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

DonMar

By DonMar,
in Princess Cruises

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ocntscha

ocntscha

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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.

Hello DonMar,

Thank you for passing along this information. We are taking a Princess cruise that stop at St. Thomas in April and thanks to these forums I've also been wanting to take the $2 bus to the ferry to St. John. I had already seen that other thread you referenced that gives instructions starting from the Havensight pier but realizing that since we're on a Princess ship there's a good chance I'll be starting from Crown bay I started Googling for how to do it starting from Crown bay and found this thread.

Between your instructions, another thread I found, and some information I found on Google earth, I'm pretty confident I'm ready to do it from wherever we start at. I have 2 quick requests of you though Don. Firstly, do you know how often these $2 safari buses come by? Is it like every hour, every 15 minutes, or if you don't know just how long did you have to wait?

Secondly, I stumbled across the following in Google Earth, it seems as though somebody else kind of marked out the same journey you are describing back in April. Could you please take a quick glance at it and verify its accuracy, in other words does he have the blue push pins in the exact right spots for KFC and the where to get the $2 safari bus? If you just click on a blue push pin a description of it will appear.

 

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=113042454898164722821.000001120683156467b98&ll=18.335533,-64.95277&spn=0.004787,0.007939&t=h&z=17

 

I've got to get this figured out precisely ahead of time, some of the family members I'll be travelling with and plan on taking with me on this little trek to St. John are really "worry warts" and if I'm guiding them around the least bit uncertain of what I'm doing its going to be very rough.

 

Hey I just thought of one more question if you don't mind, when we where in St. Thomas last year on a Princess cruise we all had to line up and go through US Customs aboard the ship that morning in St. Thomas before we could get off. I've heard that has changed and now St. Thomas is just like any other stop you might make in the Carribean, was that your experience?

 

Thank you very much,

Tom Schaefer

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DonMar

DonMar

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Since we only drink beer we won't be going to the store at the terminal. I read on some other posts that we can have the cab driver bring us to a Publix before we board. Have you ever done this?? I also want to make sure I can get my Diet Pepsi!!

 

Thank you for your help with my questions!

 

 

I have not done this in PR, but in other ports. I do not see a problem with it. Just tell the taxi dispatcher (at the airport) of your plans. This may help in translation as well as setting the fare.

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DonMar

DonMar

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I enjoyed reading your excellent detailed review. :)

 

I was wondering if you have any more photos to view? Enjoyed the terrace pool picture.

 

Thanks for sharing:D

 

You are welcome. Yes, we have many more photos. DP loves taking photos. I think we have about 1,500 photos from this trip.

 

If you are interested in the day to day activities take a look http://travel.webshots.com/album/570161799vgLflB

 

Donald just uploaded some photos of the ship.....

CB-Feb09-Wheelhouse_Bar.JPG

 

Wheelhouse Lounge/Bar

 

CB-Feb09-Vines.JPG

 

Vines

 

CB-Feb09-Sanctuary.JPG

 

The Sanctuary and Spa Pool (looking forward)

 

CB-Feb09-Sabatinis-Inside.JPG

 

Sabatini's

 

 

OK - so here are a few photos. (I can only post a few at a time.) Enjoy!

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DonMar

DonMar

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Hello DonMar,

Firstly, do you know how often these $2 safari buses come by? Is it like every hour, every 15 minutes, or if you don't know just how long did you have to wait?

Secondly, I stumbled across the following in Google Earth, it seems as though somebody else kind of marked out the same journey you are describing back in April. Could you please take a quick glance at it and verify its accuracy, in other words does he have the blue push pins in the exact right spots for KFC and the where to get the $2 safari bus? If you just click on a blue push pin a description of it will appear.

 

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=113042454898164722821.000001120683156467b98&ll=18.335533,-64.95277&spn=0.004787,0.007939&t=h&z=17

 

Hey I just thought of one more question if you don't mind, when we where in St. Thomas last year on a Princess cruise we all had to line up and go through US Customs aboard the ship that morning in St. Thomas before we could get off. I've heard that has changed and now St. Thomas is just like any other stop you might make in the Carribean, was that your experience?

