Caribbean Princess Review 12-3-05

[Palmist]

Our Caribbean Princess cruise was tremendous; one of the best cruises we have had in 11 years of cruising. Initially, we had concerns that the large number of passengers would cause crowding. We did not find this to be an issue and had a wonderful time. We never had to wait in long lines or feel like we were being herded like cattle.

 

Sat. Dec. 3 we arrived at the dock at 11:00 AM; stood in line outside the terminal for 30 minutes. Once in the building the lines moved swiftly and we were directed to the Caribe Deck counter where within 5 minutes we had our welcome aboard picture taken. We found our cabin, dropped off our carry-on, and then went to discover the layout of the ship. She is beautiful; she is large and awesome by anyone’s standards. Princess has the work crew systems down pat, with organization, friendly staff, enough workers who are team players and more activities offered than a person can do in one week.

 

CABIN: We had a balcony cabin on Caribe deck. Our balcony was ½ covered so DH didn’t get sunburned while I sat in the sun and relaxed. Caribe deck is the one to go for if you plan to use your balcony. The shower was small, but no smaller than any other ship shower; they are all small. Storage: there was enough space to put all of our clothes and gear away. The desk area had additional storage space. The closet was long and roomy and it held all our clothes with room to spare. We never felt cramped in our cabin. A bowl of fruit is delivered daily if you request it. Sleeping with the balcony door open listening to the waves is the absolute best.

 

When we first met our steward we requested an egg crate mattress pad for the bed and we wanted 2 lounge chairs for the balcony. He also had our bathrobes on the second day. We were lucky to have one of the best; his name is Amornsak but he told us to call him Aman. He is from Thailand so we asked him about the tsunami tragedy. He told us his family was OK but one of his best friends died. He worked fast, was efficient and friendly. We had an emergency on formal night when DH’s necktie tore in half. I ran into the hallway to the cabin where he was working. I said “Hurry, emergency!” We showed him the problem with the tie; he took off his bowtie and offered it to us. 3 hours later when we saw him again he had repaired the original bowtie. We tipped him well for all his work and especially for going the extra mile helping us out.

 

DINING: We chose Anytime Dining and never had to wait for a table. We were asked if we would share a table which always got us in quickly and we met a lot of interesting people. The menu held many selections and most of the meals we had were excellent or very good. We cannot complain about the food or the service. On formal night a reservation is not required, but recommended. We ate in Sterling Steak House one evening and our steaks were excellent. Most lunches were either on deck with pizza, hamburgers and hot dogs, or we ate in the Horizon buffet. The pizza was really good, many different types to choose from too. We never had a problem getting a table or piling plates full. Tables were scare on deck by the pools at lunch time. Princess does not provide trays but instead the dinner plates are oblong and hold a ton of food.

Our only complaint: the non-structured way the food islands were set up in the buffet. You were unable to tell if someone was done or just starting at a specific place. It felt like a maze, going from one section to another then back to the original starting place but we managed. We were hoping for fruit juices and never found any in the buffet.

 

 

Muster: Princess assigns each cabin to one of the lounges where staff goes over the muster rules. Everyone stands up and puts their life jacket on to test it after the presentation. Other cruise lines line you up on the deck in the heat, 5 deep; no one but the front row can see or hear anything. This muster was so easy!

 

PORTS: St. Thomas: We left early for a ½ day catamaran trip to St. John. There were no lines waiting to get off, no pushing or cutting in front of us. Our group was directed into two open air vehicles and we were driven to Red Hook Harbor to board our catamaran. This was a Princess excursion; they treated us well. We saw some fish at Honeymoon Bay but not as many as we have seen at Trunk Bay where we had snorkeled previously. Boats are no longer permitted into Trunk Bay because of the damage to the coral there. Next time we go to St. Thomas we will explore St. John on our own.

St. Martin: departure was simple with no lines. In the early morning hours we shopped in town for awhile on several streets, went back to the ship to get our swimming gear and opted to go to Orient Beach on the French side of the island. There were some nude bathers there but nothing to get excited about. Mostly young kids or elderly, browned-to-a crisp islanders. By mid-afternoon the waves were getting rough; we took a shared cab ride back to the dock. The cab drivers do not drive like we do so beware if you are squeamish watching traffic. It was some ride! I sat next to a young honeymooning Mexican couple who were so nervous they sang to each other very quietly until the ride was over. I was ready to kiss the ground when I tumbled out of the back of the 10 seat van.

