Caribbean Princess- 7-night Southern Caribbean Review (1/8/12 - 1/15/12)

[pcsunlover]

So very true......I am on this cruise in a few weeks and looking forward to meeting and talking with people from all over, I wonder if Puerto Ricans who may cruise out of Florida, ask about a ship full of cranky, old people.........

 

Love this! :D

[Worn out mailman]

My husband and I are also going on the March 18th cruise on the Caribbean Princess. Can't wait!!!

 

I see this was your first and only post. Why don't you join us for the March 18'th roll call. Here's a link to it.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1396426&page=5

 

Hope to see you over there. :)

[Worn out mailman]

So very true......I am on this cruise in a few weeks and looking forward to meeting and talking with people from all over, I wonder if Puerto Ricans who may cruise out of Florida, ask about a ship full of cranky, old people.........

 

And trust me, I was on the Eastern out of Ft. Lauderdale a couple years ago. There were more than a few of those.

[Giz001]

Is there Gelato at the International Cafe on the Caribbean Princess?

[fishin' musician]

Is there Gelato at the International Cafe on the Caribbean Princess?

 

No.

[rn448698]

I was on this cruise and I cruised out of San Juan last year. I enjoy the cultural differences and did not find any Puerto Ricans to be disruptive. I was much more annoyed by white mainlanders who were loud and oppiniomated.

 

I really wasn't annoyed by anyone, save for the guy on the previously mentioned excursion and another "gentleman" who regularly had too much to drink. I'd be hesitant to say that I was "annoyed by white mainlanders".

 

Is there Gelato available on the Caribbean Princess at the International Cafe?

 

No, which kind of made me sad.

 

Hello, love the review so far!! My husband and I are on the 2-week cruise in Feb...cant wait!! Did you do an excursion at every stop? With only a few sea days, Im wondering if its more exhausting or enjoyable??? Thanks and keep writing :D

 

We did an excursion at every stop except Barbados. I'm in average shape, and I was tired at the end of every night (not overweight but I don't workout). I also tried to mix up the excursions so that some were early in morning and some were mid-day. I also ensured that I either took a nap or slept at the pool everyday. If you want a totally relaxing cruise, but still want to go on excursions, I would suggest excursions in Tortola, Dominica, and Antigua. You can always just get a cab and go shopping in St. Thomas, and I'm just not a huge fan of Barbados.

 

I promise to write more of this review tomorrow and on Sunday. It's been a busy week at work, and the Cleveland weather is starting to get to me.

[rn448698]

I promised a review of the casino and dinner buffet, so here it is:

 

The Casino

 

I really liked the set up of the casino. When I initially saw it, I immediately thought, "Wow, this is smaller than the casino on the Serenade of the Seas and this ship has more people." However, I never found it to be crowded. What I found odd was that you could see outside. I'm used to the Vegas-style casino with no windows and no ability to see what's going outside of the casino.

 

All of the workers in the casino were very friendly (I mean, this isn't surprising since they want your money), but if you view the casino as entertainment, then you'll be fine.

 

So, having heard stories about the voucherless casino for the slot machines, I didn't know what to expect. First, Princess is VERY smart. Without vouchers, you don't think as much about "Wow, I should stop and just cut my losses." If you're new to Princess and you want to play slots, I would just talk to one of the workers on the first night. They'll be more than happy to explain.

 

The table games almost always had available seating, except for the electronic poker table. And there were always workers offering to get you a drink.

 

The Dinner Buffet

 

This was one of the downsides of the cruise. I personally did not like the variety or quality of the dinner buffet. I thought Royal Caribbean's setup was more open and that the quality was better. At some point, you kind of get tired of pork or fish. However, the deserts were always available and tasty. I never had a bad desert.

 

However, this may sound really weird, but the plain rolls were absolutely amazing. I don't know if it was because we were craving carbs, but I probably could of had 5 with dinner.

 

Again, the buffet servers were all very friendly, but slow if you wanted a soda/pop. Just go to a bar beforehand to get a drink and then go to the buffet.

 

The other annoying part was never knowing which side of the Horizon or Caribe Cafe was open. There are two sides to the Horizon and one general area for the Caribe Cafe, and depending on where you enter (ours was normally by the staircase in the middle of the two locations), it got confusing with which side would be serving food. Just a minor inconvenience, but weird nonethelesss. I don't believe I ever saw both sides of the Horizon and the Caribe Cafe open at the same time except for disembarkation morning.

