Caribbean Princess 8/12 review

Background: We consider ourselves “seasoned” cruisers (DH, myself, 50ish), having sailed several lines now, with this being our second on Princess (first was Star when she was new). This sailing date was determined by a wedding that we were attending in Florida, and my comments may reflect the fact that we were sailing during peak season, which would not have been my choice of dates to cruise.

Traveling to Florida, Friday: How and Why US AIR is still in business is a mystery to me. As we were checking in at first class at 5:30 in the morning in Las Vegas, the guy behind the counter casually informs us that our one simple connection in Phoenix “ain’t gonna happen”. Mind you, I have not even had a cup of coffee yet, and our travel day has gone right down the tubes. While he feebly “attempts” for the next 20 minutes to rebook us on a legitimate airline, I finally take off in a dead sprint for the Southwest counter ½ mile down the concourse. After waiting in line, I spend the next half hour making arrangements to get us to FLL sometime during the current day (wedding rehearsal that evening). SWA was very accommodating, but we went from an anticipated flight of “first class with perhaps food” to “cattle car, multiple connections and peanuts” for the rest of the day. We arrived in FLL around 5:30 pm, tired, hungry and yet grateful. Get a rental car and head up to Jupiter… wherever that is.

Saturday, Wedding: We are staying at a gorgeous private Ritz Carlton, along with all of the guests and wedding party. Just beautiful. Lush. Hot, but beautiful. The wedding was held outdoors. How lovely. Hot. Jacket and tie. Did I mention it was hot? We are breathing water here…. I think they call it “humidity” Can’t wait to see the wedding photos… hopefully, they can airbrush out the sweat rolling off everyone. An air-conditioned reception with the most AMAZING food makes up for the heat. We leave the next day happy campers.

Sunday, travel back down to FLL day: After a relaxing morning and a not-so-scenic drive down the US 1, we finally bail and get on the 95 south. Got stuck in a major backup for about an hour, and arrived to return the rental car at Avis around 2:30. They kindly took us to the port, and after a few small lines and forms, we were on board by 3:15. First impressions of the CB are very good…. loved the artwork and the atrium and the overall openess of the ship! We have a Caribe balony (C251). First impression was that the room was really small, which it IS for gosh sakes… who are we kidding! :) We had a mini previously on the Star, but I chose this cabin especially for it’s balcony, and even though I had seen a “B” cabin prior, it still surprised me when I saw it again. There was adequate room for everything once we unpacked though, and it worked just fine for this particular cruise. The balcony was quite nice, and I was pleased with my choice as the week progressed. (As the discussions on these boards have indicated, you should decide which is more important to you, larger cabin space or larger balcony space). After meeting our cabin stewardess Siwan, and requesting egg crates, we mustered and then headed up to Outriggers to meet up with our Cruise Critic roll call. Seeing a pretty lady at a table near the bar with name tags and a Sharpie was my first clue, and we soon met up with Donna and Ken (Kendon), who coincidentally we had a private excursion with on Thursday. We had a great time chatting and having a few drinks as the ship sailed away. We were joined by Louise from Canada, but the rest of our roll call didn’t make the meet & greet. We did, however, meet up with several others from the Cruise Critics as the week progressed. We made plans with Donna and Ken and their younger son for dinner, (anytime dining) and shared a great table with another family from Ohio that first night out. Very fun, very relaxing, very nice way to kick off our cruise. Tired, and totally happy to be on board, we called it a night, and headed back to our little tiny slice of egg crate heaven.

More to come…..

Thanks for your review. I'm eager to hear more. We are going on the same trip 12/2!!

Thanks Kitty!

Monday & Tuesday at Sea: “Egg Crate Heaven” didn’t prove quite so heavenly after the first night. Our small, forward corridor seemed to be filled with “professional door slammers”, and they were consistently in synch. (This got to be a pet-peeve of mine pretty quickly, especially late at night…. how hard is it to close your cabin door quietly for gosh sakes??) Again, I attributed this to the time of year and the demographics of the passengers on board. I had packed foam ear plugs for the first time ever on a cruise, and they were my saving grace as the week progressed. We spent most of Monday and Tuesday exploring the ship, eating, drinking and hanging out. Spent a bit of time at the adult pool forward, and my DH really liked the gym (best ever, he said).

