The Caribbean Princess... soon will be making another run! A live blog

[amanda384]

For lunch we went to the World Fresh Marketplace buffet.  It was interesting. I'll try to address some of the complaints I have seen about it.

 

First of all, I have seen complaints that the food is either cold or lukewarm. That was NOT our experience.  All the food was an appropriate temperature for what it was. I have also seen complaints about seating.  Compared to the royal class ships the seating does seem minimal, but I think you just have to walk further for more seating options. It seemed like there was plenty of room back by Steamers and Planks but fewer tables right alongside the food than on some other ships.

 

The premade sandwiches were good, and lighter than they looked. The bread is light, so having two different sandwiches doesn't make you feel stuffed.

 

There were some standard options like carved turkey breast, mashed potatoes, pasta with marinara, salad and fish. But there were a wider variety of "exotic" dishes than you find at the Horizon Court.  I put exotic in quotes because it is not like the ingredients are unrecognizable. They are just in different combinations than perhaps many people (myself included) were used to. I would find myself looking at descriptions and thinking that it all sounded good except for one ingredient that was off-putting. So I stuck to sandwiches and some mashed potatoes with gravy, which I always get at buffets. The roasted red pepper and arugula sandwich with basil pesto was good. It had a lot of goat cheese. If you like goat cheese you will never go hungry on Princess. So far it has been on sandwiches, on the menu and in the tapas at Vines.  I do like goat cheese so I don't mind but there was more on this sandwich than I expected.

 

I went to the Essence skincare talk and raffle. Didnt win the raffle but everyone who went got a $10 voucher, which was nice because I forgot my favorite lipstick and tonight is formal night!

 

The weather is gorgeous so far! Much nicer than in the DC area.  I will not be happy to return to that, but that is many days away!

Edited July 21, 2019 by amanda384

[Colo Cruiser]

22 hours ago, geta911 said:

Does the Medallion Net allow a user to surf the net? I thought it was a ship specific thing and didn't offer WWW service.

 

22 hours ago, geta911 said:

Hi Amanda ..... I'm trying to decide whether or not to purchase an internet package. If the connection is "great" rather than iffy I think I would buy it so I'm very interested in your on-board experience with the internet.  Thanks & enjoy!

The MedallionNet on the CB is awesome.

We just stayed logged in 24/7.

Lightning fast and well worth the $$

 

[Ombud]

31 minutes ago, amanda384 said:

ATD is in the Coral from 5-9, and in the Island from 7:30-9. I like traditional dining myself, now that the late seating us 7:30 instead of 8:15 or 8:30. That was a bit late even for me.

Me too but at 6-6:30. This will be my 1st time in ATD now that 6 is gone 

Edited July 21, 2019 by Ombud

[Northern Light]

Enjoy your time aboard.  We will be boarding in 6 weeks for our third cruise on this ship.    Do you know if the ship has High Seas Heist with Detective Joe Kenda?  Thanks a bunch.

 

[CanICruiseSoonPlease]

5 hours ago, Desert Cruisers said:

We are boarding on the 27th.  The Port Everglades website shows this ship coming into Terminal 21 that day even though you left from Terminal 2.  If you get the chance, would you ask at the front desk and confirm, if they know, what terminal the ship will be at this Saturday?  Thanks.

21 for sure

Edited July 21, 2019 by CanICruiseSoonPlease

[Jeter02]

1 hour ago, Northern Light said:

Enjoy your time aboard.  We will be boarding in 6 weeks for our third cruise on this ship.    Do you know if the ship has High Seas Heist with Detective Joe Kenda?  Thanks a bunch.

 

Yes it does have high seas heist. However if you played already in another ship, it's the same one case fleet wide.

[zalusky]

22 hours ago, CruiseVA said:

Hi,

From everything I've read the best deal in the Internet package is the 1st day of the cruise, and, if you are Platinum or Elite, you get an additional 25% off that (in exchange for the 250 free minutes you have).

However...

Our experience next week will be different than Amanda's, she is cruising the Caribbean, which is an idal location for access to the MedallionNet's satellites.  There is a YouTube video that explains how it works, and, it's not too hard to understand. If you Fast Forward to 5:11and the following maps is there.  Basically as we head north our access to the Hi speed sat's will become more limited. From this map it looks like we should be ok... We want to be using the MEO sat's.

 

 

That map is pretty accurate.  We did a Pacifica Coastal and were able to stream the NHL playoffs from our cabin and our Comcast streaming app.  There was only minor stutter  but once we hit Seattle it degraded noticeably.

[Colo Cruiser]

10 minutes ago, zalusky said:

 

That map is pretty accurate.  We did a Pacifica Coastal and were able to stream the NHL playoffs from our cabin and our Comcast streaming app.  There was only minor stutter  but once we hit Seattle it degraded noticeably.

Ha!!   Av's!!

[Northern Light]

1 hour ago, Jeter02 said:

Yes it does have high seas heist. However if you played already in another ship, it's the same one case fleet wide.

