Review: CB - Southern Caribbean - 11/7-11/14

[LollyMoz]

Pre-Cruise and Embarkation

We stayed one night pre-cruise at the Holiday Inn Express in Condado, just across the street and down the block from the La Concha, where our friends stayed. The HI is a no-frills, inexpensive place to stay if you are just looking for a spot to crash for a night or two. The location is good and the rooms are clean. The La Concha, on the other hand, is a fabulous resort (we stayed there last year) and if you don’t mind shelling out a bit more cash, or are looking for more of a “destination” type spot, then I’d recommend the La Concha. Their pool area and night life are fabulous!

It was pouring rain when the cab came to pick us up at the HI, and we slogged through ankle deep water (there is no covered portico at the HI) to get in. But hey, we’re on our way, so no worries! It was $20 to the pier plus $1 per bag for the cab and the ride was about 10 minutes. We arrived at 1:00 p.m. under a torrential downpour, but luckily the cab pulled up under cover so our bags didn’t get soaked. We pulled in at the opposite end of where the luggage gets checked in, so the men-folk took the big bags down to check in and we waited with the carry-ons. There was no line whatsoever, and when they rejoined us, we simply walked up, showed our paperwork and walked in the door to the security scanner. From there we literally walked up to the check in counter – no wait at all – and in a flash we had our cruise cards in hand and walked over to the duty free shop to await our friends (who got stuck when the security scanner had a 10 minute melt down). At the duty free, we purchased two bottles of wine, a bottle of scotch, a bottle of vodka, and a twelve pack of water which came to somewhere under $70 for everything. The wine and water we simply carried in the store bag. The other two bottles we placed in my carryon and had no problems at all. Note: The shop does not carry beer. The gents were very disappointed about that and had they known before hand (we didn’t remember from last year), would have gotten some in San Juan. So, all told, from the time the taxi dropped us off to the time we were settling in to our cabin, it was somewhat less than 45 minutes.

Cabin

We were in two mini suites on Dolphin (D319 and D601). There was plenty of storage (the desk had three drawers, each night stand had two drawers, plenty of shelf space under the two televisions, suitcases fit under the bed (except for our biggie, which slipped into the back corner of the closet), wardrobe had lots of shelf space and a small safe, shelf above the closet. Closet had 38 hangars, nine of which had trouser clips. Bathroom had a tub and shower (no issues with the curtain) and several shelves with enough counter space for both of us. Having sailed on the CB previously, we knew to ask for two egg crates, which we did before we sailed, but which were not on the beds when we arrived. When I asked our wonderful cabin steward, Allan, about the egg crates, he knew nothing about them (even though they were shown as confirmed in my Cruise Personalizer), but brought us two promptly. One of the egg crates was so thin it might was well have not been there at all, but still two of them did help the bed situation to a certain degree. Our friends also got two egg crates. We are not fans of the beds on the CB and our friends said that they also found the beds to be the least comfortable beds they had experienced on 18 cruises. This is a subjective thing, of course, as some don’t seem to find them too bad. We also asked Allan for two robes, but they were not available until the next day. Our balcony had four chairs, two with adjustable backs, and a table. The balconies on Dolphin are completely uncovered, so you can be seen from above. I don’t have a problem with that and enjoy the sun aspect, but we did have two incidences of things landing on our balcony from above – one a spent match, and another a cigarette butt. First of all, those things shouldn’t be thrown off the side of the ship under any circumstances. Secondly, my night time ritual is to sit outside and enjoy a libation under the stars. Had I been sitting there when those items were tossed from above, I would have been beaned in the head, as they both landed in the chair in which I had been sitting. I guess there are those who either don’t listen to the announcements about not tossing smoking materials off the side of the ship, or else they just don’t care.

I have much more to share - this will be long I fear - but I have a question for previous reviewers. I'd love to insert photos from my computer but am having a problem doing so. I tried cutting and pasting from a word document, tried pasting directly from the computer...nothing seems to be working. Any advice from you would be appreciated as I continue my review.

[Colo Cruiser]

Can't wait for more!

