One Man's Review of the Caribbean Princess

[caribill]

:D What language was it?

 

Russian

[lovelearnteach]

I had to go get ready because I wanted to go to the shopping show before our M&M. Which meant I needed to take everything I needed for the the M&M with me as I would have to rush to Skywalkers Nightclub right after the Shopping Show. I didn't win anything, but the lady sitting right next to me won the diamond bracelet, it was very pretty and she was thrilled beyond belief. I rushed to SN for our CC M&M, we had 50 people signed up to attend and a gift exchange for those interested. We had about 22 show up with about 12 participating in the gift exchange. Out of 17 senior crew invited only one showed up, Captain William Kent. At least we got the big one, he was very nice and answered questions and chatted with us for a good half hour.

Edited November 24, 2012 by lovelearnteach

[lovelearnteach]

After our M&M I rushed over to Crown Grill for the English Pub Lunch. I got Fish & Chips, which was very good, and Bread & Butter Pudding, which was okay would have been better with some maple syrup.

[lovelearnteach]

My sweet tooth haven't been satisfied, I embark on a mission to satisfy it. First with fudge from the Godiva Chocolate Shop, then up on the top deck with a strawberry milk shake ;):D:).

[Kerry&LuAnn]

After a stop at the soda package table, we splurged and I got the Ultimate Soda Package, we headed for the top deck. Naturally I had to get a chocolate shake right away

 

Where can you get the shakes - just at the ice cream place?

[lfk60]

I just got off the CB and agree with your assessment of embarkation. Quite different from last years Ruby cruise out of FLL. We had a suite and although we went through VIP check in, we sat in the waiting area and were never invited to the upstairs area where Platinum & Elite went. I finally questioned it and was first told I didn't have a full suite?? and then told to wait for another employee. When he arrived and DH showed him our boarding passes, he apologized and said they had lots of temporary help and it was causing havoc.

 

I also found the ship way too warm, but had a great time! :)

[Roxymax]

So far this thread with a review has been entertaining to say the least...

 

three questions:

 

1.)

What do you put on those invitations to get officers to the meet and mingle?

 

2.)

Who were the 17 people you invited?

 

3.) Do you know anything about the coffe card?

 

Thanks for your time in doing the review; I am sure posting pics takes a lot of time.

Edited November 24, 2012 by Roxymax

[lovelearnteach]

Where can you get the shakes - just at the ice cream place?

Yes you have to get them at scoops on the lido deck :), but you can get mocktails at any bar.

[blazerjan]

You're funny and I'm loving your review.... we will be on this same cruise but not for a year. :( I want to try the Crown Grill for the fist time.. but I hate to miss the lobster night in the MDR.... (I'm a lobster freak)... we had the most amazing lobster on the Coral two years ago on Thanksgiving night...do they still have it in the MDR one night? I know my cruise is a whole year away but can you recommend a good night for us to do the CG? Thanks and keep up the good work.

[lovelearnteach]

So far this thread with a review has been entertaining to say the least...

 

three questions:

 

1.)

What do you put on those invitations to get officers to the meet and mingle?

 

2.)

Who were the 17 people you invited?

 

3.) Do you know anything about the coffe card?

 

Thanks for your time in doing the review; I am sure posting pics takes a lot of time.

Thank-you so nice to hear.

 

1.)

You can get invitations that are pre-printed with the what, when, where and you just fill in the blanks, or you can go cheap and buy plain cards and write everything yourself.

 

2.)

The Senior Crew; Captain, Hotel Services Director, Hotel General Manager, Customer Services Director, Food & Beverage Director, Maitre d'Hotel, Cruise Director, Assistant Cruise Director, Senior Doctor, Executive Chef, Executive Housekepper, Staff Captain, Captain's Circle Host, Shopping Host, Staff Engineer Officer, Chief Engineer, Staff Electro-Technical Officer

 

3.)

I've personally never got one as I rarely drink coffee. I did get coffee one morning with breakfast and it was horrendous :mad:! 3 sips was all I could stand, and from then on I got hot tea with breakfast, which was very good. I do understand if you drink a lot of the specialty coffee it's more cost effective to get the card. I know you only get so many coffee drinks with the card as I seen them punching people's coffee card. I also know it's a separate card from your boarding card. For the soda package they just put a sticker on your boarding card, and all you have to do is show the sticker to get your beverage. Maybe someone who actually gets a coffee card could comment.

