another CP review 6/26 - part 1

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Caribbean Princess cruise review

June 26, - July 3, 2004

 

I just want to say before I start that I am not a writer nor a photographer as you’ll soon find out. I wrote this in helter skelter fashion, no not Charles Manson. I just started typing and wrote as I was remember so everything is not seemless. I am sure I forgot some things and will remember them later, or not.

 

Who we are

Our groups consisted of my sis in law Jackie (58), brother in law, Larry (57), our niece (14), my wife, Maryanne (47), myself, Bill, (47), and my son, Ryan (14).

This was our 11th cruise and my sons 9th. It was our first on Princess. Our other consisted of (1) Celebrity, (1) Royal Caribbean, (1) NCL, and (7) Carnival cruises.

 

Getting there

We flew down from Philly to Fll a day early to avoid any stress and be all rested up for the first day. Our flight on USAirways was uneventful and ontime. Once landed we went to the carousel to collect our luggage. We had 6 bags, picked up 5 and then the carousel stopped. Us along with about 10 others stood there looking at each other wondering where the rest of the bags were. Someone came out and said that’s all the bags and if you’re missing something go over to the office to fill out a report. Of course the one bag missing was the garment bag with all of our formal clothes in it. After filling out the report we were told it would probably arrive on the next flight in as TSA is so backed up with all the bag screening that not all bags arrive until later. About 7:30 that night we got a call from USAirways saying that they had our bag and will be delivering it to the hotel, which we received about an hour later.

 

Pre cruise stay

We had reservations at the Embassy Suites on 17th St.Upon gathering our bags we called them and was told they would be there in about 10 minutes to pick us up. About 30 minutes later they were there. When we checked in they gave us our keys and off to the room we went. The room was very musty smelling and there was a fan on the floor trying to dry a wet carpet. Went to the front desk and they immediately changed our room with no problem.

 

Embarkation

When we arrived at the terminal about 1pm the lines weren’t bad at all and we found our line for the Dolphin deck. They have a regular line and an express line.Neither line seemed to move any faster than the other though. We got through this in about 10 minutes and were on our way to our cabin.Princess did a very good job of embarkation.

 

The Ship

In a word the ship was simply stunning. We dropped off our carry ons and headed to where else but the buffet. Princess does the buffet a little different than other cruise lines but I like it better. After reading on CruiseCritic how it works I told everyone in our party of 6 just to jump in and grab what you want and jump out. There are all these different food stations with no lines and once people got used to how it works it was great with never any waiting for anything even though it was a sold out ship of over 3100 people. There was a great variety of foods and I especially liked the fresh pineapple that was always there.

 

Speaking of over 3100 people. A lot was written before the ship ever sailed about how it was going to be overcrowded and it would never work. Well I never waited more than a couple minutes in any lines all week for anything.

On Carnival I rarely went to the Pursers desk without someone having a snotty attitude. Anytime during this cruise that I had to go to the Pursers desk that were always very helpful and smiling.

 

When we got to our room – Dolphin614 we were surprised at just how spacious it was. Our cabin was a mini suite, our first in 11 cruises. The balcony wasn’t that big but it had 4 chairs and a table out there. It was a little crowded out there with all the furniture but the only one who really utilized it was my son, who took his walkman out there and layed in the sun. Our cabin was totally exposed but we had no problems from decks above. Every time I went out there and looked around you never saw more than a few people on their balconies.

 

The bathroom was quite nice with a bathtub and all. The sitting area had a full sofa which turned into a sleeper for my son. Our 2 twins were made into a king with one fitted sheet so there was no falling through the middle to the floor. If you have sailed Carnival you know what I am talking about. For you ladies you will be happy to know that there were probably around 30 hangers in the spacious closet. After unpacking the luggage stowed nicely under the bed.

 

The public rooms are bright and cheery and most of the staff would always greet you with a smile and hello. The Princess Theater was really nice having great sightlines with no poles at all. Every seat was a good one.

 

We saw the hypnotist R rated show in Club Fusion. If going to any shows It was good to get there about 30 minutes before the show so you could get a seat. We usually did, got a good seat and a drink before the show started. We didn’t make it 30 minutes before this show and could only get seats at the bar with no sightline of the stage. Not to worry though as they have all these big TV screens everywhere and we just watched it on the screen.