[LollyMoz]

We unpacked our carry on bags and got a bit settled, then headed right down to the International Café and the Piazza to watch the street performers (began with a steel drum band and then went to a gal twirling hula hoops). At the IC, DH had onion quiche, grilled veggies, and shrimp salad. I had shrimp salad, chicken salad, and a mozzarella and prosciutto sandwich. Everything was delicious and the service was prompt and pleasant. DH sampled a few pastries as well. We sat and enjoyed the performances and then wandered around a bit. Wound up on the Lido deck and decided to see what was going on in the Horizon Court buffet. It was busy, but it wasn’t “slammed” at 3:30 p.m. We got a plate of fruit and cheese and went outside, but it was drizzly, so we went back down to our cabin to take a nap. Our bags were delivered shortly thereafter and I unpacked before muster at 6:00. We then joined our friends for cocktails in their suite before going to dinner at the Sailaway Seafood Buffet in the HC. We got there at 8:30 and again, it was busy but not crazy and we found a table for four easily. Among our party we ate lobster claws (lots and lots of them), mussels, shrimp, prime rib, mashed potatoes and gravy, crab cakes, and fish. The soups of the day were a cream of porcini mushroom and a spinach tortellini in a light chicken broth. Both soups were very good. We sampled a few desserts and holding our extended bellies, went down to refresh our beverages prior to the Juan Carlos show. Juan Carlos is an extremely talented Flamenco guitarist who has been with Princess for 15 years. He is always the first show before the ship departs San Juan. In our opinion, his show is one of the “must-do” things on the cruise. After watching his show, we went upstairs to Skywalkers night club, where the sailaway party had been moved due to inclement weather. It was a great time with lots of energy and dancing. The CB had been scheduled to depart at 11:00, but was delayed approximately 45 minutes or so due to waiting for six pieces of luggage that was late coming from the airport (we learned the next day from the Captain’s announcement). We went back to the cabin and DH flopped into the bed while I went outside and spent midnight sipping a libation and watching the El Morro Fort slip past and enjoying the warm breezes until a rain shower chased me indoors. The seas were pretty rough (rainbands from Hurricane Tomas were still around), but we were more toward mid-ship and didn’t feel much movement.

[Irish1978]

On the CB for the first time in a few weeks so liking the detail of your review! Lots of help - thanks!

[teripp]

Sounds great soo far. Thanks for sharing. Can not wait to hear more....

Teri

[LollyMoz]

Day One – At Sea

Before going to bed the previous night, we put out our doorknob hanger asking for our fruit basket (bananas, oranges, kiwi and pears) and our morning room service breakfast. The breakfast was delivered promptly at 8:30 a.m. (I’ll say this – room service was always, and I do mean always, incredibly prompt). We got coffee/tea, croissants, Danish, cereal and milk and juices. I do enjoy those croissants and of course have to add butter, because….well, why not, we’re on vacation, right??? My morning cruise ritual is to get my tea and croissant, the Patter, my highlighter, note pad and pen and head out onto the balcony. I highlight the Patter with whatever might be of interest, what’s playing on MUTS, what the night’s show is, etc. I write my notes from the previous day and sip my tea and watch the gorgeous blue Caribbean sea slip past the balcony. Our balcony glass was clean as was our sliding glass door. The temp was 82°F with 25 knot winds, following seas with 6 – 12 ft swells. There were lots of white caps but the captain assured us that the weather would improve throughout the day and we’d arrive in Aruba on time. At 10:30, we went up to the pool and hubby found a spot in the pool to sit and watch MUTS (Iron Man 2 and Clash of the Titans). I was in and out of the pool and wandering around taking photos. It was a nice day – partly cloudy and not too hot, so the pools were crowded. We had pizza from Prego’s (which we both really like) and a burger from Trident Grill for lunch. DH went back to the pool and I grabbed a lounger, read, watched MUTS, had a cocktail and soaked up some sun. At 2:30 we went back to our cabin to rest and start getting ready for formal night. We got gussied up and our friends joined us for cocktails in our suite at 7:00 p.m. We went to dinner at 7:30 and were seated promptly at a table for four (we had anytime dining). I had the won ton soup (excellent) and DH had the cream of asparagus (also great). We had spinach quiche and fettuccini alfredo in a parmesan cheese crisp (yes you can get this as an appetizer, just ask), salad and beef medallions. Dessert was the sorbet of the day, cheesecake and raspberry ice cream. My tummy was groaning (in pleasure…and pain), so when the waiter came by with the after dinner beverage cart, we declined the offer of the special coffee of the day and instead went up to our cabin to refresh our beverages and go on to get seats at the production show “Do You Wanna Dance” which was high energy and enjoyable. There were plenty of seats available until the last minute and even after the show began, there were seats available down in front. This was the first performance of this show which was repeated later that night and also the next night. The CB is nothing if not prompt and when they say a show begins at 8:15, 8:15 it IS! After the show we wandered up to Latin Night at Skywalkers where we tried to expend some of the calories we had ingested throughout the day (good luck with that) by dancing a bit. It was a rainy evening so I was unable to sit outside and star gaze. We watched some James Bond movie on television and drifted off to sleep anticipating our next stop – Aruba!

