CB 8/12 - 8/19 review

[mseldga]

My husband and I just returned from the Caribbean Princess western route and had a wonderful time. I have cruised previously on Royal Caribbean and my husband had never cruised except a weekend Dolphin cruise YEARS ago, so we were both new to Princess. We took this trip for our 10th anniversary and, overall, it was very much the romantic getaway we hoped for.

 

We had driven to the port Saturday morning and my husband and I had disagreed about when to arrive. He wanted to be first in line and I wanted to wait until 2:00 or so and avoid the lines. He won and it was a really good decision in the end. We arrived at the port at about 10:40 and were turned away by a guard at the gate who told us the ship was still disembarking and to come back at 12:00. I knew from reading here that many people are able to get in well before 12:00, but we decided to obey - at least for a little while! We went to a nearby Walgreens and got some last minute items, along with lots of other cruisers. About 11:15 we couldn't stand it anymore and went back to the gate. We chose a different line and were let right in. Of course, by the time we parked and got down to the terminal, there was already a long line. Obviously, lots of other people had been allowed in shortly after we were turned away and we were slightly annoyed. So, if anyone tries to turn you away at the port, my advice would be to wait a little bit and then try a different line!

 

Anyway, we felt like we were far back in line until we watched the line grow - it was very long by 12:00. We finally got inside around 12:30 and from there the process to get onto the ship was very quick - 10 minutes tops. We were very impressed with our first view of the Atrium - very classy and beautiful! We quickly went to our stateroom on Caribe deck and were pleasantly surprised with our room. I thought the layout - particularly the closet - was a lot better than what I remembered from Royal Caribbean. Of course, we had a balcony cabin and I'd never had a balcony before, so that may be comparing apples to oranges. The balcony was very large and we thought the half covered, half exposed configuration was perfect. Our steward, Ren, came in and was very friendly. We quickly asked for an eggcrate for the mattress which we had by turn down that night. We also asked for robes and got those the next day, too. We decided that the chairs already on the balcony were fine for us and didn't ask for a lounger.

 

Then we left our room and went up to hit the Horizon buffet. I had warned my husband about the crowds we'd find, so we were thrilled to walk into the buffet and find one other couple in the entire place! We were completely isolated the whole time we ate and had a beautiful view overlooking the harbor. We then wandered out to the pools and tried the pizza (I loved it) and drinks - a double rum punch for me! It was early, but I thought a celebration was in order! That was the best drink I had all week and we still had the deck to ourselves, so we were feeling pretty great. Right about then my husband made me admit that he'd been right to insist that we get there early.:rolleyes: We had to stand in line outside for a while, but that first hour or two on the boat when it was so deserted was really special and I would definitely do it again. We wandered down to make spa and Sterling reservations then - no problems there. When we got back to our cabin our bags had arrived, so we quickly unpacked then grabbed two loungers at the Aft pool for sailaway. It was the perfect spot to be and we spent lots more time there over the next week! I should point out that my husband and I are fairly old fogeyish even though we're mid thirties, so we skipped a lot of the big pool parties, etc. that I know others enjoy.

 

We had anytime dining, so we headed to the Palm Dining Room around 6:30. We sat at a table for 2 and had Lope and Rodolfo as our waitstaff. We liked them so much that we went ahead and made reservations for that table for the rest of the time - other than our night at Sterlings and the one night we'd decided to try the Caribe buffet for dinner. The food was good and Lope insisted on bringing us two entrees every time - I didn't always like that! He also seemed personally offended if I didn't want a course or, particularly if I tried to skip desert! It was kind of funny. My poor husband couldn't fit into his suit by the end of the week. We also ordered a bottle of wine a few times throughout the cruise and loved being able to save it and finish it up the next night or two - it was perfect for two people like us who just like a glass or two with dinner.

