Live from Caribbean Princess, May 28 to June 11th

[azbirdmom]

57 minutes ago, nreeder said:

To answer the question above about the Amber Cover tour, it was a Princess tour called Eat, Drink and Dance, a Dominican Fiesta.  Great tour that wasn’t all that expensive.

 

We are now off the ship in Fort Lauderdale which welcomed us at lunch time with a giant thunderstorm, drenching rain, and lighting!  Must have been fun for the boarding of new passengers.  That storm is gone. But more a predicted this afternoon.

 

We had an absolutely wonderful cruise.  The ship, the food, and the staff were great.  We made lots of memories!  

 

Norm

 

Thunderstorms and drenching rains two weeks in a row during disembarkation in Port Everglades...  Glad you enjoyed the cruise.  It was hard for us to get off last week after only 7 days onboard.  Safe travels home.

[MissP22]

17 hours ago, tetleytea said:

 

Our Princess Everglades airboat tour + airport dropoff was actually better priced than if we did the tour independently--and that is BEFORE we price in transportation.  The sum of the regular admission tickets to the exact same places would have cost more.  We saved a killing on taxi. 

 

You've got to shop around. Sometimes is it better. 

[Kineticoh20]

Well we are onboard right now and the reduced staff is blareingly apparent. Long lines to dine last night, bars closing early and room service was completely dismal. We ordered late night maybe 1030, watched some TV went back to app to see our order canceled hmmm ok these things happen so we ordered again went back to tv show an hr later I checked on order and it only said ordered not being prepared yet so I canceled order and we went to bed. 1am door knock 1st order shows 2.5 hrs later, told gentleman sorry but you canceled, went back to bed. 1:45am door knock 2nd order shows just rediculous,  cmon Princess get it together.

[GonzoWCS]

47 minutes ago, Kineticoh20 said:

Well we are onboard right now and the reduced staff is blareingly apparent. Long lines to dine last night, bars closing early and room service was completely dismal. We ordered late night maybe 1030, watched some TV went back to app to see our order canceled hmmm ok these things happen so we ordered again went back to tv show an hr later I checked on order and it only said ordered not being prepared yet so I canceled order and we went to bed. 1am door knock 1st order shows 2.5 hrs later, told gentleman sorry but you canceled, went back to bed. 1:45am door knock 2nd order shows just rediculous,  cmon Princess get it together.

Wow

[NRWPA]

3 hours ago, Kineticoh20 said:

Well we are onboard right now and the reduced staff is blareingly apparent. Long lines to dine last night, bars closing early and room service was completely dismal. We ordered late night maybe 1030, watched some TV went back to app to see our order canceled hmmm ok these things happen so we ordered again went back to tv show an hr later I checked on order and it only said ordered not being prepared yet so I canceled order and we went to bed. 1am door knock 1st order shows 2.5 hrs later, told gentleman sorry but you canceled, went back to bed. 1:45am door knock 2nd order shows just rediculous,  cmon Princess get it together.

Totally agree. I was on for 3 weeks from 5/14 - 6/4. Not once did room service get my order right. There was always at least one item missing. The one time I did cancel and reordered a slightly different menu, I ended up getting both orders delivered. The second guy didn't want to not leave that order, even after I showed him I already received my order (I was still eating). So I took the fruit and cheesecake the second guy brought and sent him away with the rest. Each order took a minimum of 45 minutes to deliver. It didn't matter what time of day or whether we were in port or at sea. I don't blame the crew. They were woefully understaffed. I blame upper management for increasing passengers and using (abusing) the same number of crew they had when they were at half capacity. The crew were all cheerful and polite despite the problems.

[MissP22]

3 hours ago, Kineticoh20 said:

Well we are onboard right now and the reduced staff is blareingly apparent. Long lines to dine last night, bars closing early and room service was completely dismal. We ordered late night maybe 1030, watched some TV went back to app to see our order canceled hmmm ok these things happen so we ordered again went back to tv show an hr later I checked on order and it only said ordered not being prepared yet so I canceled order and we went to bed. 1am door knock 1st order shows 2.5 hrs later, told gentleman sorry but you canceled, went back to bed. 1:45am door knock 2nd order shows just rediculous,  cmon Princess get it together.

Now that's funny in a twisted sort of way. 🤪

[azbirdmom]

We didn't use room service at all during our cruise the week of May 28th and I'm glad we didn't based on what's being reported.  And the only time we encountered lines at the MDR was in the Capri dining room on deck 6 the first night.  The other nights that we dined in the MDR we used Island on deck 5 and never had to wait.  It wasn't full either and the service was great.  It sure sounds like we were lucky and made choices that avoided the poor experiences mentioned by others.

[nreeder]

We had mixed results with room service.  First week no problems.  Second week one of our orders “got delivered” according to the app, but not to us!

 

The good news, is that we are now back home in Los Angeles, and we tested negative for Covid after being on the ship for two weeks!  We did wear our masks in public areas and spent a lot of time out on our balcony rather than by by the pool.  So not all 3,000 passengers come down with Covid!  Norm

[richstowe]

7 hours ago, GonzoWCS said:

Wow

Extra wow .

Something to remember on our upcoming cruise .

[KKB]

Can you tell me about the musicians?

We like what I call "wedding music"--hits from 60s to today from a number of genres. 

Those tunes that fill any dance floor.

Is there a band like that?

(we like duos/guitar players at times too, just wondering if there is a good dance band)

[cltnccruisers]

On 6/7/2022 at 9:49 PM, nreeder said:

Today we did a walking tour of Old San Juat. Also visited the El Convento Hotel next to the Cathedral where we stayed long ago. Still beautiful. Had traditional Puerto Rican lunch with corn cake logs, and Mufungo. Got to use Mortor and pestle to mash cassia which is like cooked potatoes. Once mashed you make an indentation in the middle and they pour in chicken stew. Wonderful. More to come!  Norm

We stopped at El Convento for a snack.  I ended up with a fruit bowl and DW a grilled chicken salad. Both were huge and delicious.  Didn't need anything until dinner.  We'll be back in Feb - should be a little cooler.  😀

[cltnccruisers]

11 hours ago, KKB said:

Can you tell me about the musicians?

We like what I call "wedding music"--hits from 60s to today from a number of genres. 

Those tunes that fill any dance floor.

Is there a band like that?

(we like duos/guitar players at times too, just wondering if there is a good dance band)

Luc - guitarist plays a good variety.  The house band, XTASEA, was very good.

[cltnccruisers]

DW banned my laptop for this cruise - can't imagine why.

 

We drove down from Charlotte on Thursday and Friday.  Weather was great.  Only 2 tiny showers.  Saturday morning we had a couple of bands of heavy rain but no problems.

 

The boarding process for our November and March cruises were very quick - 20 minutes tops.  Over 2 hours this time.  

 

Cabin - we were in C705.  Very small.  Tiny shower with leaky shower head - a guy finally came to fix it Friday evening, but he had no tools.  😆  Good balcony.

 

Food - dinner in MDR very good.  Lunch good.  Breakfast underwhelming.  Snacks and sandwiches from International Cafe all very good.  Tried Marketplace once for lunch and were pleasantly surprised, though hard to find a table.

 

Bars/Service - drinks inconsistent bar to bar.  Found a very good server, Veronica, in Crooners.  She took good care of us so we took care of her.  In The Explorer Lounge we had to literally grab a server.  Fun games and good entertainment in Explorer but drinks not so good.

 

Debarkation very smooth and quick.  Shuttle to our hotel just happened to arrive at the island in the lot same time as us.  On the road by 9:00.