[LollyMoz]

Day Two – Aruba

On this morning, we were awakened at 8:30 by work being done on the lifeboats (remember, we were on Dolphin Deck with is immediately above the lifeboats). Clanging and grinding…quite the alarm clock, but that was fine as we were about ready to get up anyway…It was somewhat overcast that morning and we didn’t have any particular excursions planned, just decided to hook up with our pals at 11:00 and wander around Oranjestead and see how the wind blew us. We didn’t have room service scheduled until 9:30, so I wandered outside to do my morning “chores” of Patter highlighting and note making. The smell of people having breakfast on their balconies made me very hungry so I was happy when the attendant arrived with our usual order and I could tuck into some food. After all, it had been hours since my last meal…. J

Although the day began with clouds, the weather cleared and the day turned very warm and sunny. We met our friends and walked around downtown a bit – wandered the shops and had a drink at Iguana Joe’s (if you don’t want food, which we did not, you have to sit in the bar as they will only serve people out on the balcony if you are ordering lunch). The waiter/bar tender at Iguana Joe’s didn’t seem to enjoy his job very much and if he said three words to us, I’d be surprised, so we didn’t linger there but instead caught a bus (station is two doors down) to Palm Beach. The fare was $4.65 round trip for two). The beach was pretty crowded when we got there. We were approached immediately by someone wanting to rent us chairs for $8/per. We got three (DH refused) and I must say they were pretty worn for that price, but whatevs. The waves were high and the water murky with lots and I do mean LOTS of sea weed from Tomas. Parts of the water down the beach from where we were, were literally black with seaweed and unswimable (is that a word?). DH and I body surfed and swam a bit and then hung out on the beach. There was a nice walking path behind where we were sitting, so we took a stroll and came upon the Radisson, which had a nice pool-side bar/restaurant called Gilligan’s. Our friends joined us and we got a table there and had lunch and drinks and were granted permission to take a dip in their pool which was very lovely indeed. I think were I to visit Aruba on vacation, I’d stay in that particular Radisson as the grounds were lovely. We enjoyed our time at the Radisson and were pretty worn out when it came time to head back to the ship, so we decided to forgo the wait for the bus and just catch a cab which cost $15 and was nice and air conditioned (the busses do not have a/c). Unbeknownst to us, at another beach on Aruba that day (Grand Anse) one of our fellow cruise passengers suffered some type of medical emergency and passed away on the beach. Of course there was no mention made of that on the ship and I only learned of it upon returning (from reading these boards). Our condolences to the family of the gentleman who so tragically passed away on what was supposed to be a wonderful vacation.

[cdamion]

Thank you for the great review! Look forward to more. Ive been waiting for reviews of your cruise to come out.

 

Just one note. Grand Anse Beach is actually in Grenada. I saw something about the death on a Grenada chat board and wondered why it wasn't mentioned more on these boards.

[metairiegal]

Great review and can't wait to read more. But, HURRY - we sail tomorrow on the Emerald!!

