Review of Caribbean Princess, 5/14 to 5/21

[dawne577]

Forgot to mention that Tuesday was fried fish day for lunch. Double Yum!!

 

Again, the change in engine sound woke us, and again we watched the ship dock from our aft balcony while we sipped on our Tim Horton's coffee. St. Martin's didn't seem as physically dramatic as St. Thomas had, but it did have its own charms and beauties, as we would soon find out...Cafe Caribe for breakfast and a quick dash to the gang plank.

 

AMERICA'S CUP REGATTA

We huddled around the sign sticking in the air, as you always do for the excursions. The Dutch side of St. Martin's from the dock looked colorful, clean and very orderly. Our tour guide took us to some steps near a statue (not sure of whom) and told us about the history of the America's Cup, how the British had started it, how the American's had challenged them and won, how the New York Yacht Club had held the cup until Dennis Connor lost it to Australia and then how the New York Yacht club had kicked Connor out of the club for shaming them. Of course, Connor moved to the San Diego Yacht Club, built Stars and Stripes and successfully won the cup back.

 

Then they picked symbolic captains for the four boats (all women, of course) and picked the crews. They took us by water taxi to the boats in the harbor. We were all assigned jobs according to how active we wanted to be. I was the barmaid, DH a back stay grinder. The best job was iceberg lookout.

 

There was two simultaneous races. We were assigned to Dennis Connor's Stars and Stripes; the boat we raced against was a Canadian boat. The "real" crew (3 of them) did a good job explaining everyone's tasks.

 

The race was like a shortened version of the real thing. Both boats tacked back and forth before the starting time, trying to be first across the starting line and to be in the best position. Once we were headed straight for the Canadian boat, but our Captain (the real one, named Chris), told us not to worry, that we had the right of way. But I don't think the captain of the other boat even blinked--we missed them by what seemed like inches. Adrenalin rush.

 

We were late to the starting line. But not as late as the Canadians. We led during the first leg of the race. Then, on the second leg, we fell behind. I handed out a lot of beer and we learned about "dirty air" and other racing strategies. The real crew was very competitive, but they never demanded it of any of us. Still, their enthusiasm was contagious.

 

Just before coming up on the marker for the final leg, there was a discussion amongst the real crew memembers about which way to turn--right or left. The right was the safe way; the left was the more gutsy. One of the real crew members said to our symbolic captain: "The decision is LEFT to you." This made her nervous and she said let's go the right. Without even looking at her, he repeated, with even more emphasis, "The decision is LEFT to you."

"Oh," she said,"let's go left."

 

We did and we pulled way ahead of the Canadian boat. But they complained to the officials that we had hit the marker--which is illegal. As a penalty, we had to do a 360 degree turn. But, as we learned later (at least they claimed this happened), everyone on the Canadian boat started celebrating by grabbing a beer and didn't pay much attention to us. In the meantime we still pulled ahead of them and won the race.

 

After the race, they take you first to their souvenier store and then either take you to town or back to the ship, which ever you want to do.

 

This was a great excursion, definitely a do again.

 

Captain Chris sails us to victory:

[cabana]

Well now, I was on the Canadian boat. And no one likes a winner that whines. lol It sure was a great time. We lost you won. Some how I think Stars and Stripes wins most of the races. Winged kneel I think. Stolen from the Aussies. lol I would do it again if ever in St Marteen.:)

[dawne577]

After lunch, we decided to take a cab to Orient beach. First we tried some of the guavaberry rum. Not bad, very sweet. This was just past the ships, near the taxi stands. We'd just missed the taxi to Orient (each stand is allocated to a different destination). All of the fares are standardized and posted, ranging from $9 to $5 per person (going to Orient), depending upon the number in the cab. There was another couple waiting with us and when a small taxi stopped and asked if we wanted to go to Orient, all four of us jumped in. With four, the fare was $6 per person--plus we tipped him.

 

ORIENT BEACH

As in St. Thomas, we had to cross a mountain to get to the beach. But this drive was considerably different. Not as dramatic, but more pleasant. The other couple had taken a tour in the morning so they told us what they had learned about St. Maarten (the Dutch side).

 

Surprisingly, it is a very dry island and they pointed out the cactus growing everywhere along the road. Plus, this is free range country--animals are everywhere, goats, cows, chickens. Supposedly, the roads follow goat paths because they always know the shortest, easiest path.

 

There was a sign announcing the fact that we were now on the French side of the island. As we came over the mountain, the view was spectacular. And not just the ocean. The side of the mountain was filled with beautiful flowers and shrubbery and the houses were painted in a rainbow of colors.

 

He let us off in a parking lot very near the beach and promised to pick us up at 3; we wanted to be sure we were back in time for the boat's departure from port. The beach was great--clear water, warm. There were a lot of people snorkling and you could see the surf breaking on a reef far out in the distance. There were plenty of water sports available as well as parasailing.