 

Yes just a tremendous amount of time to load those pix, yeah that sounds good, that is what is taking up all the time, darn pix :eek::p;):D:).

[Roxymax]

Thank-you so nice to hear.

 

1.)

You can get invitations that are pre-printed with the what, when, where and you just fill in the blanks, or you can go cheap and buy plain cards and write everything yourself.

 

2.)

The Senior Crew; Captain, Hotel Services Director, Hotel General Manager, Customer Services Director, Food & Beverage Director, Maitre d'Hotel, Cruise Director, Assistant Cruise Director, Senior Doctor, Executive Chef, Executive Housekepper, Staff Captain, Captain's Circle Host, Shopping Host, Staff Engineer Officer, Chief Engineer, Staff Electro-Technical Officer

 

3.)

I've personally never got one as I rarely drink coffee. I did get coffee one morning with breakfast and it was horrendous :mad:! 3 sips was all I could stand, and from then on I got hot tea with breakfast, which was very good. I do understand if you drink a lot of the specialty coffee it's more cost effective to get the card. I know you only get so many coffee drinks with the card as I seen them punching people's coffee card. I also know it's a separate card from your boarding card. For the soda package they just put a sticker on your boarding card, and all you have to do is show the sticker to get your beverage. Maybe someone who actually gets a coffee card could comment.

 

Yes just a tremendous amount of time to load those pix, yeah that sounds good, that is what is taking up all the time, darn pix :eek::p;):D:).

 

Thanks for the info...I will be following the thread to read the rest of the review as I will be on the CB in January.

[lovelearnteach]

You're funny and I'm loving your review.... we will be on this same cruise but not for a year. :( I want to try the Crown Grill for the fist time.. but I hate to miss the lobster night in the MDR.... (I'm a lobster freak)... we had the most amazing lobster on the Coral two years ago on Thanksgiving night...do they still have it in the MDR one night? I know my cruise is a whole year away but can you recommend a good night for us to do the CG? Thanks and keep up the good work.

Thank-you, your of obvious high intelligence :p;):D. Usually on Sat.-Sat. sailings formal nights are on Mon. & Thur., and on Sun.-Sun. sailings they are Tues. & Fri. nights. Lobster night for us was the 2nd formal night on Thur. Crown Grill has lobster on the menu, and many have said it is wonderful. I love lobster too, and never miss it on one of the formal nights. I just couldn't resist that porterhouse ;). I would try it the 1st or 2nd night, so if you really like it and want to do it again you'll be able to. Of course that's just my opinion :).

[lovelearnteach]

So I dropped off the fudge in our room and it was time to head to the casino and hold the machine we want to use for our slot pull. I think we had 10 people show up for the slot pull and unfortunately we did not win :(. Oh well that's why it's gambling, it was fun. I then headed back to the room for a nap. I have a late night tonight, we have a private screening of the movie "Bear City 2" tonight in the Princess Theater at 11:15p.m.

[lovelearnteach]

After my nap I ironed my shirt for formal night in the laundry room. We got ready and headed out to the piazza for some free champagne :)! Sorry no pix of the menu, to say I was a little tipsy for dinner would be an understatement, that plus our table companions were very chatty, I'm lucky I even remembered to take pix of the food :D. I started with Flash-Fried Sushi, French Onion Soup, Mushroom-Stuffed Chicken, Peach and Blueberry Cobbler and a plate of goodies, that was for everyone at the table to share. Everything was delicious to my taste.

[lovelearnteach]

So after dinner we head back to the room to get out of the hot suits, man was it sweltering! The staff acted like what it feels fine, trying some kind of dime store psychology, umm yeah no sorry still hot, and yes it is quite warm all over this ship, not just my imagination. So about 10:50p.m. we head up to the PT. The comedian ran a little late so we didn't get in until 11:30p.m. Then Chumley called some couples on stage and said this couple has been together X amount of years, so it was like yeah yeah real cute let's get to the movie. Then on the last couple Chumley says I'm just going to give this to so&so, and the guy proposed to his boyfriend, they are from Israel, he said yes. It was sweet and so special to be a part of someone's special moment like that, so that made staying up late and coming worth it, even if the sucked. Luckily it didn't, it was a good movie and we enjoyed watching it in the company of like-minded individuals. I believe some stayed after to discuss the movie, but we headed "straight" :eek: for bed :D.