Princess Cays, (the private island): tendering went quickly and without a hitch. Tenders went back and forth all day long. There were never crowds, no terrible lines, just well organized movement. The island is paradise with turquoise water and white sand beaches, activities, chairs, and a straw market with vendors too. Lunch was provided, it was a huge picnic. The music was by the band from the CB and beach rental equipment was available. With thousands of cruisers on the island it was never crowded feeling because everything is spread out in numerous areas.

 

PHOTOGRAPHY: NOTE to first time cruisers: the photographers will take your picture everywhere in hopes you will purchase all of them. We decline most of the offers to pose, but on the second formal night we chose to visit 4 of the 5 areas set up with backdrops. This is the first cruise (our 11th) where we had to pick which formal pictures we wanted because out of 20 poses, 19 were so good it was most difficult. We ended up with 4.

 

 

ENTERTAINMENT & ACTIVITIES:

Shows and lounge acts, games and music are all going on at the same time. During the day lectures, bingo and crafts are scheduled. There is an ongoing Art Auction and children’s activities too. Shopping in the ship stores is available when at sea. There is music on deck day and night with pool games, ice carvings, afternoon tea, tours of the galley and the captain’s area too. They have an Internet Cafe, cigar lounge, library, etc. The ships dancers and singers perform 2 professional production shows. We saw Pianoman and it was fantastic with lively songs, dancing and beautiful costumes. We did not see Caribbean Caliente but others said they enjoyed it. We also enjoyed the comedians and Kimika. We went to the Not So Newlywed game show and also stopped in at Karaoke and 2 piano bars.

 

POOLS:

All four of them have fresh water, not salt water to play in. Our favorite pool is the MUTS pool. Movies, concerts or sporting events are on all day and night. PG movies are shown during the daytime hours and newly-released movies in the evenings. We spent 2 nights on deck watching shows, eating popcorn while we lounged on padded chairs with wool plaid blankets on top of us. What a really great relaxing way to end any night on board. Hot tubs were great too and got plenty of use.

 

CASINO:

We spent 2 evenings in the Casino until we had our fill of winning and losing our original money. It’s large, smoky, and noisy. It was busy and got quite a work-out throughout the entire cruise.

 

DISEMBARKATION:

We had an early time to be off the ship as we opted for a half day Ft. Lauderdale Intercostal Boat Tour. Our tag color was called first. We walked off the ship (sad day because who wants to leave and face reality?) to the dock where we found our luggage in record time. No zoo here, just organized according to color tags in short lines of ten or so pieces. It was painless and we have never left a ship that easy and fast. Our luggage was stored on the bus that took us to airport. This is the waterway where all the rich and famous live; our boat guide pointed out each home and told us who lived there. If anyone has a late flight and needs something to do to kill a few hours this is one way to see beautiful scenery and glide past the Caribbean Princess for your fond farewell.

 

The sad thing about the last minutes on a cruise is when it hits you that IT’S OVER! We’re ready to go again and we are saving towards the 12th cruise as of today. We may go on the same ship, same week next year just so we can do and see some of the things we missed this trip. A week is not long enough to participate in everything.

[christinelee]

Thank you so much for the review.....we are going in three weeks...we are glad she is still in great shape and that you enjoyed her so much....two years ago we took all of our childre(six), spouses(5). and grandchildren (eight all on the Caribbean for their inheritance:cool:

[PandF]

Going on the CB in 6 weeks, Feb 11th sailing....enjoyed your review...looking forward to christinelee's review as well....

[One4gip]

Thanks for taking the time to write such an informative review. Great post! You have us very excited about sailing the CB on 1 Apr.

 

 

Ken

 

CB 2005

GP 2003

GP 2002

[luvs2beachit]

Thanks for taking the time to write the great review..........we will be sailing on her in less than 2 weeks and we are really looking forward to this cruise!!!

[EKELLEY]

Palmist, Do you have the Patters from your cruise? We are thinking about booking the 11/5/06 cruise on the CB & would like to see if there is more to do on the ship than there was on the 11/26/05 Grand sailing.

[CruiseNut7]

Palmist, I was happy to read that you enjoyed the Caribbean Princess as much as we did. :)

 

We're going back on Princess this year because we love the anytime dining -- it's so convenient. Hope you tried the Caribe Cafe - one of our favorites, especially on seafood night!

