LIVE on the Caribbean Princess, Western Caribbean, December 5-12, 2021: Geoherb goes solo again

[chamima]

Thanks for taking time out of your vacation to keep us all informed!

[crimsonbird]

On 12/5/2021 at 11:42 AM, geoherb said:

I was the first new passenger to board the beautiful Caribbean Princess this morning. It's great to be back. I flew down on a direct Southwest flight from Raleigh-Durham. It landed in Fort Lauderdale a little before 10. I was at the port around 10:30. The cab ride was $17.15 before tip. Checkin was a breeze. There was no line for security. Someone checked my vaccination card and passport, then another person scanned my carry-on luggage. He alerted the wine table that I had my one bottle of wine, and they asked to see it. (I guess to make sure it really was wine.)

 

Princess did not send me my medallion before the cruise. I received the message back in October that it was too close to the cruise to send it to me. But that was no problem. It was easy to pick it up at the desk. After picking it up, I made it to the Elite boarding lounge. One of the employees tried to get me to sit down in the boarding groups, but I found another one who directed me to the right place. They had coffee, teas, water, and pastries in the lounge. I had to wait about 20 minutes there before a supervisor told us it was time to board. I tried to let a couple of couples go ahead of me, but one of the women insisted I go first. The security person wasn't ready for us, and the supervisor had to come tell her it was OK to let us on. The supervisor also told her that they needed at least three security stations to scan in the new passengers instead of just one.

 

Several employees were there to greet us as we came on the ship with applause. I walked up the stairs to my Caribe Deck inside cabin. It's a standard inside cabin. My minibar setup was ready for me. My cabin steward introduced himself. I let him know I'd like to trade out my liquor for beer and soda for water. I had the regular assortment of liquors this time (unlike in Alaska when it was all vodka mini bottles). I did receive 1-liter bottles of tonic water and club soda instead of cans of tonic water and bottles of Perrier.

 

There were two noticed about the excursions I booked in Cozumel and Costa Maya. The one in Cozumel has changed times. I knew it probably would since the ship is scheduled to leave before it would have returned. But it's gone from a 1:00 afternoon to an 8:30 morning meeting time. I have time to make up my mind about going on it. The one in Costa Maya has been canceled.  

 

Almost time for lunch in the dining room. There's not a paper copy of the Patter in my cabin, just three notices about health and a couple of handouts about making specialty restaurant and spa reservations and another about watching the safety video.

The mini bar.  This will be our first cruise with that entitlement.   Can we change for a coffee card and beer? Or wine?   What's the deal?  Thanks so much as we're confused.

[JF - retired RRT]

29 minutes ago, crimsonbird said:

The mini bar.  This will be our first cruise with that entitlement.   Can we change for a coffee card and beer? Or wine?   What's the deal?  Thanks so much as we're confused.

If you're both Elite and don't want the mini bar, you can change for 2 coffee pkgs OR beer OR wine.

No splitting the order.

[MISTER 67]

We were on the Caribbean Princess dis-embarking yesterday. First cruise for that ship in 608 days. 

Consider we had to wear masks indoors except when dining and drinking it turned out to be a pretty good cruise, food in the Coral Dining Room and World Marketplace was very good. Very good entertainment and the service was outstanding.

It will be interesting reading your updates and comparing them to our cruise. 

 

 

[VibeGuy]

1 hour ago, crimsonbird said:

The mini bar.  This will be our first cruise with that entitlement.   Can we change for a coffee card and beer? Or wine?   What's the deal?  Thanks so much as we're confused.

There will be a few beers in the mix.  You can change the mini bottles of spirits 1:1 for beer, or vice versa.   You can trade all the spirits for a bottle of wine, varieties designated as “red” or “white”.  I’m not sure if you have to throw in the beers. 

[JF - retired RRT]

Just now, VibeGuy said:

There will be a few beers in the mix.  You can change the mini bottles of spirits 1:1 for beer, or vice versa.   You can trade all the spirits for a bottle of wine, varieties designated as “red” or “white”.  I’m not sure if you have to throw in the beers. 

Yes.

[geoherb]

I've had a busy evening. I stopped by Skywalkers for the evening cocktail event for Platinum, Elite, and suite passengers. They have changed the serving to primarily small dishes to take. There was one server for the cheese and crackers at the end. The seared tuna with sesame and mozzarella in pesto were especially tasty. Here are photos of the spread and tomorrow's Patter.

 

 I stopped by the Wheelhouse to have a quick drink with a couple I met last night. They were raving about the food in the buffet last night. Then it was on to Explorers for Simon Cotter's comedy. He was fairly funny in places. His show is one I will skip if he performs again after tonight. 

 

The cruise director made an announcement that the Broadway Ballroom production show cannot be performed tonight due to technical difficulties. They're going to reschedule it for the night after we leave Belize. Tom Franek, the 2018 Princess entertainer of the year, is replacing it on the schedule. He's a piano player and singer. I think we saw him on another ship. 

