Princess Cays - Is it worth it?

[wrg11]

Good morning,

DH and I will be on the 4/20 Southern Caribbean voyage. Neither one of us are big beach people. When we go, it's because our daughters (7 & 9) enjoy themselves. If we choose to stay on board when we arrive in Princess Cays, would we be missing out on anything? Thanks in advance.

[blazerjan]

We're thinking of doing the same thing during our stop there in Nov.. I"m glad you posted this. Also, DH has trouble walking long distances.

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

Princess Cays is just a beach, OK you can take some limited tours,

 

but if you have never been before I would go ashore, but may be just

 

before lunch, there is a big BBQ, for lunch, some little shops and stalls,

 

good viewing point for looking at the fish, if folks start feeding them

 

thn loads appear, water is shallow and there is a marked off area,

 

spend only a couple of hours and return to the ship

 

yours Shogun

[Clutterlady]

I'd never stay on the ship. It's a wonderful beach day, not far to walk to get a nice lounger. Even if you only stay for a short time, part of the cruise experience......enjoy:)

[kylea_s]

Id go so the kids can have the experience. Its like no other that they will have on the cruise. First they get to ride the tender. Once they are on the island its a very short walk, mostly on paths if you chose, to a overlook where you can stand on a pier and see lots of tropical fish size fish swimming right beneath you. For me the picnic that they serve isnt worth waiting for. Although its under cover for shade, its sometimes a bit of a 'fly convention'. They have lots of beach toys available for rent, someone else may comment on those. I generally will sit on a lounger with a tropical drink in hand for a few minutes and then take the tender back to the ship. Ive never rented one of the cabanas or the beach umbrellas. So my thought, would be, go. However, you dont have to spend the whole day to have a fun experience.

 

Its not a long distance from the tender pier to the fish observation area. We are retired many years and can get there with no issues. Also there are loungers along the way if you chose not to go that far.

 

Donna

[BoPippy]

It is pretty flat to get around if you have a hard time walking.I love Princess Cays,love cruising for the island beach days anyway.

[paul929207]

If you aren't interested in the beach day, it will take maybe 20 minutes to walk around and check out the shops. If that is not of interest, well, not much left there.

[MCC retired]

Been to Princess Cays several times , always go ashore .

Upset that on my next Princess cruise , Princess Cays was

replaced by Nassau :eek: Ugh !

[JimmyVWine]

Upset that on my next Princess cruise , Princess Cays was replaced by Nassau :eek: Ugh !

 

Now there's a place I'll never step foot in again!

Funny, because I was going to post my thoughts on Princess Cays by saying that I would much rather have a port stop at another "real" island, but that if my choice were Princess Cays or Nassau (or Freeport), I would take the former. We aren't "park yourself on a lounger and sip drinks all day" people, so Princess Cays isn't really something I am interested in. Especially when you have to pay extra for a clam shell and water toys. We prefer "free range" snorkeling as opposed to being restricted to roped off areas. The whole experience is like being at a giant public pool. Personally, I would use the day as another "sea day" and enjoy the ship. But with a 7 and 9 year old traveling with me, I would definitely get off the ship and let them play in the sand and water. There are times when we have to sacrifice for our kids, and this would definitely be one of those times.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We've only stopped there once, and it is mostly a beach day. We like to walk though, and had a nice walk outside the grounds, kind of in a rough circle and back again, which was enjoyable. We also spent some time in chairs on the beach and had the BBQ lunch.

 

I'd rather stop at a 'real' island too, but we'd probably get off the ship again and do roughly the same thing.

[pcsunlover]

We cruised 3/17 - 3/24 on the Ruby Princess and stopped at Princess Cay on the last day because of an itinerary change. There was a fenced in kids area with a swimming pool that several children seemed to enjoy. I would go again if I had children with me so they could enjoy the beach, but we will skip it next time if we're alone. We found it too crowded, no breeze where we finally found seats so it was too hot, and the lunch was not worth waiting in line in the hot sun for. There are shops, but they aren't any different than the souvenier shops on every other island. But others seemed to love it, so like everything else, it's a matter of personal preference.

[PtownGirlz-NH]

We got off the ship the first time and that was enough for us! The next 2 times we stayed on the ship and did all the things the ship has to offer with not a lot of people on board which was lovely. With no kids we hung out mostly at the adult pool that wasn't over populated. and the gym was wonderful to work out in because there were not tons of people jostling for machines.

[1025cruise]

As someone who considers sitting on the beach the worst form of torture there is, I stay onboard at Princess Cay. There are a handful of activities, the SPA pricing is considered port day, so sometimes a discount, and easy to find a lounger on deck if I want to read.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We love Princess Cays, but we love beaches. It isn't even the best beach (by a long shot), but it's easy and free and fun. There are a couple of islands where, having visited them many times, I might choose to stay on the ship, but Princess Cays isn't one of them.

[Iamcruzin]

Now there's a place I'll never step foot in again!

