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

[CPASam]

Enjoyed reading your cruise commentary Geoherb.  Thank you!  I was able to get the Carolina Hurricanes v. Oilers game on Silk.  Hoping for 2 points!  Take care.

[geoherb]

My last evening this cruise was fun. I got to add a wine stopper to my haul in the afternoon trivia. My team (the English woman and I) tied with another couple and won the tie-breaker question. It did not matter since he gave prizes to both teams. I followed trivia with one last time at Skywalkers then watching the Disney Dream leave Nassau ahead of us. I packed up my large suitcase and had it ready to be picked up before heading down to dinner.

 

The couple we beat at trivia were at my table along with a couple of single travelers and a couple from Virginia/South Carolina. I was lucky to have nice tablemates almost every meal. There were one dinner and one breakfast when I did not share a table plus the time I came back after the show for just dessert.

 

I met my whole trivia team for Liars Club. There are no passenger winners, though, with the new Covid restrictions. Three assistant cruise directors tell stories to define a word. The audience's job is to determine which one is giving the right definition. It's a fun game show.

[CruzDayz]

1 hour ago, geoherb said:

 

 

 

Embarkation groups did not seem to matter either. No one asked what group I was in when I arrived at the terminal. Perhaps when the ships are closer to full capacity they will.

I was on the Grand Princess in Oct. and was able to choose a 11:00 arrival time on the app. I think that they are still working on the app. 

Great review.🙂

Edited December 12, 2021 by CruzDayz

[geoherb]

1 minute ago, CruzDayz said:

I was on the Grand Princess in Oct. and was able to choose a 11:00 arrival time on the app. I think that they are still working on the app. 

 

By the time I chose my group, all of the Group A slots were full. I got Group B--noon to 12:30. But I was able to go through security and check-in and make it to the Elite waiting area by 10:45 and board shortly after 11.

[rabin1]

9 hours ago, geoherb said:

 

You will be joining a lot of back-to-back passengers but not me. I had breakfast with a couple who are staying. They said the Covid test yesterday was quick and easy. The big difference on the next cruise is the introduction of children under 12. They weren't eligible to sail on my cruise since they couldn't be fully vaccinated in time. Next week is the first cruise that they can sail on. One of the assistant cruise directors said there were 280 children scheduled to board tomorrow. I don't know if she was counting all of the under 18-year-olds. 

Thank you for your awesome posts. I only read yours because I am doing a B2B on your ship next Sunday. OH NO 280 kids........yuk! I booked this 2 relax. I hope there weren't be that many on my cruises however I am afraid there will be its over Christmas and New Years. I just hope there parents control them or they are in the kids club.

Thanks again for the wonderful posts

 

[bluesea4me]

Are there any meet ups, get togethers, or areas, or tables with boards to play chess?

[geoherb]

2 hours ago, bluesea4me said:

Are there any meet ups, get togethers, or areas, or tables with boards to play chess?

 

I did not see any listed in the Patter. There are probably some chess sets in the library, but I never made it down there. I bring my Kindle for reading.

[geoherb]

I'm now waiting in the Crown Grill for my disembarkation group. I'm in the last one. They announced around 7:40 that the ship had been cleared. It was 8 when they announced that the first group of walk-off passengers could leave--about 30 minutes behind schedule. They're catch up. The last group called was just 20 minutes behind schedule. 

[geoherb]

They have caught up and are now 10 minutes ahead of schedule. I guess it's time to pack up my computer.

 

I've saved all the Patters and will scan and post them in a separate thread after I get home tomorrow. It's been a fun cruise. I'm glad I came back to the CB. I like being able to walk around the Promenade (even on those days when I stuck to just the shady side when it was too hot in the sun). The cruise director's staff was great. Sailing at reduced capacity without kids is great. I did not have many missteps with food. I did have a final one last night when I ordered a rare steak and received one that was beyond well done. It looked like a minute steak it was so thin. The second one he brought me was right. It was the second time I ordered something rare and received something well done. 

[chamima]

Safe travels!!!

[High Flyer]

20 hours ago, geoherb said:

They have caught up and are now 10 minutes ahead of schedule. I guess it's time to pack up my computer.

