Caribbean Princess 2/8 – 2/15 Review - Long

[DonMar]

About Us – for context. We are a couple (37 and 55) from NJ (right outside NYC). We love to travel to explore culture, history, and unique settings. We do not participate in on board activities, shows or ship excursions. We keep our travel as simple and low key as possible (carry –on only, no formal nights). We have cruised on Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Costa – we cruise by itinerary. (Costa has been our favorite to date.)

Flight: We flew from Newark, NJ to San Juan on Sunday, Feb 8th . The flight went well. We arrived a 11:45am and we took a cab to the Pan American pier at about 12:05pm ($19 plus $1 per bag).

Embarkation: I was ready for the worst after reading other experiences. The embarkation process had begun and was very orderly. There was about a 10 minute wait then we were on board by 12:45. (After checking in, we stopped at the Duty Free shop and picked-up some wine and tequila.) WOW!!!

The Ship: We were welcomed by very kind and helpful staff. We went to our cabin, unpacked and headed out to explore the ship. The ship is large and has an understated elegance. DP was a shipyard superintendent and worked on cruise ships like the QEII and Queen Mary and he mentioned that there were some elements that reminded him of these two ships. We both thought that the layout of the ship was not great. The elevators seemed not to be synchronized very well. Hey – the stairs was good for us, we need the exercise.

The Piazza is a very nice atrium area. A great use of this space. The International Cafe has some yummy treats - no cabin charge. You do pay for the coffee here.

There were shipyard workers on board but were not very noticeable.

Our Cabin: We had an aft Caribe balcony. All I have to say is that we might just cruise Princess again just for the Caribe deck balcony. It was huge and ½ covered and ½ open. Our cabin was smaller from what we were used to on Carnival and Costa, but we did nto spend time in the cabin. It was clean and comfortable. We asked our room steward for an egg crate covering for the bed (no new mattresses during dry dock) and I slept very well. DP did not sleep as well due to a slight popping noise occurring within the outer bulkhead while at sea. I did not notice it at all. Our room steward, Renante, was wonderfully attentive and unobtrusive.

The Food: We do not cruise for the food, but do enjoy a good meal. All the meals we had in the Coral and Island Dining Rooms (Anytime Dining) were very good. The lamb was fantastic! We had the veal marsala which was very good – although I did not think it had an ounce of marsala wine in it and would not call it such. We loved the anytime dinning!

The seafood buffet was good on the first night. Plenty of snow crab legs and lobster claws to go around. If you like lobster claws – bring crackers! They are hard to crack open without.

Both formal nights, we ate in the Caribe Café (we do not do formal nights) and there was more seafood – snow crab legs and lobster claws. There were also many selections and all good.

The Horizon Court and Caribe Café were good for breakfast and snack after a day in port. We never had lunch on board ship. Iced tea (you need to have a lot of ice as the iced tea comes out warm), coffee, hot water and water are available at all times. You can also ask the staff for lemonade during meal times. They do not have it out and available. Orange juice is available during breakfast.

The pizza and pool side grill were good. The pizza was pretty good.

Itinerary/Ports: I would love more sea days. I knew going into this cruise that I would miss them, but this was the only cruise that fit our calendar and port interests for February. That being said, we had a wonderful time in each port.

St. Thomas: We have been to St. Thomas before so we took the local bus to Red Hook and the ferry to St. John’s. (The local bus is the deal of the century - $4.00pp round trip from Crown Bay to Red Hook vs. $30pp round trip.) We hiked in the National Park to a beautiful and secluded beach. From here you can snorkel, swim or just enjoy the beauty. Just beware – there are donkeys along the hiking trains. They are friendly as many people feed them and they come to you looking for a handout. You may also find them on the beach.

Dominica: One of my favorite ports. We booked a private guide through Beno Tours. Nigel our guide was just wonderful. I had asked, during booking that we go to places that not many people venture to. That we did. It was wonderful. We went to the Sulphur Hot Springs and hiked up the volcanic mountain and experiences sulphur field, the heat from the volcano, the hot springs – it only smelled in the sulpher field. We drove to Scott’s Head on the south of the island and hiked and explored the rough beach on the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean side. If you go to Dominica you need to get a guide as there is not much at the port. There is a warehouse with vendors. None of the vendors bothered you.

