June 5 Caribbean Princess Review

[lswaaley]

Larry, great review. Thank You

[njoyndride]

Great review Larry! Sounds like it was a fun cruise to be on, oh that's right I was there...it WAS a fun cruise to be on, well with the exception of my disappointment in not seeing Larry the streaker at Orient but I'll get over it LOL.

 

An additional comment and left out of my review. We don't like hard pillows and asked the room steward for feather pillows which were provided no problem. So for all you softies out there...just ask.

 

Loved your comment about being lucky spending time with Amy, got me all verklempt.

 

It was great meeting the two of you!

 

Sharon

 

Elation 05/98

Paradise 04/99

Destiny 10/99

Inspiration 05/00

Enchantment of the Seas 10/00

Rhapsody of the Seas 03/01

Carnival Spirit 05/01

Grandeur of the Seas 11/01

Ocean Princess 04/02

Jubilee 09/02

Carnival Conquest 03/03

Serenade of the Seas 11/03

Rhapsody of the Seas 02/04-Daughter's Wedding

 

Caribbean Princess 06/04

 

<marquee>SUNSHINE DAYDREAM...GOIN' WHERE THE CLIMATE SUITS MY CLOTHES</marquee>

[awfw]

Larry, thanks so much for such a great review. We'll be celebrating our 40th anniversary on the CP in Oct. in the room next door (L312)! I've printed off your entire review for future reference as it sounds like we have similar tastes. We have cruised five times before, but not for many years so I feel like we are starting all over again.

Just one quick question, we are hoping to book the "balcony dinner" for our anniversary evening and am wondering how spacious you felt this smaller balcony was. What were the standard furnishings (ie, table, chairs) on the balcony and do you think it is large enough to enjoy a special dinner on it? Thanks again for a fabulous review, the time can't pass fast enough, now!

 

awfw

[sue222]

Thank you so much for such a great review!You did an awesome job and I too will print this out to take with me on our Sep cruise! You have answered many questions I had. One question: Did you dress up for PC dining on formal nights? We have picked PC dining and this is a new thing for us. We have sailed RCCL in the past but trying out Princess for the first time. I am sure we will not be disappointed! We are in the same boat as you. We have been married for 21 years and we never seem to have time for each other.This time we are leaving the kids at home and just try to relax!

 

Do they have sugar free ice cream too?

[Stevie17]

Ah Larry...as always, a GREAT review. Hi! It's Regina L. from the May 2002 NCL Sun sailing. I'm so glad that you and Amy had a great cruise. Joe, Kate (our new daughter!) and I will be sailing the NCL Spirit in February, but we're very eager to sail with Princess again...maybe in a couple of years.

 

I hope all is well with Amy and the kids. Please tell them that we say hi!!!!

 

Until 9 nights of pure joy in the Southern Caribbean!!!

 

 

NCL Spirit - February 2005

Grand Princess - May 2003

NCL Sun - May 2002

NCL Sea - May 2000

 

 

[khfadpi]

Sue, formal night is for the PC diners too. Thats what we were. Its pretty much formal all over the ship, but there were all types of "formal". Tux, long gowns, blazers and ties, church dresses, long pants and tops for women, etc. With over 3000 passengers you feel fine and you see all types (no jeans or anything like that thought.)

 

Kim

Caribbean Princess - June 5, 2004

 

[tory707]

Larry...You said Caribbean Night for Dinner is Tuesday? I want to reserve one of the pay for restaurants that night. Please confirm. Thank You... Great review!

[cruisingfreak]

Larry fabulous review.

 

Will be on the ship in 5 wks. Can I make reservations for movies under the stars, as soon as we board?

 

 

Minette

 

 

Caribbean Princess.....7/24/2004

 

Island Princess.....12/20/2004

[amarco]

YOUR GRADE FOR THE REVIEW: A+++

 

One of the best reviews ever!

[LarryF]

Thanks everyone again for you comments! Today is my official first day back at work, so I'm sneaking some time to respond to some of your questions!

 

Sharon - Sorry I made you verklempt; maybe we can have a good cry together later!

It was great to meet you and Thom and hope by chance we meet again on another cruise!

 

awfw - The balcony is pretty small as it has a table and two chairs, but I think you would have plenty of room for the Champagne dinner. I have seen posts from others that had the same size balcony and said the experience was wonderful. Hey, having a small balcony just brings the two of you closer which makes it more romantic!

