Caribbean Princess Cruise Review (Dec 15-22)

[SimonPaco]

Great review. It is refreshing to read such an upbeat review! We will be the same cruise in Feb. Thanks for taking the time to post your review. I can sense that you both have an attitude of gratitude!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[vacationers]

Hello Kerry&LuAnn!

 

We were on the Dec 15-22 sailing with you and also took the tour with Sonny. Thanks for such a thorough review.

 

Vacationers: My husband and I thought that Sonny did a wonderful job with the tour. It was our first time to Aruba, and we got a good feel for the different parts of the island.

 

Holly

 

Thank you everyone for the info; I have more ;)

How can I find him. Is there a website. How much does he charges and were does he take you.

 

 

Clary

[caribill]

Thank you everyone for the info; I have more ;)

How can I find him. Is there a website. How much does he charges and were does he take you.

 

binns.tours@yahoo.com

 

As a past example (prices may be different now)

 

The places of interest on the itinerary are the Lighthouse, Alto Vista Chapel, Natural Bridge and the Rock Formations.There will be other photo stops along the way, including the Island's beautiful beaches. I can accommodate up to 24 people. Cost is $40. If your group is 14 or more, the cost will be US$30.00 per person. I will meet you inside the cruise ship terminal building at 9:00am with a sign that says "SONNY TOURS". My cel:297-5926535 and 297-5682028.

[vacationers]

binns.tours@yahoo.com

 

As a past example (prices may be different now)

 

The places of interest on the itinerary are the Lighthouse, Alto Vista Chapel, Natural Bridge and the Rock Formations.There will be other photo stops along the way, including the Island's beautiful beaches. I can accommodate up to 24 people. Cost is $40. If your group is 14 or more, the cost will be US$30.00 per person. I will meet you inside the cruise ship terminal building at 9:00am with a sign that says "SONNY TOURS". My cel:297-5926535 and 297-5682028.

 

 

Thanks so much

[Newbie Cruiser 2010]

Thanks for posting your review as we set sail 5 Jan 2013 on this same cruise. This will be our first time cruising with Princess. We too are also booked at the Extend A Stay America and I am so pleased to hear that you would stay there again. We are also booked there for our May cruise on the Oasis of the Seas. We booked Extend A Stay based on price and location also as the beach hotels were crazy expensive both Jan and in May. We don't arrive until Fri late evening so wouldn't have beach time anyways. Getting excited for our cruise.

[Kerry&LuAnn]

binns.tours@yahoo.com

 

As a past example (prices may be different now)

 

The places of interest on the itinerary are the Lighthouse, Alto Vista Chapel, Natural Bridge and the Rock Formations.There will be other photo stops along the way, including the Island's beautiful beaches. I can accommodate up to 24 people. Cost is $40. If your group is 14 or more, the cost will be US$30.00 per person. I will meet you inside the cruise ship terminal building at 9:00am with a sign that says "SONNY TOURS". My cel:297-5926535 and 297-5682028.

 

When we emailed him about joining his tour, he already had 12 people signed up so he quoted us the $30 rate. By the date of the tour, there were 18 people altogether. He doesn't collect any money until the end of the tour.

[lovevacadays]

Nice review with some details that first time Princess cruisers might find useful.:)

[bankofdad]

We also took the opportunity for some brisk walking outside on the Promenade Deck and tried to be disciplined enough to regularly visit the Fitness Center up on Sun Deck 16. That’s a great place to work out, with floor-to-ceiling windows, cardiovascular stations, spinning cycles, and weight-strength training stations.

 

Nice Review! Thanks!

 

Regarding the cardio equipment (particularly treadmills) I thought I saw somewhere that you cannont start using them before 8AM. Do you know if this is true, and also, did you ever have to wait for equipment due to crowds? I like to run outside, but I know the promenade deck is a great spot for walkers (as it should be!) and don't enjoy dodging people.

 

Thanks again!

[Kerry&LuAnn]

Regarding the cardio equipment (particularly treadmills) I thought I saw somewhere that you cannont start using them before 8AM. Do you know if this is true, and also, did you ever have to wait for equipment due to crowds? I like to run outside, but I know the promenade deck is a great spot for walkers (as it should be!) and don't enjoy dodging people.

 

The fitness room was open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. There were a lot of machines, and we chose to work out at odd times when the facility was not busy. There were runners on the outside Promenade deck, but it was usually early in the morning when there weren't as many people out walking.

[Princess Patches]

We did not mind that the nightly shows in the Princess Theater had been reduced to 33 minutes (so they could schedule 3 shows each night). Not only did that allow more people to enjoy the shows, it allowed us more time each evening to try out several entertainment venues.

 

The night we saw the commedian, however, he went on for about 45 minutes. He was hilarious!

 

Thanks for your well written and detailed review. I enjoyed it and found it helpful.

 

I agree with you on the new anytime entertainment. I did not mind the shorter production shows because we were able to get good seats in the theater just minutes before showtime (no more getting seats 30-40 minutes before showtime) and we were also able to catch entertainers in other venues after the production show. We did not have time for that with the old schedule. We too saw a comedian who did 50 minute second shows in the Vista Lounge on our cruise last month.

[MerryFLLMom]

Kerry and LuAnn

Probably the best review I have ever read on these boards. Great details. Last summer we went on a Baltic cruise and I submitted a review that was pretty long, or so I thought. We are booked for the March 23rd departure on the Caribbean Princess. I have been to the East and West Caribbean but never South so I am excited. Glad your stay in Fort Lauderdale was nice and you had a smooth departure and return, since it is my home, I am a bit biasised about our facilities. I love our airport and port. Even though it is not that far I dread those times that I have to travel to Miami to fly anywhere. Thank you again for the great review.

[Kerry&LuAnn]

Glad your stay in Fort Lauderdale was nice and you had a smooth departure and return, since it is my home, I am a bit biasised about our facilities. I love our airport and port.

 

If we lived in Fort Lauderdale, it would be very tempting to cruise a lot more often! :D

[Tedw]

Thanks for mentioning the taxi fare being so much lower. We ran into the same thing getting of of Carnival Freedom during this same. There were four of us and they wanded to give us this great rate of $12 each. The taxis are across the street and appearantly in FLL they are not allowed to charge meter rate + a fixed per passanger rate. It is the same rate regardless.

 

So we were going to a hotel on the far side of the Airport and it cost us $18 total for the four of us.

 

When we departed, we left from a hotel near the airport that offered a free shuttle. It seemed like a great deal. And it wasn't bad, but a little chaotic even though well organized. They haul 400-700 people on a typical Sat or Sunday. But next time I'm just ordering a taxi and paying the $15-20 to get there without all the hassle of piling in a shuttle and then making sure that all our luggage is all found in the pile when we arrive at the port.