CB 11/30 - 12/7 review LONG

[lvs2trvl]

I also was onboard the CB for the 11/30-12-7 sailing.

 

We arrived in PR Saturday at 12 noon. We had no trouble getting a taxi after getting our luggage to go to our hotel the Normandie (which we got on price line for $90 plus tax.) The hotel is ok. The staff very friendly hotel quite crowded. Our room was an ocean view. We found the sheets and bathroom very clean, but the windows and carpets needed cleaning. We would stay at this hotel again for a night or two.

 

We met our friends who flew in on Friday in old San Juan (took the bus which if you make a right, cross the street and go about 4 blocks till you see a park, go across park and there is a bus stop, $1.00 for 2. ( Need it in change only)and had lunch at an outside restaurant, then did some shopping. We then took a taxi together back to our hotels (they were staying at the Marriott San Juan Stallaris Casino) That night we were picked up by tour van and met two other friends and went to Fajardo’s World Famous Bioluminescent Lagoon, for a Kayak tour. The drive was over an hour. This tour is on the other side of the Island. It was wonderful, it is really something to see. It is very dark at times and can get scary. Also you are paddling for about 35 minutes each way. Glad we did it but probably once is enough for me. Returned back to the hotel about 11:30.

 

Sunday: Got up about 9:30 and went to Hilton Starbucks for breakfast (hotel next door) we took our coffee and bagels out to a table on the patio by the water and ate. No one asked us if we were from the Hilton and it was nice. (our hotel had a restaurant and it was $17 per for breakfast) and read on here it was not that good. So we followed someone elses advice and went to the Hilton Starbucks. We got an extension till 1 PM and then called a taxi and went to the Marriott where our friends made arrangements so we could leave our luggage with theirs and played at the casino for awhile. We were picked up at the Normandie at 1 PM and finally made it to the Marriott after being in a cab for 1 hour and 15 minutes.We were caught up in the Christmas parade. The ride usually takes 8 minutes. The cab driver only charged us the normal price of $15. because he said it was not our fault. We were at the ship 3:30 and almost walked right on. Some of our friends were on at 2PM and they said they had no problem also.

 

We had an Ocean View on Emerald deck, so did another couple, one had an inside and one couple had a Mini suite. We had wonderful service, no animal towels but chocolate everynight. Our friends in the Mini suite did not. Water was calm did not get sea sick....

 

During the muster our leader was talking and he said he was sorry for the price we paid and airfare we also had to pay, when they were almost giving the rooms away in Puerto Rico to fill the ship up. He and other crew members did not think it was fair. We didn't quite understand it till later. A few days later our friends were talking to a man who was personal friends with one of the pursers who told him the rooms were going for $129 per person in PR to fill the ship. I was a little upset by that. I was talking to Princess personnel over the phone about 2 weeks before we left about a different matter and she said to me "Oh it looks like you might get a 2 grade upgrade the ship is not full. Well I didn't and it looks like a lot of people sure got a deal. I am not happy paying the price we did and airfare and having it filled up with low paying people.

 

Like the review before this I too found a lot of rude , loud people on this cruise. This is my 4th cruise and found the buffet and elevators filled with rude people.In the restaurant one night we could not hold a conversation because the table was so loud next to us( spanish), the waiter came over and asked them to please hold their voices down. And no I am not prejudice, two of my close friends are Puerto Ricans. I was on the cruise out of PR last year in December and it was not like this. We pay to go on a Princess cruise for her higher standards and it was not on this cruise.

 

We liked the Coral dining room. There were 4 couples and we all felt rushed in the Palm dining room and thought they were not as friendly as the Coral. We had anytime dining and met at 7PM every night and got seated right away. There was always a line when we left the restaurant. Had good movies and enjoyed relaxing under the stars. Thought the Princess singers and dancers were excellent and probbably the best in all 5 cruises. Comedians were funny. Food was good, but not as good as the Crown.