Grenada: We, again, arranged for a private guide through Insight Tours (Bentley Skeet). Our tour guide, Chris, was wonderful. He brought us around the island. We did go to an 18th century cocoa/nutmeg processing center where we were given an explanation of all the spices grown, harvested, and exported. Many crops are no longer farmed or exported. We also went to a current nutmeg processing plant. The nutmeg production was cut 70% due to a hurricane about 5 years ago. The processing workers give tours – a good way for them to maintain an income while the nutmeg trees mature and bear fruit again.

Bonaire: Our favorite port. We rented a Jeep here and went to Washington National Park on the north of the island. This was our favorite thing we did on the cruise. The park is just wonderful. I wish we had more time to explore it and hike some of the trails. If you go make sure you have a vehicle with high ground clearance as the roads or trails in the park are rough to say the least. Just outstanding.

Aruba: We, again, rented a Jeep and drove to the National park on the southern windward side of the island. We found navigating Aruba a bit tricky in the southern end as there are NO street signs. We are good navigators and always have out GPS with us. While traveling down a road that we believed would lead us to the park we cam across a sign stating: “Enter at your own risk. Live ammunition training grounds.” OK – so what to do. We are adventuresome so we went in. This was the entrance to the park – from what we could see. The park is to the left and the training grounds to the right. There are few signs – unlike Bonaire’s Washington Park. Some of the sights are spectacular. The roads were not great, but not as rough as Washington Park. After exploring this area, we went to Baby Beach and had a nice afternoon there.

We docked at each port.

Sea Day: Love sea days. We had a wonderfully relaxing sea day. DP had arranged for the Ultimate Balcony Dining experience for this evening. What a special treat. It was a perfect night – warm, gentle breeze and a beautiful sunset. This was a huge meal and provided by very attentive wait staff.

Disembarkation: We travel carry on only so we did not need to put our luggage out the evening before, but we did need to vacate the cabin by 8:00am. We were given a 11:45pm ticket, but spoke to the pursers desk to see if we could self-disembark. They gave us a number of tickets for different times so we could pick when to leave. Our flight was not until 5:45pm and it was a beautiful day so we stayed until after 11am – at the Terrace Pool.

They made an announcement that Customs and Immigration was going so well that people with non Princess transportation etc. could leave at any time. So we decided to leave thinking there was no line or wait. WRONG. The lines for Customs and Immigration were very, very long. OK – got through that. Now we need a taxi to Old San Juan. The taxi line was just as long and a bit unorganized at the front end. If we had known we would have left at 8am or stayed until the bitter end.

Overall: The cruise was wonderful.

Donald took many photos of the ship and will be posting them at some point.

Thank you for reading this very long review. If you have questions, I would be happy to answer them.

Margaret

[jetsfan]

Thanks for your review! We will be cruising the CP on 4/26 and can't wait. We love the caribe balcony, and find it a great value for the money. Glad to hear you had such a great time.

[Clutterlady]

Thank you for the review! Glad you enjoyed the CB and Caribe balcony as we did:)

[DannyBoy78]

Hi Don,

 

Thank you for sharing about your experiences about the CB. We too were worried about embarking in Puerto Rico after reading posts by other members. You post has given me some hope about what I should expect when we set sail 3/15 from San Juan.

 

Did you find it difficult to be seated with your "Anytime Dining" plan? I've done it once with a larger group but I have never attempted it with a group of two.

 

Thanks again for the great post, it was a very objective glimpse on what to expect. It helped a lot.

 

Cheers,

Danny

[blueridge20]

Thanks so much for your review. We are sailing the CB in April, and I noticed

 

you said you bought wine at the Duty Free shop. Did you do this after you

 

had already boarded the ship? Were you allowed to take it on board with

 

you? Is this the same shop that is at the pier? Sorry for so many questions

 

but I thought everyone had said you could only buy rum, water, and sodas

 

there before getting on the ship.

[underthebluemoon]

Thanks for the great review! I just booked on the CB Southern Caribbean itinerary out of San Juan in May.