 

We went to the Explorer Lounge for a few different shows. I think this is way too small for the entertainment they had in there which was Scott Wyler the comedian who was hilarious. We saw him opening night where he did a 15 minute bit in the Princess Showroom, and in the Explorer Lounge another night. The last show he did was an R rated show which we missed because we were at the Champagne Waterfall and by the time that ended there was nowhere to sit in the Explorer Lounge.

 

We never made it to the Movies under the Stars unfortunately. Starsky and Hutch was playing and Calendar Girls. We waited too long to make reservations for Starsky and Hutch and it was sold out. My wife said Calendar Girls was awful as she saw it at home and didn’t advise us to waste our time. They also had a Wizard of Oz sing along there, A Hard Days Night, and Tina Turner in Concert. My son saw some of Tina but said the sound system wasn’t that good when she was talking and you couldn’t understand what she was saying too well.

They also had a pretty good variety of in room movies and they usually showed a movie everyday about 2pm in the Princess Showroom.

 

We didn’t take in too many of the other shows as there was so much to do, except for the kids that is. Well my kid anyway. He is not some ungrateful kid and is “usually” well mannered. He doesn’t get into dancing and is more sports oriented or likes to play video games. In the teen disco he just wasn’t interested. There was no basketball court or arcade so most of the kids just wound up in little groups walking around the ship. We all know what happens to idle time with kids. The first night there was a group of kids on deck 14 which took all the Patters out of the mailboxes and peoples name tags and threw them all over the floor. I didn’t see or hear much else about kids being unruly after that so I guess the kids were pretty good after that. My son did say that one kid who he was hanging with ripped the lamp right out of nightstand. When he asked him why he did it he said, “because he wanted to”.

 

I enjoyed the Internet Café especially since I didn’t have to pay. Since my in laws had a suite they had free internet access so my sis in law let me use her card to access it. The speeds varied on the internet and a some times you couldn’t even connect although you were being billed.

 

The freshwater pools were a nice feature but I didn’t go into the main pools as they were pretty crowded. I did go into the swim against the current pool which is adults only and was enforced most of the time. There were always plenty of pool chairs unless of course you had to be in the splash zone of the pool, which we don’t. Nobody pushing drinks, but they were always there if you needed one.

 

The soda card which was very cheap at $20pp was a great bargain for me as I drink a lot of soda. Always had great service even though you had the sticker and they would give you any size cup you wanted. Also the mixed drinks were a nice size for the price you paid. I think margaritas and pina colodas were about $5.25 each.

 

The food venues were very good. We did the Café Caribe late nights and there was always a great assortment of foods, Sandwiches, cooked food, cakes, and fresh fruit.

 

At Café Caribe for lunch I found my sushi on 2 days. It was quite a spread too. With the sushi they always had a lot of different oriental foods and hot and sour soup. I never did figure out which place (Horizon Court or Café Caribe) was open at which times. Whenever I went up there to eat I would just walk around until I saw the food. Sometimes they were both open at once.

One other thing about Café Caribe. We ate dinner there the first night and it was a seafood lovers dream. Crab legs, lobster claws, and tons of shrimp. We were glad we found this.

 

part 2 to follow...........

[S.S.Oceanlover]

We had PC dining and my in laws like to eat early so we usually went to dinner about 6pm. We took all of our meals in the Coral dining ro(om). The “om” was missing from the sign. We didn’t make reservations at first since we had heard that eating that early was not a problem for walkins. On our first visit we were seated immediately and we had Sonny and Noel as our waitstaff. We didn’t think their service was very good and thought if this is what PC is all about we are in trouble. The second time we couldn’t get a table and were taken down to the traditional dining room as the people who usually ate at our table for that night was eating at Sabatinis. We had a great waitstaff and that only enforced our feelings about traditional vs. PC. On our 3rd night we were again escorted right in back in the PC dining room and got a great waitstaff, Malgorzata and Lester. We liked them so much we got the Maitre’d to reserve that table for us the rest of the week. After we had Malgorzata and Lester as our waitstaff the debate was over and PC had found a place in our hearts.

My sis in law was in a wheelchair this cruise and the staff would always grab her wheelchair and push her to the table. My brother in law would always tell them that he could do it but they never would let him.

One night we had reservations for Sterlings Steakhouse and let me say that it was the best $15pp I ever spent. The 12 oz. NY strip steak I ordered was the best I ever had. Maria was our waiter and she was awesome. Miguel who is the Maitre’d there was one of the nicest people we met and he stopped and chatted with us on numerous occasions throughout the week.

