Just Back Caribbean Princess 1/23/11 - Review

[B_K]

Caribbean Princess 1/23/2011

 

 

· EMBARKATION – had Princess transfers – met them at airport at about 1:45 PM and was in cabin by 2:45. Took 7 hours to get luggage, which was on different vehicle than one bringing us to ship (details in another thread re transfers in San Juan).

 

· CABIN – mini suite on Emerald, E-729. Prime real estate with covered balcony. Room steward Edward was very efficient and conscientious. Used egg crate mattress pad on queen configuration – worked quite well. Can’t beat the full sized tub/shower! One heads up with cabin this far aft – lot of walking to get to dining rooms, gangway, theater, etc. Was an issue due to some physical limitations.

 

· DINING – Anytime Dining – ate dinner 5 times in Island, once Crown Grill, once Sabatini’s. DR was adequate – never anything spectacular, but never anything bad either – overall grade B/B-. Great waiter Rolando, whom we requested after first night. (Note, we did the specialty dining on formal nights, so missed the better menus in DR). Highlight of the trip was easily the anniversary dinner we had in Crown Grill. Waitress was Carmelia and she made it a wonderful experience. With cover, wine and extra tip it ran over $100, but was well worth it. Sabatini’s was a good experience, but with one misstep. All of their hot appetizers (except for pizza) were served cold, especially the pasta. Chilean sea bass entrée was outstanding! Breakfast was mix of DR & buffet, lunch was buffet. We sailed CB 6 years ago and felt that the lunch buffet was not as good this trip. Grade of C at best.

 

· PORTS – had been to most of them previously, so only tour we did was a scheduled 3 hour bus excursion in Tortola. Beautiful island, but tour lasted too long (4 hours) and had wasted stops. Did get off ship in every port to check out pier shops. As others have noted, be wary of hustlers in Antigua. See my other thread about duty free liquor.

 

· ENTERTAINMENT – got shut out of Princess theater because of meal timing. Saw a couple comedians in Explorers Lounge, decent.

 

· DISEMBARKATION – smooth – had afternoon flight. Princess transfers work better in this direction as luggage goes on same bus (though others have noted cheaper with own taxi). Because wife was using cane, we got to bypass lines at Customs and at airport check in. Off ship at 9:15, at gate about 10:15. One note – limited and expensive food options at SJU airport.

 

· MISCELLANEOUS – service overall was at Princess usual high standard. Crowding was not really a factor except on our one sea day. Did not go to Casino (I usually do…). Cigar smoke on balcony was an issue a couple of times in port – actually think it was from above on Dolphin deck. Was subjected to the usual sales pitches at every turn, but this is nothing new or unique to Princess. Weather was quite good with nothing worse than typical Caribbean showers that last 10 min. Very few kids on this sailing. I did bring liquor on board in luggage with no problem. Was a bit surprised at what some folks wore in DR – one instance guy wore shorts and t-shirt (as in undershirt) that had obviously been slept in. Saw him on two different occasions in exact same clothes!

 

· Overall enjoyable week.

 

PS – it’s snowing for the third straight day here in Boston area…AAARGH!