 

Sue222 - I wore a tux each formal night. One of our table mates wore a suit each formal night and the other table mate wore a tux one night and tie and sportsjacket the other formal night. We ate in the Palm dining room and I would estimate that 50% of the men wore suits, 15% wore tuxes and the other 35% wore sports coats and casual wear. Also, I don't think they had sugar free icecream, but they alwasy had a sugar free dessert on the dining menu and also had sorbet as well.

 

Regina - It's so good to hear from you. Amy and I always talk about our great time on the NCL and Sun and how much we would like to see you all again! In fact before we booked this cruise, I looked up your latest postings to see if you all were looking to cruise at this time of year! I'm so glad to hear about your daughter! Did you adopt from China? We'd love to hear about it. You can email me at lfeinb9640@aol.com. Good hearing from you!

 

Tory707 - I am pretty sure it was Tuesday night. I will check my princess patters tonight and confirm with you.

 

Minette - Yes you can make reservations as soon as you board. We called concierge as soon as we boarded and made reservations for the Palm Dining Room all week, Sterling Steakhouse for Friday and Movie Under the Stars for the late showing on Tuesday. You have to go to Sabatini's directly to make reservations there. They begin taking reservations at 1pm. We got there about 12:30 and were about 5th in line. I would advise going there early as Sabatini's is a fairly small resteraunt and fills up real quickly.

 

on Caribbean Princess June 5, 2004

 

Larry

[beachlovergirl]

Larry -

 

Great detailed review....we have very similar interests and I enjoyed reading every word! I'm printing it out for our upcoming 33rd anniversary cruise in October and I also sent it to my nieces who leave on July 3rd for their graduation cruise.

 

Dee

 

Majesty of the Seas 05/1992

Monarch of the Seas 04/1993

Majesty of the Seas 04/1994

NCL Dreamward 07/1995

Horizon 08/1996

Triumph 09/1999

Princess Grand 05/2001

Nordic Empress 07/2002

Princess Grand 12/2002

Adventurer of the Seas 03/2004

Caribbean Princess 10/16/04

[25years]

Thanks for the great review. We'll be cruising on the C.P. 7/3/04 with our two teenagers for our 33rd anniversary. Counting down the days...

[CruiseFever]

Great review Larry, I could have passed on the gas segment , but a great review nonetheless.

 

Thanks!

 

Happy Cruising

 

Chris

 

www.LifeIsCruising.com

 

Next up:

Caribbean Princess 06/26/04

Star Princess 10/24/04

Diamond Princess 12/22/04

Sapphire Princess June '05

Caribbean Princess 09/17/05

Carnival Valor 10/30/05

 

[LarryF]

Thanks Chris...my wife beat me up about the gas thing! Being that I was born and raised in the south, sometimes my bubba mentality takes over my brain!

 

on Caribbean Princess June 5, 2004

 

Larry

[LarryF]

Thanks Chris....my wife beat me up about the gas part! Being that I was born and raised in the south, sometimes my bubba mentality takes over my brain. Let me out, let me out!!

 

on Caribbean Princess June 5, 2004

 

Larry

[cruisinTrish]

Larry, I am not new to cruising but new to Princess. Yours is the best review I've ever read! Thanks so much for taking the time to write it and make those of us going on the Caribbean Princess in the future more excited than we already were!!

 

Trish

 

Until the Caribbean Princess 9/17/05

 

 

4/27/04 & 5/07/04 Legend- Hawaii

12/01/03 Summit-11 day Ultimate carribean

9/29/03 Majesty of the Seas

9/20/03 Explorer-Eastern Caribbean

3/09/03 Enchantment- Eastern Caribbean

10/05/02 Rhapsody-Western Caribbean

8/17/02 Radiance-Alaska

1/05/02 Rhapsody-Western Caribbean

[monk888]

Can any of you who have already been on the Caribbean Princess tell me if the TV's in the rooms have AV inputs on the front or back that you can plug a Playstation into? You know, the Red, White and Yellow Motorola type plugs? My 10 year old son is chomping at the bit to bring his Playstation and must know whether he'll be able to "plug in." Thanks!

 

The Monk

[Froufie]

Hi Larry and thanks for the awesome review -we are sailing on the CP on Aug 14th and your info was much appreciated.