 

Coach potato trivia was after the comedian. It was five questions from six decades of television. Each decade was a different style question: photos of characters for the 1950s, addresses for the 1960s, catch phrases for the 1970s, jump the shark plot twists for the 1980s, theme songs from the 1990s, and photos of sets for the 2000s. I managed to get 24 out of 30 right. Two teams tied with 26 apiece. 

[Id rather be diving]

Hello!

if you have time and feel like checking, could you see if the handicap stair lift that goes up to the sanctuary deck is working?  On our last cruise in March 2020, it wasn’t working.  Hoping after all this time off, they got it working again.

 

thanks, Kari

[geoherb]

10 hours ago, VibeGuy said:

There will be a few beers in the mix.  You can change the mini bottles of spirits 1:1 for beer, or vice versa.   You can trade all the spirits for a bottle of wine, varieties designated as “red” or “white”.  I’m not sure if you have to throw in the beers. 

 

The time I traded my minibar for a bottle of wine, it was the whole shebang--all the liquor, beer, soda, and waters. It really does not seem like a fair trade, but it's what I wanted at the time. I still had plenty of items leftover from the previous cruise since I was doing back-to-back itineraries solo. And we once took a great upsell offer for a suite and traded one of our minibar setups for two coffee cards. Now they give coffee packages instead. If you have purchased a Princess Plus fare, that's unnecessary.

[Ilovemygarden]

Hi Geoherb - following along.  A couple of questions if you have time to answer.  Looks like you can join others at dinner so I take it there are no restrictions about mixing.   Secondly - any time I look at Princes their solo prices are 100%. Are there sometimes price deals?

[geoherb]

23 minutes ago, Ilovemygarden said:

Hi Geoherb - following along.  A couple of questions if you have time to answer.  Looks like you can join others at dinner so I take it there are no restrictions about mixing.   Secondly - any time I look at Princes their solo prices are 100%. Are there sometimes price deals?

 

Yes, you can ask to share a table in the dining room. I had dinner last night with the magician/mentalist again and a nice couple from California. I just finished breakfast with the couple from Israel, with whom I ate breakfast yesterday, and a couple from Tennessee. At trivia, they suggested sticking to forming teams of just people with your party. I tied with two teams yesterday at one of the trivias. It was super hard. We all had 11 out of 20 possible points. I won the tie-breaker question.

 

They are asking people at events and shows to sip and cover. Most people are following this request. But in the dining room, we wear our masks while entering and leaving but not while seated at the table. Knowing that everyone has been vaccinated and tested negative makes me feel more comfortable, but I still will follow the guidelines about wearing my mask (unlike 50% of the people going to hockey games at home).

 

I tend to book my cruises late. There are occasionally deals for solo passengers after the final payment date. I just started tracking prices of some February cruises before leaving on this one. Currently a couple of them have low single supplements--10% and 19% vs. the usual 100%. But the other four I priced still had 100% single supplements.

 

When tracking prices, I will check every week or so. For this cruise, I started tracking prices September 21. The single supplement stayed at 100% for the first three times I checked even as the prices went up and down a little bit. They had dropped when I checked October 19. 

[geoherb]

Tom Franek performed an energetic show. I think I've seen him before but don't remember which cruise. He reminds me of what a young Jim Carrey would be like as a piano player/singer. 

[chamima]

Hi Geoherb

If you get a chance could you check which dining room Club Class is in.

Thanks!

[Steelers36]

27 minutes ago, chamima said:

Hi Geoherb

If you get a chance could you check which dining room Club Class is in.

Thanks!

I have yet to see/hear of it being anywhere other than Deck 6 Mid-Ship DR.

[phabric]

Enjoyed reading your reviews with pictures.

 

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

I have yet to see/hear of it being anywhere other than Deck 6 Mid-Ship DR.

Agree always the mid ship DR

[Ilovemygarden]

3 hours ago, geoherb said:

 

Yes, you can ask to share a table in the dining room. I had dinner last night with the magician/mentalist again and a nice couple from California. I just finished breakfast with the couple from Israel, with whom I ate breakfast yesterday, and a couple from Tennessee. At trivia, they suggested sticking to forming teams of just people with your party. I tied with two teams yesterday at one of the trivias. It was super hard. We all had 11 out of 20 possible points. I won the tie-breaker question.

 

They are asking people at events and shows to sip and cover. Most people are following this request. But in the dining room, we wear our masks while entering and leaving but not while seated at the table. Knowing that everyone has been vaccinated and tested negative makes me feel more comfortable, but I still will follow the guidelines about wearing my mask (unlike 50% of the people going to hockey games at home).

 

I tend to book my cruises late. There are occasionally deals for solo passengers after the final payment date. I just started tracking prices of some February cruises before leaving on this one. Currently a couple of them have low single supplements--10% and 19% vs. the usual 100%. But the other four I priced still had 100% single supplements.

 

When tracking prices, I will check every week or so. For this cruise, I started tracking prices September 21. The single supplement stayed at 100% for the first three times I checked even as the prices went up and down a little bit. They had dropped when I checked October 19. 

