On CB now Aug 11-19

[prarie cruiser]

We traveled to FLL on Friday. We had no problems with airport security or our Midwest flight, which had one of the best overall flight crews I have ever experienced (and I fly frequently). Stayed at the Grande Hotel (former Marriott Marina at FLL) where we were greeted by some extended family. Out to dinner to Outback where a nice meal was had and stayed up late talking and visiting. Took hotel shuttle to ship. Will post more about the Grande on the hotel board section.

 

I boarded the CB Saturday. We arrived to the port around 1:40 pm and were boarded very quickly. No problems with embarkation at all. The process had changed slightly from the last time (two years ago) in which I had sailed from FLL, I like the current setup much better. No problems with security. One silly thing I was disappointed about is that the staff always greets you personally with "welcome back to Princess". I did not receive that greeting this time, most likely due to the staff member being distracted by another passenger. Just a really small thing, but I did miss it.

 

We had requested a wheelchair for a member of my party and that was not in her room. I had to go to the purser's desk and sign a waiver, then the wheelchair arrived around the same time as the luggage a little bit later. They use the wheelchairs to help board people and then place in the rooms as requested. On a side note, the wheelchair has been a big help in the evenings and the staff have been very polite about it.

 

Lifeboat drill was no different than usual and I enjoyed the sailaway from my balcony, which was unusual for me, as I usually go to the public decks for sailaway. The seas are exceptionally calm on this trip, which I am not complaining about!

 

Dinner first night was in the Horizon Court where we enjoyed the Seafood sailaway buffet. They had tons of shrimp ( a bit less when my group got done) and lobster. It was good, but not super great. We were very tired and perhaps would have enjoyed more if not so.

 

We went to the early show and enjoyed the comedian. Plan to see him again tonight. Dancers only ok on this cruise.

 

One big difference I see in this cruise versus others, is the lack of public area musicians. I miss them, but realize they are marketing for a younger crowd. MUTS is not as bad as I had imagined, they have contained the sound quite well to one area. The thing I don't like about MUTS is having the screen shout at me while I am eating breakfast in that deck area due to that being the only seat I could find!

 

 

Second day was Princess Cays where I enjoyed a relaxed day on the beach. Lots to do and food was good there, though I did not have much of it. Water was great and a bit of snorkeling was worthwhile.

 

We had reservations at Sabatini's for Princess Cays night. We were greeted at the door by name. How cool was that on a cruise!! Our waiters were from Romania and Bosnia and were most awesome! We shared with our waiter we really did not want to do a 3 hour meal. He asked if an hour and a half would work. We agreed and we finished the meal at exactly an hour and a half.

 

Anyone who claims to be hungry when leaving Sabatini's must go in with a bad attitude and reject everything. I am still stuffed from the experience, which was absolutely excellent. I highly recommend it.

 

Piano man show is getting really old to me (3 times) so I only went due to other party members wanting me to go. It was well received by the rest of the audience. I have to admit I was bored and wish they would get some new shows.

 

More later, just to say its been a great trip so far! Oh yeah, so far the casino has been slightly generous to us!

[Coolcruise02]

Sounds great...keep it coming. :)

[PattiHere]

Thank you prarie cruiser!:) My DH and I are sailing on CB on September 2. It will be our first time on Princess. Looking forward to reading more about your cruise.

[trvlcrzy]

Quick FYI about shows... due to expense of costumes, sets and training, the shows stay for a 3 year run. (This is info from the "backstage tour" on CB.)

[evert9]

Thank you!! Look forward to your updates as we're sailing this weekend!

[montgomeryfamily]

Thanks for the review. Could you please post who is the Captain and Cruise Director?

[Tak8]

I'm looking forward to the rest of your review. I'll be on the CB next year. If you have the shore excursion sheet for Jamaica, I'd like to know the departure time for the New Waves Ocho Rios Sail and Snorkel excursion.

[prarie cruiser]

Formal night tonight! Most men were in dark suits, long shirt and tie. Very few tuxedos and then mostly older men. Women in all sorts of formal wear, but I saw a lot of pants types of outfits and shorter cocktail dresses. Its around 1130 now and most people are in jeans or shorts.

 

Comedian with last name of Morris is very entertaining. His material is aimed at the middle age crowd in many ways, but it is a little off color so to speak and very funny. Pool games today were crowded but fun. I retreated to my balcony for part of the afternoon and enjoyed the quiet. The adult pool near the spa area is sort of hard to find (go up to deck 17 to get to 15 in the aft of the ship) but I enjoyed it also.

 

Dinner tonight was the first formal dinner with beef medallion, cornish hen, a quiche appetizer, but I had a steak which was good, but not as good as the Outback. The wait staff was very good in the Palm Dining area. In general, I have found the staff on this ship to be above average for Princess.