 

For no logical reason, we preferred getting food from Horizon and then walking over to the Caribe Cafe seating area since it was less crowded.

[blueridgemama]

Day Four: 1/10

Waking up in Tortola was exciting. Having never been the island, we really didn’t know what to expect. After a stop at the buffet (may I recommend the banana nut bread?), we went outside to look at the craft tents to pick up a magnet and then to get in line for our excursion. Nothing really exciting, and we didn't venture into whatever city there was.

 

Before that, here’s my review of the Horizon Court & Caribe Café breakfast buffets:

1)

Selection- Ok. Standard hotel breakfast (fruits, pancakes, waffles, sausages, cereal, and eggs)

2)

Service- Most of the buffet servers walking around asking what you wanted to drink were friendly.

3)

The coffee- After hearing some reviews of the coffee, I was expecting gas station coffee. It wasn’t awful; it wasn’t great. I’m glad I saved the money and avoided getting a coffee card since the buffet coffee was perfectly fine.

4)

Getting a table- Was never an issue from what we experienced. Worst case? We walked to the other side of the buffet to get a seat.

And remember how I mentioned 2 low points of the trip and then remembered a 3rd? Well, here’s where it begins.

 

A word of wisdom to travelers: Don’t talk politics, religion, or race while in line for an excursion. And please don’t assume everyone agrees with you. A man in his 60’s, traveling alone until his wife showed up for the 2nd 7-day portion of this cruise, from Southern California would talk to anyone, and I mean anyone, about his views on politics, religion, and race. It took everything in my power to not turn around and either punch the guy or scream at him when he said that black kids in America can’t hold pencils. And his very inappropriate and false thoughts on people who vote for candidates from one political party. Not based on anything factual; just based on what he heard somewhere. He said a bunch of other things while in line and while in a van this day. I’ll spare you all the details, but he was truly awful. My favorite part was when he assumed the political leanings of a civilian that works for a branch of the armed services. His assumption was incorrect.

 

I’m proud of my partner, because we had joked prior to this vacation that we better not have a repeat of what happened in Antigua last year. In a van of 20 people, he ended up saying rather loudly “I’m glad I’m in a van trapped with a bunch of racists” after listening to 4 people from S. Florida go on about their views. What is it with people?! And when white people from Ohio are calling you racist, there’s probably an issue (meaning that Midwesterners usually don’t like making scenes). This year he kept his mouth shut because saying something wasn't going to change this guy's opinions. And it was really interesting to hear racist and closed-minded thoughts expressed so openly. Though I would venture to guess that he wouldn't think he was racist.

 

So, the Baths at Virgin Gorda… 140 people on a two story boat (30-45 minute ride), 10 minute van ride, and then a 5 minute talk with the tour guide. At this point, we walked about 5-10 minutes by ourselves at the front of the pack through the trees to the beach, and then took off on a 15 minute walk through the giant rocks. It was beautiful, save for the piece of human feces floating in the water. And I know what I saw. Ick.

 

We spent about an hour or so on a small beach area. The water was crystal clear and beautiful. It was relaxing, and I enjoyed it very much.

 

 

Here's some pics from the day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then walked about 15 minutes back to the vans, got some run punch at a restaurant by the vans, 10 minute van ride to dock, and then waited about 20 minutes for everyone to get back to the dock. And then, there was another 30-45 minute boat ride back to the cruise ship in Tortola.

 

If you’re looking for an action-packed excursion, do something else. It wasn’t the most beautiful place I’ve ever been, but it was very pretty, relaxing, and I’m glad that I went. I really enjoy being able to float in calm ocean water and still being able to see the ocean floor 10-15 feet below me. It was a perfect day except for the occaional sprinkle and crazy person.

 

And please don’t talk politics, religion, or race when in line with strangers. Or on a van with strangers. Or with strangers. Ever. Please.

 

 

We will be in St Thomas in April and there is a Princess excursion to the Baths that I am thinking of going on. The excursion is 6 hours long. The trip there and back is 1 1/2 hours each way on a high speed boat and the rest of the time would be getting there on land transportation and back. Do you think the time spent at the Baths would be worth the travel time there and back? I am enjoying your review and glad that you had a great cruise. Your pictures are beautiful.:)

[rn448698]

We will be in St Thomas in April and there is a Princess excursion to the Baths that I am thinking of going on. The excursion is 6 hours long. The trip there and back is 1 1/2 hours each way on a high speed boat and the rest of the time would be getting there on land transportation and back. Do you think the time spent at the Baths would be worth the travel time there and back? I am enjoying your review and glad that you had a great cruise. Your pictures are beautiful.:)

 

If you've never been to St. Thomas, I would recommend doing a St. Thomas or St. Johns excursion. The USVI are absolutely beautiful.