Monday evening was formal night, and everyone that I observed was dressed quite nicely. There definitely was a wait for tables though, and after trying the Palm dining room, we went back to the Island and waited for our number to be called. Just by coincidence, we ended up at the same table as the previous night (with the same great wait staff) and surprisingly, the group included two Cruise Critics, Larry and David (looking elegant in white tuxes). The table was again delightful, and we closed the dining room several hours later. Back to "egg-crate heaven" and foam ear plugs…. btw, alcohol helped diminish the hallway sounds, I discovered this as the week progressed!

Tuesday started with breakfast on the delightful balcony, and was followed by walking laps on the Promanade Deck…. do not not miss this activity as it’s a great way to really see the entire ship, and the wake off the stern is so beautiful from this level!

Tuesday was our 20th anniversary and we had made reservations at Sabitinis. Our evening there started at 6:30, and we secured a lovely banquette for two just to the right of the entrance (all other banquettes are for four). Our evening there was VERY enjoyable… the food, service, and presentation was lovely and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We brought our own wine (charged a corkage) and even ordered another bottle after we finished that one (hey, we weren’t driving and the dinner went on for days!). Three lovely hours later, we swayed our way back to egg-crate heaven, and declared the first 20 years a resounding success (umm, at least I think we did!)

More to follow……

Great! Keep it coming.....:)

Great review! I want more!!!!

I am enjoying your review! Can't wait for the next installment!:)

Only one cruise under our belts - and none planned in the future - but I am enjoying reading your review. Our cruise was on the Caribbean Princess in Oct. 2005, for our 20th anniversary as well. That was a fun week. Looking forward to hearing more about yours. Kellie

I love the report thus far... it's kind special getting it in installments...:)

i too am enjoying this...especially that last line...hahaha, congrats on 20 years of "resounding success!" Here's to 20 more!

Great review...can't wait for more! We will be on the Caribe deck in Nov. Do they still allow full loungers on the balcony?

I am enjoying your write-up so far......looking forward to reading more!

Monday evening was formal night, and everyone that I observed was dressed quite nicely. There definitely was a wait for tables though, and after trying the Palm dining room, we went back to the Island and waited for our number to be called.

Isn't the Island the traditional dining room? Number to be called??:confused:

Thanks for your comments everyone! As for the next 20 years... well, we'll just take it "one year at a time", as they say in AA! :)

Not sure about the loungers on balcony... only a Caribe balcony would be large enough to accomodate one, and the chairs already there were quite sufficient.

Sea Days and Observations So Far: I really liked this itinerary on the CB as the two sea days at the beginning of the cruise made for a nice start, and by “day three” you are quite ready to visit a port. By now, eveyone has explored the ship and are settling into their favorite activities of eating, sunning, eating, swimming, eating, trivia, eating, bingo, eating, casino, eating, reading and did I mention eating? Yes, the Horizon Court does get congested and they seriously need some smaller tables in there. People walking around with trays of food while large tables have only two sitting at them is rather dumb. On the quite-crowded first day, I finally asked a young couple if we could share their table, and we had a great lunch together. I felt the food at the HC and at the Café Caribe was actually quite good and there was always a nice variety. We brought breakfast back to our balcony most days (well, my DH did while I slept in)… delicious croissants, by the way. For dinner one evening, we poured ourselves a nice glass of wine in the cabin, and enjoyed it over a buffett in the Café Caribe. The décor in there is nicer than the Horizon, and it was lovely to sit by a window and dine casually.

By now, I have been on board for several days, and I’m forming opinions on several things based on our previous cruise experience…. aren’t we always in “comparison mode” when we cruise?

Here are some of my early cruise opinions (for what they are worth) in no particular order:

(1) This ship is LOUD. Again, due to the demographics of younger people, the halls and stairs were filled with lots of noise at all hours of the day. I would just love to see a blurb some day in the Patter stating “In consideration of your fellow passengers, please do not run or use loud voices in hallways, and please close cabin doors quietly.” (I know, I’m dreaming, right??) It would be a good thing, as Martha would say.

