cruised with Princess out of the UK AND out of the US Caribbean?

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

Hi all

 

I am in the UK. My only cruise with Princess so far has been Sky Princess Southampton to Norway.

 

Absolutely loved it! All other cruises I’ve done have also either sailed out of Southampton, or from the Med

 

Ive never sailed out of the US. I’ve never been to the Caribbean.

 

so my question is this. If you have sailed Princess both in Europe and the Caribbean what are the differences? Do Princess do anything specific/special when in the Caribbean? A different vibe? Different demographics age wise?

 

I'm apprehensive as well as super excited. We sail out of Ft Lauderdale to the Caribbean & back to New York in August.

 

thanks everyone 😊 

 

 

[skynight]

Your 14 day cruise will be mostly tropical with strong sun and hot days. On sea days there will be a large demand for seating around the Lido pools, especially seating in the shade. Your ports are all very nice. In Bonaire suggest you reserve a golf cart from bonairecruisers.com. The south route will take you to most sites tours visit. Bring water with you. Difficult to find water on the golf cart route. You can stop for lunch at one of the restaurants. 

The vibe is different than a European cruise. Think fun in the sun, not tours of old churches. Lots of beaches. Snorkeling. If you are into shopping there will be plenty of local vendors at all the ports,  as well as those stores like Diamond International which I totally avoid.

In Barbados silvermoonbarbados.com offers really nice luxury catamaran cruises. Suggest you look them up. In San Juan you can visit El Morro, the old Spanish fort at the top of the hill. Visit US National Park Service site for admission tickets. After the visit you can stroll downhill through Old San Juan back to the ship. A visit to El Yunque rain forest is also a nice trip. It is the only tropical rain forest in the U.S. Park Service system. Expect to get rained on. Curacao has a nice downtown street along the entrance canal. There is the famous pontoon bridge that crosses the canal. This bridge opens frequently. Don' get caught on the wrong side of the bridge close to the ships sailing time. Alternate ferry to cross the canal take extra time. 

[skynight]

I'll add a few more bits of information. August is off season in the Caribbean. High season is in winter.

Also, bring along lots of sunscreen and hats.

[dickinson]

We have sailed both.  As Skynight said the activities in the ports are very different. The Lido deck of the pool will be mobbed.  Otherwise, the activities of the ship are very similar.  

[Torfamm]

4 hours ago, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

 

 

so my question is this. If you have sailed Princess both in Europe and the Caribbean what are the differences? Do Princess do anything specific/special when in the Caribbean? A different vibe? Different demographics age wise?

 

Depending on the length and date of your Caribbean segment you are almost sure to see many more children than on the itineraries to Norway from Southampton. August is the very end of the summer holidays for schools in the US. 
 

I imagine you’ll see a more casual atmosphere in general than on cruises from Southampton. The most formal wear I’ve ever seen on a cruise was out of Southampton to Norway and Iceland. Tuxedos will probably be few on your cruise. Many will dress casually every night.

 

It is sure to be very hot and hopefully that’s exactly what you are looking for. Hope you have a wonderful time!

[cr8tiv1]

5 hours ago, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

 

I'm apprehensive as well as super excited. We sail out of Ft Lauderdale to the Caribbean & back to New York in August.

 

Are you doing a back to back (2 cruises)?  You may not be allowed to embark in Fort Lauderdale and disembark in New York unless you visit a distant foreign country (ABC islands) if not sold as a single voyage.

 

It is also the peak of hurricane season in the Caribbean and the US East Coast.  

 

 

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Are you doing a back to back (2 cruises)?  You may not be allowed to embark in Fort Lauderdale and disembark in New York unless you visit a distant foreign country (ABC islands) if not sold as a single voyage.

 

It is also the peak of hurricane season in the Caribbean and the US East Coast.  

 

 

thank you for the info 

it’s a single voyage repositioning cruise so no worries on that front. Also the ABC islands are in the itinerary too 😊 

 

Yes we booked knowing the itinerary could change due to hurricane season and made sure our insurance covers weather disruption too. We’re taking a chance here but we’re fully aware of the possibility of disruption

 

unfortunately we have to travel in our Daughters Summer holidays (UK return to school in September)

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

2 hours ago, Torfamm said:

Depending on the length and date of your Caribbean segment you are almost sure to see many more children than on the itineraries to Norway from Southampton. August is the very end of the summer holidays for schools in the US. 
 