Thank you so much - very helpful.

[geoherb]

9 hours ago, chamima said:

Hi Geoherb

If you get a chance could you check which dining room Club Class is in.

Thanks!

 

It is the left side of the Coral.

[geoherb]

21 hours ago, Id rather be diving said:

Hello!

if you have time and feel like checking, could you see if the handicap stair lift that goes up to the sanctuary deck is working?  On our last cruise in March 2020, it wasn’t working.  Hoping after all this time off, they got it working again.

 

thanks, Kari

 

I asked the deck supervisor. He said it is working. I haven't seen anyone use it.

[geoherb]

My snorkeling excursion in Cozumel was fun. We had 26 people on a boat that has a max capacity of 34. We motored about a mile or so away from the ship and stopped for snorkeling for 40 minutes or so. The guides made us stick together in a loose group as we drifted up the coast closer to the ship. There were different varieties of coral, sea plants, and fish but nothing too exciting: angel fish, parrot fish, grunts, blue runners, sergeant majors, butterfly fish, and a barracuda. 

 

They served a nice lunch of ceviche, pasta and chicken salad, and guacamole and chips. After snorkeling, we were free to drink the alcoholic drinks. Some folks stayed on the boat and started drinking right away. I had a couple of margaritas as the boat was sailing up the coast of Cozumel to an anchorage. It stopped to let us enjoy the water some more. It was so nice. They also had a few paddleboards and a huge floating mat.

 

We motored back to the port. I switched over to rum punch. The first one wasn't very strong. The bartender offered to add a shot of additional rum to my second one. I felt that. I managed to stay in the shade most of the time on the boat and don't feel as if I got too much sun. I had slathered on reef-safe sunscreen before leaving the ship as well.

 

There were a total of seven ships in port today: in addition to us, two Carnival, a Royal Caribbean, a Celebrity, a Disney, and a Virgin. I had never seen the Virgin ship (the Scarlet Lady) before. It's ugly on the outside--painted battleship gray. 

 

I ate a bite at the International Cafe, relaxed a few minutes in my cabin, then went to trivia. A woman teamed up with me. We only had 11 out of 20, but the winners had just 13. I missed the initial part of sailaway due to trivia. We were already 30 yards away from the dock by the time I got out on the Promenade Deck, so I do not know if we had any pier runners. I did not hear them paging anyone.

 

I enjoyed a drink with a woman from the solo group at Skywalkers. The sunset was good, but the viewing from there was not great since the ship was heading toward it. As I was heading back to my cabin, I noticed how bright Venus and Jupiter were. I got my binoculars to look at them at the waxing crescent moon plus Saturn. The ship is too shaky for me to see the four moons of Jupiter I can see at home with my binoculars.

 

Tonight's performer in the theater is John Rotellini, a comedian. I will go to the early show and then to dinner. I want to watch our hockey team play Winnepeg. We gain an hour tonight.

 

[Chad_O]

I have never been on the Caribbean Princess before and will be sailing in a few weeks. I  just noticed a mention of a stair lift. Is that the device that rides on a track attached to a stairway or is the sort of free standing elevator that goes up to The Sanctuary that I have seen on other Princess ships?  

[geoherb]

John Rotellini was billed as "comedy showtime," but he is a magician. He performed a number of interesting tricks. He had it nicely set up with cameras to provide a better view of some of the closeup magic with coins and cards. He was at my dinner table the past couple of nights, so it felt like watching a friend perform.

 

Because I went to the early show, I was late for my dinner reservation. No one else was requesting to share a table, but I was fine eating alone. I had the salad, the vegetarian quesadilla as an appetizer, and the seafood bowl. I only had one scallop and one shrimp originally. I asked my waiter for more, and he brought me three more shrimp, two scallops, and more pieces of fish. Everything was delicious. I had the cheese plate for dessert. Tonight's desserts did not interest me.

 

[geoherb]

Here's the Patter for tomorrow. I will stay on board while the ship is off the coast of Belize. Matt the CD talked about how tendering will go tomorrow. They're allowing people to pick up tender tickets when their whole party is ready but then not have to wait in a designated place. They'll be making announcements for the numbers. Elite passengers can go to the Crown Grill to receive priority boarding on tenders.

 

[cpcanuck]

Hi Geoherb! Thank you for taking the time to post all this great info. I keep meaning to ask about the wine pairings listed on the MDR menus…

 

are these offered as bottles of wine or by the glass option? If by the glass are they included in the plus beverage package? I don’t see a price listed on the menu.

[geoherb]

8 hours ago, Chad_O said:

I have never been on the Caribbean Princess before and will be sailing in a few weeks. I  just noticed a mention of a stair lift. Is that the device that rides on a track attached to a stairway or is the sort of free standing elevator that goes up to The Sanctuary that I have seen on other Princess ships?  

 

It is a device that rides on a track. In this case, it's two separate ones that takes people from the Lido Deck up to the Sanctuary.