 

The casino slot machines are continuing to pay off some. Perhaps I won't go so far in the red on this trip! Internet cafe is set up like a classroom. It is not as relaxing as the cafe on the Sapphire Princess, but it is efficient and well used!

 

I do not remember the cruise director's name at the moment but I will post it later. I like him very well, he is doing a good job. There are 530 or so children on this cruise, down from the 800 or so on the last cruise. They seem pretty well in control of themselves and the youth security is highly visible.

 

I did do a bad thing last night, but it was fun! Around 2:30 someone called my cabin thinking they were calling room service. It sounded like a teen. So, the first time they called I said they had the wrong number. A few minutes later, another kid called, again thinking they had room service. I pretended to take their order for chips, nuts and sandwiches. I told them I was unsure how long the order would take at this time of the night. Then I hung up. Hope they are not still waiting on their food!

 

No one sick on this cruise that I have seen so hopefully no viruses. Lots of handwashing solution available and encouraged by staff.

 

Please forgive my poor grammar structures in writing this but I am trying to hurry and my thoughts are not organized! After all, I am on vacation!

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

Could you tell me which night is Italian as I think I will go to the speciality restuarant that night...

 

Thanks.

 

Meg

[trvlcrzy]

Captain is Giuseppe (sp) Romano. Cruise Director is Tim Donovan.

 

Prarie Cruiser:

There are two adult pools. The aft one can be easily reached on deck 15 by going out the sets of sliding glass doors at the back of Cafe Caribe. Also, the spa pool can be accessed forward. Head to the sports deck (where the basketball goal is) and take a staircase down by the pool.

 

If you happen to have Stoyan as your waiter (Palm Dining Room in Tables 94-98 area), please tell him that Table 94 from last week is trying to email him, but we misplaced the email address. He has my email address in our envelope from last week. He is great!

 

Enjoy!

[TwoIfBySea2006]

TRVLCRZY................................

 

 

Just curious how long Tim Donovan has been aboard the CB.

It was my understanding that he was supposed to be on holiday

and joining the Crown on Spet 21st. `

 

Anyone currently on the CB that could confirm that Tim is still

scheduled for the Crown Sept thru Dec would be appreciated!!

[sueandkent]

TRVLCRZY................................

 

 

Just curious how long Tim Donovan has been aboard the CB.

It was my understanding that he was supposed to be on holiday

and joining the Crown on Spet 21st. `

 

Anyone currently on the CB that could confirm that Tim is still

scheduled for the Crown Sept thru Dec would be appreciated!!

 

I too would like to know the answer to this. We had Tim Donovan on our Star cruise last year and I thought he was terrible. I'll be relieved to find out he won't be on this ship when we sail in Nov. Crossing my fingers.

[emdia43]

I was just on CB in July and Tim Donovan was the cruise director- I thought he was the life and soul of the party and I REALLY liked him!

All down to individual likes and dislikes I suppose.

[prarie cruiser]

Sorry it has taken me so long to post again. Yeah, I realized later when I read my original post about the pools I had confused where they were. The aft pool is my favorite adult pool and it can be reached from Deck 14, 15, or 16.

Tim Donovan is the cruise director. I think he is doing a great job and really enjoy him. Captain Romano is on board. Overall, this seems to be a great crew, very friendly and efficient. Lots of yellow shirt youth security standing quietly by all the 530 youths on board.

I give up trying to figure out the dining rooms. On the first night I saw people turned away for wearing shorts. Last night in the Palm dining area, I was seated where a lot of people walk by. I counted four persons in shorts and two in jeans, one pair of jeans was really rather ragged. One guy came in shorts, left the dining room, and came back in a nice looking pair of blue jeans. I thought I would fall out of my chair laughing!!

 

Jamaica is not as fun as when I was there two years ago. Lots of people came back last night and complained of being offered drugs. It seemed every 20 feet someone would try to get you to rent their taxi. I am beginning to think it is not worth it to stop there, yet I loved Jamaica two years ago.

 

Grand Cayman today was great! Stingray city was crowded but still fun. I had never been to Hell or the Turtle Farm before, and actually enjoyed stopping at both of those.

 

Captain's party its usual self, then formal night tonight complete with lobster. We sat at a table with 8 others and very much enjoyed everyone's company. We stayed at the table long after all had finished dessert and just continued talking until we realized we had been there so long!

 

I have decided I like MUTS for the evening time but not for the morning time. Popcorn is served at the beginning of the show. RV played tonight and we all enjoyed it. Get there early for a seat. Casino not paying out much now and we are a little in the hole there! Internet cafe is well used, sometimes crowded, and sometimes the computers just hang up.

 

Overall, I still continue to like the ship and staff, though the ship is just a bit too big for me. Hope this helps to answer some of the questions.