 

Thanks for the great review!

[Lyndee]

Were there good bands on board for dancing? Not disco, but Latin/Ballroom. We are going from Jan 7 - 21, and love to dance.

 

Also, we are hoping that the Pool Band has steel drumbs. Our last cruise on Princess had a band without the steel drumbs, and it was awful

 

Thanks.

 

Lyndee

[dantesab]

Hi all we also sailed on the 12/3 cruise. We also loved everything about the ship. This was our first cruise and we booked the cruise again for 12/3/06 while on the ship. We meet up with Palmist a few times and had drinks with them the first night onboard as we had a thread on another area.

Lyndee no it was not a steel drum band but they were really good they played all kinds of music and really had the pool area jumping.

EKELLEY we have our patters from the cruise if you want to see if there is more to do on this ship.let me know if i can help..

The one thing that Palmist forgot about this trip was really cool. Monday night we got a call from the captain over the pa that a Morrocan navy vessal was taking on water in its engine compartment and was sending out a distress signal. Our ship was heading to the area to help if they had to abandon ship or ???. We stayed alongside them for about 2 hours untill help arrived. It was pretty exciting to bad it was night and hard to see much more then the lights and the outline of the ship. the captain said that this was the first time in history that this happened. I looked it up on the internet when I got home and found a small story about the ship so I put it in the scrap book bout our first trip.

[Kristen1169]

Can you tell me the "perks" of booking your next cruise while still on this one? I am thinking of booking one for next March.

[sherman931]

Thanks for the great review(s). Very thorough and informative.

[Dreamer333]

Thanks for the review!

[dantesab]

The only perks that i can see are you get a $200 credit for your next cruise and you get to pick your room.

[serene56]

Are Princess photos all one size or are the formal sizes the only ones that 8 x 10's. I amhoping to find the smaller 4 x 6 for getting on.. (canrnival now makes all their photos 8 x 10 and am kinda upset by that.

[crusdiva]

Are Princess photos all one size or are the formal sizes the only ones that 8 x 10's. I amhoping to find the smaller 4 x 6 for getting on.. (canrnival now makes all their photos 8 x 10 and am kinda upset by that.

serene56,

Yes, the formal are 8x10. It's been quite a while since I've seen a 4x6 photo on Princess :( (not since they all went digital, I think.) The new size seems to be something like 8x6 and they'll superimpose boarders and route maps on them. I'm not crazy about the new size or the digital inserts myself.;)

[Palmist]

Dantesab,

Glad you enjoyed your week on the CB; so did we as you an see by the review. Meeting everyone at the cocktail party was fun on sail-away night.

 

The Navy excitement was on my mind but the review was so detailed I decided to leave it out. It was something to hear the Captain over the loud speaker with the news. We were eating in Sterlings Restaurant when that happened.

 

Are you going on the CB again? We are looking at the Mexician Riveria or southern Caribbean for next trip this year. Maybe even the Panama Canal. We've been on eastern and western Caribbean five times, looking for new adventures.

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for the great review! Sounds like you had a ball!

[mpdahmer]

Sounds like you had a GREAT vacation....

 

Thats what it's all about.

 

Happy Sailing...

[dantesab]

Palmist yes we are all set with another cruise on the Caribbean princess on 12/3/06 same trip but a different route for some reason. We first go to princess cays then St Maartin then to St Thomas. I do not know why they are going backward but ohh well. Also this cruise leaves on Sunday returns on Sunday. We wanted to do it one more time then wife wants to check out a Alaska cruise. I do not care it was so relaxing and fun it is the only way to Vacation.

What did you think of the sterling steak restaurant? We went on Monday at 6. It had to be the best steak I have had in a long time. Take care.

[trvlhorse]

That was a good review. We were on the same cruise as well, a group of 15 celebrating my 50th birthday. Many in the group were first time cruisers, but they're definitely hooked as most booked their next cruise while onboard!

 

It was a beautiful ship and a wonderful week! I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

[Palmist]

Dantesab,

We went to Sterlings the night the Navy ship had their incident. The meal was wonderful, the steaks (filet for both of us) were done to perfection. We sat near the window where the guys who were cooking were working. A few of them had Carnival badges on their uniforms. Isn't that funny? I guess since they are 1 line they can do intrchangeable crew if they want to sometimes.

Myrna