St Thomas: Took ferry to St. John and took tour of Island (was in St. Thomas 3 times so wanted to see something different) a lot of people go snorkeling here, next time that is what we would do about $80 per couple for ferries and tour

Dominica, Antours...went tubing and to Emerald pools and waterfall..We did the tubing, I fell out and got pretty bruised alot of rocks, the rest of the group did ok. One other person in our group also got thrown out but ok. Cost $57 pr person

Dominica..tour with A and E..toured with Eddie, we didn't seem to have the time on this Island but he was good. We had a late leaving time, seemed disorganized at first. Did not go to all the places we were supposed to go because of the time. Cost $35 per person

Bonaire: We also were cancelled with the water taxi, Princess was no help in explaining anything..we found Mikes when you leave the ship go left and there is a small stand and they will take you to Klein Bonaire for $20 per person and you can set your own time back. We had our gear and had a wonderful snorkeling time on Klein Bonaire. They rent gear for $10, well worth the walk down..

Aruba...we did a tour with A.T.O.A (associated tour operators of Aruba) they are in blue shirts on the pier when you get off. They only charged us $20 per for a 2 hour tour of the Island. We then had time for shopping. Our friends went to the beach for the day and one other went snorkeling and he said it was great..Aruba was my favorite Island. Next to St. Thomas it is next in best shopping.

 

We had a 9:30 disembarking it went very smooth, had met a nice cab driver and he said he would take us on a tour, but when he picked us up he said he had to stay in area. Took us to the Baccardi Rum factory, you do not tour the real factory and see how it is made, they show a movie, would not go again. We then went to the airport and we ate and relaxed. Wish we had made plans to go to the rain forest like a past reviewer being we also had a 7pm flight, all in all it was a great cruise.:)

[NeurosurgeryNP]

CD - Neil

 

Deputy Asst CD - Sam

 

We were on the CB in April on a 4 day special and also in October on the repo to SJ. Sad to say -there were very rude people and unparented kids on the 4 day as well. Kids runnung around and very little kids (3-4 years old) unattended int he adult only hot tubs). Puerto Ricans have nothing to do with it! It can happen on any cruise.

[Relli1231]

I was recently on a carnival cruise out of New Orleans and the same thing happened. I am now booked on the CB out of SJU in February. (Prime week expensive)

The cruise lines both Carnival and Princess is lowering their prices and standards to fill their ships with locals. What happens is people who cannot normally afford a cruise are taking them and taking over the ships. The people we met in New Orleans during our stay were not anything like the people we experienced on the Ship. My DH said he would never go out of New Orleans again (his first cruise) He also said that the next cruise better be different. It sounds like it will be more of the same unless carnival corp. raises it standards and fast. If this happens to us again I think it may be my DH's last cruise (possibly mine as well)

By the way the groups of rude people out of New Orleans were AMERICANS! The common denominator is Low income not Nationality, or race or even region.

For some of these people it is less expensive to go on the ship than stay at home.129.00 per week per person, for something that will cost my DH and I upwards of 4,000 for cruise and airfare, and more on drinks and tours, casino etc.

We all know the economy is tough but reward the passengers that are your bread and butter in good times and in bad, not fill the ship with people who can't afford to be there. I know I may get slack but I expect this from Carnival I was hoping by choosing Princess we were taking a step up.

The people that are booking at an extremely low rate don't spend money on the ship! So they are driving away the guests that do. (Not just on rebooking, but as people herer stated they stayed away from the night time activities geared twards the locals, so they were not buying drinks in the nightclubs etc)

I am not prejudice nor am I an elite snob, but what I experienced was very disappointing considering the money that is spent. We usually go to Sandals, which is more money up front, but you spend a bit less in the long run. One thing I have to say is they NEVER discount their prices and fill the resorts wit Locals who can't afford to be there. The cruise lines should learn from this practice. Oh why did you get me going I thought I was well over this from my October cruise.

