Just off CB-Southern Caribbean itinerary, Questions?

[khm1]

We just got off CB yesterday. DH and I sailed the Southern Caribbean itinerary: San Juan, St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire, Aruba. If anyone has questions, fire away. I will post a review later.:)

[DrivesLikeMario]

You may be sorry you offered! :D

 

1. Did they offer EZ Check for your bags at the end of the cruise?

2. What time did you get off the ship and in what group were you?

3. Did you make it to all your ports as scheduled?

4. What nights were formal?

5. When was muster?

 

Thanks so much for the help! ;)

[Pixelator]

Thanks for your post - will look for your review!!

 

Were there any long immigration lines for any of the ports or was everything checked right at debarkation/embarkation?

 

Was there a seafood buffet? Not sure if Princess has done away with this delight completely now...

 

What were your impressions of the new features on the CB = Vines, Sanctuary, Crown Grill, International Cafe, etc?

 

Thanks! Looking forward to your review and to hear about your port activities and any advice for the ports!

[DrivesLikeMario]

OP are you out there? Busy doing laundry? :o

[khm1]

You may be sorry you offered! :D

 

1. Did they offer EZ Check for your bags at the end of the cruise?

Yup, did this and it worked great! You need to sign up by Tuesday at noon if you want to use this service. I took a photo of the form. I will try to post it tonight.

2. What time did you get off the ship and in what group were you?

The first group was off at 7:50. We were in group BBBB and got off promptly at 8:25 as planned. I saved the paper with the debarkation groups too, I will try to post it tomorrow. My scanner is here at work and the paper is at home.

3. Did you make it to all your ports as scheduled?

Yes, what a great itineray! We especialy enjoyed Grenada, Dominica, and Bonaire

4. What nights were formal?

Monday and Friday (St. Thomas and Aruba)

5. When was muster?

8 pm

 

Thanks so much for the help! ;)

Hope this helps!

[westcruzer]

OP are you out there? Busy doing laundry? :o

 

Yes please come back...I'm going on this cruise in a couple weeks and all these questions being asked are great!! Can't wait for your responses.

[khm1]

Thanks for your post - will look for your review!!

 

Were there any long immigration lines for any of the ports or was everything checked right at debarkation/embarkation?

No immigration lines at port but a LONG wait at embarkation.

 

Was there a seafood buffet? Not sure if Princess has done away with this delight completely now...

No seafood buffet, but we did not starve. I gained 5 lbs!:eek:

 

What were your impressions of the new features on the CB = Vines, Sanctuary, Crown Grill, International Cafe, etc?

Did not use the Sanctuary or Vines. Crown Grill was fantastic! It took 2 hrs and 45 minutes to eat all that food! Used International cafe a lot, hence the 5 lbs!

Thanks! Looking forward to your review and to hear about your port activities and any advice for the ports!

 

I will try to get to my review tonight. I am kind of slammed at work and at home. It stinks to come home!

[Laughing Gull]

Welcome back! We want to know everything about the ship and the ports :)

What activities did you do in Grenada and Bonaire?

Was SJU airport a zoo or relatively easy?

[khm1]

OP are you out there? Busy doing laundry? :o

Sorry, I am trying to work and relive my cruise at the same time! I promise toi post when I can and will check back often. I went to dinner with 24 Cruise Critic roll call members at the Crown Grill on our cruise! If any of you are out there, feel free to chime in!

[robgvic]

looking forward to your review as we are on in three weeks

[Elizabeth K.]

Did you go to Vines and do you recall who the staff were there? Thanks, we're on this cruise this winter:D

[Worn out mailman]

Have you stopped swaying yet? :)

 

I look forward to your review also. My lady and I will be sailing CB on this itinerary in March. If you think of it, comment on the shape of the ship....Every ship I've sailed on had been in drydock recently, I don't know how long it's been for CB. I and especially my girlfriend are wondering about wear and tear issues.

 

Thanks, and sorry about your Post Cruise Depression.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Sorry, I am trying to work and relive my cruise at the same time! I promise toi post when I can and will check back often. I went to dinner with 24 Cruise Critic roll call members at the Crown Grill on our cruise! If any of you are out there, feel free to chime in!

 

Thank you so much for your responses and sorry to be impatient. It's a virtue I don't possess. :cool:

 

Can you tell me how EZ Check worked in SJU? Did you get your boarding pass the night before? Then set your luggage out in the hall the night before also? Did you have to pick up your luggage and take it through customs at the port when you were disembarking? I'm just trying to figure out if it's really going to save us some time or not. Thanks again! :)

[WaggesAZ]

What did you do on St Thomas and Dominica? I want to shop & beach in St Thomas, DH would rather be struck with H1N1 than shop! LOL Dominica sounds beautiful, but definitely seems as though you need a tour. Any suggestions/opinions would be greatly apppreciated. We don't leave until March, so relax, recover from your vacation and reply when you lose your sea legs!! :D thank you in advance!!

