CB Review 10/21-10/28

[Whimsy]

Caribbean Princess October 21-28

 

 

I hope you all enjoy long trip reports as I just can’t say all there is to say in a short report. The CB was a great ship and we had a wonderful time!

 

Background: We are 44 and 58. Our traveling companions are 38 and 28. This was our 2nd cruise, first on Princess. We sailed last year on the Carnival Fantasy for a 3 night cruise to just try the cruising experience.

 

Pre Cruise: We flew from St. Louis to FLL the day before on American Airlines. We stayed overnight at the Renaissance hotel. The hotel was fine, room was great and the downstairs bar was a great place for a little pre cruise warm up. The hotel is very convenient, within walking distance of restaurants, Wal Greens, grocery and liquor stores. We had dinner at a place called Kelly’s Landing with in a strip mall with a liquor store (67 Wine and Spirits ?) and across the street from Crown Liquor and a Winn Dixie. The restaurant advertises itself as a New England Style seafood place. The food was great; we all had seafood platters, clam chowder, fried onion rings and clams. Prices were reasonable, dress was casual. We awoke before sunrise and walked on the bridge to watch the ships dock and the sun come up. Great way to start our cruise day! We had breakfast at Einstein Bagels.

 

Embarkation: We took a cab from the hotel, just minutes away to the port. Everything with embarkation went smoothly. The cab ride was $5, the other couple with us was charged $10. Hmmm….We arrived shortly before 11 and boarding began at noon. We were able to wait in the large room with coffee and juice. The time seemed to pass quickly. We had our embarkation photo taken, got a soda sticker at the first table and then was wowed by the beautiful atrium of the CB. We were directed to our rooms.

 

Room: We had mini suites E 729 and E731. Great location, quiet, all the way back on the Emerald deck. We had E731 and it had the covered extended balcony. We never heard a thing from Club Fusion below us. We felt the location was great and we used the stairs most of the time unless we were going 4 or more floors. I think that all the stair climbing and walking from end to end on the ship helped to keep the weight gain to just 2 pounds! The bed wasn’t the most comfortable we ever slept on but we were so tired we fell right to sleep every night. We did not ask for an egg crate although I did ask for a top sheet and received one the 2nd or 3rd night. Robes arrived the 2nd day. The cabin steward opened our balcony door and so we shared the space. We spent every morning enjoying coffee and the views. We like a balcony and feel we get our money’s worth. The room was very nice, lots of space for storage. The bathroom has a tub and long counter; plenty of shelves and also a long shelf below. There were 2 TV’s, a refrigerator, sofa and more shelves for storage. We never used all the drawers and I way over packed so storage should not be an issue. I had an over the door organizer I got at the dollar store and it did help to keep things handy and out of the way. I also brought along a laundry hamper and that was a great idea also. Came in handy for the scavenger hunt too! Our room steward was Angelito and he was an angel. Our room was always well supplied and clean. I wish I could have stuffed him in a suitcase and brought him home with me. He always was busy but never too busy for a smile, a question about our day or evening. You can tell these stewards work hard. We were pleased with everything concerning our room.

 

Dining: We had traditional late dining in the Island dining room. Food was great, lots of selections. Carlos was our waiter, he was supposed to go home after this cruise but they needed him to stay another week. At first he seemed a bit distant but after a few nights the waiters seemed to get into a rhythm with us and it went very smoothly. Our table mates turned out to be czez from Cruise Critics and we all got along great. We spent a few sailaways together by the aft pool, which became a great spot for chilling out. Very quiet back there. I felt there was always something on the menu to choose from and the desserts were really good. Everyone was right, their homemade ice cream is excellent. Along with a dessert selection we always sampled the ice cream offerings as well.

 

The Horizon Court food was fine, great selection. Embarkation day was chaos in there but after that it wasn’t too bad. I am not a fan of buffet food but there was a large variety of items to choose and the food was fine. The Café Caribe seemed about the same. It was nice to be able to go early to the buffet on seafood nights and pick up an appetizer to enjoy while getting ready for dinner! I never did see the ice cream in the afternoon but didn’t miss it. The pizza is very good and we even had a burger one day which was good too.

 

We dined at Sabatini’s on Caribbean night and it was well worth the $20 pp charge. You just choose your entrée and the wait staff comes around for you to try everything else on the menu. The food was excellent, for our entrée we had the seafood medley. It wasn’t offered on the menu but was being offered as an entrée that evening. We were exhausted from the beach all day and had a hard time keeping our eyes open as the meal takes quite a long time. We would do Sabatini’s again. We did not dine at Sterling’s but the aroma when we walked by very enticing. DH would like to try Sterling’s next trip and he really isn’t a steak lover.

 

Pools: We liked the freshwater pools and MUTS was nice although we really didn’t spend much time watching movies. For those who don’t like MUTS there is another pool right past the MUTS pool and as far as I could tell the noise didn’t come thru. We never had a problem finding loungers. There were lots of towels on chairs but I didn’t spend my vacation timing how long they were on the chairs, we just grabbed what ever two we could find available. The hot tubs were nice and the aft pool always seemed to be pretty quiet.

