Live Caribbean Princess May 14th

[Tak8]

I will try to update on the trip.  A little background:  I'm elite on Princess, but have sailed several lines.

 

Pre-cruise: stayed at Embassy Suites.  Fitness center was available and breakfast was served so no guest touched anything.

 

Uber driver took me to Royal ship first, then Queen Elizabeth before he finally got me to the Caribbean Princess.  

 

Check in was quick, but the Medallion wouldn't allow me to do health survey before.  

 

Waiting to board now.

 

 

[cruzrbachoua]

@Tak8 can't wait to follow along we will be doing this exact cruise in June.  If you can tell me which days are formal...also menu pics even if at the end of the cruise or anything you can will be great...I can't wait to live through your cruise have a great voyage. 

[Ken the cruiser]

It will be fun to follow along as we just disembarked today. Have a great cruise!!

[Bgwest]

What itinerary?

 

[azbirdmom]

Have a wonderful time and take good care of the ship.  We board in two weeks.

[c-boy]

1 hour ago, Tak8 said:

Uber driver took me to Royal ship first, then Queen Elizabeth before he finally got me to the Caribbean Princess. 

🤔  W T H !

[kabmab]

Thanks for posting and have a great time!  We board next Saturday!

[azbirdmom]

Question about the Embassy Suites.  We just switched our reservation for the end of the month there to use up some stray Hilton points.  Do you know how long the happy hour runs at night?  And is there a sidewalk along the south side of 17th street?  We are thinking of walking to the port and Google maps shows crossing 17th street and looping around which seems odd.  We've stayed at a few other hotels in the area precruise but it's our first time at the Embassy Suites.

[Happiest when cruising]

38 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Question about the Embassy Suites.  We just switched our reservation for the end of the month there to use up some stray Hilton points.  Do you know how long the happy hour runs at night?  And is there a sidewalk along the south side of 17th street?  We are thinking of walking to the port and Google maps shows crossing 17th street and looping around which seems odd.  We've stayed at a few other hotels in the area precruise but it's our first time at the Embassy Suites.

You can walk to the port from there. It’s still a bit of a walk with a bumpy sidewalk and pretty warm, even by 9:00 am. We walked up past the Embassy in the morning, to a nice little place that had delicious bagels, right near the Starbucks, which was closed.  We recently stayed at the Hilton Marina, and still took a cab to the port. Be aware… cab fares have increased. We were charged 20.00. 

[azbirdmom]

4 minutes ago, Happiest when cruising said:

You can walk to the port from there. It’s still a bit of a walk with a bumpy sidewalk and pretty warm, even by 9:00 am. We walked up past the Embassy in the morning, to a nice little place that had delicious bagels, right near the Starbucks, which was closed.  We recently stayed at the Hilton Marina, and still took a cab to the port. Be aware… cab fares have increased. We were charged 20.00. 

 

Thanks for the warning about the sidewalk and the taxi fares.  The Hilton Marina is so close to the port so it's surprising that it's that expensive.

[Happiest when cruising]

12 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Thanks for the warning about the sidewalk and the taxi fares.  The Hilton Marina is so close to the port so it's surprising that it's that expensive.

Yes, we were too. We didn’t use Uber or Lyft as we are from Canada and don’t have a phone plan for the US. 
There was also a large minivan type vehicle in the parking lot saying he would take people to the port for 25.00 per person. So, when I saw a cab waiting, we walked over to see what the charge was, since it was per taxi…we took it. 
 

We also paid 22.00 , from the airport. That also seemed high, the meter read, 17.25.-  when I asked about it, he told me there is an extra charge to go between the hotels and the airport….and the airport and the port. I wasn’t about to argue after a long travel day. But..he got the same 22.00 he would have, had the fare been accurate. 

 

off topic… we wouldn’t stay at the Hilton again. We arrived around 8:45 pm, so nowhere open to eat onsite after we quickly dropped off our bags.
It had been a very long day, coming from BC, Canada. 
The only option for a sit down breakfast was a buffet…which we were trying to stay away from, and the cost was 26.00 p.p. I’m sure it was tasty…but since we were heading for the ship, we just didn’t need it. So..that’s why we walked to the delicious place for a lighter bite to eat. 