[khm1]

Welcome back! We want to know everything about the ship and the ports :)

What activities did you do in Grenada and Bonaire?

Was SJU airport a zoo or relatively easy?

The ship seems to be in great shape. I really don't understand why people complain about "wear and tear." I certainly did not notice any problems in that regard.

 

The airport was very busy as we arrived at SJU on embarkation day. However we were off the plane and to the pier in less than an hour. On the way home, we were off the ship at 8:25 and at the airport at 8:50. We used EZ check so no standing in line at the airline or agriculture. We waited for maybe 20 minutes to get through security. We were at our gate at 9:15. It started to get more crowded by the late morning and was a zoo by the time we left at 1PM.

 

I will write about ports (wonderful) and embarkation (a nightmare) tomorrow. I have run out of gas. I am off to bed.

[khm1]

Thank you so much for your responses and sorry to be impatient. It's a virtue I don't possess. :cool:

 

Can you tell me how EZ Check worked in SJU? Did you get your boarding pass the night before? Then set your luggage out in the hall the night before also? Did you have to pick up your luggage and take it through customs at the port when you were disembarking? I'm just trying to figure out if it's really going to save us some time or not. Thanks again! :)

You will save time. You do not have to wait in line at the airport to check your bags or wait for the agricultural inspection. One time I waited over one hour to check my bags at SJU.

 

You get your boarding passes and luggage tags the night before debarkation. You set your bags outside your door by 11 PM. You debark the ship and collect your bags in a clearly marked area with your debakation group posted in that area. You go through customs with your bags, then immediately give them to the EZ check people just past customs. It was very fast and effortless. I would definately do it again. It was well worth the money to me.

 

You need to sign up for EZ check by Tuesday at noon. You need to take your passports and printed flight information and EZ check form to the passenger services desk and give them all of this to sign up for the service. They charge your shipboard account for the $20 fee and any baggage fees that the airline charges.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Okay, so the only time it saves is waiting at the airport to do a bag check and then for the agriculture check, which I've heard you don't have to go through if you were on a cruise ship.

 

Thanks once again for the terrific, clear & exact information!! I appreciate it! Now, get your tired soul off to sleep! ;)

[sunlovermtl]

What did you do on St Thomas and Dominica? I want to shop & beach in St Thomas, DH would rather be struck with H1N1 than shop! LOL Dominica sounds beautiful, but definitely seems as though you need a tour. Any suggestions/opinions would be greatly apppreciated. We don't leave until March, so relax, recover from your vacation and reply when you lose your sea legs!! :D thank you in advance!!

 

Hello the best beach to go to in St-Thomas is Coki beach. It is right beside Coral world which is a marine/eco tour place. Therefore on the right of the beach the snorkeling is great. They have a few restaurants and loads of people to serve drinks while you lie in the sun. Also they have a few shops. The main shopping in St-Thomas is right at you walk of the ship so after the beach the hubby can go nap and you can shop.

In Dominica we and 4 others took a van up the mountain to the Emerald pool then had lunch at one of the little roadside cafe's. Dominica is the most beautiful clean place we have been to in the Caribbean. They pride themselves on it. The vans are right as you get off the ship. They run $20-$25 per person for 6 to 8 people.

 

take care

Claudette

[B_Stephens]

The ship seems to be in great shape. I really don't understand why people complain about "wear and tear." I certainly did not notice any problems in that regard.

 

The airport was very busy as we arrived at SJU on embarkation day. However we were off the plane and to the pier in less than an hour. On the way home, we were off the ship at 8:25 and at the airport at 8:50. We used EZ check so no standing in line at the airline or agriculture. We waited for maybe 20 minutes to get through security. We were at our gate at 9:15. It started to get more crowded by the late morning and was a zoo by the time we left at 1PM.

 

I will write about ports (wonderful) and embarkation (a nightmare) tomorrow. I have run out of gas. I am off to bed.

 

Thank you for your posts. Agree also on your "wear and tear" comments. CB is in excellent shape...top notch all the way. We were so impressed with how they have kept up maintenance on this ship...it really was impeccable.

 

We disembarked from SJU yesterday, and as newbies, did not fully appreciate what EZ Check could have saved us. The deadline for EZ check was Tuesday, and it was Friday before I realized it was something we should have done.

