoy his country. He ended our tour at the Island Shops, which is just down the street from the pier. Margarittaville is inside the Island Shops area.

 

Jeff

Jeff:

Thanks for the heads up! Did you do his Dunns River Falls and river tubing tour? If so, how was it??

Thanks,

Jayne

I enjoyed your review. Would you say Capt. Marvins is kid friendly? About how many people were on the catamatran?

Can you tell me more about the fitness areas and which pools were the least crowded but also had adequate sun?

Jeff:

 

Thanks for the heads up! Did you do his Dunns River Falls and river tubing tour? If so, how was it??

 

Thanks,

Jayne

Yes, we did the falls and tubing. The falls were fun and I am glad we did it. The river tubing was fun too. However, I was expecting a lazy river and the water was flowing quite briskly. Perhaps it was due to the Alberto rain we experienced all week. I jumped off the ledge when they stopped us at the halfway point. It was not as bad as it looks. Basically, the reviews you read on the Jamaica message board are accurate describing Phil's tour.

Can you tell me more about the fitness areas and which pools were the least crowded but also had adequate sun?

All of the pools had a fairly decent crowd on the sea days. There was so much activity around them. However, DW and I were always able to find a couple of adjacent loungers. Never on the actual pool deck, but always on a deck looking directly down on one of the pools. All the upper decks, with exception of the very back pool (because of Skywalkers), had good sun exposure.

The fitness area is large and not too crowded. There are always some peak times, but if you go back a little later the crowd will have thinned.

Just Curios, where did they hold the Captains welcome party??:confused:

TAK8: Captain Marvins was very kid friendly. We had 2 daughters and they made it a point to be extra attentive to them . They had appropriately sized snorkel gear for little ones too.....The boat was a boat, not a catamaran. Our boat had about 18 on it...just right...not too many.

The one guide did an incredible thing on the 2nd snorkel stop....he dove down with squid in his picket and actually held a 9 foot morey eel and hand fed it....it was so amazing how large this thing was....Chester out guide was fearless and picked this large creature up over 4 times. They knew of this spot and there were zero other boats around us during our stop. At stingray city, Chester and John the Captain specifically found a small baby sting ray and let my 9-year old hold her. They taught her how to hold it and still keep it in the water to breath....it was the highlight of her trip......I would recommend Captain Marvins. We were on the smaller boat....they also had another 2 story boat leave at the same time as ours and there looked to be way more people on board.....I believe the name of our boat was the MISS ANNE.

ASHLEYTERA: we were out of our cabin by 8:30. We did NOT register an early flight as our return flight was at 2:20. The first groups off the ship were called at 8:30.....We were in GOLD GROUP 5 and were called off the ship about 1/2 through the list. We were in our taxi to the airport at 10:05....If you register your flights with perser onboard, you can ensure you get one of the first disembarkation groups. You should have no problems...taxis are abundant and the trip to the airport is only 5 min.

Lisa

Just Curios, where did they hold the Captains welcome party??:confused:

Hi jtutak, I was also on this cruise - the Captain's Welcome Party on the first formal night (Monday) was in the Atrium. The Captain's Circle Party on the second formal night (Wednesday) was in Club Fusion.

Thanks for all your hard work posting the reviews. We are going Western leaving Saturday. Hope all the rain will be done by then. My kids 19 & 15 think I'm nuts reading all these posts but It keeps me entertained. Our dining room table is now packing central so I guess take out is the order of the week !!!!!!!:rolleyes:

Thanks Cruisediva :D for the Info

I really appreciated your post! I will be going on this one very soon.

About the Coke card...... is that the one in the "answer book" that you can order ahead of time...... called soda package ( choose any 6 sodas for 9.50) or is that just something you purchase on the ship?

Also capn marvins has been highly recomm. to us as well!

TagyouRit:

I see you're on the July 29 sailing of the Caribbean Princess. We have a thread going over on the roll call board. Please come join us! We have more than 30 CCers sailing on our cruise. We'll be having a meet 'n greet on the first day.

Happy cruising!

Jayne

I really appreciated your post! I will be going on this one very soon.

About the Coke card...... is that the one in the "answer book" that you can order ahead of time...... called soda package ( choose any 6 sodas for 9.50) or is that just something you purchase on the ship?

Also capn marvins has been highly recomm. to us as well!

tagyouRit,

No, the soda package is different.

The "coke" card is a sticker which is placed on your cruisecard. If you are a soda drinker it's a bargain at $27.65 + gratuity (buy it the first day) once you have one you simply show your card at any bar onboard and get a coke, diet coke, sprite...etc. Unlimited for the duration of the cruise.

The card cannot be used on Princess Cays or with Room Service ;) because they use cans of coke not fountain soda.

BTW they will give you a complimentary Coca Cola tumbler which you do not need to carry around with you, just show the card.

Enjoy your cruise.