Princess Cays

[mikesstuff]

I have not been able to find much information about Princess Cays. Can anyone fill me in on what there is to do there. I did hear its a wonderful place with nice beaches and lots of water sports. Do the watersports cost $$$? I'm guessing they do. Is it cheaper than at St. Thomas or St. Maarten? Also what about shopping, eating, and oh yeah drinking! Are prices decent?

 

We will be doing our FIRST cruise March 2007 aboard Caribbean Princess!

 

-mike-

[Aquarian]

Princess Cays is on Eleuthera (sp?) Island in the Bahamas and it's Princess' own private beach and property. When you get off the tender, you can go either to the left or to the right to find beach chairs. The ship's crew will bring food from the ship and there is a barbeque picnic provided by Princess the day you are there. There are banana boats rides, snorkeling equipment, etc. available at a cost. I'm pretty sure you can reserve these at the Excursion desk on board the ship prior to your day at Princess Cay. The waiters from the ship will be there to take drink orders and they are the same as available on board and you will charge them to your account. There are also Princess bars near the beach if you don't see a waiter. There is a gift shop there also owned by Princess and you can charge anything purchased to your ship account. There will be some locals there selling T-shirts and also braiding hair that you would pay for separately.

[cjoybaby]

We're looking forward to Princess Cay, but we are wondering if there will be sufficient lounge chairs. Also, do we need a cabana? We love the beach and hope to spend the entire day. If we get a cabana, can the chairs be moved out into the sun someway, or can part of the cabana be moved so we can get sun? Hope someone can let us know. Thanks;)

[cjoybaby]

If we rent a cabana for the day on Princess Cay, can it be rolled back or moved in such a way for us to get some sun? Thanks:cool:

[cabana]

someone asked for a cabana?:rolleyes: yes you can get as much sun as you like with the cabana's just get there early for the best ones.

[janetz]

The cabana's are not worth the money..They are hot to be under..With that said, if you tender in early there are plenty of lounge chairs in the shade. We tend to go early to grab a great spot and then after lunch head back to the ship before "everyone" else does. Enjoy, it is lovely there. :D

[tequilasunrise]

I've only been there once, here's what I know:

 

It's gorgeous, white sand and aqua water. The watersports DO cost more but are not outrageously expensive. You can reserve some equipment in advance the same way you book shore excursions (like kayaks and such). Or, you can pay for them there, shipboard credit is ok. There is a snorkelling area, bring your own equipment (free) or rent some there. The bar-b-que is free, safe drinking water is conveniently located in many places for free. Volleyball is free. There were lots of loungers when we were there, and hammocks too, but yes they did get full. We sat on the soft white sand and didn't really care. There are fresh water showers to rinse off.

 

There are a couple of beach bars, walk up. Drinks cost typical ship prices, including soft drinks and that is true even if you bought the soda card. They have carib-style music playing, really fun. If you want quiet, you can go to the other side and you will get it.

 

There is a very nice supervised play area for the kids.

 

Swimming area is roped off. There's a nice nature path in the back if you want to explore.

 

There are a couple of shops, you can buy stuff from Princess or from local vendors. Take cash if you are interested in local stuff, like hair braiding or bahamian straw hats.

 

Very fun port imo, hope you enjoy it as much!!

[cruzinchris]

DH and I have been to the Cays on 4 out of our 5 Princess cruises (one in the Mexican Riviera). We are in our late 50s and it's our favorite port-of-call - almost like being on our own private island for a day! :D

 

The island itself is gorgeous, but the water tends to be a little chilly when we cruise in January. It's also kind of rocky when you go in swimming, so be sure to take some water shoes with you when you go over to the island. We've never had a problem finding chaises in the shade, and we don't stay long enough to rent a cabana.

 

Bon Voyage! and enjoy your day at Princess Cays.

Chris

[mikesstuff]

Thanks for all the great info everyone! I am really looking forward to this port of call! Sounds like a wonderful low key kinda day. The only thing thats going to taint this stop is the fact that it will be our last port of call and knowing the next day we will have to go back to reality.

 

Now lets see 346 days, 21 hours, 7 minutes and...... TOO LONG!!!!

[dantesab]

we are going again on 12-3 and it is our first stop on the 7 day cruise on the carribean princess. First time we went on this cruise it was also our last stop so I know what you mean.This time they are going backwards for some reason but I do not care. The island is a blast but do bring your water shoes it is very rocky.check out this link for the prices.just pick carribean and then princess cays. Have a great time.

http://www.princess.com/shorex/shorexdisplay.jsp

[sunflower1972]

Princess Cays is great....just beautiful....a fantastic last day of vacation..we just loved it.....the only problem it...NOT enough time. We would have loved a longer stay here:)

[jnc411]

Hi, we just got back from a 14 day Caribbean cruise on Sea Princess, our first stop ,Princess Cay, we really enjoyed it. Had our own snorkle stuff with and spent quite a bit of time snorkleing. Go left of the tenders dock and a way down to the Gazebo near the rocks , that is where the good snorkleing is. The BBQ was good, plenty of chairs the day we were there, but we were the only Princess ship in port that day , might make a difference I would think. You need to go as early as possible to get your tender ticket, it took a long time for everyone to get tendered ashore. And some days it is just to rough to tender into Princess Cay, from what I have been told that happens quite often. We enjoyed our day there, hope you do too.

Cori

[tmthorn0927]

There will be plenty of chairs. Don't rent cabana - we did and we did not use it. It is hot in there and unless you get one in the front row, there is no room to move your chairs out and in to the sun. I did not think I was going to like Princess Cays but ended up loving it!!!

[Princess Chatterer]

Here's a few pictures from Princess Cays. If the server is too busy try later.

 

http://www.princessshutter.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=61

[OnlineMom]

Thanks for all the great info everyone! I am really looking forward to this port of call! Sounds like a wonderful low key kinda day. The only thing thats going to taint this stop is the fact that it will be our last port of call and knowing the next day we will have to go back to reality.

 

We were looking forward to it too - I'd read so much about it before our cruise earlier this month. Unfortunately, we were unable to tender to Princess Cays on Friday the 24th because of rough seas. My kiddos were so disappointed. I hope the next 346 days go by quickly for you! ;)

[Degen23]

We're looking forward to Princess Cay, but we are wondering if there will be sufficient lounge chairs.

 

 

There are tons of lounge chairs. We were there in early March on the Star Princess and had no problem getting a good spot with plenty of spots open even after the main group of passengers had landed.

 

It's a beautiful island, and while we did not rent any equipment, I noticed in the excursion hand book that Princess sends out in advance of trips that the rental costs were much less expensive than the other stops. Lots of fish in the water to see. The facilities were clean and well kept.

 

My only beef with Princess Cays was the short stay there. The Star arrived there about 8 am, but was scheduled to leave at 3 pm. We got over to the island about 10:30, dropped our daughter off in the child care area (which was great btw), and got around to leaving at 2 pm. However, at that time the line to the tender boats was about 45 minutes long and getting longer. Leaving around 5 pm would have been better to allow more time on the island and not having to rush to stand in line to try to make the 3 pm planned departure. The Star ended up leaving around 4 pm anyway since it had to get all the passengers back on and put the tenders away.

[cjoybaby]

Thanks tmthorn0927 for the advice on the cabanas. We are first time cruisers and all this info is sooooo helpful. Thanks especially to wOKie for the great pics of Princess Cay. I'm sitting here at my desk and the sights brought tears to my eyes. I am so excited about the trip. :)