Better Late Than Never - Review of CP 1/22/05....

[It's BK]

OK, let's see if I have enough brain cells left to recall what I wrote in CC formal review....

 

First wife (40 years...) and I and 3,400 of our closest friends cruised on the Caribbean Princess out of Fort Lauderdale on 1/22/05. Overall it was a great week, we met some nice people, ate and drank too much, ran the room account to about 3 X the expected total, and overall enjoyed ourselves - you know, the typical cruise.... Here's a look at some of the individual aspects and our ratings:

 

Embarkation - Grade = B - arrived at port about 11:20 AM, in cabin about 12:15. Overheard others comment they arrived at port about 12:15 and were in cabin in 20 minutes.

 

Ship - Grade = A - the CP is beautiful, big, and most importantly is immaculate! For the most part we didn't feel crowded - the expected exceptions were embarkation, disembarkation, the tendering to/from Princess Cays, and the photo viewing/purchase area near the end of the cruise.... We tended to hang out Aft at the Terrace Pool and the Outrigger Bar, and this area was considerably less crowded for the most part than the other pools. Kicked the week off with a great post sailing party at the Outrigger with many cruise critic correspondents all wearing Mardi Gras beads...Dan, and Joe, and 2 Chris's, and Debbie, and Sheila, and Mike etc. etc.

 

Service - Grade = A - across the board we had a good experience with this - we did 5 dinners in Palm DR (usually 6:30 to 7) at 5 different tables and 5 different waiters....all were good. Cabin service and room service were excellent. There was the occasional wait for drink service at the bars, but that was caused by the high demand...!

 

Princess Coladas - Grade = A - nuff said....

 

Cabin - Grade = B+ - Baja 616, balcony. It was small but very clean and functional. Plenty of hanging space, somewhat limited drawer space, and of course the usual tiny bathroom and shower. Next time we'll do a mini suite or suite to get the full sized shower. There was a dish washing station almost across the hall - did occasionally hear dishes rattling, but it was not disruptive. One heads up - if you have the beds in a queen configuration, there is a set of light switches that ends up behind the pillows in the middle of the bed - from experience I can tell you it is very easy to turn on the lights by accident and have no clue as to why the cabin lights are on at 3 AM.... Took us a couple days to figure this out.

 

Food - Overall Grade = B - Sabatinis/Sterling Grade = A, Horizon/Caribe Grade = B, Palm Grade = B-/C+. We thought Sabatinis and Sterling were easily worth the extra charge - will certainly do these on future cruises - I echo plenty of previous cruisers - make sure you are hungry when you do Sabatinis! I thought the buffets were well done so long as you remember it's a buffet and don't expect gourmet dining. I was somewhat disappointed in the dining room food - there was never anything wrong with it, it just tended to be mediocre. My analogy was if it were a restaurant in your home town, you probably would not go to it more than once unless it were located right next door to your home.... Best menu items during the week were the seared scallops in Sabatinis and the hearts of palm salad at lunch one day in Horizon Court. The one hamburger wife had by the pool was inedible....

 

Entertainment - Grade = B- - Nothing special here

 

Ports = Grade = B - we had been to St Thomas several times, so just did a little shopping for a watch and some liquor and then back to CP to enjoy the less crowded pools etc. On St. Maarten we did the 2.5 hour two nations bus tour (had never been on the island before). It was OK - could have done without the time at the flea market in Margiot.... Were impressed with the downtown shopping area in Phillipsburg. Princess Cays was very nice - beach is beautiful. We rented a cabana for $8 for the day (better pre-reserve these...). Head's up - keep an eye on the weather - we got showers around 1:00 PM (didn't last long), but the majority of folks on the beach all lined up to tender back at the same time - lines was hundreds of yards long! Did see something unusual - some of our cabana neighbors were wearing hockey skates... go figure!

 

Gym - Grade = A - loved the treadmills looking out over the water! Large showers available.

 

Disembarkation - Grade = B - We went down to Fiesta deck about 8 AM and grabbed a seat in one of the bars to wait. We were in one of the first groups as we had an early flight. Got off at about 8:45 AM - finding luggage was a madhouse - were at airport before 9:30 to fly back to the frigid northeast.

 

Overall a great week - we will do it again!

 

BK

[jdfloyd]

Thanks for your review! DH and I are looking at the 4/30/05 cruise. Have never cruised Princess before but our TA recommended it, she said we'd love the larger ship. Can you explain how the meal times work? I've heard that there is the traditional early or late seating and also personal choice. Thanks!

[LARGIN]

thanks for the great review..

[donna5]

Since you've done the cabana thing, can you explain. Some are saying it is $8 per person, but that there are two loungers in a cabana. Also are the cabanas near the pier where the tenders dock or over near the B.B.Q. pavillion. Thanks.

[Rustynail]

Great review BK and first and only wife (to date),

 

You can't blame a guy for missing hockey can you?? Skating on soft, silky white sand is a little difficult though.:D

 

Donna - click on my link to see the cabana's.

 

Dan

[cruzinchris]

Thanks for the nice review, It's BK. I'll have Mike read it this evening.

 

Looks like there won't be hockey in Hockeytown -bummer.

Chris

[derf5585]

Review of CP 1/22/05....

 

Rats. I thought this was a review of the Coral Princess

 

I belong to SPIT

Society for the Prevention of Initled Titles

[dbmiller1956]

Looking so forward to our CP cruise in October, this just made it even better. Glad to know you liked Sabatini's and Sterling. Have heard some wishy washy stuff about Sterling, so nice to know you enjoyed it. As for dining room food, don't spend alot of time eating there, so the fact that food everywhere else ranks high is great. :)

[zurmoly]

Greta review. Now I am even more excited! Flying to FLL in the am and sailing CP on Saturday!

[donnasue21]

I was wondering if Princess does the grand midnight buffet one of the evenings on board...we did the sun princess on a western caribbean trip and they didnt have one and even though we dont eat that much it is so pretty and fun to go to.

[robertew]

Haven't seen a midnight buffet on Princess for quite a few years. The Champaine (sp?) waterfall is kinda neat though!

[JrMafia90]

Thanks for the review, even if it was a little late. Better late than never.

[donnasue21]

Thanks for your answer and review. It was very helpful. We have booked a cruise with princess for Oct and I really hate to think that our family members going with us wont get to experience the grand buffet but I guess every cruise line has their pros and cons