[toledo_cruiser]

I noticed the number of Latino cruisers, but I did not see any of the rude behavior the OP mentioned. I'm not saying it didn't happen, just that I didn't observe it. The numbers made sense to me since we were sailing out of that port. I truly regretted not paying more attention in Spanish class some 40 years ago. :) I was able to press the correct elevator button when they asked. I felt like a fish out of water though, I could understand some, but not all of the conversations.

 

The only incident I observed occurred when one of the buffet supervisors chastised a group of teens for the pranks of one of them. Apparently one of the group would get iced tea and then fill the glass with paper napkins. The super said they had done this several nights in a row and he was tired of it.

 

I, too, noticed the Latino entertainment influence, especially toward the end of the cruise. There were so many entertainment choices that it wasn't an issue for me, or my group. We actually sat in on some just to observe. I only went to Skywalkers one night and as it was a bit choppy, we didn't stay. You get a lot of bouncing up there. The disco scene just isn't our bag anymore.

 

Teenagers are a problem. There just isn't enough for the older teens to do. I've noticed that on all the Carnival cruises I've been on. I have seen DJs cater to the young crowd as those are the ones doing the dancing late at night. That's the other reason I didn't hang at Skywalkers. I took my tired tookus to my cabin after my late night snack each night. At least we didn't have teens running down the hallways knocking on doors as I've seen elsewhere.

 

As for cruising out of San Juan again. I probably wouldn't, but only because of the added airfare and hotel accommodations. My group flew in a day early just to be on the safe side. The flights were packed going and coming. A non-stop flight might make it more attactive. I would rather have had a longer cruise with more sea days. I thought the itinerary was too port intensive for seven days. I would have no objections to cruising into San Juan again. The transient pier is right next to Old San Juan and truly convenient for sightseeing. I look forward to going back there again.

 

As for discounted fares, now that's another story. I can't blame anyone for taking advantage of it, however. Those cruising out of PR already have an advantage because they don't have to pay airfare to get there. Of course that also holds true to the folks who live in the other port cities.

 

Jim

[toledo_cruiser]

I was recently on a carnival cruise out of New Orleans and the same thing happened. I am now booked on the CB out of SJU in February. (Prime week expensive)

 

The common denominator is Low income not Nationality, or race or even region. For some of these people it is less expensive to go on the ship than stay at home.129.00 per week per person, for something that will cost my DH and I upwards of 4,000 for cruise and airfare, and more on drinks and tours, casino etc.

 

AMEN! I think you nailed it. But it's always just a few who spoil it for everyone. Most of the folks I saw were well-mannered.

 

Oh why did you get me going I thought I was well over this from my October cruise.

 

Some things just stay with you. We pay too much for our vacations to have them spoiled by little incidents.

 

OP had issues I didn't. Here's hoping that you have a wonderful cruise.

 

Jim

[tequilasunrise]

We were on the same cruise as Nattie, and I have to agree with everything she said. I hate to discriminate against any one particular nationality as there are good and bad everywhere, but every single rude person we encountered was from PR. There were little kids in the adults only hot tub that refused to leave, and when told to leave pretended they had no idea what we were saying. There were the parents that argued for 20 minutes with staff when told that they could not bring their 5 yr old into the adults only spa pool. Shocking, after the arguement, they still stayed and swam with their kid! One morning we went into the buffet and found a table for 4 empty, so we put our bags and hats down and got some food. We were not gone 5 minutes, and when we returned two PR ladies had moved our stuff down to one end of the table and planted themselves at the other end! There was an empty table for two right next to our table, which I requested they move to, so our table for 4 could sit down. Unbelievable.

 

I found the entertainment at nights geared a bit more towards the spanish clientele than we would have liked as well. The disco was basically unusable unless you wanted latin music. We only saw one show in the main theatre, we spent most of our time watching the pop princess and comedians or movies at MUTS. Thankfully the menu in the dining room was the usual fare and not all latin food.