In the casino I didn’t fare very well. I lost $100 in about 20 minutes so I decided I liked my money better in my pocket than theirs. Hey, I told you I was cheap. My wife and sis in law played 5 cent slots all week. In fact they played the same machines all week. My wife wound up winning over $100. Not bad for nickel machines. needless to say she was very pleased.

 

The Ports

St.Thomas which we had been to twice before was again a great visit. We did Godfrey Tours http://www.godfreytoursvi.com. We had mailed him a couple of months before our cruise and he always answered within 24 hours and we made arrangements to be picked up at 11am. They will pick you up in an open air safari truck at 9, 10, or 11am whichever you want. Since we asked to be picked up at 11am, (hey I’m on vacation and I like to sleep) we were the only ones going we were picked up in an air conditioned van by Anthony. He was a great tour guide, explained everything, and stopped for pictures whenever you wanted. The tour is about 2 hours. After the tour he takes you to the beach of your choice. We chose Sapphire Beach which was really nice. We agreed that he would pick us up at 3pm and he was right there waiting when we came out. If you get picked up at 9 or 10am they will take you into town for shopping. So you get a couple hours of shopping, a guided tour of the island which was very informative, and a couple hours at the beach. All that for $20pp.

 

St.Maarten we wanted to rent waverunners so wasked in town and they told us Little Divi Bay is where you could rent them on the Dutch side. Taxi there was only $3pp and access to the beach was free. The beach was beautiful there.The wavrunners were $45 a half hour and $80 for an hour. Since I’m cheap we (I) opted for the 30 minutes since all I do is ride in the back and hold on for my life as my son drives over the waves in breakneck fashion. They let you drive those suckers pretty far out there. Most places we have previously rented from we were restricted to how far we could go. They just told us to stay within sight in case we ran out of gas or something. If you didn’t they joked you may wind up on another island.

After the wave runners we stayed on the beach and swam for a couple hours. After that we took the cab back to town and stopped and got some frozen drinks at Fat Tuesdays. After that we went back to the ship, showered and went back to town for some jewelry shopping. We had checked prices in St.Thomas but heard online that St.Maarten yields better bargains so we waited. We first went to Ballerinas which was recommended but didn’t like the price and they didn’t come down much so we went next door to Kays’s which was also recommended. The guy gave us a good price then took even more off so we purchased a tanzanite and diamond bracelet for my wife.

 

Princess Cays

We got up and had breakfast and went to get our tender tickets. We got #5 and then only had to wait about 5 minutes. This was about 10:30am I guess.

Once over to the island we found some prime real estate, dumped our stuff on some chairs and into the water we went, except for my son who found the basketball courts. He played a couple of games before his buds thew him in the water. Quite rocky where you first get in the water. If facing the water go to the beach to the left. It was far less crowded. The kids went over to where the crowds were since that is where their buds were.

They have a nice bufet open from 11am until 1pm consisting of hot dogs, bratwurst, hamburgers, chicken, salads, and plenty of fresh fruit. We did a little shopping on the island before heading back to the ship about 2:30pm. I’d say by then about 80% of the people had already gone back to the ship.

 

Disembarking

Princess handled this with ease and we were off the ship and at our hotel for the remaining 3 nights of our stay in Florida by 10:30am. They were already started to call colors before we even got into the shower in the morning.

 

Post cruise stay

We opted to stay and additional 3 nights to take in the fireworks and to avoid going home. We stayed at the Embassy Suites again as we got this on Priceline for $70 a night. They checked us in immediately and told us we could have breakfast. That was good since we didn’t have a chance to eat on the ship. When we got to our room I walked into the bathroom and almost fell on my butt on the tile floor as my sneakers were wet. Again like our pre night stay the rugs were soaked in front of the sink and fridge in the sitting area. Since there were no other rooms available when we checked in we just stayed there and put towels on the floor where it was wet. The hotel while offering nice amenities such as free cooked to order breakfast and a 2 hour happy hour they need to do much better with cleaning. The rugs were very dirty and the housekeeping left a lot to be desired. Saw the same trash on the floors the whole time there. They never picked up the wet towels on the floor nor reported there was a problem with the room. Someone got sick while my wife was in the glass elevator, a teen who was probably drunk from the Happy hour. My wife reported it and they cleaned up the floor but not the glass. The glass was still like that when we heading down to checkout. YUCK! Next time we’ll opt for a 4* next time or just pay the going rate for the Marriot Marina. It’s ashame because the hotel has a lot of potential but needs to be cleaned up. My in laws toilet also overflowed twice during our stay.