 

We were outside and through with dinner just in time to catch the sunset - beautiful! Then we caught the welcome show - mostly just information with a little comedy from Steve Morris. We really liked him - he does wonderful impersonations of different singers - Neil Diamond, Bruce Springsteen, etc. I want to say here that we never had any problem getting a seat in the theatres. We ate early most nights and were usually going for the early show, so maybe that was the difference. We got there about 10 minutes or so ahead of time for everything and never had a problem. After the show, my husband tried out the Caribe seafood buffet and was underwhelmed - he thought the crab legs were really salty, but didn't try the shrimp or anything else on the buffet.

 

The next day was Princess Cays and we somehow ended up on the first tender over. We just woke up early and decided to head on over. We were so glad we did because, again, we felt like we had the beach to ourselves for an hour or so. We headed right after getting off the tender and got two loungers under a tree past the big groups of loungers. (Reading this, I realize how antisocial we sound! We were just really looking for peace and quiet this trip, though.) No one was around for a while and it was so wonderful sitting there staring at the blue, blue water with the beautiful ship off in the distance. We got a float, but didn't really use it much. The snorkeling wasn't great where we were and we were too lazy to walk over to the snorkeling area. We thought the barbeque was pretty good considering that it's all brought over from the ship. Loved the ribs! We shopped a little bit in the local booths and then caught the tender back. This was a very peaceful day - my only complaint was that Royal Caribbean's private island has hammocks and I was disappointed that there weren't hammocks on Princess Cays. I got over it quickly though and loved the paved walkways as I still remember trudging through the hot, hot sand carrying a really heavy float about a mile on Royal Caribbean's island.:p

 

On the at-sea days, we hung out at the aft pool mostly, although we watched Pirates of the Caribbean at MUTS one day at the MUTS pool and thought that was pretty cool. I was floating in that pool with about 20 other people, all of us staring up at the screen - pretty strange experience! We didn't hit the casino or do bingo (my husband made me promise before we left - I have a slight tendency to get carried away in the casino, given the chance. :o) We avoided most of the pool games, etc. We saw the cooking show/galley tour and enjoyed that very much. We managed to resist the heavy push on the cookbooks too. We also did the wine tasting for $9.50 and enjoyed that - especially when we got cute little wine glasses as mementos included - wasn't expecting that! We also did the mud room - Rasul thing, and thought that was great. I was confused before I left because I tried to book the Rasul through Princess.com and was told that $83 was the one person cost and that it wasn't available for couples. The first day's patters, though, said that the $83 couples Rasul was the spa special of the day, so we knew it was available and had no problem booking it once we boarded.

 

We didn't watch Piano Man or the crew entertainment show, but did watch Caribbean Caliente, which we thought was so-so. We're not really big production show kind of people. We really enjoyed Steve Morris's second show and thought the juggler was really good too. The comedian/magician was okay, but not as good as Steve Morris. We thought the hypnotist was kind of silly - but I tend to be cynical about those kind of things. One of our favorite things was the Newlywed, Not so Newlywed Show which was very funny. We really liked Josh, the assistant cruise director, and thought he did a very good job with this show. At the beginning, Josh announced that we had a couple who had been married 62 years. But then when he called them all up to the stage, the wife of that couple came up, but the husband had disappeared! I didn't blame him one bit! The couples were all very good sports, but prepare to be embarassed if you decide to play that game! One disappointment for us was that Bert Stratton was on vacation this week. After hearing so much about him from all of you, I hated that we'd missed him. Oh well - we'll just have to go again!

 

This is getting way too long, so I'll skip to the ports. We had booked a tour with Peat Taylor in Ocho Rios and enjoyed him. He had a cold and apologized for not being 100%, but his son, O'Neal, was with us too and he had enough energy to make up for Peat's not feeling great. There were 10-15 of us on one bus and we went to Dunn's River Falls, and then a tour of Fern Gully and the surrounding villages. It was a neat experience and we were glad to get to see a bit more of Jamaica - which we thought was beautiful despite the obvious poverty. O'Neal showed us lots of foliage, etc., and we weren't offered marijuana once - we decided we're too wholesome looking! We ate lunch at a beautiful place called The Ruins where we got jerked chicken and pork and a ton of other food - all you can eat - plus all the drinks we wanted, including beer and wine, for $15. The best part was the location - you eat at the base of a gorgeous waterfall and it was so cool and refreshing. A very nice experience with the only bad thing being that you have to walk a couple of blocks from there back to the pier. The walk wasn't bad, though, and the only time we felt slightly threatened or coerced was actually inside Margaritaville! Overall, Ocho Rios exceeded our expectations - of course, our expectations were pretty low!