 

"Silent Disembarkation" was so smooth and effortless. Princess really has this part down quite good. We were off the ship ahead of schedule and to the airport within 10 minutes. We had more than 2 hours before our flight once we arrived at the airport. The shock came once we came through the doors and were told we needed to do the Agricultural check first. After that, a very long line for checking bags (at least one hour). Then another long line through security. We made our flight just fine, but there really was no room to spare as once we arrived at our gate, they were boarding the plane.

 

Next time, we will definitely take advantage of Princess' EZ Check. Having already checked in online in advance, we could have gone right through security after arriving at SJU, and then had a much more leisurely time waiting for our flight.

[kevinandrenay]

Thanks to everyone for their recommendations and comments. We will be on the CB for the first time in January. Can't wait to go. We look forward to hearing more about the ship and excursions.

 

Thanks,

Kevin

[JerseyGuys]

Have you stopped swaying yet? :)

 

I look forward to your review also. My lady and I will be sailing CB on this itinerary in March. If you think of it, comment on the shape of the ship....Every ship I've sailed on had been in drydock recently, I don't know how long it's been for CB. I and especially my girlfriend are wondering about wear and tear issues.

 

Thanks, and sorry about your Post Cruise Depression.

 

We just came off the Reposition cruise November 1. The CB was in drydock within the past year, those changes involved a lot of mechanical work, as well as relocation of the casino, taking out Sterlings, putting in the Crown Grill, Vines etc. The ship I think is in very good shape, it is showing some again, but the rooms and public areas look great. We had a terrific cruise.

[bremmerh]

Still looking for a coupon book if anyone has one I would greatly appreciate it my email address is icanhandle@aol.com thanks

[DrivesLikeMario]

We disembarked from SJU yesterday, and as newbies, did not fully appreciate what EZ Check could have saved us. The deadline for EZ check was Tuesday, and it was Friday before I realized it was something we should have done.

 

"Silent Disembarkation" was so smooth and effortless. Princess really has this part down quite good. We were off the ship ahead of schedule and to the airport within 10 minutes. We had more than 2 hours before our flight once we arrived at the airport. The shock came once we came through the doors and were told we needed to do the Agricultural check first. After that, a very long line for checking bags (at least one hour). Then another long line through security. We made our flight just fine, but there really was no room to spare as once we arrived at our gate, they were boarding the plane.

 

Next time, we will definitely take advantage of Princess' EZ Check. Having already checked in online in advance, we could have gone right through security after arriving at SJU, and then had a much more leisurely time waiting for our flight.

 

Thanks for that information. Maybe it would be less stressful to do the EZ Check then. With baggage fees being so high with the airlines, I just hated to have to pay even more for our bags to travel, but it may be worth it.

 

I'm surprised you had to go through the agriculture check. I was told that if you're coming off a cruise ship and inform the airport personnel, you don't have to go through it again.

[khm1]

Thank you for your posts. Agree also on your "wear and tear" comments. CB is in excellent shape...top notch all the way. We were so impressed with how they have kept up maintenance on this ship...it really was impeccable.

 

We disembarked from SJU yesterday, and as newbies, did not fully appreciate what EZ Check could have saved us. The deadline for EZ check was Tuesday, and it was Friday before I realized it was something we should have done.

 

"Silent Disembarkation" was so smooth and effortless. Princess really has this part down quite good. We were off the ship ahead of schedule and to the airport within 10 minutes. We had more than 2 hours before our flight once we arrived at the airport. The shock came once we came through the doors and were told we needed to do the Agricultural check first. After that, a very long line for checking bags (at least one hour). Then another long line through security. We made our flight just fine, but there really was no room to spare as once we arrived at our gate, they were boarding the plane.

 

Next time, we will definitely take advantage of Princess' EZ Check. Having already checked in online in advance, we could have gone right through security after arriving at SJU, and then had a much more leisurely time waiting for our flight.

This has happened to us before, which is why we used EZ check this time. For the money, it really is worth it. As far as not needing to go through agriculture check, I hear a lot of conflicting information. I would be ready to go through this line if you don't use EZ check. When we got our bags at our final destination, they had the sticker from agriculture on them. Therefore, I think that you probably DO need to wait in that line too. It can be very difficult to make any flight before 3PM if you have to wait in all of these lines. It really can be such a HUGE hassle!

OP

[khm1]

Did you go to Vines and do you recall who the staff were there? Thanks, we're on this cruise this winter:D

Sorry, did not use Vines. Looked great though. It is right next to the International Cafe.