Back from the Caribbean Princess

[clandt]

Just returned from a fabulous week aboard the Caribbean Princess on its Western Route. A little about us this was my 4th cruise (2 on Royal Caribbean when I was 18 & 21), and our honeymoon cruise aboard Carnival Destiny. This was my husbands 3rd cruise 10 years ago he and his mother went on a Meditarian cruise aboard the Sun Princess. We are 32 and 40; also with us was my 75 year old mother in law and her 84 year old boyfriend.

 

Pre-hotel – We went down to Ft. Lauderdale on Friday and stayed at the Wyndam. We called them from baggage to send the shuttle and it was there about 10 minutes later. I got two rooms on priceline.com for $55 each. The hotel room was very nice, we spent the afternoon by the pool bar with Tony – who was running the whole place by himself and was VERY busy!

 

Embarkation Process - We got to the pier around 11:30, the door weren’t open when we got there. Once they opened we couldn’t believe how quick it was! We were in our cabin by about 12:20! Now our last cruise on Carnival we weren’t allowed in our rooms for a few hours after boarding – so both my husband and I were surprised we could go straight to our room. Even better our luggage was there after we went up to the buffet for some lunch! This enabled us to set up our balcony with an inflatable palm tree and my husband’s Happy 40th sign. I’ll post a picture of it!

 

Our room Dolphin mini-suite midship – This was our first balcony and we are hooked!!! I LOVED having a bathtub. When we got in our room – the robes I had requested were hanging in the closet. There were some cookies in the sitting area. And everything looked perfect. Our room steward was Manuelito and he was fantastic! He brought me safety pins after a formal dress night mishap – filled our extra large ice bucket and the smaller bucket with ice EVERY morning and evening! He hung up my husbands Happy 40th in our room with tape as I did a poor job of trying to string it. He also hung our surfboard on the front door for us. I had brought flip flop magnets (most of which disappeared the first day) however the door is not magnetic just the frame. He was just great!

 

The coke card -- GET IT!! I highly recommend bringing your own insulated sipper. Sure your own water is great, my mother in law brought tons -- but it won't stay cold long! We had 32 oz sippers each, the coke cup you get is 16 oz. We got one card basically for me as I wasn't able to drink all week -- however we also used it for mixers! We would get one of our sippers filled every night with tonic (We bought a bottle of Absolute from room service 20 dollars). In Jamaica you could get some rum and then fill it up with coke!!!

 

A lanyard -- buy one or bring one! On our very first day I put my Princess card (which is your room key, onboard account credit card, personal id to get on/off ship) in my pocket and bent it! We went straight down to the gift shop and bought lanyards to hang the cards around our necks.

 

Anytime Dining - We LOVED anytime dining. My husband wore his shorts to the buffet in the evening. We did go to the Palm Dining Room 3 nights and we never had to wait (all four of us dinned in the Palm together). My favorite dinner was the lobster night (Wednesday of the cruise -2nd formal night). I had escargot that was to die for! Besides the lobster my husband and I split the Beef Wellington – yum, yum I am salivating just thinking about it. On Monday (formal night) we wore shorts (no one said a word to us) and went to Café Caribe for the Seafood Extravaganza, HOT crab legs, lobster (full cut in half) roast beef – it was wonderful!!! The last night was also really good at Café Caribe it was Down Island Hunters spread. There was prime rib, chicken curry, some wonderful vegetable soup, and beef stew that was to die for! My mother in law and her boyfriend ate both breakfast and dinner in the Palm everyday. The dinners we had the same options as them in the buffet (except for the always available options and the desserts – no Love Boat Dream in the buffet). The sushi served on our two sea days, was fantastic. The pizza was good, but very thin and we prefer a thicker pizza. The only food we really didn’t care for was the food served at Princess Cays. It was just hot dogs, hamburgers etc, my bun was very hard and there wasn’t a lot to go with it, beans, some rice dish and that is all I can remember. I would have a big breakfast and go back to the ship to eat!

 

The Cruise Director/Graham Seymour -- I can not say enough good things about Graham!! He is simply the greatest CD I have ever had and you will see him everywhere!! The man must never sleep! He is just as funny when you talk to him in person as he is when he is 'on stage'. He is going to be off CB (as they call it?) Sept 18th - Dec 14th. Watch his 'Be Very Afraid' morning show it will start your day with a smile!

 

PART TWO Coming soon -- including The Entertainment, The Ports, and a Chair Hog gets his day and isn't happy!