 

Just kidding! Ha ha! :)

[LollyMoz]

Thanks for the correction about the beach. One way or the other it was so sad and I was surprised not to read more about it.

Upon returning to the ship, we were once again hungry (really????) and headed up to Prego’s for pizza of the day (mushroom, ham and artichoke). Hubby went to watch MUTS (Letter to Juliet and Christina Aguilera in Concert) from the hot tub (NOTE: last year there were certain hot tubs that were designated as ‘adult only’ but that must have been discontinued as there were no such signs this year, much to my husband’s dismay), and I went back to the room to nap and shower.

We went for cocktails in our friends’ suite at 6:30 and dinner just after 7:00 p.m. Again we did not have to wait for a table, though we were seated at a table for six (no one else joined us and it was only the four of us). DH had the shrimp & scallop appetizer, seafood soup, salad, fettuccini alfredo in the cheese bowl as his entrée ( we really did love this dish) and pina colada ice cream for dessert. I had the shrimp & scallops, pineapple and toasted pistachios, chunky split pea soup, braised lamb shank and cheese cake. Our friends had the fajitas, a cheese plate and the Princess Dream for dessert. We’d had a lot of sun and fun so decided to have a quiet night. DH went back to the cabin and I browsed the shops and wandered a bit just to see what was going on. I made it through the shops unscathed (much to my hubby’s delight) and got back to the room for my evening libation under the stars.

Day Three – Bonaire

As we had an early excursion, we got room service at 7:30. We got the usual coffee/tea, croissants, etc., but I also wrote in an order of bacon and fried potatoes. The order was delivered promptly (of course) and may I just say that they give you plenty of bacon for two people! At least on the CB, we had no problems writing in special requests on our room service door hanger.

We had booked an excursion with Woodwind Snorkel and Sail after reading great reviews on these boards. I must add our recommendation to those many others – it was a wonderful day! Luckily, we had great weather and the water was clear and calm. We snorkeled off Klein Bonaire and saw sea turtles, rays, barracuda, and countless gorgeous and colorful tropical fish. I was in the group that went with a guide – Alicia – and I loved that aspect of the excursion. I had never snorkeled with a guide before and would highly recommend it. I learned a tremendous amount about various fish and plant life and found Alicia to be very knowledgeable and informative. She would free dive down to something and point to it, then come up and explain what we were looking at. Great time! After drift snorkeling, where the boat follows the snorkelers, we got back on board, had a beverage, and our captain graciously made an unscheduled swim stop at Klein Bonaire so we could enjoy more of that gorgeous water. There were several fish that came up to the boat hoping for snacks, but we were discouraged from feeding them so as not to encourage their dependence on tourists for food. We made it back in time and went back to the ship for an early departure. DH went back to MUTS (Despicable Me) and I got cleaned up and went to International Café for a tuna sandwich and a mozzarella and prosciutto sandwich, along with a nice glass of wine. I had my Kindle with me, so grabbed a seat at the bar and did some reading while listening to a wonderful pianist in the Piazza. Sitting right next to me at a window table were a couple working on their computer and Blackberry. I didn’t see them look out the window even once. Perhaps it was a working vacation for them, who knows. I wandered back to the cabin and had a nap before getting ready for cocktail hour. We went down to our friends’ suite at 6:30 and found them still engaged in trying to get the a/c in their cabin working. A technician had come in each of the two days prior and allegedly “increased the air flow” but when the technician of the day came in this time, his temperature reading said it was 85 in their cabin. My girlfriend likes it as cool as possible in their cabin, so she wasn’t exactly pleased but the next day the problem was finally fixed and she was happy. It did take several calls to the hotel manager, etc. to get the problem resolved. Our cabin had no problems whatsoever with a/c or anything else for that matter. Our water pressure was great, there was plenty of hot water for showers, everything worked perfectly. We went to dinner and this time had to wait about 15 minutes or so for a table for four. The girls each had the veal scaloppini and the guys had the spaghetti and meatballs. Both were very good! I had the tiramisu for dessert which was quite to die for! DH went back to the cabin and the rest of us went up to the pool for Island Night, and did some dancing. Of course you know where my evening ended…yep, on the balcony, libation in hand, watching the stars and listening to the sound of the waves beneath the ship.