I imagine you’ll see a more casual atmosphere in general than on cruises from Southampton. The most formal wear I’ve ever seen on a cruise was out of Southampton to Norway and Iceland. Tuxedos will probably be few on your cruise. Many will dress casually every night.

 

It is sure to be very hot and hopefully that’s exactly what you are looking for. Hope you have a wonderful time!

 

thank you. I think we’re stocking up on factor 50 sun cream before we go! My 11yr old daughter and my Husband are redheads and I’m just pale lol

 

Waterproof sun cream seems a good bet too

 

Our med cruises have been in August in 40C heat (104F) so I hope we’ll be ok with the Caribbean heat as long as we’re sensible.

 

oh good news about being more casual! Some Brits love to go all out with the formal wear. We’ll be glad to leave the suit & long dress at home & stick to smart casual in the MDR 😃

 

It’s a repositioning cruise. We leave Ft Lauderdale August 10th for 2 weeks. Covers the ABC islands and finishes in NYC. One voyage. Not repositioning. 
 

is this in US school holidays? I don’t mind more kids on a cruise. It would just be interesting to have an idea for our daughter. Who’ll probably ask to spend all her time in the kids club. She told me Princess was the best kids club she has been in so fingers crossed it’s just as good for her on our 2nd Princess cruise 

[cr8tiv1]

Since you are coming so far for this cruise, have you thought about doing some city jumping while in the US?  Disney World is very expensive, but there are other attractions in Orlando.  And now Princess has a deal with the train (Bright something) to get you to FLL.   Or so much to see and do in NYC before heading back.  There are some great US National Parks near FLL too.

[Torfamm]

3 minutes ago, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

 

thank you. I think we’re stocking up on factor 50 sun cream before we go! My 11yr old daughter and my Husband are redheads and I’m just pale lol

 

Waterproof sun cream seems a good bet too

 

Our med cruises have been in August in 40C heat (104F) so I hope we’ll be ok with the Caribbean heat as long as we’re sensible.

 

oh good news about being more casual! Some Brits love to go all out with the formal wear. We’ll be glad to leave the suit & long dress at home & stick to smart casual in the MDR 😃

 

It’s a repositioning cruise. We leave Ft Lauderdale August 10th for 2 weeks. Covers the ABC islands and finishes in NYC. One voyage. Not repositioning. 
 

is this in US school holidays? I don’t mind more kids on a cruise. It would just be interesting to have an idea for our daughter. Who’ll probably ask to spend all her time in the kids club. She told me Princess was the best kids club she has been in so fingers crossed it’s just as good for her on our 2nd Princess cruise 

School holidays are variable here. Some end in mid-August but many schools don’t start until September. I’m sure you’ll see kids from both the US and Europe as well.

 

We leave next week for a Caribbean cruise with one son, his wife and their 9 month old. Looking so forward to it!

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

Just now, cr8tiv1 said:

Since you are coming so far for this cruise, have you thought about doing some city jumping while in the US?  Disney World is very expensive, but there are other attractions in Orlando.  And now Princess has a deal with the train (Bright something) to get you to FLL.   Or so much to see and do in NYC before heading back.  There are some great US National Parks near FLL too.

We’re staying in NYC for 3 nights before we return to the UK. Sadly due to husbands work commitments we couldn’t fit time before the cruise to do anything more than the one night in ft Launderdale. By the time we get from Miami airport to Ft Lauderdale it’s going to feel like 1am to us.

 

Husband & I have been to NYC years ago. Our 11yr old is probably more excited about NYC than the cruise at the moment. I think that’s because she is a HUGE fan of Rick Riordans Percy Jackson books set in NYC.

 

I know she’ll love the cruise. But Percy Jackson wins lol

 

 

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

Just now, Torfamm said:

School holidays are variable here. Some end in mid-August but many schools don’t start until September. I’m sure you’ll see kids from both the US and Europe as well.

 

We leave next week for a Caribbean cruise with one son, his wife and their 9 month old. Looking so forward to it!

 

oh fabulous! What ship will you be on? I hope you all have a wonderful time 😃 

 

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

5 hours ago, skynight said:

Your 14 day cruise will be mostly tropical with strong sun and hot days. On sea days there will be a large demand for seating around the Lido pools, especially seating in the shade. Your ports are all very nice. In Bonaire suggest you reserve a golf cart from bonairecruisers.com. The south route will take you to most sites tours visit. Bring water with you. Difficult to find water on the golf cart route. You can stop for lunch at one of the restaurants. 