 

While there we ate at the Mexican restaurant across the street call café Del Rio. Good amounts of food, good frozen drinks, and my favorite, it was cheap.

We went to a movie one day and another day we went to Jai-Alai.

 

Going home

Our flight going home was uneventful, and even got us home early, with ALL of our luggage. We got the shuttle to pick up our car and were home by 12:30pm.

By 5:30pm I was back in work and reality.UGHHHHHHHHHH!

 

Overview

If you made it this far you are far better than I. I hope nobody hit their heads on their keyboards if they dozed off.

My wife and I loved Princess and would not hesitate to sail with them again but will wait until my son is a couple years older, unless we have the chance to sail by ourselves. If you want to label us Princess sourpusses because I said my son was bored, so be it.

I also have posted pictures of our trip at:

http://community.webshots.com/album/160790003jaMPMn

I have all the Patters and lots of other papers I picked up around the ship so if you are looking for any specific information, just ask and I’ll see if I can find the information for you.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read my review and hope your next cruise is as nice as ours was.

[Snowball]

What a great review! :D Feel free to dish any dirt that you didn't want to post here during our next lunch. ;) LOL

[micdee]

Hi Bill,

 

Great review! Glad you had a good time and made it back to our lovely city;) with no problems. Going to check your pictures out now. See ya at the next meeting:) .

[S.S.Oceanlover]

dirt? I have no dirt!! :D Were you sitting there all day looking for my review? lol

 

Bill

[Pam in CA]

Excellent review and great pictures! Thanks...

[gopher's girl]

Great review and detail. So happy that you had a great time :) Can you comment on PC dining lines/availability after 6:30? Just curious. Thanks again!

[Snowball]

dirt? I have no dirt!! :D Were you sitting there all day looking for my review?

No, I wasn't sitting here all day waiting for your review. Ok, well maybe part of the day. All right, a good part of the day. :rolleyes: But still, definitely not all day. :p :D

[TinaLee]

I was waiting for your review! Glad to hear you had a good time. Did you happen to find out about my French onion soup? or when Graham Seymour is leaving the Caribbean Princess?

 

I think it was a great review. I didn't nod off even once... but then I'm on my third espresso today - LOL :D Kidding - I loved reading it and your posts "live" from the ship!

 

TinaLee

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Gophers girl,

When we were coming out of the dining room at about 8pm most nights there were only a couple people with beepers waiting and saw no long lines. In one of the Patters it did say on formal nights to expect longer waits.

 

TinaLee,

The info I received about the soup was that it was to be served on Friday night but there was no French onion soup on the menu Friday. Maybe they had it Wednesday when we were in Sterlings since I don't remember ever seeing it on the menu.

 

The pursers desk said Graham would probably be there until the beginning of October and they "think" he's going on the Golden after that.

 

He was by far the funniest CD I've ever encountered.

 

Bill

[dolfinmusic]

Hi Bill & Maryanne!!! Welcome home!!!!! I liked your review - although I really must be honest and admit that it is not as entertaining as cruisingislife's daughter's Sydney's review is!!! What a tale she is telling!!!!!! Glad you had a great time and hope to see you and Maryanne on August 14th!

Terri

[beachlovergirl]

We had 6 bags, picked up 5 and then the carousel stopped. Us along with about 10 others stood there looking at each other wondering where the rest of the bags were. Someone came out and said that’s all the bags and if you’re missing something go over to the office to fill out a report. Of course the one bag missing was the garment bag with all of our formal clothes in it.

 

Bill - I bet you were glad you flew in the day before so you were able to get your bag that evening. This is why we like to fly in the day before !

 

Great informative review ! :)

 

Dee

[mek]

Thanks for the review! We're on the Caribbean Princess in November with 9 other family members.

[ljmandelbaum]

What is on the sports deck? My dh and brother in law were looking foward to playing basketball while on our cruise

[Lynda90]

Bill,

 

Thank you so very much for the awesome review. I read every word and it was not at all a snoozer. Really enjoyed the pictures as well. I love reading reviews for cruises I won't be going on. The flight from Portland, Oregon to FLL is just too much for my mom who is my travel buddy. So glad you all had such a great time and thanks again for the review. :) :)

[bcs819]

Bill-

Welcome home! I have been waiting for your review for DAYS....