 

Activities: I played in various activities and had a ball. The ship scavenger hunt was fun and was also a great way to learn your way around the ship. The winner was a little British girl and her dad shared the victory champagne with us. I also joined the pool games to win a prize for the scavenger hunt! Ash on the cruise staff got to know me by name! We played bingo, trivia, watched the horse races and attended the Island night party.

 

Bars: Lots of great places to have a drink. We aren’t big drinkers but enjoyed a few cocktails here and there. DH never had a problem using his soda sticker anywhere. I did carry on 2 twelve packs of soda for the room. We had some left over and left it for the cabin steward. We also gave him a bottle of wine we didn’t use.

 

Entertainment: We saw a few shows, mostly with comedians. We enjoyed them all. We caught the last night of Bert over a night cap before retiring and can see why he has such a following. There are so many things to do on board it would be impossible to fit them all in. Lots of various activities, something to please everyone.

 

Ports of Call:

 

Princess Cays: Great day! The weather was beautiful and it was the first time we tendered. We had no wait for a tender, walked right on. We spent the majority of our time in the water. The beach BBQ was good. We did a bit of shopping at the end and then had a short wait for a tender back to the ship. Very enjoyable day in spite of breaking my toe in the water. WATCH OUT! There are large rocks in the water! I hit my toes twice thus leading to the broken toe. Someone said there was a sandbar but it turned out to be a large rock in the water. OUCH!!!

 

Jamaica: This was the only dark spot in the whole trip. We did the all inclusive Bamboo Beach Club and did not experience the unlimited Tapas and beverages the brochure promised. We were given a half piece of chicken, warm salsa, no chips and 2 corn dumpling type things. We would order drinks that never came, asked again and finally got warm rum punch or mojitos. The service was not very good and the beach was littered with plastic cups, silverware, etc. We had to walk down to the public beach to swim! Later in the day we went to Margaritaville and had a very nice time with what little time we had left. We later went to the excursion desk for another reason and while talking to the rep our bad experience came out. She told us they had many complaints that day and suggested we fill out a form. I was factual and offered a few suggestions on the form and by the end of the cruise we received a letter of apology and a refund of ½ the price. We weren’t expecting anything so we were pleased with the way Princess handled the problem. But just a word of warning to my fellow cruisers, I think the are better choices of things to do in Jamaica.

 

We did a little bit of shopping in the Island Village and a polite no thank you seemed to keep the taxi drivers away.

 

Grand Cayman: The water was very choppy for tendering and seemed to be a problem for some passengers but we tolerated it just fine. The boat was really rocking though. We did the rays and reef tour with Nativeway and had a great time. The water was rough but pretty clear and we enjoyed our encounter with the stingrays. Our boat had maybe 30 passengers. We felt we were given sufficient time with the rays and the guides spent lots of time with us and the rays. We did buy the photo package, looking forward to receiving it in the mail. The snorkeling was alright, didn’t see a whole lot. I did enjoy the boat ride though; guess I just love the water.

 

Cozumel: We had rain off and on but didn’t let it spoil our day. We had originally planned on doing Passion Island but with the weather conditions and stirred up water we cancelled our excursion and went to Paradise Beach instead. Great idea! Paradise beach was very clean and well run. We were able to get loungers waterside with an umbrella. We got the wrist bands to primarily use the mats but did a little snorkeling. The water was too stirred up from storms to really see anything. The service was great at Paradise Beach. We met Tom the owner and he seemed to go out of his way to make us feel he appreciated our business from Cruise Critics. Another bonus-Tom just installed free internet at the bar! I was able to send DD an email and check a few other things. Great idea! Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves at Paradise Beach and I would highly recommend this place, especially to those with active young people. We didn’t do the trampoline or iceberg but those who did seemed to be having a wonderful time. Cabs were plentiful and we headed back in the early afternoon to shop which turned out to be a good idea as it began to rain again. We seemed to time our activities well.

 

Sea days were spent having a relaxing lunch in the dining room and partaking in some of the ship board activities.

 

Disembarktion: We did not have an early flight so it was quite a while before our color was called but waiting was comfortable in the Explorer’s lounge. We had an early evening flight and did not encounter any lines at the airport. After hearing so many bad things about the airport I wasn’t sure what to expect. There was a bit of confusion though getting cabs after the cruise. People were not patient in waiting their turn for a cab, I guess because it was raining, and it led to some frustration. We rented a car and took a tour around FLL and enjoyed a late lunch before heading to the airport. Our flight home was very bumpy but we made it home safely.

 

Just a few of my own observations:

 

We really enjoyed our experience with Princess and purchased future cruise credits. We found friendly people everywhere we went on the ship. The staff always had a smile and seemed to really enjoy having a chat with you. Everyone seemed to really put forth the effort to make you happy.

 

DH was happy they televised the World Series so he could keep up with the Cardinals. He enjoyed watching a few of the games after dinner in Churchill’s.