[LollyMoz]

Day Four – Grenada

We weren’t scheduled to arrive in Grenada until noon so we slept in a bit and got room service at 9:00. To this point, we had not gone to any other venue for breakfast, but on this morning, DH was craving a waffle so went upstairs to the HC. He said it was pretty crowded, but not so much that it bothered him. It was a partly cloudy day with temps in the mid 80s and breezy. We had booked a shore excursion through Princess – Party Cruise and Beach – which departed at 1:50 p.m. There is a mall just outside the pier and DH walked through that a bit while we were waiting on our group. The excursion turned out to be very enjoyable. It was full, and we were lucky to get seats on the lower level of the Rhum Runner at the front of the boat. There was a live steel drum band, which added to the festive atmosphere. The captain of the boat took us on an informative tour of the harbor and recited some of Grenada’s history, then the band played, we had libations, people danced, and we went to a wonderful beach where we relaxed and swam. There were chairs available for rent on the beach for $5.00 BUT you weren’t allowed to move them. The chair stayed where it was, period. So, we declined to get chairs and stayed in the water. My girlfriend and I bought a ride on one of those inflatable floats that get pulled behind a “go fast” boat. It was a dual float so we got to go together and it was a BLAST!!! It was only two minutes, but we screamed and hollered – what fun! Right behind the shrubs/trees on our beach was a tiny little thatched bar run by a very friendly gal who made great drinks. We hung out there in the shade for a few minutes to cool off then got back on the boat for our return trip. During the ride back the band played, there was a conga line and a limbo contest that netted the winners a bottle of rum punch. This was just a fun little party excursion and we enjoyed it very much. Back at the dock, I went to the mall and got some spices and gifts for co-workers, etc., then went back onboard to relax. The P&O ship Azura was docked next to us – coincidentally built by the same shipbuilder and virtually identical to the CB. We didn’t depart until 6:30 which was after dark, the first time leaving a port after dark for me, which was way cool in my opinion. The Azura left before we did so we went up to watch them depart. As I’m sure most of you know, when two ships are docked next to one another and one departs, it’s quite the party with passengers from both ships crowding the deck, hooting and hollering to one another and wishing each other “bon voyage.” Though we had planned to go the dining room for dinner, we both decided we’d had about enough fun for that day and opted for a room service dinner instead. We got a double decker PB&J sandwich (all due respects to Rachel Ray, but it was YUM-O), cold milk and a tuna sandwich and flan for dessert. DH watched a movie on the television – can’t remember what it was – and I flopped in my chair on the balcony to star gaze and doze. This is what cruising is all about!!! :D

[Happy girl2]

Great review looking forward to the next part. One question i would like to ask is you said that you carried alcahol on board with you is that now allowed as when we went on Sea Princess our bags were checked and it was removed and given back at the end of the cruise

[LollyMoz]

