Would I recommend Caribbean Princess? Absolutely! (With Pictures)

[sky61]

Well today was back to reality but having everyone comment on my tan helped ease the transition. I was going to put a room service card on our bedroom door as a joke but seeing as how I needed to get up first the thought quickly passed. Nothing sadder than staring at a fake room service card ha ha

 

Here's another thing I neglected to mention; we had a lively roll call and our informal Meet and Greet after muster was well attended. ggprincess was kind enough to make us all name tags and it struck me how funny it is to meet CC peeps in person. I really felt like I was meeting movie stars ha ha! It's so fun after talking online for months and then finally putting the faces to the names.

 

What a great group. I know I'll forget some names and that will be awful so let me just thank Desiro, Christie and friends for putting the roll call together and setting up the meets. We had a Formal Meet and Greet with ships officers on Thursday (also well attended) and I am enclosing a couple of photos here. Please identify yourself if you want.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sky61]

[sky61]

In Belize, as I mentioned earlier, we went on the Princess excursion of the ruins at Altuna Ha and the Jungle Boat River Cruise. After an hour and a half bus ride we arrived at the ruins. Our well-informed guide, Carla, told us a lot about the history and we climbed the highest temple (not required of course...there is a shady spot to wait if you choose not to make the climb up about 85 stairs with railing alongside). I have a terrific fear of heights but "had to do it" so I just took my time and pretended I wasn't going to pass out when my DH stood near the edge to take a pic.

 

[sky61]

They will give you a bag (seriously...it's a little plastic bag) of water as you exit the bus which you will need as it was super hot. The only negative about this part of the tour for me is the lack of time. Once we climbed and she took us around to the different areas we only had ten minutes to explore on our own. Wow. Sadly not nearly enough time and I think they could probably give you a half hour at least but hey...guess we had a boat to catch. Next trip...

 

 

Here I am feeling the vibes of the ruins...

 

[sky61]

The bus then brought us to lunch at this local establishment that is clearly set up for catering to hundreds of tourists. We stood in a line and picked up a plate of food (yummy assortment of chicken with a tasty sauce, rice and beans, guac and other stuff). Lunch included a bottle of tonic (thought I'd throw that in there for all of you to see how a Boston born girl talks) which were all Coca Cola products or water. It was wicked good (okay okay I'll stop now).

 

[sky61]

We got on the open boat (bring shades and a hat...there is no protection from the sun) right at the restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised at the length of the trip, which was at least another hour and a half (I think it was 22 miles altogether). Carla the guide was with us, along with the captain of the boat and another "spotter" guy who sat up front and called out to the driver when he saw some wildlife for us to pull up to. We saw crocodiles, pretty huge lizards, monkeys and several species of nifty birds. Here's a link to some video that you bird lovers may find entertaining.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLaKsl9mvUc

 

And here's the jungle:

 

[sky61]

I'm sure some people got better shots but this gives you an idea of what you might see if you book this excursion.

 

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for the review and great pictures. Nice to hear you enjoyed your cruise.

 

 

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[lovevacadays]

Here we are pulled up alongside the Port in Roatan (Mahogany Bay).

 

 

Nice picture. I love Roatan. I wish I was there now!

 

 

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[lovevacadays]

We tendered in Belize which really meant water taxis pulling alongside the ship. We booked the Princess excursion to see the Mayan ruins at Altuna Ha and the jungle cruise. My apologies to this nice gentleman for not getting a model release but I thought it was kind of a neat shot with the three ships behind us.

 

 

That is an amazing shot. Sorry for the multiple posts. I'm on my Ipad and Tapatalk and don't know how to do multiple quotes in one post. I'm really enjoying your review.

 

 

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[sky61]

So back to the boat. I know food can be so subjective so here's my three cents. I think the variety and quality of food available is a strength of Princess. My DH is a chef so we tend to eat out a lot and we don't always eat "fancy" but we both appreciate good food (thus me not wanting to show myself in a swimsuit...it's all making sense now, right?).

 

He does not really like buffets but I really do like them so he humors me and we went several times during the cruise. In the morning I like the choices and enjoy sitting by a window with my eggs and fresh fruit. We often got room service delivered early so we had coffee and grapefruit or pastry on our balcony and then had round two a couple of hours later. I am a BIG fan of breakfast ha ha.

 

We also ate a couple of lunches and one late night dinner at the buffet. I snuck away the last day for the dessert buffet which I felt it was my duty to attend. Wish I'd taken a pic but let me assure you my plate had an assortment of "small tastes" of cakes and other bakery treats which somehow disappeared quickly when I brought it up to share with DH poolside.

 

My favorite things at the lunch buffet were the soups...every one was delish! I had the clam chowdah (yup...that's really how some restaurants spell it here), a spicy noodle soup and a creamy tomato and they were all top notch. We also enjoyed making our own salads, the abundance of fresh fruit, and one day I had some Indian food that was very good.