 

To the far right, the beach is clothing optional, but women are topless all along the beach. And there are bars and restaurants about every 50 feet or so.

 

About 2:30, black clouds appeared on the horizon and the wind started to kick up. We started back towards the parking lot and then the downpour started. The taxi driver was no where to be seen, but another driver in a large van stopped for us. He was packing in as many people as he could. He'd seen the clouds coming and came over from the Dutch side knowing that people would be looking for a cab.

 

While it absolutely poured on the French side, the Dutch side was completely dry. And it's really not that far. He dropped some of the people off in town to go shopping and took us back to the ship.

 

We wanted to see Bert Stratton's show in the Explorers Lounge at 9, so we had dinner at Cafe Caribe (themed as the Down Under Hunter's Buffet): Sirloin steak, goat stew (very tasty), jerk chicken, lamb chops and New York cheesecake.

 

Bert was great, especially his song medley which he created on the spot from songs shouted up to him from the audience.

 

Orient Beach:

[dawne577]

Thursday, May 19th

This is our last sea day and I am trying to push away the thought of this wonderful week coming to an end. My DH and I sleep in today, sit and enjoy our coffee on the balcony, eat breakfast and end up missing the last line dancing class. We do make it to the last ballroom dance class. James Lay says that Merenge is one of the easiest dances to learn but I'm completely out of it today and nothing is sinking in. Oh well, I'm hoping that DH and I can sign up for classes at home before our next cruise.

It's a sunny day today so we want to sit up on deck. Go figure, we didn't have a hard time finding open lounge chairs(deck 16, aft)at 11:30 and we stay up there until about 2:30 talking with our new friends. Went to the lunch buffet then and was planning on going to the afternoon tea but fell across the free ice cream that they serve in Horizon Court in the afternoon. There are two stations and each one has two different flavors. I'm not a huge ice cream fan but I could be if I had this to eat every day.

Went back to the stateroom for an afternoon nap and then hit the casino to win my $2 back. Yes, I typed 2. They didn't teach Catholic girls much about gambling(except for Bingo) and Disney doesn't have casinos so I am a casino virgin(I bet there is a "Gambling For Dummies" book out there-I better read up), don't have the foggiest idea what I'm doing but figure as long as I leave with what I walked in with... This original $2 nickel investment is going to follow me from ship to ship now. We also circled the boutiques today and didn't see anything that I couldn't resist. Of course my DH was there to reassure me that I didn't need it.

Tonight was our last formal night, so got ready for dinner and lobster.

I ordered a beef tenderloin to go with my lobster but wish I would've just asked for more lobster tails. My husband ordered the pheasant which he said was good. Planned on seeing one of the comedians(Steve Moris) and then going to the Champagne Waterfall Party but a couple we were going with said that they hadn't heard good things about him so we switched plans and went to see Kimika. Kimika was o.k. but I wouldn't go again and wish we would've tried the comedian. The champagne waterfall was also nice but not a must do for us. Talked about going back to Skywalkers but decided against it. We wanted to be up and off the boat early Friday morning.

The one thing I really missed on this ship were the deck parties. Disney throws some great ones(their new Pirate Night with theme dressing at dinner and fireworks with the deck show is outstanding.) The night of the Island Night deck party it was cancelled because of rain and when we went to different sailaway parties we did arrive late because we wanted to be in our stateroom when we left port so I know this has influenced my opinion. On our next cruise because it is port heavy we are booking an inside stateroom and I'm going to be at those sailaway/deck parties from beginning to end. Also, looking back over our patters I can't believe how many things we didn't do that I want to try. If anyone has any questions about scheduling I do have the patters from all seven days.

 

A sunny day on deck:

[lynwar]

As I stated before, I've really enjoyed reading your review. It allows me to relive our cruise, although we didn't do some of the exciting things you did. Hubby would have enjoyed the Regatta, but I'm not a "close to the water" person or a big beach person. And, he won't do anything without me, so the poor guy is stuck doing mundane things like shopping and going on sightseeing busses. We did rent a car for St. Maarten last year, but ended up going West, so never had the experience. I can see now, that we would have had a great time trying to avoid the animals in the road! I am waiting to see if you got up VERY early the final day to see the ship go into port. Now, that is something I never miss!! Lynne

[dawne577]

I'm trying to push away the thoughts of debarkation and look forward to our last full day onboard ship. Again went and had breakfast in the Horizon Court around 8:30. Met up with our new friends and planned on going to Princess Cay together. Got in line for the tender around 9:30 and was worried about how long it was going to take once we saw the lines outside Princess theater but the line was moving and in fact led us straight through the theater without any stops at all. We boarded the tender and were on the island by 10 o'clock.