[cltnccruisers]

On 5/14/2022 at 10:29 AM, Tak8 said:

I will try to update on the trip.  A little background:  I'm elite on Princess, but have sailed several lines.

 

Pre-cruise: stayed at Embassy Suites.  Fitness center was available and breakfast was served so no guest touched anything.

 

Uber driver took me to Royal ship first, then Queen Elizabeth before he finally got me to the Caribbean Princess.  

 

Check in was quick, but the Medallion wouldn't allow me to do health survey before.  

 

Waiting to board now.

 

 

We're on June 4.  Don't make too much of a mess.  😁

[tetleytea]

On 5/14/2022 at 10:56 AM, c-boy said:

🤔  W T H !

Running up the fare meter the whole time.  I am incredulous that the cab "drove to the wrong ship" thing is a legit mistake.  We had that happen in Sweden.  I just paid the fare and got off at the wrong ship and hoofed it to the right ship.  In the end, we got lucky and were able to show our room keys to a Princess bus also on their way back to the ship, who let us hitch a ride back.  

 

[Tak8]

azbirdman:  if I remember right happy hour was 5 to 630.  The bar area was very small and at times a long line to get a drink.

 

Princess Cays was a nice start to the trip.  Weather was great all day.  Comedian last night was Tom Briscoe.  Pretty funny.

 

Today is a sea day and also the first formal night.

 

Time to get ready for Sabatini's breakfast.

 

 

[runner2013]

Thanks for posting, happy to follow along on your journey. 

Did you happen to notice which dining room was open for lunch in embarkation day? 

Thanks

[pspman92]

Any patter photos?))

[GonzoWCS]

On board this trip.  Just getting around to looking at our technology.  Ship is reported at 90% full and it feels like it.  Crew is trying hard to maintain standards but it looks to our party of 4 they were/are not ready for this level of passengers. Dining is a semi-nightmare 2 nights in a row.  The front line crew is humping, but organization is lacking.  M & G in 30 hope there is a good showing of officer and cruisers. 
 

Cheers

 

[cruzrbachoua]

@GonzoWCS EEKS that is not good.  I know they are hurting and need the money but to me they are only hurting themselves by packing on the folks then service suffers in general and their protocols that they list on the site don't get followed either as seen on other ship sailings.  I hope they either get more staff or go back to a more reduced capacity so their staff can function and not be under such stress.    

[tere247]

To someone that visits any of the bars. Do they serve Buffalo Trace or Elijah Craig bourbon?

[cruzrbachoua]

Also curious about the buffet.  Is it still being served mainly by the crew with some self serve plated items?

[GonzoWCS]

41 minutes ago, cruzrbachoua said:

Also curious about the buffet.  Is it still being served mainly by the crew with some self serve plated items?

Self serve….

 

Cheers

[cruzrbachoua]

2 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said:

Self serve….

 

Cheers

Ugh...that is sad since the site states in the protocols that the staff serve us at some stations yet reports are it is all self serve...guess they pick and choose which protocol to follow.  But will just be more diligent in hand washing and such cause even before covid  I had a lady in front of me eating and licking her fingers then she grabbed the serving spoon, I requested the crew change out the spoon and they did. Don't want any bugs to ruin this cruise we have planned so long for...🙂

[Alabaster Cruiser]

1 hour ago, tere247 said:

To someone that visits any of the bars. Do they serve Buffalo Trace or Elijah Craig bourbon?

Have seen Buffalo Trace.  Not sure about the other one.

[kokopelli-az]

Can you go directly to your room after boarding to drop off your luggage?   We have the 11:00-11:30 boarding group.    We'll be on her for the June 11 sailing.  

[Tak8]

I'll try and answer some of the latest questions and concerns.

 

I was able to go right to my cabin and drop off my bag.  I was in the first group and on board by 11:15.

 

Buffet: They have many individual items that you can get yourself, but almost everything else is self serve.  They give you a tray and napkin with utensils.

 

I haven't noticed a drop in service, but I'm in CC.  I did notice a slight drop in CG.  My section had only 1 waiter and no assistant.  Hard to get superior service with that.

 

More later, time to get ready for formal dinner.