 

My concern is that we will be a minority on this cruise, as I have read in other reviews leaving out of San Juan. I have no problem with Spanish being spoken, but I don't want to feel uncomfortable because we don't speak it.

 

Did you find this to be the case on your cruise?

[Caribbean Sunsets]

Very nice review. The Caribe deck is a favorite location of mine. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[DonMar]

Hi Don,

 

Thank you for sharing about your experiences about the CB. We too were worried about embarking in Puerto Rico after reading posts by other members. You post has given me some hope about what I should expect when we set sail 3/15 from San Juan.

 

Did you find it difficult to be seated with your "Anytime Dining" plan? I've done it once with a larger group but I have never attempted it with a group of two.

 

Thanks again for the great post, it was a very objective glimpse on what to expect. It helped a lot.

 

Cheers,

Danny

 

We loved the Anytime Dining and had a short wait on one night. We tend to eat late on cruises - by the time I am willing to get off the balcony and get ready for dinner it is late (8:30- 9:00). We did go to the Coral Dining Room earlier one evening and there was a wait, so we went to the Island Dining Room (directly below the Coral Dining Room) and there was no wait.

 

Thanks so much for your review. We are sailing the CB in April, and I noticed

 

you said you bought wine at the Duty Free shop. Did you do this after you

 

had already boarded the ship? Were you allowed to take it on board with

 

you? Is this the same shop that is at the pier? Sorry for so many questions

 

but I thought everyone had said you could only buy rum, water, and sodas

 

there before getting on the ship.

 

We bought wine from the Duty Free shop right in the area that you check in. There is not much wine and it sold out. We just put it in our bags and it went right through security. We went back to the shop later in the evening and all the wine was sold out.

 

Thanks for the great review! I just booked on the CB Southern Caribbean itinerary out of San Juan in May.

 

My concern is that we will be a minority on this cruise, as I have read in other reviews leaving out of San Juan. I have no problem with Spanish being spoken, but I don't want to feel uncomfortable because we don't speak it.

 

Did you find this to be the case on your cruise?

 

On our cruise there were many languages being spoken. Other than English, there was no majority of one language over another. We had no problems or concerns throughout the cruise.

 

 

Hope this answers your questions. Happy to help.

[Sandytoes]

Enjoyed reading your review!!!!

[juicebytim]

Great review!! Thank you for the tip in St. Thomas!

 

Quick question -- how long was the drive to the port from the airport and how much did it cost? My wife and I are flying in the day of the cruise. We will arrive in San Juan around 1:30 PM and were curious what kind of commute we will be looking at.

 

Thanks again!

 

- Tim

[DonMar]

Great review!! Thank you for the tip in St. Thomas!

 

Quick question -- how long was the drive to the port from the airport and how much did it cost? My wife and I are flying in the day of the cruise. We will arrive in San Juan around 1:30 PM and were curious what kind of commute we will be looking at.

 

Thanks again!

 

- Tim

 

 

Thanks! The ride from the airport to the port was about 10 minutes. It is very close.

 

Have a fun time on your cruise.

[DonMar]

DP (Don of Donmar) read my post and noticed I put that we received an 11:45am disembarkation ticket. It was 10:45am. I guess I was just trying to prolong the experience as it is back to work tomorrow.:)

 

Margaret

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

Thank you for taking time to write a review for us. Much appreciated :)

 

Quick question...... when was the life boat drill?

 

Thank you,

 

Cheryl :)

[swom]

After reading your review (which I really loved) does anyone on here think it would be better to buy the Princess transfer to the airport on their bus?

I've always done this in the past and was wondering if it might be faster than waiting on a taxi?

Any thoughts?

[DonMar]

Thank you for taking time to write a review for us. Much appreciated :)

 

Quick question...... when was the life boat drill?

 

Thank you,

 

Cheryl :)

 

 

You are welcome. I enjoy learning from CC that I think it important to share what I know.

 

The Muster Drill was at 8pm on embarkation day.

 

After reading your review (which I really loved) does anyone on here think it would be better to buy the Princess transfer to the airport on their bus?

I've always done this in the past and was wondering if it might be faster than waiting on a taxi?