[lovelearnteach]

To sum up day 3 we had an awesome day. We got to meet fellow CC members and the Captain. I loved my gift from the gift exchange, I got pistachios and chocolate covered almonds from a family farm in CA. Sweet and/or salty snack, can't go wrong with that :D. It was a busy day run here, run there, I'm looking forward to the last 2 sea days to relax and do as much or as little as I want! The next 2 days are port days so no rest for the weary yet.

[lovelearnteach]

Day 4 Tues. Nov. 13th,

 

Today is Curacao, our group photo at 10:30a.m. on deck 17 and we have the 70's-80's "Retro-A-Go-Go" party tonight. For breakfast I have some delicious saturated fat :eek:;):D, in the form of mint melon salad, poached eggs on wheat toast, a rasher of bacon and a hash brown.

[lovelearnteach]

Thanks for the info...I will be following the thread to read the rest of the review as I will be on the CB in January.

Your welcome, I should be done by then :eek::D:).

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did.

 

Oh and yeah I think you can only use the coffee card at the coffee shop next to the International Cafe, I do believe.

[lovelearnteach]

We went back to the room after breakfast and got ready for our "We're ready for our close-up Mr. DeMille" moment :D. We are a little early so we people watch in the piazza for awhile and I get a French vanilla latte and we people watched for awhile then headed up top for group photo. I thought it went incredibly well considering there were over 550 people to organize.

[Luvsnorkeling]

Do you recall which Main Dining Room was open for lunch on embarkation day? This might save us a half hour of running around looking for the one (among three) that is open. Thanks!

[caribill]

Do you recall which Main Dining Room was open for lunch on embarkation day? This might save us a half hour of running around looking for the one (among three) that is open. Thanks!

 

It will be listed on the back page of the embarkation day Patter.

[lovelearnteach]

Do you recall which Main Dining Room was open for lunch on embarkation day? This might save us a half hour of running around looking for the one (among three) that is open. Thanks!

The Coral Dinning Room deck 6 midships.

 

The Island is right below it on deck 5, it's the anytime dinning room for dinner. The Palm Dinning Room is deck 6 aft and can only be accessed by the aft elevators and/or stairs. I know how that is you only have an hour and a half window to make it to the MDR for lunch as it is.

[lovelearnteach]

At breakfast the Captain announced that we were going to be late getting into Curacao, possibly an hour later than the scheduled 1p.m. arrival time. When we went back to our room there was a message it was the tour desk our tram-trolly tour was cancelled. Then Sherry called and we decided to have lunch together, but she wanted us to come check out her window suite before lunch. OMG I'm truly jealous, it was an awesome suite to bad only 3 Princess ships have them. Sherry that lil devil got me a gift, a high heel shoe tape dispenser :D. I'm always posting pix of shoes on facebook, I have a thing for shoes, so that was so sweet of her, and so unexpected :).

[lfk60]

Thank-you, your of obvious high intelligence :p;):D. Usually on Sat.-Sat. sailings formal nights are on Mon. & Thur., and on Sun.-Sun. sailings they are Tues. & Fri. nights. Lobster night for us was the 2nd formal night on Thur. Crown Grill has lobster on the menu, and many have said it is wonderful. I love lobster too, and never miss it on one of the formal nights. I just couldn't resist that porterhouse ;). I would try it the 1st or 2nd night, so if you really like it and want to do it again you'll be able to. Of course that's just my opinion :).

 

We ate at the CG four times last week:D. If we ordered steaks, we 'shared' an order of lobster tails. They give you four small tails and they are fantastic! Once you pay the $25 pp charge, you can order as many items as you'd like, same as dining room.

[lovelearnteach]

We headed to the MDR for lunch and Terry had the Slow Roasted, Butterflied Leg of Lamb & Double Chocolate Fudge Cake, and Sherry had the Baked Yellow Bell Pepper with Aromatic Rice and Raisins, and I had the Mexican Albondigas Soup, Skillet Fried Sole with Lemon and Parsley and Cherry Trifle. All of us remarked how good the food tasted, good food, good company, good service = awesome lunch :).