 

In St. Thomas we got married, so we didn't see much of the island this time. In Dominica we took a private tour with Levi Baron of Bumpiing Tours. We went to Titou Gorge and Trafalgar Falls. We were going to go snorkeling as well at the Champagne Reef, but we decided to skip it and go back to the ship. We paid $40 per adult and $30 per kid for this trip. As a side note, we had 9 in our party and we were supposed to have a private van for just our group. Levi threw two other couples in with us...we were not bothered too much, but it may bother some people.

 

In Grenada we just walked around the port area and went to the spice market. We found the people very aggressive and asked us over and over again if we wanted whatever they were selling...not as bad as Jamaica, but more aggressive than other islands. I really liked the spice market. To get to it, when you hit the main street by the port turn left. About two blocks down, look down the side street and you will see the market about a block from the main road.

 

In Bonaire we walked about 10 minutes from the port to the Divi resort and went swimming off of their pier. There were chairs on the pier that we used and no one seemed bothered by it. There were a bunch of giant iguanas running around that the kids liked. It was easy to climb down the rocks to get into the water, which was super warm and super clear, and tons to see snorkeling right from the pier. You could rent snorkel equipment from them as well, but we had our own. It didn't look like there were any sandy beaches near the port, at least not walking distance, hence why we wound up on a pier.

 

In Aruba we rented a car from Hertz, right at the pier. It was supposed to be $32 for the day (for a tiny car, seriously tiny) but because we had to wait about 30 minutes for the car to be delivered to us, they knocked off about $6 so we only paid $28. We had insurance on our credit card, so we declined their expensive insurance. It was a great day, we drove all over the island, spent time at Baby beach which was fabulous and very quiet, went to some ruins of a fort, a natural bridge, looked around at other beaches and still had time to shop. All in all, that was my favourite port, the island was beautiful.

 

This was our 4th Princess cruise (DH's 5th) and while we love the CB and would go again, I have to say some of the little things were missing. No towel animals by our cabin steward. No pitchers of ice water in the cabin. No cookies and milk out by MUTS at night (they were there at 3:30 in the afternoon only). Nothing big, but just a slightly lower standard of service. I hope the trend does not continue.

 

Embarkation and debarkation - we landed in San Juan at 3 pm and were on the ship by 4 pm. At that time there was no lineup anywhere. You can buy liquor and pop right from the duty free shop in the terminal. I heard that there is some disclaimer on the reciept that says Princess cannot take your liquor away as well, if you buy it there...not sure if that's true or just a rumour. Our flight home was at an insane 9:40 am, and we made it with time to spare. We were literally the first people off the ship just before 8 am, miraculously found all of our luggage right away and were in a cab by 8:15. No one was on the road at that time so the cab ride was fast, the airport was still quite empty so we made it through the USDA check, and the security check in about 10 minutes. I think we were really lucky, but we made sure we were in Club Fusion at 7:10 rather than 7:50 like we were told and we stood right in front of the doors waiting to exit.

 

Grats on your marriage!!!! :)

[jouset_1345]

During the muster our leader was talking and he said he was sorry for the price we paid and airfare we also had to pay, when they were almost giving the rooms away in Puerto Rico to fill the ship up. He and other crew members did not think it was fair. We didn't quite understand it till later. A few days later our friends were talking to a man who was personal friends with one of the pursers who told him the rooms were going for $129 per person in PR to fill the ship.

 

Hi

I am from Puerto Rico , and was on this cruise and believe me I never got to see that deal of $ 129.00 p/p. Cruise price here in Puerto Rico is different from the states for example if you got a cruise for $ 129.00, you have to add $ 192.80 (Port taxes on CB) and the $ 35.00 fuel surcharge. Giving you total of $ 420.00 p/p con quadruple occupancy.

You sound like generalizing that all the Puerto Ricans onboard get the cruise for a very cheap price. Believe I took all my family and pay $$$$ as you did for the cruise not wondering ho or who may concern about locals onboard. I am local and yes I known many of the Puerto Ricans onboard were not friendly and rude, but that concept of locals onboard because of low prices its not true, because I was whit 110 people onboard and we book about one year before the cruise.