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks! I never thought that the taxi line would be so long. Last time we cruised from PR we had no problems, but it was a smaller ship.

 

Since our flight was so late in the day we could not really do the Princess transfers. If you are going right to the airport it may be worth it. Remember the taxi cost is $19 plus $1 per bag - at least that is what we paid for the two of us.

 

Margaret

[swom]

You are welcome. I enjoy learning from CC that I think it important to share what I know.

 

The Muster Drill was at 8pm on embarkation day.

 

 

 

Thanks! I never thought that the taxi line would be so long. Last time we cruised from PR we had no problems, but it was a smaller ship.

 

Since our flight was so late in the day we could not really do the Princess transfers. If you are going right to the airport it may be worth it. Remember the taxi cost is $19 plus $1 per bag - at least that is what we paid for the two of us.

 

Margaret

What time was your flight Margaret? Ours is at 2:45 and I might want to email my TA to get the Princess transfer to the ship.

Thanks so much!

[mea718]

Great review, thank you. One question- where did you pick up the bus to Red Hook and how often did it run? We are doing Trunk or Cinnamon Bay and would always love to save a few $$.

[Marmarjudy]

After reading your review (which I really loved) does anyone on here think it would be better to buy the Princess transfer to the airport on their bus?

I've always done this in the past and was wondering if it might be faster than waiting on a taxi?

Any thoughts?

 

If you immediately get a porter inside to take your luggage outside, the porters go to the front of the taxi line. Fair, maybe not, but that was what it was for us last Saturday in San Juan and we have found this to be the case at other ports. We could easily handle our luggage ourselves but prefer the simplicity.

 

We gave the porter $5, the taxi was $21 (2 bags) plus tip, and it was quick....much better in my opinion than waiting for a Princess bus to fill up. Price wise it would be a wash for 2 people, cheaper for more than 2, but really simple.

 

Judy

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

I think it all depends on the time you are disembarking. Just off a B2B and at the end of the 1st week we had to line up with all others ( airport and daytrips) and wait to get our taxi. This was around 10 am and the line was quite long. This past weekend when we disembarked around 9 am the Princess transfer line was longer than the taxi line but still went quite fast since you board more people on a greyhound bus. There were hardly any people in the taxi line.

One thing I did notice was that if you use a porter in the terminal they go right to the front of the line and get you a taxi or on the bus right away.

That might be the way to go.

 

After reading your review (which I really loved) does anyone on here think it would be better to buy the Princess transfer to the airport on their bus?

I've always done this in the past and was wondering if it might be faster than waiting on a taxi?

Any thoughts?

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you for the great review! We are doing the same itinerary in reverse May 3. I can't wait!:)

[DonMar]

What time was your flight Margaret? Ours is at 2:45 and I might want to email my TA to get the Princess transfer to the ship.

Thanks so much!

 

 

Our flight was at 5:45pm.

[DonMar]

Great review, thank you. One question- where did you pick up the bus to Red Hook and how often did it run? We are doing Trunk or Cinnamon Bay and would always love to save a few $$.

 

We docked at Crown Bay which is not the “downtown” pier. It is just to the west of downtown. So this is the way we got the bus (more like a truck with benches on the back).

Once you get off the ship, follow the pier and walkway past the port shops. Go through the gate and turn left toward the road. Once at the road, turn right and walk about 1 ½ city blocks to a Y. At the Y go to your left, up the hill to the main road. There will be a KFC at the top of the hill on your right and a small strip mall on your left.

Once on the main road, look to your left and you will see a bus stop shelter (made of cement). Stand directly across the street from this bus shelter and you will be able to pick up the bus going east here. Ask the driver if they are going to Red Hook. Jump on the bus – everyone says, “good morning” when they get on the bus – and enjoy the ride. There are door bell like buttons to push when you want to get off. The trip should cost $2 pp. You pay the driver when you get off.

To go back to Crown Bay – pick the bus up right where you got off and you will do the loop. Make sure to leave some extra time to get back to Crown Bay as afternoon traffic in town is tough.

