Princess - which ship ports at trinidad?

[AnnVH]

Hi All

 

We are considering a Princess Cruise.

 

We have cruised already with Royal Caribbean, but are wanting to visit Trinidad. I am aware that Princess visits Trinidad but do not know which ship it is that ports there. Would someone please let me know. We have two girls aged 13 and 15 that will be cruising with us. Does Princess have good programs for the kids... all info would be greatly appreciated. Any other opinions of any of the ships or ports (good or bad) would be greatly appreciated. We are new cruisers to Princess.

 

Thank you!

[jotabecu]

Hi All

 

We are considering a Princess Cruise.

 

We have cruised already with Royal Caribbean, but are wanting to visit Trinidad. I am aware that Princess visits Trinidad but do not know which ship it is that ports there. Would someone please let me know. We have two girls aged 13 and 15 that will be cruising with us. Does Princess have good programs for the kids... all info would be greatly appreciated. Any other opinions of any of the ships or ports (good or bad) would be greatly appreciated. We are new cruisers to Princess.

 

Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

See attached, hope it helps

 

Enjoy!!!

 

 

 

http://www.*****.com/ticker.cfm

[wwinfl91]

I'm not sure when you are planning on cruising but it looks like the only Princess ship that calls on Trinidad is the Sea Princess when it is doing its Southern Caribbean 14 day cruises that leave and come back to Barbados. It looks like it would be a great cruise if you don't mind the flight and length of the cruise. Also it doesn't start doing these cruises again until Nov.

 

Just an additional note. It looks like Princess is the only "mainline" cruise line that is still going there which seems strange as we visited there on a HAL cruise a few years ago.

 

Good luck.

 

Have a great next cruise.

Edited July 1, 2010 by wwinfl91

[Toto2Kansas]

Try the Grand Princess 14 day Caribbean sailing out of Fort Lauderdale. Unless they have changed the itineary it used to stop in Trinidad.

 

Edited, I just checked and it doesn't seem to stop there anymore. Actually it was our very least favorite port in the entire world, so that is a good thing in my opinion. It is one reason we have not booked this 14 day Caribbean sailing again, but now I might have to look into it again. ;)

Edited July 1, 2010 by Toto2Kansas

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes the Grand on its 14 dayer.

[cruz chic]

I was on the Grand in 2009 (I think:o) and we were supposed to go to Trinadad. That port got replaced by another one while we were on the cruise. I think there was some unrest there.

[Essiesmom]

Try this site to see who goes there...which isn't much! EM

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/cruisesvisitingtrinidadtrinidadandtobago.html

[1 HappyCruiser]

We stopped at Trinidad early this year & we'd rate it lower than Jamaica if that's at all possible. :eek: You've not missing much except a mugging if you go off on your own.

[doubledtbay]

We were on the 14 day Southern Caribbean cruise on the Grand for the Mar 26th sailing. Having never been in Trinidad before, we were made aware of some cautions going ashore on our own in Port of Spain. Hearing this, we hired a cab out of the terminal (Anthony) who was probably the most professional, courteous and knowledgeable driver we had ever experienced in the islands. Trinidad ended up being one of our favourite ports. The stunning vistas of lush south pacific style beaches were something we had not anticipated, but thoroughly enjoyed. Some islands can be experienced by walking and exploring on your own, but others are best to hire a local to show you the true flavour of the island experience.

 

Had we avoided going ashore because of security concerns, we would have missed this treasure that only a local driver could share with us. Anthony was so generous, he gave us TT$ to purchase lunch from a fish shack, long before we paid the fare. We will certainly look him up if we return to Trinidad!

[piper28]

We stopped at Trinidad early this year & we'd rate it lower than Jamaica if that's at all possible. :eek: You've not missing much except a mugging if you go off on your own.

 

Wow, I definitely wouldn't rate it that low. I've been to Ocho Rios and Port-of-Spain, and while I don't know that I'd be in any real hurry to return to either, quite frankly I felt a lot less safe in Ocho Rios than I did Port-of-Spain.

 

Maracas Bay had a really nice beach, although I don't know that it was a great swimming beach, at least the day we were there. Violent surf that day. Talked to a local on the beach that day, and he was a real nice guy, who genuinely seemed to be interested in whether I was enjoying my stay. Unlike Ocho where it seemed like everyone on the street just wanted to sell you drugs, braid your hair, or get a handout.

 

Princess sometimes stops on the Amazon River cruises, although I think for one of the next two years at least they've switched it to Tobago instead.

[wwinfl91]

We were in Trinidad several years ago and took a ship's tour of the island. There seemed to be some nice beaches and nice areas of town including the governor's (I think that was the title) palace and its botonical gardens. We also went to an overlook of the city.

 

The guide who was of Indian (not American version) said there was a lot of stresses between the east Indian population and the black population but he didn't mention any violence.