The vibe is different than a European cruise. Think fun in the sun, not tours of old churches. Lots of beaches. Snorkeling. If you are into shopping there will be plenty of local vendors at all the ports,  as well as those stores like Diamond International which I totally avoid.

In Barbados silvermoonbarbados.com offers really nice luxury catamaran cruises. Suggest you look them up. In San Juan you can visit El Morro, the old Spanish fort at the top of the hill. Visit US National Park Service site for admission tickets. After the visit you can stroll downhill through Old San Juan back to the ship. A visit to El Yunque rain forest is also a nice trip. It is the only tropical rain forest in the U.S. Park Service system. Expect to get rained on. Curacao has a nice downtown street along the entrance canal. There is the famous pontoon bridge that crosses the canal. This bridge opens frequently. Don' get caught on the wrong side of the bridge close to the ships sailing time. Alternate ferry to cross the canal take extra time. 

Thank you so much for all that information about what to do in the ports. Fantastic!

 

I’m looking at trips to El Yunque now after the info you have given us.

 

San Juan looks Lovely. Reminds us of a few Spanish ports we have been to, Especially Cadiz. But we’re very excited to visit a Rainforest so we’re going to prioritise that & visit the old town if we have time.

 

thank you for the warning about the bridge in Curaçao! I think we’re planning on exploring the town and maybe getting a taxi to take us to a beach resort

 

we plan on doing a lot of Snorkelling on this cruise. I can’t wait to see tropical fish, and perhaps a turtle if we get lucky. Beach transfers are sorted for Aruba, all day, and Bonaire, after doing an already booked half day tour seeng salt flats, 1000 steps, flamingos (hopfully!) and slave huts.

 

Barbados we hope to go on the Atlantis Submarine. That is a special trip for our daughter to celebrate her doing her SATs exams,  and starting Secondary school (high school) in September. But thats only 2 hours so we may well have time to do more.

 

Dominica we have booked whale & Dolphin watching and hope we’re lucky to see some 🤞

 

thanks again for all your help ☺️ 

[Robkat]

8 hours ago, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

I'm apprehensive as well as super excited. We sail out of Ft Lauderdale to the Caribbean & back to New York in August.

It sounds like you've got yourselves very well sorted!

 

If you liked the Sky P, you'll find the Enchanted P to be almost identical;  we actually liked it a little bit better than the Sky, although they are so similar, we couldn't tell you why!  Just the overall feeling.

So, there really isn't anything for you to be apprehensive about ... enjoy these new ports of call! 

 

Have a great trip over and cruise, and maybe we'll see you onboard!

Edited June 5 by Robkat

[Torfamm]

39 minutes ago, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

 

oh fabulous! What ship will you be on? I hope you all have a wonderful time 😃 

 

We'll be on the Enchanted.  It should be a fantastic time.  Getting a whole week with our adult kids is always a treat. Neither of my children live nearby.  

[elaine5]

20 hours ago, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

I think we’re planning on exploring the town and maybe getting a taxi to take us to a beach resort

 

we plan on doing a lot of Snorkelling on this cruise. I can’t wait to see tropical fish

The Curacao Marriott is lovely and has a very reasonable day pass. There is good snorkeling right off the shore by the PADI dive shop to far right if facing the water. We had our own snorkel gear. You can likely rent some at the PADI shop. Email them directly to inquire and get best day pass pricing.  frontdesk@curacao-marriott.com

There will be quite a few kids onboard. Many NE USA schools do not start back until late Aug/early Sept. Definitely Carib. Vibe, lots of steel drum music by the pool, more pool activities, and pools very crowded.

 

Edited June 6 by elaine5

[deja moo]

Buy reef friendly sunscreen before you leave. Many Caribbean islands have banned non reef friendly sunscreens. It would be a bummer and expensive to bring sunscreen that you could not use.

 

Have a great holiday!

[john watson]

Drinking age will likely be 21 years old.  Both parents should be with children and if not but with grand parents for example or one parent sometimes need documents of consent to travel thus. There will be a lot more US citizens on the cruise and I should suggest Canadians with the finish in New York.

 

Regards John