[blkspy]

About Us – for context. We are a couple (37 and 55) from NJ (right outside NYC). We love to travel to explore culture, history, and unique settings. We do not participate in on board activities, shows or ship excursions. We keep our travel as simple and low key as possible (carry –on only, no formal nights). We have cruised on Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Costa – we cruise by itinerary. (Costa has been our favorite to date.)

 

Flight: We flew from Newark, NJ to San Juan on Sunday, Feb 8th . The flight went well. We arrived a 11:45am and we took a cab to the Pan American pier at about 12:05pm ($19 plus $1 per bag).

 

Embarkation: I was ready for the worst after reading other experiences. The embarkation process had begun and was very orderly. There was about a 10 minute wait then we were on board by 12:45. (After checking in, we stopped at the Duty Free shop and picked-up some wine and tequila.) WOW!!!

 

The Ship: We were welcomed by very kind and helpful staff. We went to our cabin, unpacked and headed out to explore the ship. The ship is large and has an understated elegance. DP was a shipyard superintendent and worked on cruise ships like the QEII and Queen Mary and he mentioned that there were some elements that reminded him of these two ships. We both thought that the layout of the ship was not great. The elevators seemed not to be synchronized very well. Hey – the stairs was good for us, we need the exercise.

The Piazza is a very nice atrium area. A great use of this space. The International Cafe has some yummy treats - no cabin charge. You do pay for the coffee here.

There were shipyard workers on board but were not very noticeable.

 

Our Cabin: We had an aft Caribe balcony. All I have to say is that we might just cruise Princess again just for the Caribe deck balcony. It was huge and ½ covered and ½ open. Our cabin was smaller from what we were used to on Carnival and Costa, but we did nto spend time in the cabin. It was clean and comfortable. We asked our room steward for an egg crate covering for the bed (no new mattresses during dry dock) and I slept very well. DP did not sleep as well due to a slight popping noise occurring within the outer bulkhead while at sea. I did not notice it at all. Our room steward, Renante, was wonderfully attentive and unobtrusive.

 

The Food: We do not cruise for the food, but do enjoy a good meal. All the meals we had in the Coral and Island Dining Rooms (Anytime Dining) were very good. The lamb was fantastic! We had the veal marsala which was very good – although I did not think it had an ounce of marsala wine in it and would not call it such. We loved the anytime dinning!

 

The seafood buffet was good on the first night. Plenty of snow crab legs and lobster claws to go around. If you like lobster claws – bring crackers! They are hard to crack open without.

 

Both formal nights, we ate in the Caribe Café (we do not do formal nights) and there was more seafood – snow crab legs and lobster claws. There were also many selections and all good.

 

The Horizon Court and Caribe Café were good for breakfast and snack after a day in port. We never had lunch on board ship. Iced tea (you need to have a lot of ice as the iced tea comes out warm), coffee, hot water and water are available at all times. You can also ask the staff for lemonade during meal times. They do not have it out and available. Orange juice is available during breakfast.

 

The pizza and pool side grill were good. The pizza was pretty good.

 

Itinerary/Ports: I would love more sea days. I knew going into this cruise that I would miss them, but this was the only cruise that fit our calendar and port interests for February. That being said, we had a wonderful time in each port.

 

St. Thomas: We have been to St. Thomas before so we took the local bus to Red Hook and the ferry to St. John’s. (The local bus is the deal of the century - $4.00pp round trip from Crown Bay to Red Hook vs. $30pp round trip.) We hiked in the National Park to a beautiful and secluded beach. From here you can snorkel, swim or just enjoy the beauty. Just beware – there are donkeys along the hiking trains. They are friendly as many people feed them and they come to you looking for a handout. You may also find them on the beach.

 

Dominica: One of my favorite ports. We booked a private guide through Beno Tours. Nigel our guide was just wonderful. I had asked, during booking that we go to places that not many people venture to. That we did. It was wonderful. We went to the Sulphur Hot Springs and hiked up the volcanic mountain and experiences sulphur field, the heat from the volcano, the hot springs – it only smelled in the sulpher field. We drove to Scott’s Head on the south of the island and hiked and explored the rough beach on the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean side. If you go to Dominica you need to get a guide as there is not much at the port. There is a warehouse with vendors. None of the vendors bothered you.

