CB Princess Xmas cruise - review by a newbie

[The Dragon]

I am/was a first time cruiser from the UK and travelled with my Aunt aboard the Caribbean Princess, Christmas Caribbean Cruise 24 – 31 December 2005.

Dining/food

We asked for traditional dining but ended up on personal choice after being waitlisted. My Aunt was concerned about this as she was keen to meet other people on the cruise as there were only two of us. However we got to meet lots more people through personal choice dining and although the “where are you from, what do you do, how many times have you cruised?” questions got a bit tedious by the end of the week, it was still a great way to have interesting conversations with people you wouldn’t normally bump in to in your every day life, which I found fascinating.

The food in the dining room was very nice and it was a real novelty to be brought several of each course without anyone even batting an eyelid. However it did feel like gluttony on a massive scale, but when in Rome I suppose… I had the Caesar salad every night and it was great. Soufflés were consistently bad whether savoury/sweet they were heavy and tasteless. Opt for something else.

As we were on board for Christmas I did expect some sort of culinary recognition of this event. I know in the US you are having some sort of cultural struggle with the celebration of Christmas and it was clear from the people I met aboard that many were there specifically to avoid the festivities. Therefore I didn’t expect roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings but a festive option on the menu on Xmas day would have gone a long way. Christmas pudding did make an appearance as a dessert; however upon arrival it was clear the chef was taking a gamble that nobody would recognise Christmas pudding, as his recreation bore no resemblance.

The pizza by Neptune’s pool was delicious, however there wasn’t much choice of toppings. I only managed half a cheeseburger as they were really disgusting. The hot dogs were so enormous I never felt sure I could fit one in my mouth, but they smelt very good and I saw many people with the gift of being able to dislocate their jaws enjoying them with gusto. The wonderful Travellady from this very website explained how to find the free ice cream tucked away in the closed side of the Horizon Court between 3:30 and 4:30 in the afternoon. Great, with lots of toppings.

Entertainment

Generally the Entertainment was very good, however this must be qualified by saying that there were two AWFUL shows. Firstly the Beatles, who could not sing, do a Liverpuddlian accent or tell jokes. The other questionable act was the comic with the long legged puppet (can’t remember his name). I’m no prude but the seemingly endless string of “while your down there jokes” while stuffing the puppet in to compromising positions about his person simply wasn’t funny or appropriate for the 7 p.m. audience. Both were endured rather than enjoyed.

However the vast majority of the acts were brilliant, all the rest of the comedians (including the juggler) were VERY funny and a real highlight of the trip for me. By far the best “big” show was the “Pianoman”, a real toe tapper. The crew show was also really good fun, but seeing as there was only one showing it was packed with kids, which made it less enjoyable. You will never look at the Entertainments director in the same way again after seeing that! Didn’t go to Caribbean Caliente but apparently that was excellent too. Also enjoyed MUTS, a few good films and a great experience under the Caribbean sky. I saw American Idol a bit but having it every night got a bit repetitive, but it was good drop-in entertainment.

At about midnight Skywalkers nightclub came alive and was filled with people revelling in to the early hours. The favourite game one night seemed to be “how drunk can we get the British woman?” which meant my being introduced to something rather deadly called a “car bomb”. The following night I stuck firmly to bottled beers! However on some cruises apparently this venue is totally dead so this is dependent on the crowd on board.

My Aunt visited the Spa a few times and was continually disappointed. She felt the treatments were overpriced and not particularly well executed. The relaxation of the experience was certainly tainted by being asked “how much are you tipping me?” and then being given the hard sell on lots of products ($260 worth after one treatment). The Casino was also well populated although my Aunt also managed to win $400 on one of the slot machines on the last night, so some people do win I suppose.

Shore excursions

As a hardened shopper my number one priority for this tour was bagging some bargains, which I did in St Thomas so no tour to tell you about there. I did visit an internet café right by the ship which was $2 for 15 mins on broadband, allowing me to send some Christmas emails and texts as there is no mobile signal at all for the whole cruise.

In St Maarten I did the two island tour (run by Princess) which was very interesting and enjoyable. The trip stopped at a shop en route to try and flog us some merchandise which was rather dull. The tour was excellent and I learned about Caribbean culture and how differently the two sides of this island are run by the two strange bedfellows of France and Holland. Recommended.

Princess Cays is picture postcard perfect paradise. No question. Take you camera, your sun block and money for a great big coconut head cocktail. Also look out for the souvenirs, some are particularly pleased to see you!

The cruise generally

This boat is absolutely enormous but once you’ve settled in it all fits together quite nicely. The elevators are exceptionally slow and it is all too often quicker to walk, especially seeing as all lifts don’t go to all floors, v confusing when you are inebriated and trying to get the Skywalkers for further refreshment! I recommend the ship tour on the first day to get your bearings.