 

Mostly we ate in the Island Dining room with anytime dining at night and never had to wait longer than ten minutes for a table. Usually we were seated immediately.

 

I found sticking with fish dishes was a good choice. I usually got the soup, salad special, fish entree and dessert. DH got beef twice and said the cuts were not that good but he is used to preparing beef tenderloin for clients so his palette is pretty discriminating in that department. We do get good beef (leftovers ha ha) at home so we opted not to go to the Crown Grill. We went to Sabatini's one evening and it was very good, but honestly I missed the vibe of the dining room which was much more welcoming.

 

DH usually ordered a half order of the pasta as an additional appetizer and he said they were always very good. We also LOVED the breads, rolls, pastries, etc. Kudos to the bakery for making things taste as good as they looked!

 

[sky61]

Thanks for the review and great pictures. Nice to hear you enjoyed your cruise.

 

 

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Thanks. It was such a treat. Of course now I wish I'd taken more photos but I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing it all even if I was a bit lax with the recording of the experience :o

[trbarton]

Your photos very professional looking. What camera are you using and what program are you using to post your photos?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom:)

[sky61]

Your photos very professional looking. What camera are you using and what program are you using to post your photos?

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

Tom:)

 

 

Hi Tom! I use a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS6 and enjoy taking photos. I paint and draw but really don't know much about cameras other than point and shoot. I use Photobucket as a drop for the pictures

http://photobucket.com

 

Thanks and I'm glad you're liking the photos.

[desiro]

Hi Sky - loved you pictures and it was nice seeing a shot of Adam with the officers at our Meet & Greet. Had a great time and nice meeting you!

[Lsmith52]

I made reservations at Nachi Cocum for our Cozumel Port. If you don't know about this you can check out the link here http://www.cozumelnachicocom.com/ and also numerous threads if you do a search in CC. The cab cost $16 to the club. The all inclusive rate of $55 includes drinks (I got five 'virgin' mango drinks that were so fruity and refreshing), a five course meal and best of all the club is limited to 100 people. You need to make reservations and remember to bring the printed out form with you when you go.

 

Thank You! I have bookmarked this website and will be using it on our next cruise to Cozumel.

[SeagoingMom]

Here's the only shot of me in a swimsuit I'll allow in public:)

Good for you! Lovely shot! I have a similar one taken as we left Belize on Caribbean Princess (D607) in mid March.

 

[SeagoingMom]

I'm enjoying your pictorial review! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your experience and seeing more pictures.

 

We enjoyed sailing on the Caribbean Princess a few years ago.

 

Did you take any pictures of the bathroom in your mini-suite?

 

This was D607 (mini-suite). BTW, most bathrooms don't come with a man included -- but mine did! :D

[JimAOk1945]

 

This was D607 (mini-suite). BTW, most bathrooms don't come with a man included -- but mine did! :D

Thanks for replying to my question about the bathrooms. I'm enjoying your review and looking forward to more!

[SeagoingMom]

For those of you doing the chairlift to the beach here's a photo I took from our balcony. You can see how close you are to the beach. One CC friend I talked to said it would have been faster to walk but he liked the view from the lift. He also said there were plenty of loungers at the beach.

Such a beautiful shot. When we were there, it was cool and cloudy and drizzly, but even then we thought Mahogany Bay was beautiful --it is even pretty in the sunshine!

[KBS1607]

You are a good photographer!

 

Kim

[HMSDingy]

Thanks for your great review & excellent pics. We're sailing this ship in June & anxiously looking forward to our cruise. It's funny reading 2 completely different reviews of the same cruise. The other reviewer actually called the food disgusting but no pics were taking to back up her displeasure.

 

 

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[SeagoingMom]

Nice review and great photos! You've got me interested in this itinerary. Thanks for sharing!

Even though I personally had some issues with the ship' date=' the crew, the food, etc. on our [i']Caribbean Princess[/i] cruise in March, I, too, loved the itinerary and would highly recommend it for anyone who is looking for a very relaxing and soothing vacation. Of course I am sure there were many pax who saw and did many exciting and stimulating things on this itinerary, but we found it to be the perfect laid-back vacation we were looking for! We found Mahogany Bay to be particularly calm and peaceful, as our starboard balcony overlooked the bay and the shipwreck.

 

[SeagoingMom]

Thanks for replying to my question about the bathrooms. I'm enjoying your review and looking forward to more!

You are welcome, but you know that I am not the OP, right? and that I am not the one providing the review. I posted my shots of our mini-suite bathrooms only because the OP said she had not taken any shots of hers. I imagine they look the same...

[sky61]

You are a good photographer!

 

Kim

 

Thanks Kim!