 

Couple of questions - also want to confirm which evening is Caribbean night as we are hoping to go to Sterlings that evening.

 

...and are the formal nights Sunday and Thursday? If not please correct me!

 

Re Movie reservations - what times are the early/late movies - and is there a list of what's playing in night so you know what you will be watching? If not where does one get this info?

 

Room Steward - I understood the steward asks what time you have dinner, presumably to go in and clean the room - what if you are eating at different times on different evenings? (e.g. 7 pm one night and 8 pm another, etc)....would that be a problem (or does he just check the hidden camera to see when you leave? ha ha).

 

Golf - I think there is a golf course on top deck (9 holes) can you confirm this and advise where one would get the clubs/balls (or is it assumed you are a golfer and have brought you own on board?)

 

Thanks again!

 

Froufie

[LarryF]

Torre and Froufie...

 

Tuesday is definitely Caribbean night. The formal nights are Sunday and Thursday.

 

The movie schedule on our sailing was:

 

Saturday - 7pm and 10 pm - Tina Turner Concert

No Reservations are required

 

Sunday and Monday - 7:30 pm and 10:30 pm - Starsky and Hutch

Reservations required

 

Tuesday and Thursday - 7:30 and 10:30 pm - Calandar Girls

Reservations Required

 

Wednesday - 6:30pm - The Wizard of Oz

No Reservation Required

 

Wednesday - 9pm - Hard Days Night

No Reservation Required

 

Friday - 7:30 and 10:30 - Tom Jones Concert

No Reservations Required

 

Your movies will be different. If you read posts from the cruise a couple of weeks before yours, your cruise will probably have those same movies. When you board call concierge and they will tell you the movies for the week. You could even call Princess the week before and they could probably tell you the movies for your cruise (1-800-Princess).

 

Our room steward did not ask us about our dinner time. We always had the "please clean room" sign on the door when we left for breakfast and dinner. If we came back to the room for a nap we would place the do not disturb sign on the door. All I know is when we returned to the room after breakfast and dinner our room was magically made up!

 

There is a putting green on deck 19 aft. It is really lame and is mostly for kids. They provide balls and putters. There is a golf simulator on deck 17 forward. I did not go in this one, but have played on one before. You have many famous courses you can play and you hit the ball into a screen and it displays all the stats and keeps score. It's fun, but fairly pricy I believe. They provide the clubs. There is a golf tour in St. Thomas as Mahogany Run. This is a well respected course. I believe the cost is about $175 for the complete tour plus club rental if you don't bring your own.

 

Hope that helps...

 

on Caribbean Princess June 5, 2004

 

Larry

[Mike & Gina]

Great job Larry thank you we will be on her July 10th

[spongerob]

Great review! I have just one minor concern. You said, "If you are looking for singing and dancing from the waiters you need to book traditional seating as soon as possible! Thankfully the waiters are not subjected or required to put on this type of monkey show in the personal choice dining rooms! Just my humble opinion!

 

Is this the singing and dancing as done on Carnival, where the waiters stop serving and put on a show? Please, say it ain't so! I saw this posted elsewhere and asked about it yesterday. All it would take is once, and I'd be moving to PC.

 

Completed:

Sea Princess, Royal Princess, Grand Princess (3X), Caribbean Princess, Golden Princess

 

[LarryF]

Spongerob, I was really just trying to make a general statement that I don't like singing and dancing waiters! From other posts from Traditional dining passengers on the CP, it appears the only activity the waiters participate in is the Baked Alaska presentation.

 

The main reason I'm turned off by this is that on last year's Zuiderdam cruise, the waiters marched in to some German music, and I was almost expecting them to start raising there right arm and yelling hiel hitler! Maybe I was too sensitive.

 

on Caribbean Princess June 5, 2004

 

Larry

[beachnative]

Thank you for your review. Reading both the positive and negative experiences reflected upon on this board has been helpful, but your comprehensive review has made my spouse and I even more excited about our approaching cruise than we already were.

[roe2ship]

Larry, this was one of the best reviews I have read on this board. Thank you for all the time you put into it. About that marriage game, is this something new that they are playing on every sailing? You are the first one that has mentioned it. It sounds great and I would love to attend.

 

Caribbean Princess 7/03/04

 

 

[GandGinSoCalif]

Roe2ship,

The marriage game was also played on the 5/29 CP cruise. It was a rousing success, and I suspect it'll be around for quite a while.