This cruise is certainly aimed at the US market and I felt more like I was on holiday in the US rather than the Caribbean while on board. This was like a bonus for me as, generally, I love you guys (exception being the ones who throw food!) but it is something to be aware of even if you are an American: if you want a multi-cultural experience, this isn’t it.

Disembarkation

I felt this was badly done. We spent 25 minutes queuing on the stairs once our colour was called and while there heard two other colours being called, basically to join a great big queue! Not very good. On getting off the boat we joined another queue for customs which went quite quickly for us as the non-US citizen line had nobody in it. An American we had been chatting to on the staircase took another 20 minutes before we saw them outside the terminal. It could have been done so much better.

In conclusion

This was my first cruise and I had an absolutely fabulous time. Too much to cover here without writing a sizeable tome. My expectations that it would be all elderly or honeymooners were quashed within hours of arriving. I was genuinely sad at the end of the week but I think the best vacations end with you still wanting more. I would certainly opt again for cruising in general and Princess in particular. Heartily recommended.

[NEW YORK LADY2]

What an absolutely lovely review. Well balanced and honest. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. I'm sorry though that you didn't get to enjoy a festive Christmas dinner and you are right that there are people out there that have a problem with the Christmas season. I feel sorry for them as the true meaning of the season escapes them. (Peace on earth, good will towards men.)

 

Hope you and your aunt enjoy all your future cruises as much as you enjoyed this one.

 

Jackie

[travellady]

Your aunt won 400.00 in the casino? Those machines sucked my money away like a hung over cruiser sucks water!! Since I divulged the ice cream secret, I think your Aunt needs to divulge the casino secret.

 

Also, I must add this review was well written. One might think it written by someone well-versed in the (real) English language accompanied by dry English wit ;)

[tpear3]

Thank you for taking time in writing!!! Can you tell us the movies played at MUTS during the day and at night--along with any in-room movies? My son is 10 and may enjoy a night in while mommy enjoys a night out!! Not to worry--Grandma and Grandpa out two doors down.:D

[bludeeyank]

That was well written miss williams!! You must be a 2nd year english teacher???

 

A few things you failed to mention however:

 

1) The best party on the ship was organized by travellady - the dry snacks were absolutely fantastic, thank you for that.

 

2) If you want a sprite, get a can. You would think with all the engineers on board they would be able to add cabornation to the soda.

[The Dragon]

Lisa, I think the secret to winning $400 was putting down well more than that over the course of the week! Dry humour? Me?

 

tpear, I listed the films I could remember on this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=273701

 

And as for you bludeeyank, (may I congratulate you on an excellent username by the way) your intuitive comments about dry snacks and sprite are arousing suspicions you may have been present on the above cruise.

 

We are all friends here, be honest, were you that entertainer with the dodgy puppet?

 

Hannah

P.S. Please note the time of this post, I'm still not over the jet lag

[Coolmama_1]

Great review! Sounds like you had a great time!

[britsbest]

Can you tell me what the pre cruise hotel was, about its location and facilities please.

Also what did you do to fill in the time twixt disembarkation and going to the airport?

 

TIA

 

Bob

[The Dragon]

Can you tell me what the pre cruise hotel was, about its location and facilities please.

Also what did you do to fill in the time twixt disembarkation and going to the airport?

 

TIA

 

Bob

 

Hiya,

 

We stayed at the Miami Intercontinental the night before the cruise. It was a very good hotel with excellent facilities. Very close to Miami airport, about ten minutes transfer, but this is weighed against a longer (about forty five minute) transfer to Fort Lauderdale.

 

We visitied the Dolphin Mall both before and after the cruise, but as I mentioned above my Aunt and I never tire of shopping. I suspect there is something alot more cultural to occupy your time with.

 

HTH

 

Hannah

[sherman931]

Great review, enjoyed your written commentary and humour.

[VanDyklings]

:-)

 

Hello Hannah,

 

I've been on two previous Princess cruises and am preparing for a third in a few weeks and have never tried the souffles. I've noticed, though, other threads with posters raving about Princess souffles.

 

I'm hoping that your experience was an anomaly because I've been dreaming about the souffles ...

 

Great review! Thanks Hannah.

[twodudes]

This is a wonderful review. We are on CB in June, and have just had a wonderful chuckle regarding your Skywalkers experience and also attempts to get to Skywalkers when having had a few tipples! Thank you for sharing, it is greatly appreciated!

[cusyl]

I did visit an internet café right by the ship which was $2 for 15 mins on broadband, allowing me to send some Christmas emails and texts as there is no mobile signal at all for the whole cruise. .

 

For future passengers I might mention that although there were signs by all the computers that there was no signal, I actually used the computers in the library and the internet lounge all week.

[The Dragon]

For future passengers I might mention that although there were signs by all the computers that there was no signal, I actually used the computers in the library and the internet lounge all week.

 

Apologies for the confusion.

 

By "Mobile" signal I meant cell phones, sorry, error in translation. I didn't try the internet terminals on the boat so I can't vouch either way.

 

Hannah