 

Thank you very much,

Tom Schaefer

 

 

The Safari buses come by quite often. There is no set schedule so it is hard to tell. There are many of these buses so you should not wait very long. We waited about 5 minutes going to Red Hook and there was a bus at the stop when we got off the ferry on the way back to Crown Bay.

 

As for the Google Earth map.... The bus stop is correct. The KFC is not. The KFC is on the right side of the road - directly across the street to the right of where the blue marker currently is for KFC. Additionally, the blue path is off. There is no walkway - that I know - of through that area. Stick to the road to the right of the blue line.

 

We did not have to go through any customs/immigration lines at St. Thomas. This might be because we went from PR directly to St. Thomas. I do not know what happens if you are in a foreign port prior to going to St. Thomas.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Margaret

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monakayk

monakayk

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Great review---thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

 

:confused: Could you explain how you were able to leave so late from the ship on the last day. We always seem to have a late flight and would like to stay on board the ships as long as possible, but thought we HAD to leave our cabin and the ship pretty early.

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DonMar

DonMar

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Great review---thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

 

:confused: Could you explain how you were able to leave so late from the ship on the last day. We always seem to have a late flight and would like to stay on board the ships as long as possible, but thought we HAD to leave our cabin and the ship pretty early.

 

In my review, I made an error about the time we were to leave. I was off by 1 hour. We were scheduled to leave at 10:40am. We left a bit before that - because they made an announcement that the Customs/Immigration line was going better than expected.

 

That being said, The last group scheduled to leave the ship was at 11:15am.

 

We did need to vacate our cabin by 8:00am. We left and had breakfast, then relaxed by the Terrace Pool until we left.

 

We asked the Purser's Desk if we could self-disembark. While we could not do this, they were willing to give us any "time tags" because we travel carry-on only and did not have to deal with the luggage in the warehouse area.

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ocntscha

ocntscha

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The Safari buses come by quite often. There is no set schedule so it is hard to tell. There are many of these buses so you should not wait very long. We waited about 5 minutes going to Red Hook and there was a bus at the stop when we got off the ferry on the way back to Crown Bay.

 

As for the Google Earth map.... The bus stop is correct. The KFC is not. The KFC is on the right side of the road - directly across the street to the right of where the blue marker currently is for KFC. Additionally, the blue path is off. There is no walkway - that I know - of through that area. Stick to the road to the right of the blue line.

 

We did not have to go through any customs/immigration lines at St. Thomas. This might be because we went from PR directly to St. Thomas. I do not know what happens if you are in a foreign port prior to going to St. Thomas.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Margaret

Yes, that helps a great deal, I'm confident I can follow in your footsteps now without issue.

 

I think you're probably right about not having to do customs in St. Thomas because you where coming from Puerto Rico. When we had to go through customs in St. Thomas last year our previous stop was Tortola. That must be the difference, just depends if your last stop was U.S. or not.

 

Thanks again,

Tom Schaefer

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travellover39

travellover39

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I enjoyed your pics and got a chuckle out of the one labeled" Aruba Limo":D

 

You husband got some wonderful culture type photos which I very much enjoyed. The cactus fence was unique. Never realized how big banana leaves/trees were.

 

Bonaire water looks so good. I can't wait to stop there.

 

I have been to St John many times and can't wait to get back there. The donkeys are fun to photograph. I think they are vain. My favorite island.

 

Looks like you got the most out of your cruise and had a very good time.:)

 

Thank you for sharing your pics and trip with us.:D

 

 

 

You are welcome. Yes, we have many more photos. DP loves taking photos. I think we have about 1,500 photos from this trip.

 

If you are interested in the day to day activities take a look http://travel.webshots.com/album/570161799vgLflB

 

 

OK - so here are a few photos. (I can only post a few at a time.) Enjoy!

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