 

If you're been there, done that, I can imagine that a 1.5 hour boat ride would be absolutely gorgeous. With 3 hours or so at the Baths. Seems fun. The first thing that came to mind, though, was whether there is food on the excursion. 6 hours is a long time.

 

My partner thinks that the Baths were absolutely amazing. I thought they were very pretty. I found that an excursion doing snorkeling off the coast of St. Johns last year was more fun (and prettier).

 

I hope this helps!

[welovetocruise123]

Your reveiws are very interesting. We will soon be cruising her but to different ports.

How were the shows? - I don't always enjoy some of the ships choices. We loved CELEBRITY shows and their ships - Top of the Line!

How was the ship in general? Besides the food, pools and casino? Did you find there was a lot to do? Any hints of some things NOT to miss?

We are leaving from PR, St Maarten, St Lucia, Boniare, Grenada, Aruba - they sure have busy island schedules! Have been to Aruba and St. Maarten but not the others? We have a tour in mind for St. Lucia but any ideas for Grenada and Bonaire? We like the beaches and shopping - anything you can suggest?

 

It's a shame about the people that were talking about politics, etc. They should leave that all at home and be discussed among friends. On Vacation we see a lot of diversity among "People" and I thought that was part of the Journey of a vacation. Guess some people don't have anything else to talk about - like when are we going swimming, let's have another drink, let's go win at the casino, where are the shops? Let's hear those steel drums - which by the way, is there pool band good?

 

Thanks for all the information, pictures and all.

[jrzebird]

It might be rather difficult to NOT discuss politics on my b2b Princess cruise in October/November, since I'll be on the ship for the election! That never occurred to me when I booked it. Guess I'll have to keep my enthusiasm/disappointment to myself.

 

I'm enjoying your review a lot. Thanks.

[rn448698]

Day 6: 1/12

I must first apologize for the lack of any updates over the past month. Work got the best of me, and then we started going into planning mode for our next few vacations.

 

So, I didn’t know what to expect from Dominica, other than it was very “rain-foresty”.

 

What I’ll say is that I think we lucked out on our excursion. We showed up early, and the first 7 of us in line got escorted to a van with a driver and tour guide. Our tour guide couldn’t have been nicer. He took us on a drive into the center of the island and did an excellent job of sharing some historical information with us. He was very personable and took us to some spots to get some very pretty scenic shots.

 

 

I really enjoyed the swim at Titou Gorge. While the water was, um, freezing… (and when I mean freezing, I mean that you should just drop immediately into the water instead of contemplating how freezing cold it is), it was beautiful. The current kind of took you about 200 feet (maybe) into a gorge (8 feet on each side). There was a waterfall and it was just very pretty. You need to be in shape to do this excursion, too.

 

 

 

And I know the likelihood of some of the people on our excursion reading this…but “hi” to the couple from Boston. I still feel bad that you waved to us at the San Juan airport on the way home (you were going to St. Maarten), but I thought you were waving at someone else until I realized that you were waving to us. And thank you for taking some pictures of us. We really appreciate it.

 

The hot springs took the sulfur-heated water (I think) and mixed it with more water into 3 different “baths”. While very warm and relaxing, I wasn’t overly impressed. I also felt bad that my partner’s swimsuit turned a nice shade of rust-red thanks to the sulfur. :)

 

I think that I would have been a little indifferent about this excursion, but we were with good people and a good tour guide. Even if he did think that someone on his island lived to be 128…

 

So, two thumbs up!!!

 

Some random shots of Rouseau:

 

 

[rjrice1]

WOW!!! What a awesome review. Just booked this cruise for 4/15. Spare of the moment thing..

Haven't been on princess in three years.. love the ships. Do they still do the sail away seafood buffet?

Cathy

[DPk400]

random shots of Rouseau:

 

Enjoying your pics and review!!

 

 

WOW!!! What a awesome review. Just booked this cruise for 4/15. Spare of the moment thing..

Haven't been on princess in three years.. love the ships. Do they still do the sail away seafood buffet?

Cathy

 

Check out our roll call if you haven't already!

[cruiseclues]

Thanks for your enjoyable photo review. :):)