 

Christy

[Nunu]

Great report clandt, keep it coming!!

[CruiseFever]

Welcome Back Christy!

 

Glad to hear you loved the Caribbean Princess as we did earlier this month. Graham is sure a great CD huh?

[clandt]

The Ports – This was Western so we visited Princess Cays, Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel with our 2nd and last days ‘At Sea’.

 

Sunday – Princess Cays – We took the tender at about 10:30 and didn’t have to wait longer then about 5 minutes in the Princess theater before getting to go on the tender. This was a great beach day! The beach area is pure white sand and we had no problem finding chairs! My favorite picture from this day is my mother in law drinking her can of Coors light while just sitting in the ocean. The bar closes at two o clock and then it is a mad dash for the tenders. My mother in law left at 1:30 and got right on a tender. We had to wait 15-20 minutes for one, fine for us – as remember above I said to bring sippers? Ours were filled with lots of ice and water! The water jugs by the lines were all empty and people were not happy.

 

Monday – Day at Sea – This was our first day at sea and on this day we had NO PROBLEM finding chairs in the sun – we got to the upper deck after breakfast at around 10:30 am – second day was a VERY different story! We sat by the Neptune pool where they had Robert Smith singing Caribbean melodies! The Under the Stars screen by the Calypso Pools showed videos up to the Pool Olympics – these were very fun to watch! Also this day they had bingo at 11am and 4:45. Line Dancing at 10:15am. Mona Lisa Smile in the Princess Theater at 2pm, horse racing at 3:45, afternoon tea etc so there is TONS to do for everyone!!! Oh and the casino was open all day!

 

Tuesday – Montego Bay – ANDY’S 40th BIRTHDAY!! Jamaica was WAY better then what I had expected! First no one offered us drugs anywhere! We went shopping first got a few things, then decided we would come back to shopping as we didn’t want to carry our bags all over town! We then went to Margaretville! I had printed 4 coupons from their web site for free margarita’s (34 dollar value) and they honored them (mine was virgin but still yummy – try the mango). We were a bit disappointed they played mainly nightclub music and very little Jimmy Buffet this is because it is filled with kids from the cruise ships! There is no drinking age in Jamaica, and there were plenty of teens taking advantage of it! We still had a great time – there is a water slide and water trampolines! We then had the GREATEST taxi driver take us back to the shopping area, at this point I was the only sober one. This driver waited for us --- took my mother in law to the bathrooms and waited outside for her – helped my husband look for clove cigarettes and told us to really offer low amounts as it was towards the end of the day and the vendors would bargain! And they did! Then the driver took us on a little driving tour (not that anyone but me remembered it) He was seriously great!!! We tipped him well when we got back to the port! My husband got onboard and then decided he needed beer. He got off went to the port liquor store and walked on board with two six packs of Red Stripe with nothing else and it wasn’t taken away! Earlier we had boarded with some rum.

 

Wednesday – Grand Cayman – Once again we didn’t wait at all for the tender! Although during our ride over a down pour started. My mother in law and her boyfriend had not brought rain jackets, so my husband and I gave them ours! We got off the tender and just a short run and we were soaked! We had planned to try to get a tour to Stingray City but due to the rain, decided to just shop! Not a lot of bargains here, except liquor! Absolute was 8 dollars, Kahula 11 dollars etc! Here the must deliver it to the ship, to prove it is being exported so you won’t be able to buy it and carry it on. They deliver it the last night of the cruise.

 

 

Thursday – Cozumel – We had a taxi take us downtown it was a fix price of 6 dollars – BEWARE their game is no one has change! My husband handed the driver a $20 and he went into Diamonds International to get change. After waiting for about 15 minutes – my husband went inside and I took the taxi keys as I thought for sure the guy was hiding around a corner and just waiting for us to get tired of waiting. He finally came out without change so he agreed to 5 dollars for the fare. On the way back the driver said he had change we got to the port and no change – between the four of us we had the six bucks – but make sure you have EXACTLY 6 dollars if going to town. Great shopping especially AFTER they huge downpour here. We happened to be in a restaurant and just waited it out! If you want to shop get out of the port area and go downtown. I got a beautiful dolphin Aualstrlain Opal bracelet, for very cheap here – I pick out what I want and then my husband does the bargaining – I am horrible at that part!