 

Grenada: We, again, arranged for a private guide through Insight Tours (Bentley Skeet). Our tour guide, Chris, was wonderful. He brought us around the island. We did go to an 18th century cocoa/nutmeg processing center where we were given an explanation of all the spices grown, harvested, and exported. Many crops are no longer farmed or exported. We also went to a current nutmeg processing plant. The nutmeg production was cut 70% due to a hurricane about 5 years ago. The processing workers give tours – a good way for them to maintain an income while the nutmeg trees mature and bear fruit again.

 

Bonaire: Our favorite port. We rented a Jeep here and went to Washington National Park on the north of the island. This was our favorite thing we did on the cruise. The park is just wonderful. I wish we had more time to explore it and hike some of the trails. If you go make sure you have a vehicle with high ground clearance as the roads or trails in the park are rough to say the least. Just outstanding.

 

Aruba: We, again, rented a Jeep and drove to the National park on the southern windward side of the island. We found navigating Aruba a bit tricky in the southern end as there are NO street signs. We are good navigators and always have out GPS with us. While traveling down a road that we believed would lead us to the park we cam across a sign stating: “Enter at your own risk. Live ammunition training grounds.” OK – so what to do. We are adventuresome so we went in. This was the entrance to the park – from what we could see. The park is to the left and the training grounds to the right. There are few signs – unlike Bonaire’s Washington Park. Some of the sights are spectacular. The roads were not great, but not as rough as Washington Park. After exploring this area, we went to Baby Beach and had a nice afternoon there.

 

We docked at each port.

 

Sea Day: Love sea days. We had a wonderfully relaxing sea day. DP had arranged for the Ultimate Balcony Dining experience for this evening. What a special treat. It was a perfect night – warm, gentle breeze and a beautiful sunset. This was a huge meal and provided by very attentive wait staff.

 

Disembarkation: We travel carry on only so we did not need to put our luggage out the evening before, but we did need to vacate the cabin by 8:00am. We were given a 11:45pm ticket, but spoke to the pursers desk to see if we could self-disembark. They gave us a number of tickets for different times so we could pick when to leave. Our flight was not until 5:45pm and it was a beautiful day so we stayed until after 11am – at the Terrace Pool.

 

They made an announcement that Customs and Immigration was going so well that people with non Princess transportation etc. could leave at any time. So we decided to leave thinking there was no line or wait. WRONG. The lines for Customs and Immigration were very, very long. OK – got through that. Now we need a taxi to Old San Juan. The taxi line was just as long and a bit unorganized at the front end. If we had known we would have left at 8am or stayed until the bitter end.

 

Overall: The cruise was wonderful.

 

Donald took many photos of the ship and will be posting them at some point.

 

Thank you for reading this very long review. If you have questions, I would be happy to answer them.

 

Margaret

i don't mean any harm---but i'm LOST.....you don't partake in any thing that goes on on the ship---shows, formal nights, etc. you travel with carry-on--which means other than personal items--you only have t-shirts, shorts and the like. i take it you are vet. cruisers......and have been just about every where. WHY NOT PARTAKE WITH YOUR FELLOW CRUISERS? why not engage in the things fellow cruisers do? i understand--you can do as you please-------we've just found engaging in the onboard life is half the fun of cruising.......we wish you well and happy travels.

[irish rabbit]

Thanks for the great review, sailing on the CP May 10th, can't wait!

[DonMar]

i don't mean any harm---but i'm LOST.....you don't partake in any thing that goes on on the ship---shows, formal nights, etc. you travel with carry-on--which means other than personal items--you only have t-shirts, shorts and the like. i take it you are vet. cruisers......and have been just about every where. WHY NOT PARTAKE WITH YOUR FELLOW CRUISERS? why not engage in the things fellow cruisers do? i understand--you can do as you please-------we've just found engaging in the onboard life is half the fun of cruising.......we wish you well and happy travels.

 

 

No harm, no foul. We just are not those type of cruisers or travelers. We respect everyone's choices to do what they like - and we never go to the dining room on formal nights out of respect for other travelers.

 

That is what is so wonderful about cruising, we can all choose to participate in the experience as we wish. :)