 

We went to the left after docking and I was pleasantly surprised to see so many lounge chairs underneath grass umbrellas. We still chose 4 chairs that were unprotected because it was another overcast day. I brought from home a blow up swim ring with large yellow smiley faces on it. This meant I didn't have to rent a float but most importantly when we left our chairs to go to the restroom, BBQ, etc. it was the perfect way to quickly find our spot. Before we left for the cruise I came across a gallon tub w/spigot of Margarita mix. Break the seal, add 750 ml of tequila, ice and you have drinks for the day. So we are set for a great afternoon! Went out into the water for about an hour and started to get cold. I'm glad we didn't plan on snorkeling here considering how overcast it was.

 

We decided to grab some lunch at the BBQ around 12:30 and as we were heading over passed a checker/chess board with oversized playing pieces(about 2 ft. tall). They served BBQ ribs, hamburgers, knockwurst, corn-on- the-cob, baked beans and yummy chocolate chip cookies. The food was o.k. but my lunches at Cafe Caribe have definately spoiled me. Make sure that you're there at least a half hour before they shut done. We went back for dessert in the last fifteen minutes and they were already covering up and removing the food. I saw one passenger making some last minute choices and a worker came up and removed the tray. This and later at the sailboat rental were the only two times we experienced unhappy workers.

 

This whole week we've been debating about renting a sailboat. I've wanted to do this for quite some time but my DH wasn't as enthusiastic and was leaning more toward being cautious. But after we had just heard about the rescue of two teens who had drifted for days on their Hobie off the coast of the Carolinas I begrudgingly gave in. But as we're sitting there gazing at the sailboats gliding by sipping on our Margaritas we decide to throw caution to the wind. Besides choosing between Cuba or going back to work at that second, Cuba was getting my vote. Also one of our new best freinds was a fireman - they're supposed to know about rescue, right? So realizing that it was now or never off we trapse to the boats. A local asks us if any of us have sailed and we all admit to having sat on a sailboat. He shakes his head and is encouraging us to take out the larger one that would require them to captain it but he could see that we were losing interest. He takes us over to the Hobie and gives us the rundown and tells my DH and NBF(new best friend) to tell the woman at the counter that he said it was ok for the four of us to go on one boat. I figure he thought that we were going to end up like another newbie and not get far from the cove and capsize almost immediately and when back afloat manage to travel in circles. The woman was just downright plain nasty but finally let them rent the boat.

 

Off we go and after 10 minutes or so my DH and NBF have the hang of it and we are sailing out as far as we can. I was of course encouraging them to head around the bend of the island and my husband warned the other co-captain that I was like Eve with the apple. I would try to tempt him into doing what was wrong. Just when I thought we were going to make our great escape the wave runner came and circled us, giving us a subtle hint about how far out we were. It was a wonderful hour and would definately recommend doing this. They do keep an excellant eye on you so I don't think even the newbies need to be concerned. My only complaint was that I didn't bring a camera - this is the only shore excursion we have no pictures of. We did have some trouble getting back to shore so I was glad to see the wave runner come help us in. By the time we get back to our things the island is almost deserted and we start to head back to the tenders. The steel drum player is still playing and having a great time even though there is no one around. We are the second to last tender back.

 

Back on the ship, we decide to head up to the Lido deck to listen to Tenacity as the ship heads back to Florida. But get side tracked by Harry Potter playing on Muts and decide on cheeseburgers and fries and our last late afternoon swim and hot tub use. We have enjoyed using this pool area and I regret that the two movies that they played at night didn't interest us. Maybe next time. We have a date to meet out NBF's at 6:00 in the Explorer's Lounge to see the Phantom of the Opera. I didn't rent this movie before we left so I was really excited about seeing it. Back to our room, bag 1 is placed outside our door, shower, change and we leave for the movie. Having the movie in the Explorer's lounge is a little distracting at times with people going through but it was an overall great experience. Phantom was very romantic and we women were blubbering by the time it was over. We only have a few minutes to run upstairs to get ready for dinner(the movie was over 2 hours long.) Bag #2 goes out. Because I put our bags outside at three different times they ended being all over our assigned pick-up area. This was a stupid mistake and made disembarkation much more hectic.

 

Our waiters couldn't really recommend anything on the menu that night as being outstanding - I should've ordered off the anytime menu - darn, I missed my last chance for Fettucini Alfredo. But they did have the parade of Baked Alaska's and that was really good. We lingered at dinner longer than planned and missed meeting our NBF's. Since I only picked at dinner we decided to hit Cafe Caribe and take the food back to our stateroom and enjoy our last night. Picked up hogie sanwiches, pizza and yummy guacamole, chips & salsa. I can certainly understand why people rave about Cafe Caribe and don't feel a need to go to traditional dining. It's casual with fantastic food and variety. As we sit on our balcony enjoying our last bottle of wine I'm trying to remember every second from this past week. Lord, please don't ever let me get to the point where I don't realize what a gift all of our adventures are.