 

 

Friday – Day at Sea – We got to the upper deck at around 10:52 and there was not a chair to be found. My husband asked one of the bar staff if they removed towels after a certain time. The guy said wait 30 minutes if no one shows up take the chair. We watched a group of 5 chairs in the shade for 30 minutes one had a pair of shoes the rest had one towel spread across a couple chairs. We put ALL the towels on the chair with the shoes. My husband was nervous about doing this – hoping it would be someone understanding. At around 12:30 my mother in law and her boyfriend went down to the buffet to get food and were coming back to eat it (remember their ages – they take a little longer then the rest of us). At 12:45 guess who shows us a nice large not understanding gentleman – and I am on hormones so you really don’t want to start a shouting match with me. First a few on the funny things – the man is by himself – remember there is one chair we put all the stuff! He says he went to eat and at 9am when he came up all the other chairs were taken. I explained you couldn’t save chairs and we had been here for two hours and from the sound of it he had expected to save these chairs for four hours? He kept ranting and raving and then picked up all his towels and shoes and I told him to have a nice day. Of course there were no chairs to be found. As soon as he got up another gentleman took his chair, sweet justice. So he came back and stood at the end of my chair by the rail which was in the sun. I just ignored him and read – he would say little comments in the beginning until the woman next to me said he was ruining everyone’s last day and making them uncomfortable. A whole group of people close by didn’t believe I did the right thing, so I went and had a chat with them. He then shut up and just stood there – didn’t bother us a bit!! At around 2pm his wife only finally showed up – by this time since most of the afternoon things started at two chairs were becoming more available. In fact about 10 minutes later we picked up our towels and went to eat, book another cruise and buy our pictures! The saving the chairs thing was my biggest pet peeve of the cruise. We sailed with 3,400 people.

[clandt]

We got to the upper deck at 10:25 not 10:52 -- doesn't change the story much.....

[tom-n-jules]

Christy, thanks for the awesome review! We're on the CP/Western next June and are counting the seconds!!! (You think I'm kidding??? It's 27,589,113!!!) We had Graham Seymour on the Grand a couple years ago and were happy to find out he's now on the CP.

 

Some earlier reviews of the CP left me with the impression that lots of people thought the service was not up to snuff compared to other Princess ships they'd been on. They cited rolled eyes from servers when ordering beverages with Coke cards, non-responsive room stewards, etc. We were starting to get concerned. Did you find this to be an issue at all? You didn't specifically mention it and assume you would have had you thought that was the case...

 

Thanks!

[jemingway]

Our service was great the week before last on the Eastern. We had no complaints whatsoever other than being short-handed on waiters in the casino. Not a big issue though. I'm sure you will have a blast.:D

[clandt]

I was going to get to the service in Part 3 -- However since it was asked!!

 

We thought the service EVERYWHERE was out of this world! I never had a problem using the coke card we used it at every bar! No one rolled their eyes, I am sure they weren't happy as they get to keep the 15% tip added to your bar bill. Every staff member that walked by us said hello or good morning etc. We had 3 different servers in the Palm Dining room and they were all excellent. Compared to our last cruise on Carnival where we said all the staff seemed unhappy --- this staff BLEW them out of the water. We had Devonish at Club Fusion -- others have written about him -- he was just fantastic! Everyone would stop and answer your question, even though most I am sure they have heard 100 times -- Which way to the tender? Where is the bathroom? (I myself asked this half a dozen times)

 

Christy

[psupa]

I'm sorry to read that Graham Seymour won't be on our cruise. We sail on September 25th. I wonder who will be CD during that time. Had Graham as CD on the Golden last year and he will be a hard act to follow. Was looking forward to his morning show and his review of the drink of the day. Oh well maybe on another future cruise I hope.

[faithpath]

psupa - we will also be on CP 9/25. I too was looking forward to Graham Seymour and was disappointed to hear he wouldn't be with us. Tim Donavan will be taking his place. But I have heard that Tim is also a wonderful CD. My brother said Tim was on Grand, and said he was one of the best CDs they ever had. So no worries there! Actually no worries anywhere while on a cruise.

 

Christy - thanks for the review. Looking forward to more... I've enjoyed reading all the reviews on CP. Thanks Christy, Chris, Sydney & Monk888.