Day Five – Dominica

Our favorite island on this particular itinerary, probably due to the wonderful excursion with Bumpiing Tours. We docked at 8:00 a.m. and had to meet our tour by 8:30, so opted for an early room service (again, wrote in bacon and potatoes). DH had become somewhat fond of those waffles, so he made his way up to the HC for a “fix.” He said it was pretty crowded, but then I’ll just have to take his word for that as I never did see any breakfast action outside our cabin. We met our tour “group” (there were only four of us) and our guide Gary. I had heard about Bumpiing from a friend at work, and then researched them on these boards and Trip Advisor. I highly recommend this group – they will work with you to customize a tour and the guides are local and wonderful. Either Levi or Gary will take great care of you and if you want to make a stop or learn more about something, they’re more than willing. Take cash though, as they don’t use credit cards for payment (I had to run back to the ship at the end of the tour, as I hadn’t brought enough $$ but Gary was cool and he and DH hung out and chatted about life on the island until I got back). Our tour took us to waterfalls, the botanical gardens, cold springs (how awesome was that, swimming through the cavern where they filmed parts of Pirates of the Caribbean 2), hot springs, and snorkeling at Champagne Reef. A note about Champagne reef, and actually the rest of the tour as well. You definitely need good water shoes or sandals. They offer particular recommendations on their web site, and I’m here to tell you, it’s very important that you have proper footwear because there is definitely a challenging bit of climbing through rocks, up and down, hiking through damp vegetation, etc. and at Champagne Reef, there is literally no sand at all – you walk across rocks and pebbles to get into the water. But of course you don’t have to take that particular tour if you don’t want to. There are more and less challenging tours to be taken with Bumpiing, or they’ll customize one for you if you wish. The one thing that the tour didn’t include was lunch (gasp, no food for several hours, what shall we do???). So upon our return to the ship we made a beeline for the HC. It was at 3:30 and was pretty busy but we found a spot to eat and had soup, skirt steak, mashed potatoes, grilled fennel (so good I had seconds), salad, fruit and dessert. We had planned to go out and watch MUTS (The Bounty Hunter), but it was so hot and we were tired from all that climbing around, so we went back to the cabin where DH watched TV and snoozed and I read and napped on the sofa. It was formal night, so we got all glammed up and went to the Captain’s Circle cocktail party which was very nice and included beverages (I had a champagne cocktail and DH had a Tom Collins-y type thing) and light snacks, remarks by our circle host and the captain of the ship and then a drawing for a bottle of champagne. The most traveled couple on board the ship was recognized – they had over 550 days on board Princess ships…man, I’m impressed! Since this was only my fourth cruise, and my hubby’s seventh, I was definitely in awe of anyone who’d spent that much time at sea. From there we made our way to the dining room and met our friends for dinner. A definite wait this time – 20 minutes, but we had a beverages and made the best of things. It was lobster night – yay! DH opted for the seafood cocktail with caviar, as did I, and everyone at the table got lobsters and prawns (the guys got two each). I thought that the prawns were every bit as good as the lobster. For dessert I got the broken cookies and cream parfait, and DH got the pina colada ice cream. I went back to the cabin this time, and the rest of the gang went to see Piano Man, which they all agreed was just OK. We were zonked out by 11:00 p.m.

[LollyMoz]

Great review looking forward to the next part. One question i would like to ask is you said that you carried alcahol on board with you is that now allowed as when we went on Sea Princess our bags were checked and it was removed and given back at the end of the cruise

 

We did not have a problem on this particular cruise. Of course, the scanners were just as you entered the terminal, so there was no one examining bags after you left the duty free shop. And you are permitted to bring wine/champagne on board. Last year, the security scanners were after you left the shop and even then we didn't encounter a problem. :)

[txadmin2]

Great report. We are 2 and a half weeks away from departure day. Sounds like we will have a wonderful time.

[cruisinleelee]

what deck were your friends on?? A/Con Caribe seems to be a constant source of complaints!

[srpilo]

Nice !!!! :):D:)

 

 

Thanks for the details

Srpilo

[SCFCRUISER]

Hey LollyMoz, we will be on the CB in a couple of months. Can you report on the condition of the ship in general, food, & bands. Did they have a calypso pool band? Any other comments you might have would be appreciated, good, bad or ugly. I know you are not finished with your review yet, just throwing this out there.

Hope you can figure out how to upload your pictures!!

 

Thanks,

Steve

[BballinQT24]

I'm enjoying your review so far. We will be doing a southern caribbean itinerary on the Emerald next month, so I am really enjoying reading about your times at the ports.

[LollyMoz]

Hey LollyMoz, we will be on the CB in a couple of months. Can you report on the condition of the ship in general, food, & bands. Did they have a calypso pool band? Any other comments you might have would be appreciated, good, bad or ugly. I know you are not finished with your review yet, just throwing this out there.

Hope you can figure out how to upload your pictures!!

 

Thanks,

Steve

 

Hi Steve,

I promise that is all to come. I can't seem to get the photos figured out, but if nothing else, people can friend me on FB and see the pics there. I'll be sharing more of the general stuff at the end of my review which will be posted tomorrow. Thanks for following along and I wish you a Bon Voyage. If there's any spare room in your luggage, I'll tag along!! :D You'll have a great time...I can't wait to read YOUR review!