(2) The drinks on board this ship are SMALL. Really. Wait til you see. My husband ordered a Manhatten at dinner the first evening and it wasn’t even two sips in a tiny little martini glass. Everyone at the table noticed this and it was kind of a joke. I like wine, and I like my wine in a proper wine glass, meaning “pour a red wine in a red wine glass and pour a white wine in a white wine glass”. Nope… the Princess wine glasses were these annoyingly small little things, which was interesting because the WATER glasses on the dining tables were actually nice sized WINE glasses. I finally was served a proper wine glass at Sabatini’s on Tuesday, which I left with after dinner (because I was still drinking from it) and ended up keeping in my cabin all week long and we became quite attached (it rarely left my hand and was rarely emtpy btw… after all, I’m on vacation!)

(3) I’m finding the crew to be uniformally pleasant and hard working. Our cabin is immaculate each day and the workers on deck all greet us routinely. The dining room staff have been quite good, except for the overworked Maitre D on formal night.. he wasn’t too pleasant, but that was somewhat understandable with so many people on board.

Surprisingly, on one of the early sea days, there is a note in the Patter about a “Cruise Critic” gathering at Crooners (or “Coroners” as my husband inadvertantly called it one night!) and I decide to check it out. I donned my Cruise Critic T-shirt that I bought online five years ago, and head to “Coroners” around 3:00. My shirt attracted the attention of two more couples from our roll call! They and Donna and I sat and chatted with them at the bar for over an hour. Quite a fun afternoon!

Overall, we are enjoying our cruise so far and finding the CB a nice ship, but rather too large for our tastes (but I knew that going in, we were already on the Star, remember?) We spend a lot of time enjoying our balcony and the seas are glassy calm. We know that “Dean” is making its way across the Atlantic, because the Captain is keeping us well informed on this mega storm. It’s not affecting us so far however, as the CB sails on to our first port of call, St Maarten.

That’s coming up on Wednesday…..

You are doing a great job, this is really fun to read! We are sailing on 9/23, 2nd time on the CB - she is much larger than the Coral Princess, which we love but we love to cruise!

Ooops forgot one question, who was the Captain on your ship??? :o

Thanks! :)

Thanks for your post.

Can you tell me what time the shows (main entertainment) start at night?

Hello!!! We were at Outriggers for sailaway but didn't see anyone!! :( And we were going to check out the meet later on that was in the Patters, but I fell asleep in one of the chairs on the Promenade deck! :(

I'm bummed we didn't meet up with anyone...oh well...maybe next time!

Hi Julie, I'm loving your review! That was some martini, wasn't it? I've had more in a single dose of Nyquil! I promise to email soon and send some photos...you are quite photogenic. P.S. Troy says hello.

I also seemed to miss everyone at the Outrigger. I walked around there a couple of times and didn't seem to notice a group or name tags. Oh well, we still had an AWESOME cruise!!! (Even though I came home with a sinus infection!)

Just wandering if you recall if the main dining room menus were from the old style, as on the site: http://www.cruisingthecaribbeanprincess.com/menusAws.html

or if the Carribean princess has the new menus with big plate/small plate?

OH more more more.. This is great.

Great Review!! Can't wait for the finale'!!

Answering questions:

The Captain was a charming gentleman by the name of William Kent. He was quite vocal with his steady announcements regarding Hurricane Dean, but always apologized for interrupting our days/evenings. His welcome speech in the atruim included sage advice on how to handle sea sickness… “just drink more, he said, “a good hangover will mask an upset stomach any day!” Totally my kind of Captain!

The main evening showtimes varied, but were usually 8:30 and 10:30. There were several midnight shows in the smaller venues, and of course numerous activities throughout the day and evening.

The menus were still the old style in the dining room. We felt the selections were nice, and the food itself was overall quite good. I must agree with others that some items, such as the chilled soups, were somewhat bland, but that is why God made salt and pepper shakers.

Hi’s: Hi Donna and her great son Troy! I also have some photos to share with you… will e-mail soon. Hi to Brandie and Lizi, and I’m sorry that we didn’t all hook up at Outriggers. Donna & Ken and my DH & I were sitting at the bar for quite a while, with name tags and all.

OK now, on with this saga… are you all staying awake?