 

~Kathi~

 

Happy Sailing~~~~~:) ~~~~~:)

[jennat]

psupa,

 

Have you visited the roll call for the Sept 25th sailing? I don't recognize your name. Come on over and say hi...we have a great group (right Kathi?!? :D )

 

Jen

[faithpath]

psupa - Jen is right! We have a great group, called the Hurricane Chasers. Come on over and join us on the rollcall board. We have a couple of meetings planned. We would love to have you. I believe at last count we are at 106 total count (including everyone in each party) Hope to see you on our thread.

 

 

God Bless...

~Kathi~

 

Happy Sailing~~~~~:) ~~~~~:)

[clandt]

The Entertainment & Nightlife---

 

I was disappointed that we didn’t have the hypnotist on board with us but there were some great comedians

 

Scott Wyler – Since others had such rave reviews we knew we couldn’t miss this one. His midnight ‘R’ show was VERY tame compared to the others during the week. As my mother in law it takes about 5 minutes to warm up to him. I can’t think of the comedian he reminds me of, but his entire show he is very monotone. He is very funny and you should go see at least one of his shows! We saw all three.

 

Richie Minervini – Must husband and I saw only 5 minutes of his show and didn’t care for it. My mother in law really enjoyed him. He has been on Rosie, Showtime and is a writer for People’s Choice Awards, so he is probably pretty good.

 

James ‘the kid’ Michael – We only saw his midnight ‘R’ show and we thought he was funny. He also was one of the judges for Princess Idol and he with the other judges had us laughing until our sides hurt!

 

Philadelphia – We saw his midnight ‘R’ show and my husband I loved him! Although I don’t think my mother in law or her boyfriend laughed once. He reminded me of Chris Rock. He was probably the funniest comedian we saw all week, although they all were great.

 

Kimika – This was a husband and wife variety act. I didn’t see it, but my mother in law enjoyed them.

 

Jonathan Stamp – comedy in motion – A surfer ‘dude’ from Hawaii that looks the part, does some great juggling with audience participation. This would be a fun one for the kids. It also is one of the shorter shows of the week.

 

Caribbean Caliente – This is one of two shows put on by the Caribbean Princess Singers and Dancers. My husband really thought the show was better then what he expected after hearing so-so reviews. I thought it was okay, this one didn’t have as many visuals as the other show, although at one point there is a rain storm. All in all for a cruise show it was very good.

 

Let’s Rock – Let me be the first to say the title is a bit misleading as I am not sure if ‘I am going to wash that man right out of my hair’ qualifies as ‘Rock’. However I thought this show was very good. Lots of set changes that were very visual to look at, many costume changes and the costumes were really good – You’ll even see a giant hair spray can that sprays. The kids in the show are really good and you have to admire how hard they work.

 

Island Night – Grab your Hawaiian shirt, a frozen drink, a good attitude and be ready to be entertained. There are a couple of passenger contests such as a hula hula hoop contest – Where a 90 year old man won by default --- the folks sitting next to us were laughing as they had rode up in the elevator with him and he asked them if they were on the cruise. Then get ready for your Cruise Director to sing some great rock songs for about an hour! Also you will get a lei, and the bar staff walks around with desserts for you to try. The party then continues to Skywalkers.

 

Skywalkers Nightclub –You have heard about it the highest point on the sea. We went up there a few nights, and it is a lot of fun. There are people of all ages there and many of nights we ran into Graham there. Now the only bad thing is this place ‘ROCKS’ and I mean that in the literal since  it can get bumpy up there. They close the place around 2am when you will be in port, a little later if the next day is a sea day.

 

Casino – What you have heard about the slots is true, they don’t pay. I lost about 20 bucks and considered myself done. My husband played blackjack a few nights and met some great people and had a good time.

 

Movies Under the Stars – We reserved our time as soon as we boarded for the late show of Starsky and Hutch. It was a VERY hot summer night and there was no need for the wool blanket they leave on your chair. Get there early to get a good seat. We got there around 10:20 and had to sit on the upper level to the side, not a bad view. The bring popcorn and you can buy candy for 1.25 and they have them all (they walk around with a basket of the candy).

 

Coming Soon part 4 the passengers, the spa, and final thoughts…..

[clandt]

OH NO I FORGOT ABOUT PRINCESS IDOL -----

 

Princess Idol -- We had met some great folks that were a floor above us. So having that exposed balcony on Dolphin deck can be good for the social life. One of their daughters, Ashley competed in the Princess Idol. We only made it to the finals and it was A LOT of fun. All 6 of the contestants were really good singers and as I said earlier the judges were so funny. They all said nice things about the singers but then ripped on each other.

