Just off the CB 4/1-4/8 (Long)

[shellfreak]

I've been home since 11am, unpacked, did some laundry and now have a minute. First let me say thanks to everyone on the board. Your information is priceless. This was our second cruise. There was a couple of minor bumps but otherwise it was a great cruise. The weather & seas were fantastic all week.

 

Since we live in West Palm Beach, we drove to the port. We arrived around 12:20 and were in our room in by 12:40. We checked out our room Aloha 201 on the Starboard side. It is the very last passenger cabin on the deck. We would sit on our balcony and watch the bridge.

 

Spa- booked the Sanctuary and the mud room. Both were great. Special for both-- $175. Otherwise the Sanctuary is $109 for the week and the mud room is $83.

 

Food- Was excellent. We ate in the Caribe Cafe, Coral dining room and Trident grill. The first night we ate in the Caribe Cafe for the seafood buffet. The crab legs were awesome. Did not care for the lobster there. However on the 2nd formal night it was very sweet & delicious. The first formal night we ate in the Coral dining room. Our waiter had no help. He did everything himself and dinner took over 3 hours. Someone at our table complained and they sent a bottle of wine to their room. The waiter offered no excuse. He just said it was his job.

 

Service- excellent. Our steward Eric was very polite & whatever you needed he made sure you got it. We tipped him extra and told him how much we appreciated how he took care of us.

 

Smells- Aloha mid ship had a sewage smell. The 2nd night our toliet didn't work & we called for service. They told my husband it was being worked on and when we woke up they worked again. The next night it didn't work again but did when we woke up. There was the ususal smoke in the Casino that you would catch a whiff of every now & then.

 

Shows- we saw Phil Tag & Steve Moris. Both were hysterical. We bought Steve Moris' dvd.

 

MUTS- loved it. Watched Good Night & Good Luck & Walk the Line. It was nice to see that they had something for everybody.

 

This time we made an effort to see a lot of the ship. The sea days were relaxing. We played cards, entered the quiz contests, went to afternoon tea ( a must!), did the wine tasting.

 

St. Thomas- Went to Coral World & Coki beach. Awesome.

St. Maarten- Pinel Island water not clear in snorkel area.

 

Also we were late leaving Ft. L, St. Thomas & St. Maarten. Waiting for passengers. Any questions-- I'll try to answer.

[mafig]

Thank you for your informative review.

 

We are thinking of going to Cafe Caribe the first night also. Was it crowded?

 

I know it's a cold seafood buffet, however, are there any food items that are hot. Anything that's not seafood?

[ATL-Cpl]

Thank you for your informative review.

 

We are thinking of going to Cafe Caribe the first night also. Was it crowded?

 

I know it's a cold seafood buffet, however, are there any food items that are hot. Anything that's not seafood?

 

The buffet is served in the Horizon and in Caribe. There are numerous hot items on the buffet, including carved to order prime rib with horseradish sauce in the side. It's really crowded for about an hour 1/2 after sail-away but then it gets reasonable. Just look at it as a continuation of the sail-away party and not as fine dining. Things will settle down after the first night. Personally, I loved it. It kind of set the mood for the week...eat and drink things you don't get at home and have FUN!

[CRLess]

We checked out our room Aloha 201 on the Starboard side. It is the very last passenger cabin on the deck. We would sit on our balcony and watch the bridge.

 

 

Shellfreak,

 

We have C201 on our upcoming cruise in June. We have become very spoiled about our balcony cabins since our last trip on this ship where we had the aft facing balcony (C-753). Being that our cabin this coming trip is the most forward one on the Caribe deck, we are concerned that the balcony might be too windy while the ship is under way. What did you experience in the same cabin a few decks above?

 

Was there any noticable movement of the ship so far forward?

[shellfreak]

CR Less:

 

Our balcony wasn't that windy. Sundeck on 16 sometimes was windy, but it was hot out so it felt good. We couldn't have asked for better weather and seas. Have a great time & I hope your weather is just as nice or better.

[Fuzzzy]

Great post. Thank you for sharing. It sounded like you had a terrific cruise.

 

In Feb 2006, I too smelled the stange smoke (almost like plastic brurning) in and around the casino are.

 

I really liked Coral World and Coki Beach is a definite stop for a quiet and freindly small beach. I can hardly wait to go back again. :)

[nvtia]

Gosh, I'm jealous that you were home and unpacked by 11:00! Being from the west coast we didn't get home until late at night and I for sure didn't get unpacked for a couple of weeks....! I'm glad to hear you had such a good time.

 

We sooo loved Pinel Island. We were there mid March and the snorkeling was great. The two of us also shared a fifty dollar lunch, a nap under a palm tree and enjoyed hearing French spoken by most everyone. Did you eat there and spend time on the beach? We got there too early for the water taxi so we went to Orient Beach to kill time.

[chriscruise]

I was on the CB the week before you and I just kept thinking of what all of you lucky people onboard were doing as the week progressed. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. We also really enjoyed Steve Moris. Even my 10 y/o was giggling like crazy with him! Thanks for the review...I miss being on the Caribbean Princess!

[shellfreak]

nvtia: no we didn't eat on the island. We did the early exursion and while we were getting ready to leave they were starting to serve lunch. We hung out, took pics and basically just vegged. It was great.

 

I didn't mention it earlier but we bought the dvd they offer. It's nice to show your friends & family that haven't cruised before.

[seamare]

tell me more about the spa sanctuary - wondering if this is something i would like to do with my mother on our next cruise.