[Tatka]

I too would like to know the answer to this. We had Tim Donovan on our Star cruise last year and I thought he was terrible. I'll be relieved to find out he won't be on this ship when we sail in Nov. Crossing my fingers.

 

Terrible?

 

I thought he was great! Very entertaining... :confused:

[prarie cruiser]

Back home now from an absolutely great cruise. I thought the staff overall on this ship was one of the best I have experienced. We all kept going around saying how nice everyone was. I loved the cruise director, Tim Donovan. I wonder if the poster who dislikes him has him confused with someone else?????

 

Tendering in Cozumel was very easy and well done. The pier we used is near the Hard Rock Cafe area. It made walking up and down the stores easy, so we did not need a taxi there.

 

We had lunch at Sterlings on the final sea day (Friday). Steak was cooked to order and very tender. They served the biggest shrimp in the shrimp cocktail I have ever seen! However, I prefer Outback Steakhouse. I really liked Sabatini's and was a bit disappointed in Sterlings.

 

I think we overdosed on lobster and crab on this cruise. It seems to be available several times (lobster and crab at sailaway night buffet, lobster in Sabatini's, lobster on 2nd formal night, king crab on Cozumel night, etc.). In addition, there was a variety of shrimp dishes available. I basically had seafood in some way every day!

 

I had room service two times, both times very efficient and food was good. I was a bit disappointed in the pizza on this ship, as it just did not seem quite as good as previous ships. I did not do the hamburger grill or get fries, etc. Ice cream is available in Caribe Cafe area around 3:30 pm, dipped by the staff.

 

I was suprised the water was the calmest on this cruise that I have ever experienced in my 10 cruises. I hardly felt the ship move at all. Whitecaps were the very rare exception. Guess I lucked out for hurricane season!

 

The last night they had a juggler and a comedian (different from the first part of the cruise) for entertainment. The juggler was good. The comedian was absolutely horrible and about half the theatre emptied out. For entertainment this cruise, they also had a night in which the ship staff showcased their talents. It was like a good night at a community theatre and I enjoyed it and appreciated their efforts. I would recommend this as some of the staff are quite talented.

 

Disembarkation was a little slow, but there were a lot of people to disembark. We seemed to not be cleared to begin disembarkation until later than usual. I enjoyed the Fusion Club lounge for Platinum and Elite, they had coffee, juice, sweet rolls, ice water and a USA Today paper available. I was one of the last colors called to get off the ship due to my afternoon flight time. I was off the ship and headed to the airport by 10:30. It did seem like customs was taking a long time to look at passports and I waited in line several minutes there.

 

Overall, this ship is clean and well managed. I had hesitated to sail it due to the size and a couple of earlier postings. I loved it and would not hesitate to sail again, but overall I prefer a little smaller ship like the Sapphire or Island. If you have sailed the Grand Princess or a sister ship in the past you will feel right at home. The food was excellent, service on the ship and in the dining areas was excellent and the room staff was very good to excellent. Entertainment was only average to me. As I had been to the ports several times in the past, I only did one excursion to the Stingrays. I booked it through the ship and it was an excellent tour also, though not as many stingrays around as last time I visited them. There is a good restaurant at the end of the pier in Cozumel.

 

I do wish Princess would pick a policy for dining attire and stick to it, no matter what it is. One other thing I noticed is this ship attracts a younger crowd than many Princess cruises. I also noticed there was not as much spending as usual on shore or on the ship. Many passengers returned from shore without any packages. I think many were fearful of buying liquor and such due to the new airline regulations and concerns about getting it home. Nice cruise, wish I was going back next week!!!

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Thanks for posting your review.

Why did you say you prefer a smaller ship like the Sapphire? Isn't that ship the same size except there is no Riviera deck on the Sapphire?

 

Did you bring back any updated menus??

 

Bill

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

Can you tell me which night is Italian night in the dinning room?

[kendon]

The Sapphire is one deck smaller than the CB.

[Totally Addicted]

 

I boarded the CB Saturday. We arrived to the port around 1:40 pm and were boarded very quickly. No problems with embarkation at all. The process had changed slightly from the last time (two years ago) in which I had sailed from FLL, I like the current setup much better.

 

How has the process of embarkation changed??

Thanks!

Barbara :D

[sbwhite2]

How has the process of embarkation changed??

Thanks!

Barbara :D

 

Barbara,

Not sure is this is what the original poster was referring to but when we boarded two years ago, you checked-in then went through security. This resulted in long lines at the check-in counters. Last year when we sailed, you went through security first and then to the check-in counter. This made the process much faster as the lines at the check-in counter were smaller and more controlled. Where it took us 30-40 minutes two years ago to check-in, last year it only took us about 15 minutes.

We'll see you on Saturday!!

Barb