If you see them onboard they can pay for it as you did and they have the right of having the time of their life’.

The ship is sailing from San Juan, so get used to it. If you don’t like it don’t come maybe we can get better prices as you say.

[Kimidfw]

Nattie:

Wow, I think I will skip PR. I have been looking at Southern Caribbean cruises and they all go out of PR. I don't need that aggravation. Guess I will stick to my trusty Fort Lauderdale for departures...such a great port!:)

[PaddleAddict]

Nattie:

Wow, I think I will skip PR. I have been looking at Southern Caribbean cruises and they all go out of PR. I don't need that aggravation. Guess I will stick to my trusty Fort Lauderdale for departures...such a great port!:)

 

I was on this cruise a few weeks earlier and I did not experience any problems with rude passengers. And yes, we had quite a few Puerto Ricans on our cruise. Perhaps the OP just experienced a bad week... it can happen on any cruiseline that leaves any port. I took a cruise that left out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, last year that had a large amount of rude, rowdy and class-less people on board. We just got unlucky that week and did our best to ignore them.

 

Don't rule out a Southern trip out of PR if you want to experience something new. The Southern route takes you to some beautiful, unspoiled islands, and we really enjoyed our pre-cruise stay in San Juan. What a neat city! This was our favorite cruise to date!

[Hoosier Cruise]

I have been so busy at work and with appointments, that I have not even gotten to my camera yet :) Also we have found out that we are having a boy! :)

Can you send a picture to hilliardmn @ starpower.net? Thank you so much!

 

Hi Nattie

I'm traveling on business until next week but I will get the picture to you when I get back home.

Take care

Michele

[lvs2trvl]

KIMIDWF,

 

Don't by pass up the Southern Caribbean, we were on the Crown out of PR last December and did the Antiqua, Barbados etc, cruise and we had a wonderful time. There were locals from Puerto Rico also on this cruise and it was entirely different than this time. Also, read the Princess reviews on this ship, we and others are not the only ones with the same experience. I cannot explain what happened on this cruise but it was a total different experience than last year on the Crown and not for the good. I have land vacationed in Puerto Rico for a total of 12 days and found the people very friendly and hospitable. This is our 4th trip to Puerto Rico and I am sorry to say that on this ship we encountered alot of rude and unmannered people.

 

As far as the cost for PR clients, we were told the cost by friends from someone on the crew, also a crew member brought this up to us on a muster drill. Yes, rudeness can happen anywhere with anyone and on any ship but after 4 cruises with Princess and 3 others with Carnival, Costa, and NCL this is the first time this has happened to us to the extent we saw on this cruise. There were 10 of us with all the same reaction.

[du4mch]

Nattie:

Wow, I think I will skip PR. I have been looking at Southern Caribbean cruises and they all go out of PR. I don't need that aggravation. Guess I will stick to my trusty Fort Lauderdale for departures...such a great port!:)

I've been following this thread since it began. I was on this cruise and did not have any of the issues that Nattie had. Overall for me it was in my top 2 as far as cruise vacations go. Granted it's only been 6 total.

Don't be guided by 1 opinion, take it in and keep searcing for more info. 1 persons experience is never the same as the next. Like I said we had a great time and would go out of San Juan again no problem.

[TucsonRick]

I am just flabbergasted that people don't recognize their own bigotry, stereotyping people as a group. If the posters on this thread put Americans in place of Puerto Ricans how would they like it?

Puerto Ricans are Americans.

 

Rick

[ModelDoc]

Hmmm...Interesting thread, but I was wondering for the OP and others that have had similar experiences, what made the the Puerto Rican passengers so unpleasant, other than dress code and what sounds like a few unattended children? I'm taking this cruise in a few months, just interested on what to expect :)

 

Angela