 

I played the ship’s scavenger hunt and would like to thank all the member of CC who helped me out. We didn’t win but it was a great way to get to know my way around the ship. There were some places I never would of discovered if it wasn’t for participating.

 

The ship is very large. The next ship will depend on what DD would like to do. I would go on the CB again with no problem but really don’t think I would seek out any ship larger that the CB. About the time I had it pretty well figured out it was time to end our cruise.

 

The CC gathering was very nice and it was great meeting all the members of the board that showed up. I highly recommend members to join the roll call, attend the meet and get to know one another. It was so much fun to run into people you knew on the ship and in port. Sort of like having friends on board!

 

We really enjoyed our cruise, our experience with Princess and all the lovely people we met on board. Thank you for all the tips I have read for over the past year, I know it helped make our cruise more enjoyable. Any questions please feel free to ask.

[drgouveia]

Great review. Glad to hear you had a nice time.

[jennew]

I enjoyed your review. Well done!:)

[Hippygirl23]

Great review, thanks so much! I think I would like the scavenger hunt, and like ya said will help to find our way around the ship.

[Christapie]

Wow!! Thanks for that review. Can't wait to go on the CB.

 

You answered several of my questions.

 

Glad you had a good vacation.

 

Christapie

[coops]

Thanks for the review, we stayed in cabin 731 also. Loved it so much we are

booked again in same cabin next April. We did ask for the egg crate and I slept like a baby. Do they have the new balcony furniture? Heard they were

taking out the plastic ones and putting in new ones of metal. Also can you

remember any of the comedians names? Thanks for any info. You made me feel like I was back on the ship.

Dawn

[cbpanda]

Thanks for taking the time to post a review. You are just fueling my anticipation!

 

I can't wait until we go back next year. :D

[seagarsmoker]

Great review Whimsy! It was very nice meeting you and your hubby at our get togethers and around the ship throughout the week. Same with all the other CC's members - we really enjoyed seeing everyone. If it wasn't for the wedding/honeymoon, I'm sure we would have spent more time talking or going to shows together.

 

Glad you had a great time and Suzi and I will be back onboard this ship in 213 days!

[Whimsy]

Thanks for the review, we stayed in cabin 731 also. Loved it so much we are

booked again in same cabin next April. We did ask for the egg crate and I slept like a baby. Do they have the new balcony furniture? Heard they were

taking out the plastic ones and putting in new ones of metal. Also can you

remember any of the comedians names? Thanks for any info. You made me feel like I was back on the ship.

Dawn

 

Since I have never been on the ship before I have no idea if the balcony furniture was new or old. They did replace our balcony table from a square one to a round one during our cruise. There were sprinklers and smoke detectors installed on the balcony.

 

As for the comedians I will have to look at my patters when I get home from work.

[FloridaLaura]

Thanks for the great review...can you give another cc member a hint ;) on what items you looked for on the scavenger hunt...sounds fun

 

glad you had a great time I can't wait til APRIL!!!!

[mom2tcdx2]

Not wanting to know what you looked for on the scavenger hunt but how did you find out about it in the first place. I have now been on two cruises that both apparently had a scavenger hunt that I could not figure out how you got involved in it. I must have totally missed it on the CB back in May - was it mentioned in the first day's patters or did it start later in the week??? I too think it would be a good way to learn more areas of the ship etc.

[Whimsy]

You can pick up the scavenger hunt information on the first sea day around 10 AM in the library. I don't know that it would be fair to tell you now what was on the list but with a little bit of thinking outside the box we were able to find all the items except one I believe. You also have to gather signatures of staff and answer questions.

 

Attend your roll call as some of the members of our roll call had some of the items we needed. Have fun!

[Christapie]

Whimsey,

 

Thank you for not telling us what things to look for in the "hunt". For me and the family we enjoy a good game. I think I love the anticipation of the cruise just as much as the cruise itself!!!

 

Christapie

[Whimsy]

Thanks for the review, we stayed in cabin 731 also. Loved it so much we are

booked again in same cabin next April. We did ask for the egg crate and I slept like a baby. Do they have the new balcony furniture? Heard they were

taking out the plastic ones and putting in new ones of metal. Also can you

remember any of the comedians names? Thanks for any info. You made me feel like I was back on the ship.

Dawn

 

Comedians were Steve Moris (we really liked him)

Kimika (didn't see him that I remember)

Carl Strong (caught him on the last night)

 

I'm missing a few patters but there was some juggler-comedian too.

 

A few things I forgot to mention:

 

We didn't mind the coffee and I thought the iced tea was fine. The iced tea was strong but that is the way I like it.

 

We gambled a little bit but not much. My nephew hit a Royal but wasn't playing max coin and there was talk that some lady won a BMW or Mercedes on a .02 slot on the last sea day but I never heard an official announcement.

 

Horse races looked like they can be a lot of fun and now that I have seen them done I think we will try to win a horse for the next cruise. Some of the owners did a wonderful job with their horse. Very creative decorating and I loved the stories of the horses.