Land Ho! First Port Day:

By now it is Wednesday already (how did that happen??) and everyone is antsy to get off the ship. We were no different. Up early, dressed, had a quick breakfast, packed up a beach bag and off we went. No tendering in St Maarten, and the dock area itself contained a lovely and scenic plaza. We had decided to do this island on our own, and were planning to spend the day at Orient Beach. We followed the signs to the taxi area, and a nice gentleman asked us “where to?” He hailed the proper cab, quoted the standard published fare of $18 and away we went. The drive to Orient Beach took longer than I had thought (why I thought anything is beyond me, I’ve never been to these places before, I just had this vision of “itty bitty islands” in my pea brain). It took about 20 minutes and we drove through some poorer neighborhoods. As we approached the beach area, I happened to ask our driver if taxis would be readily available leaving from the beach later that day. He said that since we were the only ship in port, perhaps not. We then arranged to have him come back at a specified time (which he did).

We hit the beach earlier than most, around 8:30, and started walking left from Pedros Bar, as a right will take you to the “natural area”. The beach is narrow, with soft, deep sand. It is lined with one beach bar after another, all with loungers and umbrellas out front. We stopped at one, and inquired about the price. “$25 for front row” seemed a bit steep, and we proceeded down to “Bikini’s” where $17 got us not only “front row” but fairly decent cushions and umbrellas. We were in the water in a split second… the wave action is pretty strong onshore, but settles down once you are outside the break. The water was so clear and warm and just screamed “CARIBBEAN”. We are loving life. The beach is still pretty quiet, as it’s early, and there are groups of folks strolling along the shore. Several are topless, and a few whose girls have seen better days. (My girls probably have too, but damned if I was gonna test that theory.)

We get out of the water, lay out on our beachfront-lounger-slice-of-heaven and I declare it’s time for a drink. The bar at Bikini’s is just like all of the others… outdoors, tacky and older. Just my type. So, I walk back there for a cold one, and after perusing the menu, I succumb to the “bucket of beer” special. My DH’s jaw drops when I get back to the loungers, because, mind you, it’s only 9:30 in the morning and here I am, bellying up to a bucket. When he starts teasing me, I just start singing “the song”…. (you know how it goes, o.k. everybody: “I’m gettin’ paid by the hour and older by the minute, my boss just pushed me over the limit, I’d like to call him something, but I think I’ll just call it a daaaaaay….. pooooour me something tall and strong”!) (Sorry, Alan). I explain to DH that I was fairly certain it was 5:00 somewhere and that we were running behind. :)

By now, the beach is filling up, the beers are going down smoothly, and the day is slipping by too quickly. A few hours of water, loungers, and a long walk have passed. The darn bucket is empty, and our taxi’s waiting (he’s blowing his horn… oh, that’s another song!). As we make our way back across St. Maarten, our taxi driver gives us a lot of interesting tid-bits about the politics that make up this island. He drops us off in the shopping district, and we hit a few places. One bitchin’ pair of Maui Jims and a cute beach dress later, we head back to the CB for a cool shower and a cold drink or ten (hey! “I.O.V.” remember??) on the balcony.

I’d love to tell you what we did that evening onboard, but I frankly can’t recall, and you are probably bored stupid by now anyway. Suffice to say, I’m fairly certain it was a fun night, it most probably included eating and alcohol, and we had St Thomas and our private snorkling tour to look forward to tomorrow!

Until then.....

You have some writing talent! I had a great laugh when you said you were "bellying up to a bucket". This is a great reivew! :p

I am so enjoying this thread and review!! We would cruise well togeather!

We are planning a CB cruise Oct 2008 out of New York and have only been on one Princedd cruise Diamond Princess last Nov Mexician Riv cruise, which we LOVED!!!

LOL when I think back to our bar bill it was just over $500......and we came on board with four bottles of wine and a 6-pack of beer and some wine cooler (YUCK don't ask)

I remember one morning ordering a Lush (sparkling wine, absolut citrus vodka, chamboard, and I think lemon juice) champagne cocktail......anyhow I *felt* very virturous for ordering something so citrusy(<-- wrng spllng if even a word ;) because no one at sea needs to worry about getting scurvy!!!

:D I love"egg crate heaven" ! You are too funny . I've been to Orient on the same CB line-up and you really captured it-GOTTAA love those shacky little beach bars & restaurants. I went top-free & drank alot of rum punch. Had my pic taken by a Harley (group from another cruise) wearing my bikini bottom and a smile "Housewife Gone Wild"! Was one of those days in life where you can just smile ear to ear and sy Damn, it's good to be me! And it sounds like it's great to be you , too! They say you only live once, but if you do it right , once is enough! Capt Kent said "Never eat on an empty stomach- have another drink!-He was a riot. :)