Funny, because I was going to post my thoughts on Princess Cays by saying that I would much rather have a port stop at another "real" island, but that if my choice were Princess Cays or Nassau (or Freeport), I would take the former. We aren't "park yourself on a lounger and sip drinks all day" people, so Princess Cays isn't really something I am interested in. Especially when you have to pay extra for a clam shell and water toys. We prefer "free range" snorkeling as opposed to being restricted to roped off areas. The whole experience is like being at a giant public pool. Personally, I would use the day as another "sea day" and enjoy the ship. But with a 7 and 9 year old traveling with me, I would definitely get off the ship and let them play in the sand and water. There are times when we have to sacrifice for our kids, and this would definitely be one of those times.

I couldn't agree more with everything you wrote. Thanks for saving me some typing time.

[san diego sue]

I loved Princess Cays. Beautiful clean sand and water. Little kids will love it.

Some people just don't like the beach but I love it. Reminds me of my childhood and going to the beach every day in the summer.

We seldom go to the beach anymore and our kids are grown. When they were little and we lived very close to the beach, also went almost daily.

It is a very safe environment and if you are going to want any beach experience, this is the best in my opinion.

 

We rent a clam shell because my husband doesn't want to sit in the sun (two beach chairs in it and a total cost of 29.00. Plenty of beach chairs at no cost

and if you get there early, many in shade .

[e71465]

I am not a fan of Princess Cays!! I find the lunch to be disgusting because of the bugs that land on the food and the fact that the cold food isn't always cold! We have 10 of us in our group in December and only 3 of us have been to Princess Cays. I will go to shore when we stop there as this is my boyfriends first cruise and he is really excited and I don't want to spoil his fun. BUT if he wasn't going with me, I would stay on the ship!

[OCruisers]

Id go so the kids can have the experience. Its like no other that they will have on the cruise. First they get to ride the tender. Once they are on the island its a very short walk, mostly on paths if you chose, to a overlook where you can stand on a pier and see lots of tropical fish size fish swimming right beneath you. For me the picnic that they serve isnt worth waiting for. Although its under cover for shade, its sometimes a bit of a 'fly convention'. Donna

 

Yes, it does tend to be a "fly convention" :rolleyes: at the picnic buffet. We don't eat there.

 

Otherwise, we always enjoy our stops at Princess Cays! :)

 

We normally have a late breakfast and take a tender over at around 11 o'clock.

The Banana Beach Bar area is our favorite. We often just sit at the bar overlooking the water, listen to live caribbean & beach music, and chat with others. Next to the bar there are some shady areas in case we decide to sit in a lounge chair for a while. (If you don't want children near a bar and/or would like a quiter place, there are many other areas.)

 

Back when our children were still cruising with us, they LOVED going to Princess Cay! Do consider taking yours. After all, you don't have to stay there all day if you don't want to.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[caribill]

DH has trouble walking long distances.

 

If you have a problem walking, I suspect that the carts they use to bring people to the reserved cabanas can also be used to take DH most of the way to where you want to be. Check on board with the tour desk to verify trhis.

[blueflicker]

We are not beach people either, however I love the ride over on the tender and it's lovely over there just to stroll around for a short bit. Not big on walking too far either. We've been there twice and haven't stopped for the BBQ but thanks for the heads up on the flies. lol

 

Any reason to be on land where there is a palm tree, count me in.

[JerseyGuys]

boy people sure can experience things differently. I have been to Princess Cays 3 times and I love it. But I love sunning and love beaches. I always rent one of the private bungalows too, makes for a wonderful day at the beach with relief from a sometimes very hot sun.

 

The kids I see on Princess Cay all seem to be having a great time, from the Tender Ride, sailing, to swimming to Banana Boat riding, to just building sand castles. There are threads on here about tombstones on the island, and if your kids would like to hike around the island and explore that could been a fun time.

 

Regarding the lunch, I have never expereinced a problem with flies, never. It is a picinic at the beach folks, chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, nothing more nothing less. I'm not sure what peoples expectations are for a beach barbecue.

 

 

HOWEVER, if you stay on the ship, the ship will be half empty, and you will definetly enjoy the open pool areas and decks. But if your kids are like my kids, they'll be looking at that island and seeing those sail boards, and banana boats and they'll think they are missing something.

[Tak8]

Nice beach, not a wow beach. If you stay, you have the ship with a lot less passengers on board. I like beaches, so I go for a while, but if I wasn't a beach person I would stay on board and enjoy all the ship has to offer.

[Happy2cruise]

If you love beach days, this is perfect for you. We did it a few times when we first started cruising and had a good times. Now, for us, we enjoy staying on the ship with the pool, hot tubs, the ship in general so less crowded and more enjoyable.

 

Whatever you decide, enjoy your cruise!!

[Colo Cruiser]

We love PC as well and wouldnt miss it.

[Stu K]

I not a beach person either we had a late breakfast and took a tender across walked from end to end ,did the shops buffets and chilled in the bar took some pics of the ship climbed the tower and just were busy doing nothing! Loved it but hard so say why!

 

My 2nd visit will be Royal Princess first visit!

 

Stu K