 

Princess Cay:

[cabana]

This is great stuff !! It makes me feel like I'm right there now! Good point about the luggage lol. We did that last year and found that out too lol This year we put it all out at the same time ....... late .... sorry dude lol......... and they were pretty much in the same place. In the land of Yellow 7. So that is a excellent point.

I like the big screen tv thing they call Movies Under The Starssssssss. We made camp most days in the middle ,two decks up. Hot ,sunny ,waiter to bring drinks up the two flights , perfect. .... I watched a lots of good shows from that perch. Some on the MUTS and some not so much. People are funny you know. We happened to meet some nice folks each of the two weeks we were the Caribbean Princess. Sometimes it was at a dinner and sometimes just from someone seeing that the drink you are inhaling is chocolate!! Is it not?? What's it called? And tell me how many Big Macs it works out too. Three , well that's not to bad right? Sorry I drifted there a bit :)

 

 

 

P.S. No bottles were harmed in the luggage too. I was impressed

[dawne577]

It's our last morning and I wake up about 5 a.m. and realize that we are so close to Fort Lauderdale I could probably swim. I look outside and can see the ship churning up the wake and try to memorize the sounds and smells. Thank the Lord I have a daughter that lives in Miami so that I can look forward to our visit. I drift back off to sleep.

 

DH wakes up a little after 6 and we watch as we end where we started. How very nostalgic. We are also watching another cruise ship pulling in behind us and realize that another floating city is coming home and will be transformed into a whole new adventure. We slip past the same homes where only a week ago the owners sat on their swings and held up posters wishing us a great cruise.

 

Very reluctantly I make our last pot of coffee and start the day. I know that I will sail again in an inside stateroom if the itinerary is port heavy but I also know that if I do a balcony again I would try like the dickens to get an aft facing one. We pack and leave - enough said.

 

One last breakfast upstairs and we are searching for our NBF's and find a table, carry-ons smushed in between. And then we run into our dining partners. They also sit with us - listening to the dueling southern dialects from Georgia and Tennessee was charming. We say our goodbyes, exchange email addresses to R&G and head off to the Explorers lounge to wait for our luggage tag color to be called(of course) with our NBF's. We are trying to recap our week and wonder if we'll hear from each other again. Since I'm finally finishing this almost a month later I can tell you we've called and emailed and instant messaged. What a gift we received from this week long cruise. Our color is called and reality is ready to slap us in the face. I wonder if debarkation would get better reviews if we hadn't just walked out of paradise. Remember, when I told you about setting the bags out in stages - well they are all over our assigned area. I will put them out all together the next time. Out we go but something seemed off kilter. I don't realize until two

days later and hours before our flight that I LEFT A BAG IN THE PORT TERMINAL!!! And of course, it's full of dirty clothes, socks and underwear. First bag placed outside. Now I'm imagining the bomb robot being sent to the abandoned bag left in the terminal and chuckling but then I realize that they'll send in a live human as back-up to check it out. A week's worth of dirty undies tied in a black garbage bag in 80 degree heat has me blushing. Oh well, too late.

 

But Princess is great. They left a message on our answering machine at home and a few days later FedEx it to us free of charge.All's well that ends well. And it's been a great cruise, a great adventure.

[Geo&Doc]

Do you have any knowledge concerning noise from the Club Infusion. We are booked in cabin E733 on the Emerald deck. Will be be troubled by the band?

Thanks for your help.

Geo.

[lynwar]

Well done, Dawne! It was a wonderful reminder of our cruise last year. We had an inside, but this year we paid for the balcony to make sure we got one.

I agree that it is nostalgic coming back into port--I think that is the saddest part--knowing that our bit of paradise is over until the next cruise.

We booked the CB Princess again this year for Oct. but, Hubby decided he wanted a different ship-we've never been on the same one twice, so will now be on the Star Princess. That should be just as thrilling for me, as she is a sister/twin to the Golden Princess which we enjoyed so much--with a balcony!

Take care. I'm glad that your NBF's are emailing you. I've stayed in contact with one gal from our cruise last Sept. Lynne

[dawne577]

Geo&Doc,

 

We were on Baja deck, three above Club Fusion. We had no noise in our cabin at all--but three decks is a lot. Club Fusion at night has the game shows (like Princess Idol) and 80s, 70s, etc. shows. It never seemed real loud when we were in it at night. You would be located away from the stage (which is in the opposite corner from you). During the day, it is used for bingo, dance lessons, etc.