Thanks Jeter02.....have not played this game before.   I believe that it is a cruise long game so is it announced in the first Patter or do you have to go to passenger services when you board?

[senior lady]

enjoying the review

[Jeter02]

43 minutes ago, Northern Light said:

Thanks Jeter02.....have not played this game before.   I believe that it is a cruise long game so is it announced in the first Patter or do you have to go to passenger services when you board?

It will be announced in the patter. If not the first day, them the second. You'll enjoy.

Edited July 21, 2019 by Jeter02

[medsed]

On 7/20/2019 at 1:36 PM, Jeter02 said:

I'm obsessed with all their souffles.

Me too

[tawlaw1526]

Thank you so much for this Live Blog.   Enjoying it very much along with all of your pictures.   Thank you for taking this time.  

[amanda384]

Hi everyone! I'm up in the room chilling and watching the Love Boat on demand while my husband plays blackjack! Dinner tonight was amazing. I am really enjoying getting to know our dinner companions! They are not on Cruise Critic but I told them about my live blog and they volunteered to share pictures of their meals as well. I don't know Princess's formula for finding seatmates but they struck gold for us.

 

Honestly, this is an incredibly friendly sailing. We had pre-dinner cocktails at Crooners and ended up chatting with a fantastic older couple from Georgia. Every place we have interacted with other guests has been a pleasure.

 

Tonight was formal night and I found that about 80 percent of people were formal by any reasonable definition and no one was completely casual. Lots of guys in kilts, which I always think is cool.

 

The Broadway Ballroom show was packed and we took too long at dinner so we ended up missing it.  😞

 

Tomorrow we are in Grand Cayman. We are beach bums so we booked an independent excursion to Seven Mile Beach. I know we could just take a cab and wing it but my husband is very type A and wants a ticket in his hand guaranteeing us a spot on a shuttle of some kind.  Princess didnt have any beach-only excursions so we booked through Shore Excursioneer which we have used before and been happy with. Attached are menu and food pics! I tend to photograph food and beaches and not much else so if you have any photo requests feel free to ask away!

[amanda384]

Hello from Grand Cayman! It has been a perfect day at Seven Mile Beach and we are having a drink at Calico Jack's while we wait for our shuttle back to the port. I'm exhausted from the sun and can't wait for Lido deck pizza and a nap in the a/c! We did a very early dinner in the MDR so I'm getting a tiny bit hungry after all the swimming!

[Ombud]

Please tell me this is NOT their version of  baked potato soup!

[PMGS247]

Thanks so much for doing the live!  Been on the CB twice in the last year - reading these posts is helping to relive it.  About a year ago did this exact itinerary and 2 months ago completed the loop by doing the eastern.  Both were fantastic, love the CB.

 

Also - I grew up in Fox Mill and just a few years ago lived right next to the Harris Teeter on Sunrise Valley Dr.!  In Pittsburgh now and miss a lot from NoVA but you can keep the traffic 🤣

[senior lady]

which tour did you book for Grand Cayman?  

[amanda384]

29 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Please tell me this is NOT their version of  baked potato soup!

 

I wish I could tell you otherwise. I do not recommend.

[amanda384]

19 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

Thanks so much for doing 

Also - I grew up in Fox Mill and just a few years ago lived right next to the Harris Teeter on Sunrise Valley Dr.!  In Pittsburgh now and miss a lot from NoVA but you can keep the traffic 🤣

 

I live in Fox Mill!  Great place to have kids.

 

Yeah the traffic is out of control and will only get worse with Amazon coming in!

[amanda384]

8 minutes ago, senior lady said:

which tour did you book for Grand Cayman?  

 

We booked the Seven Mile Beach Getaway through Shore Excursioneer.

[maun]

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences and pictures.  I'll be on this ship for 14 days in November.  Although not the first time I always learn something new from everyone's posts.  Do you know the cost of MedallionNet?

 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise.  I'll be "sailing" along with you.

 

~~maun

[PMGS247]

8 minutes ago, amanda384 said:

 

I live in Fox Mill!  Great place to have kids.

 

Yeah the traffic is out of control and will only get worse with Amazon coming in!

 

Ha.  Small world.  Horton Hill Rd represent.  Oakton '97. Back when blockbuster video was the cool spot to be in Fox Mill. 🤣 

 

What are your thoughts on the ship in general as compared to doing Royal/Regal the last couple years?  I'm anxious to try the larger ship but the time of year we like to travel they're off running less accessible itineraries for us.  Considering biting the bullet and either doing a fall/winter trip or going out to LA to do the Mexican riviera, but it would be a decidedly less convenient and/or more expensive option.  Actually doing an Oasis class on RCI out of NJ (drive-able) next year rather going out to LA/Mexico or doing a carbon copy of either eastern/western on the CB that we just did, but I'm already eyeing up the strategy for 2021.

[Belle]

Potato Soup.....Was so much better in Horizon, No corn just potato. On Grand this May.

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for sharing very nice review and great photos.

Tony