[LollyMoz]

what deck were your friends on?? A/Con Caribe seems to be a constant source of complaints!

 

We were both on Dolphin Deck. Never stayed on Caribe, so can't comment on that...sorry!

[LollyMoz]

Day Six – St. Thomas

We decided to spend the day in St. Thomas shopping and did not plan any excursions. We had all been to St. Thomas several times previously and had a specific shopping agenda on this particular day. We got our usual room service and knowing that this would be our last room service of the cruise, I wrote in several extras. Hubby went up for a waffle also.

We met our friends at 9:30 and headed out. We had a very successful day of shopping and also had lunch at Cuzzins (the lobster is fabulous) and I made my requisite stop at Gladys’ Café for her famous hot sauce, of which I had recently run out. We wandered around town a bit and made it back to the ship with about ten minutes to spare. I’ll say this about St. Thomas – there are some really wonderful shopping bargains to be had, especially in jewelry. This island is one of our very favorite in the Caribbean and is so convenient to many other islands and excursions. St. John’s is not to be missed if you enjoy a more laid back atmosphere. We plan to go back to St. Thomas for a week next year.

Since it was our last evening onboard, I ordered champagne and canapés to be delivered to our room. Our friends came down and had cocktails with us and we headed out for dinner. Service in the dining room is always very good, but a phenomenon we noticed last year happened again this year. On the last night, for some reason, the service slips. We did not have traditional dining, so got seated wherever there was a spot and perhaps the waiters reserve their final energies for those who have been with them throughout the cruise, but we all commented on the lack of attentiveness which was so obviously different from what we had experienced every other evening. As I mentioned before, this also happened to DH and I last year to the point we remembered it and commented on it. Don’t get me wrong, the service wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t what we had experienced up to this point. The food was good as always and we got our last fix of the fettuccini alfredo, beef medallions, cheesecake, deep dish apple pie and ice cream.

Our bags were packed and outside the door and we decided just to lay low and enjoy the very last night of our cruise. I sat outside the final evening – it was very, very quiet indeed with few people out on their balconies.

Final Day – Disembarkation

We had a later flight (3:20 p.m.) so our group wasn’t scheduled to meet until 11:00 a.m. We left the cabin and met our friends in the Horizon Court at about 9:30. We found a table for four by the window, ate breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, waffles, corned beef hash, fruit, croissants, OJ, coffee, tea) and visited until it was time to head downstairs. It’s amazing the difference in our energy at the beginning of a cruise vs. the end. We engaged in desultory conversation, and watched the staff begin to prepare the buffet for the lucky folks who would soon be boarding the CB. At 10:45 we wandered down to Explorer’s Lounge to meet our group. We waited perhaps ten minutes, and they called everyone as we were the last to leave. We swiped our cards at the gangway for the final time (sniff) and made our way to the baggage area. As most luggage had already been claimed, it was extremely easy to locate our bags. The line to hand in our immigration forms was very long and didn’t move all that quickly, so it took us about 15 minutes or so once we hit the line before we were able to get outside and join our friends to grab a taxi. We gave one last wistful glance at the CB as our cab pulled away. Again, it was $20 for the cab, plus $1/per bag and the ride took maybe 15 minutes. We got to the airport and went through the USDA checkpoint (in San Juan, make SURE you do this first as your airlines will not accept your luggage without the yellow sticker). The San Juan airport is always busy on cruise days, but we found a spot and settled in to wait for our flight home. I did manage to get a few more items at the duty free shops in the airport before boarding.