 

I've saved all the Patters and will scan and post them in a separate thread after I get home tomorrow. It's been a fun cruise. I'm glad I came back to the CB. I like being able to walk around the Promenade (even on those days when I stuck to just the shady side when it was too hot in the sun). The cruise director's staff was great. Sailing at reduced capacity without kids is great. I did not have many missteps with food. I did have a final one last night when I ordered a rare steak and received one that was beyond well done. It looked like a minute steak it was so thin. The second one he brought me was right. It was the second time I ordered something rare and received something well done. 

Thank you for scanning all those Patters.  

[cltnccruisers]

On 12/11/2021 at 9:57 PM, geoherb said:

 

I did not receive a form, and no one I spoke with had received one either. There is an option on the app to choose "Arrival & Departure Groups." When trying to select a departure group, it gives this error message: "Sorry! Departure groups will be available closer to the start of your journey." It's apparently a future feature of the app that has not been implemented yet. I received the error message both before the cruise began and during the cruise. 

 

Embarkation groups did not seem to matter either. No one asked what group I was in when I arrived at the terminal. Perhaps when the ships are closer to full capacity they will.

That's how it worked on Sky as well.  No one questioned when we arrived an hour early nor did we see any form for debarkation preferences.  We got a sheet the night before with our color and group.  Suited us just fine.

[geoherb]

I'm home after spending one night in Fort Lauderdale at the Crowne Plaza. It's about a mile and a half from the terminal. I walked to the hotel, left my large bag there for a few hours while I walked back to do some shopping until it was time to check in. I picked up things for lunch from the large Whole Foods on the corner of 17th and U.S. 1. It's the largest Whole Foods that I've ever seen--but it did not have a sandwich bar like our little one back home does. I bought a cup of soup, bagel, some fruit for breakfast, and a beer for later that night.

 

The Crowne Plaza was nice. It has a large pool on the roof of the 5th floor that I enjoyed yesterday afternoon and this morning. The room was large, especially coming from an inside cabin. It had a mini fridge, microwave, and coffee pod thingy.

 

A friend who lives in Fort Lauderdale met me at Anthony's Coal-Fired Pizza a couple of blocks from the hotel for dinner. I did not realize it was a chain with more than 60 locations, primarily in Florida and the northeast, when I picked it out. We had a good time catching up. The area around the hotel is certainly sketchier at night than during the day. She gave me a ride back to the hotel.

 

After my swim this morning, I walked down 17th to see the new ships in port from the top of the bridge. They were the Regal Princess and Celebrity Millennium and Silhouette. Several people at the hotel were sailing on them today. I caught the hotel's free shuttle to the airport and had an uneventful flight home. It's good to be back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[geoherb]

Princess sent my final statement late last night. It has a charge that wasn't mine on it--a drink for $12.98 at the MIX Bar beside Slice. I filled in the contact form on the Princess website asking for it to be taken off. 

[Steelers36]

8 hours ago, cltnccruisers said:

We got a sheet the night before with our color and group.  Suited us just fine.

It sounds like (from other posts as well) Princess is not even asking via the form we used to fill out and hand in as to our preferences.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, geoherb said:

I'm home after spending one night in Fort Lauderdale at the Crowne Plaza. It's about a mile and a half from the terminal. I walked to the hotel, left my large bag there for a few hours while I walked back to do some shopping until it was time to check in. I picked up things for lunch from the large Whole Foods on the corner of 17th and U.S. 1. It's the largest Whole Foods that I've ever seen--but it did not have a sandwich bar like our little one back home does. I bought a cup of soup, bagel, some fruit for breakfast, and a beer for later that night.

 

The Crowne Plaza was nice. It has a large pool on the roof of the 5th floor that I enjoyed yesterday afternoon and this morning. The room was large, especially coming from an inside cabin. It had a mini fridge, microwave, and coffee pod thingy.