[waterrats]

Love the review so far. keep it coming. My wife was worried when the first reviews starting coming in because they weren't that good. Sounds like Princess has worked out all the bugs in the system. Did you get on the internet at all while on board? Also, if you have a digital camera, is there a digital photo lab on board? I was on Voyager of the Seas last year and they didn't have any digital capabilities which sort of shocked me considering the number of people with digital cameras. I will have to write down your entertainment opinions and bring them onboard with me so I know what not to miss. Thanks and Keep it coming.

[clandt]

We stayed out of the internet cafe, but ususally when we walked by there was at least one passenger in there.

Yes, the do print from you digital camera. It was 35 cents a print, I thought that was high. The would aslo put them all on a disk for you and then you wouldn't need to print them all.

 

Christy

[clandt]

The Spa – Do yourself a favor if money is tight and skip a shore excursion and go to the spa! I booked massages for my husband and I online (I would highly suggest to avoid lines and get some good times) BEFORE we left. We both did the Swedish massages and I set them up for 5pm on a port day. The boat actually left the port at 4pm, but we still got the port day price. As soon as we got there, one of the staff walked us to the locker room and gave us a locker, our robe and our shoes to walk around in. Then they wait outside for you to change. You get taken to one of the rooms, where you remove your robe get on a table and are covered with a sheet. The table is right in front of a window, which they open up so you get to see the ocean while getting your massage --- ahhh heaven. The massage was seriously the best that I’ve ever had, this was my husband’s first and he is hooked. I felt so great! Afterwards they will get you water or tea and take you to the thermal chairs to sit in. You can leave whenever you want, you are not rushed. At no time were either of us pushed to purchase any products or services.

 

The other passengers – This is the part that my husband and I LOVED! We could not believe how friendly all the other passengers were. Whether we were sitting next to someone at a show, on the sun deck, playing cards, or on our deck we met many people and all of them were just great! Even in Margarittaville a nice lady helped my husband carry drinks to our table, turns out she was from our ship. This seriously helped make our trip even that more enjoyable. We made many new friends and exchange e-mail addresses with several of them.

 

Disembarkation – We had a later afternoon flight and my group was tired and didn’t want to explore Ft. Lauderdale. We took our carry on and sat on the upper deck drinking coffee until the last color was called, this was around 9:40. We had checked with passenger services and they said just stay until the last color, we didn’t get new colored tags. We started down, within minutes we were in the terminal and of course our luggage was just calling us, since there was so few. We grabbed a porter and since we had so many bags, asked for a van taxi. We were taken to a shuttle that was 6 dollars a piece. Since we didn’t go from the airport to the port, we were not sure what a cab fare would have been. I would recommend the porter however, because you get to go in the porter line to get out of the terminal. We were at the airport by 10:15.

 

Final thoughts – What everyone says is true, you will hardly notice all the passengers. We were talking to the Deputy Cruise Director and 3,400 passengers is about 300 more passengers then what a full ship should have. We never had to wait in long lines at the buffet or getting on and off the ship in ports. The early shows in the Princess Theater do fill up, but most of the time we got there right at 8:25 and although we rarely found 4 seats together we could always find a pair of seats together.

Visit the Lobby Bar for a SeaBuzz (yummy frozen or iced coffee drinks for 2.95), if you go in the afternoon you can also have some cookies that are wonderful.

Profession Portraits on formal nights – There are usually located by the main elevators on decks 5, 6 and 7 – short lines on deck 5. The key is to either go early or go in the middle of one of the main dining times. We went about 8:30 and walked right up, the great thing is since there was no line the photographer took about 5 different poses of us and one each by ourselves. We had plenty to choose from.

Besides bringing the sippers (that you will use everyday), a spray bottle with water is also a great thing to bring for those hot days.

 

I am sure I have left a lot out! Please let me know what questions you have!!!

 

Christy

[HOLLYW]

Hi Christy-

Great review! Do you recall which pier the ship used in Cozumel?

[clandt]

We were at the pier that was the farthest from downtown, I want to say it was the Internation Pier, although I don't have the map here with me. There is a large shopping area with a Fat Tuesdays if that helps at all.

 

Christy

[ca2ga2000]

Puerta Maya pier in Cozumel.

[waterrats]

Christy,

 

thanks for the digital camera information and print information. I pay about 28cents a print so the extra few cents for a few pictures won't bother me at all. Also it is great to know I can transfer them to cd if need be. Thanks again.