Overall Impressions and Final Comments

We found the CB to be in good shape and didn’t see much in the way of changes from last year. They had just finished varnishing some of the railings on Lido and it looked as if our balcony railings had been done not too long before our cruise. I had read in a previous thread where someone said their bathroom was in bad shape, so I made it a point to look for broken tiles on the floor, etc. Nary a one! The beach towels were getting a bit threadbare and several were torn or frayed, but with the amount of use and washing they get, can’t say as that is a surprise and it certainly didn’t affect our cruise whatsoever. The carpet was free of stains, the bedding was clean, the glass was clean, etc. Yes, there are some “dings” in the panels next to the doors in the hallway, but that’s from people’s luggage and I suspect can be found on most ships out there on the high seas. I did notice some new cushions on the chaise lounges by the pool where we watched MUTS, which were very nice. Not all had been changed but I’m sure that’s coming.

We got a good “vibe” from the staff – everyone seemed to be smiling and happy. One small caveat to that however; we noticed last year and again this year that the staff that work the Horizon Court buffet, both servers and those behind the lines, do not seem to be as pleasant as elsewhere on the ship. The gal who walked around with the beverage cart, and a couple of the servers would smile and be pleasant, but the overall feeling we got from the HC staff was that they weren’t all that pleased to be there. Not a huge deal, just something that we noticed.

Our cabin steward, Allan, was wonderful. He was never without a smile on his face and an effusive greeting when we’d see him in the hallway. He accommodated any request we made with alacrity. I always bring along sticky notes and would leave a note on the mirror thanking him for his hard work, etc. I gave him an extra gratuity at the end of the cruise also. The room service waiters were unfailingly polite and professional (and PROMPT). Passenger services staff were pleasant and helpful the two times I needed to ask for assistance.

Food was great – nothing but praise as far as I’m concerned. I never heard anything but positive feedback about the food. Our favorites snacks were the pizza at Prego’s and the soft serve ice cream (I adored the popcorn as well), and in the dining room – wow, everything was wonderful and I’d be hard pressed to come up with a favorite. We did eat at the pub lunch in the Crown Grill one day and it was good. We both had the fish & chips and hubby got some mashed potatoes as well. The menu for the pub lunch is extremely limited and of course if you want a beer to go with there is a charge, but we enjoyed the atmosphere in the Crown Grill very much. I do love the sandwiches and salads at the International Café and my favorites include the tuna, the chicken salad, the mozzarella and prosciutto sandwiches and the shrimp salad. The quiche of the day is always good as well.

The entertainment was good – Juan Carlos was our favorite. We saw the comedian Phil Tag and we all really enjoyed his show. The band that played by the pool is called Exotique and they’re great. We didn’t really do many of the other organized activities, but there were plenty to choose from, that’s for sure – everything from Ceramics to ballroom dance class/competition, ice carving, bartending contests, afternoon tea, goofy golf, brain waves quiz, trivia, bridge, yoga (fee applies), ping pong, hoops, water volleyball, bingo…you name it. It’s easy to stay as busy as you want on board the CB, though we just tend to relax and take it easy on our cruises. Martin Kaye was the pianist at Crooners and he is great – good luck getting a seat during one of his shows – it was standing room only!

Things I’m glad I brought on this cruise include binoculars, sticky notes, power strip, small pair of scissors, my own hairdryer (sorry – theirs aren’t very good for those of us with longer hair), highlighter, bottle stopper (for champagne, wine), our own bottled water from the duty free in San Juan.

I’m happy to answer specific questions and if you wish to see photos, friend me on FB (Laura Anne Mosny) and mention this thread in your friend request. Sorry I wasn’t able to figure out how to get them on this review.

Phew. That’s enough for now. Bon Voyage to those of you preparing to cruise! :D

[hightownCO]

Thanks so much for your report. Will be doing the same trip (but reverse order) in 115 days. I think I'd prefer the one sea day at the end like we'll have it.

 

Glad you enjoyed your trip and so looking foward to ours. It will be out third time on CB.

[Colo Cruiser]

That was excellent! Now we need photos. :D

[harry]

Sadly I was on the beach when the man was pulled from the water. Supposedly he was on the bus tour and was struggling going to the fort and couldnt get inough air in the bus

 

they worked a long time on him but from what i heard he was gone alreay

 

Ambulance took FOREVER

 

took awhile to cover him and then finally someone put an umbrealla over him

 

He was on the beach a good 2 hours when I finally left to go back to the ship.