 

A friend who lives in Fort Lauderdale met me at Anthony's Coal-Fired Pizza a couple of blocks from the hotel for dinner. I did not realize it was a chain with more than 60 locations, primarily in Florida and the northeast, when I picked it out. We had a good time catching up. The area around the hotel is certainly sketchier at night than during the day. She gave me a ride back to the hotel.

 

After my swim this morning, I walked down 17th to see the new ships in port from the top of the bridge. They were the Regal Princess and Celebrity Millennium and Silhouette. Several people at the hotel were sailing on them today. I caught the hotel's free shuttle to the airport and had an uneventful flight home. It's good to be back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Crowne Plaza has been our pre-cruise hotel of choice since it first opened.  Straight shot into the port area.  We used to use the Hertz shuttle to get to the ship (perhaps a taxi once).  But, I know Hertz closed the location when they declared Chapter 11.  Don't think the location was re-opened. 

 

Did you happen to notice if another car rental company has moved in there?  (Google Maps is still showing Hertz which I know is wrong). 

 

[geoherb]

7 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

The Crowne Plaza has been our pre-cruise hotel of choice since it first opened.  Straight shot into the port area.  We used to use the Hertz shuttle to get to the ship (perhaps a taxi once).  But, I know Hertz closed the location when they declared Chapter 11.  Don't think the location was re-opened. 

 

Did you happen to notice if another car rental company has moved in there?  (Google Maps is still showing Hertz which I know is wrong). 

 

 

I'm sorry I did not notice. Google Maps shows a Thrifty/Dollar car rental place on Marina Blvd., but I can't tell if it's open. There's also an Enterprise location on the other side of the Mercedes dealership, about two blocks away.

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, geoherb said:

 

I'm sorry I did not notice. Google Maps shows a Thrifty/Dollar car rental place on Marina Blvd., but I can't tell if it's open. There's also an Enterprise location on the other side of the Mercedes dealership, about two blocks away.

Yes, I am aware of the Enterprise.  Do not normally use the other.  

 

We used to rent a car at FLL from Hertz with a one-way drop at the hotel.  We then had a vehicle for low cost for the day, into evening.  Returned car in garage that night and took shuttle to port in the morning.  Worked great.

[geoherb]

Here is the link to all the Patters scanned into one PDF. I thought it might be helpful for people scheduled to do this itinerary soon.

Patters from December 5-12 Cruise on the Caribbean Princess, Western Caribbean Itinerary - Princess Cruises - Cruise Critic Community

 

[Luckiestmanonearth]

Just curious what was the typically accepted dress code for men and women on formal nights ?

 

We really want to pack light and not bring a bunch of formal wear

[cltnccruisers]

19 minutes ago, Luckiestmanonearth said:

 

Just curious what was the typically accepted dress code for men and women on formal nights ?

 

We really want to pack light and not bring a bunch of formal wear

We won't be on Caribbean until March but on Sky a few weeks ago I wore nice slacks, button down shirt and sports jacket - no tie.  DW took a couple of short cocktail dresses.  We were dressed better than most.  I only saw one tux and maybe a dozen ties though I wasn't keeping a hard count.

[geoherb]

3 hours ago, Luckiestmanonearth said:

 

Just curious what was the typically accepted dress code for men and women on formal nights ?

 

We really want to pack light and not bring a bunch of formal wear

 

It seemed to be anything within reason would get you into the dining room on formal nights. I did not see anyone in shorts or T-shirts. I did see a few men in polo shirts and a few in tropical shirts.

[geoherb]

It's been over a week since I filled in the online form asking for the extra charge to be refunded. I have not received a response. So I called today and waited on hold for 50 minutes. I got the wrong department, apparently a generalist instead of a customer relations rep. He put me on hold for 5 minutes to check with his supervisor to see if they could correct the mistake. They couldn't. I need customer relations. So he suggested emailing them. I'll give it another week or so before disputing the charge with my credit card company.

[Robertgh]

WE were on this cruise too.  Our first back since 3/19/2020 in Sydney on the Ruby.

We upgraded to a suite and had a great time dining Club Class.  Super impressed with how they did the Horizon Court setup.  Super cool and effecient.  

We're headed to Sky Princess 3/5/22 and cannot wait to do some 'cruising' catch up