 

I would in no way compare it to our one stop in Jamaica. Now that was a place we decided we never wanted to visit again. We went to Dunn's River Falls again on a ship's bus tour. The Falls were fine although you really had to be much younger than us to try climbing back up them in the water. Anyway at the top of the Falls there was a maze of small "stores" you had to go through to get back to the bus and the people there did not understand the king's english word "NO". They grabbed ahold of you and pulled on you to drag you over to look at what they were selling. At times one would grab each arm and pull in a different direction. I was sure someone else was going to sneak in and take my wallet while I was fighting off their attentions. We finally broke free of that area only to be surrounded by beggers and kids all wanting change before we finally made it to the bus.

 

Then they took us to a shopping area that had armed guards with automatic weapons at the gate and on the walls. We looked around there because it was too hot to stay on the bus and were very very happy when the bus loaded up and took us back to our ship.

 

I feel sorry for the people of Jamaica and their proverty but it is not somewhere I would want to visit again. I don't feel that way about Trinidad.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[1 HappyCruiser]

Wow, I definitely wouldn't rate it that low. I've been to Ocho Rios and Port-of-Spain, and while I don't know that I'd be in any real hurry to return to either, quite frankly I felt a lot less safe in Ocho Rios than I did Port-of-Spain.

 

Maracas Bay had a really nice beach, although I don't know that it was a great swimming beach, at least the day we were there. Violent surf that day. Talked to a local on the beach that day, and he was a real nice guy, who genuinely seemed to be interested in whether I was enjoying my stay. Unlike Ocho where it seemed like everyone on the street just wanted to sell you drugs, braid your hair, or get a handout.

 

Princess sometimes stops on the Amazon River cruises, although I think for one of the next two years at least they've switched it to Tobago instead.

 

I suppose we've got a different opinion of Trinidad because we didn't take a tour & just walked downtown on our own. I was approached for drugs one time but that wasn't the biggest problem. We walked to the Cathedral and were then headed to another church and I was checking the map for the shortest route when one of the guards began to tell us that the district (about 10 blocks) was noted as the highest crime rate area in the city.

We also found the place to be filthy with absolutely nothing of interest to shop for. Princess doesn't have one recommended store on the list. (not that I shop their recommendations). The only thing that wasn't present were the people trying to sell stuff like in Jamaica although there were panhandlers.

The only things we found to buy were located right next to the ship in a few small tents. People who took tours got a completely different view of the island from what I heard but if I even have to return, we'll definitely not get off the ship.

[lyndaler]

We're headed for Trinidad in February on Crown Princess.

 

Is there any way to contact Anthony in advance?

[1025cruise]

FYI, this is a 3 year old thread. You might be best posting this on the port of call thread.

[skynight]

No Princess ship doing the regular 7 to 14 cruises R.T. from the US stops at Trinidad. There are a few itineraries going down to South America that stop at Trinidad or Tobago, but I'm thinking you are not referencing these type of voyages. FYI, We were in Port of Spain, Trinidad. It's a city with lots & lots of traffic.

[RickEk]

No Princess ship doing the regular 7 to 14 cruises R.T. from the US stops at Trinidad. There are a few itineraries going down to South America that stop at Trinidad or Tobago, but I'm thinking you are not referencing these type of voyages. FYI, We were in Port of Spain, Trinidad. It's a city with lots & lots of traffic.

 

It sounds like the new OP is on one of the "Grand Adventure" cruises on the Crown that is travelling from FLL around the Horn to LA.

[melody hounddog]

I spent several months on my own boat in Trinidad. Port of Spain is not safe and there is nothing to see. I would in a heartbeat take Princess's shore excursion to Maracas Beach. It is amazing. Treat yourself to the Shark and Bake. It is wonderful.

[OCruisers]

It sounds like the new OP is on one of the "Grand Adventure" cruises on the Crown that is travelling from FLL around the Horn to LA.

 

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Must be the case. Crown Princess has a 19 night from FLL to Buenos Aires ... then will continue on around South America to LA.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[OCruisers]

I spent several months on my own boat in Trinidad. Port of Spain is not safe and there is nothing to see. I would in a heartbeat take Princess's shore excursion to Maracas Beach. It is amazing. Treat yourself to the Shark and Bake. It is wonderful.

 

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Back when Princess included Trinidad for regular Southern Caribbean sailings, we took the Princess excursion to Maracas Beach twice. The ride there and back is great -- lovely views.

Another time we went to the rain forest. We normally don't like rain forest but this one was outstanding. It's a beautiful island.

 

Once, the driver took us through Port of Spain on the way back to the ship. That place is scary. :eek:

 

LuLu

~~~

[skynight]

It sounds like the new OP is on one of the "Grand Adventure" cruises on the Crown that is traveling from FLL around the Horn to LA.

 

Not on the Crown's 49 day voyage to S.A. and the Pacific. We did stop in Port of Spain on one of our 14 day single voyages (not b2b'ers) which I think was back in 2010.

[Mapu]

The Pacific Princess will be stopping in Tobago on its way to and rom the Amazon in the next few weeks.