 

Glad you had a good time :)

[kimanjo]

Thaks a bunch for the photos. For a ship that is full I was expecting to see a lot more "bodies" floating around...

 

I didn't know there was no basketball court on the ship. Hmmm. Did they have table tennis? The ol' shuffleboard? You have sailed other cruise lines/ships with your son--did he find the other ships' activities more to his liking?

 

In some ways it seems the boys may have a harder time being entertained, especially if they are travelling solo. I hope I'm not being biased or anything (and I am sure I am, unintentionally) but teen girls can spend more time ogling the "stuff" in the shops and going to the makeover seminars and crafts workshops....

[sue d. miller]

Great review, Bill. Very informative. I have been waiting for it!!! :D

[Ella2]

Thanks for the great review, Bill, been waiting for it! :)

 

Any chance you're going to post your Patters on your site? Pretty please? :D

[Kellyann]

Hi Bill & Maryann,

Great pictures and an in-depth review. I'm so glad you enjoyed your vacation.

 

What is a champagne waterfall? Do they give you glasses for free? Is it just a taste or do you get a glassful? Is there a limit? When? Where? Also, on the Carnival ships prior to the Captain's dinner there was a cocktail hour where they gave out free drinks. Any free drinks on the Carib Princess? Were there any venues where people were slow dancing?

 

I hope you can make the get together on the 14th. Your son sounds like one who would make any parent proud. Congratulations on raising a good kid.

Kellyann

 

Caribbean Princess

9/11/04

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Maybe there is a basketball court but we didn't find one. What we found on the sports deck was ping pong and a paddle tennis court. We heard a ball bouncing one day and went to investigate. It was a basketball all right but it was a portable basket about 6 foot high in the kids section.

 

Yes he found things more to his liking on the other ships like ice skating, basketball etc but he was younger and more easily entertained. I think it's just the age and in a year or 2 he'll be fine. I am certainly saying that anybody elses child wouldn't have a blast.

 

Kellyann,

They do the champagne waterfall in the atrium. I think they stack up like 700 glasses getting narrower as you go up until there is only one at the top. Then they start pouring the champagne into the top glass letting it overflow and it runs into the other glasses. Then the have streamers and play some music and some of the staff was dancing. Yes they have free champagne afterwards. They had guys carrying trays of full glasses. I didn't hear of any limit but it got sucked down pretty fast.

They had some slow dancing in the Explorer lounge. The group that was singing was encouraging people to dance.

 

Terri,

Since we're being honest........ :D

I didn't write my review to compete with anyone, just wanted to give my perspective.

Chris and his lovely daughter both have quite a writing gift and I enjoy reading every syllable. There aren't too many people on here who can grab you and keep you hanging on every word like them. They should write books. They'd certainly be best sellers. :)

 

beachlovergirl,

My dumb butt didn't even realize that fact until my wife said to me, "what if we would have been leaving today"? I always fly a day early. I don't handle pressure very well so it makes it a lot easier. ;)

 

Bill

[CruiseFever]

I found out later that you were at the CC meet but chose not to identify yourself and hang at the bar.

 

Dang smart move!

 

Sooooo do you have some incriminating photos of us that I need to know about?

 

Awesome photo gallery! You really captured the whole cruise in there...thanks!

 

Oh and thanks so much for all the time you spent on the website devoted to this sailing...I am totally spoiled now and not having one for future cruises will probably ruin them for me.

 

Ok maybe not but your site was great! If you can you should keep that active as an example for anyone wanting to do that for their roll call on any line.

 

Thanks again

[dolfinmusic]

Oh Bill - I know you weren't trying to compete - your review just didn't have the soap opera drama that us women like!!! LOL!!!! Plus I was only messing with you! I hope you weren't offened!!

 

Terri

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Chris,

When I got there everybody was paired up chatting. I sat at the bar with my Grolsch waiting for an opening to butt in, but my S.A.D. kicked in and my mouth wouldn't open.

My loss, and it may explain why my son is so quiet! :(

 

I saw CeeCee 3 times before I said anything.I didn't know if it was her or not and felt stupid. I ran into Kent, MinnJudy, on the ship and Kaitie in the ADULTS only pool! Kent said I just missed you at Sapphire Beach.

 

Bill

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Terri,

nope not offended. If I was to compete I would pick a more level playing field and try to pick someone I knew I would have a chance with. :D

 

Bill