 

On Grand Cayman, we had booked a tour to Stingray City and other snorkel spots with Captain Bryan's. We got off the ship well ahead of time and wandered around Grand Cayman for a couple of hours. It was very safe feeling compared to Jamaica and we had fun buying souvenirs, etc. Then we caught the bus to Captain Bryan's and then took a huge catamaran out to Stingray City. It was fun, but very crowded. Our guide caught a ray and we all got to hold it and pet it, which was very cool. We also had a chance to feed them and my husband did that. Water cameras are a must for this tour! The other snorkeling stops were great too with beautiful fish and coral.

 

Our last stop was Cozumel, but we were told shorly after we boarded that because we had booked the Tulum excursion with Princess, we wouldn't actually go to Cozumel at all. Instead, the ferry picked us up straight from the CB and carried us to the mainland. I didn't actually mind this at all as we loved Playa Del Carmen, but was annoyed at first because I had called Princess before we booked the Tulum trip and was assured that we'd have plenty of time in Cozumel after Tulum! We loved this tour though - it was our favorite tour and our favorite stop of the entire trip. Tulum was absolutely breathtaking and the beach there and at Playa Del Carmen were the prettiest beaches we saw. The water was turquoise (sp?) and gorgeous. We had a wonderful tour guide - Lily - who made the history of the Maya come to life for us, and she gave us a great history of Mexico as a whole. We had 2 for 1 margaritas and Coronas and were very happy campers by the time we got back to the ship. We plan to go back to the Yucutan peninsula sometime soon. This was the day I had most dreaded - I tend to be a baby about extreme heat and the heat at Tulum was overwhelming - but the experience was so great, I even got over that. Cooling off in that gorgeous ocean after the tour helped. Plus, I got wonderful chicken tacos at Tulum that were sooo good! My husband ate the tour lunch of a ham and cheese sandwich on wonder bread and was gazing jealously at my tacos! :D A+++ for Mexico and Tulum from us! Can't actually comment on Cozumel as the ferry took us straight from Playa Del Carmen back to the ship, but heard others say it was great.

 

Final thoughts - I was very pleased with Princess. I thought it was pretty comparable to my RCCL cruises, but slightly better food, slightly better service, and slightly higher class overall - less hawking of bingo games, etc. I liked how the CD would announce the day's events in the morning and then pretty much be quiet for the rest of the day - my memories of RCCL include constant announcements of "don't miss" activities that I usually wanted to miss. (Okay, maybe I am anti-social.:o) I also loved the fresh water pools and the adult only pools. Oh! I loved the gym too - I just used the treadmills, but loved the headphones and individual t.v.s. The kids on board were very well behaved - they tended to congregate in the aft stairways sometimes, but were usually just sitting around chatting, which didn't bug me at all. I did see youth security around a lot, which probably had a lot to do with their great behavior. This was obviously a mass-market kind of experience, but both my husband and I were pleasantly surprised at the privacy we were able to find - the Promenade deck with the sound of the ocean so close by was a favorite spot. We agree with the "small ship feel" claim. My main goals for this cruise was a memorable, romantic experience for me and my husband, and to get my husband hooked on cruising for future trips. This cruise succeeded on both counts, so I was very pleased.

[Bigdasher]

What a lovely positive post to read. Thankyou for going to all the trouble. We are off on our first cruise on the CB in October, doing exactly the same itinery as your own.

Which deck were you on?- what was your favourite cocktail?

So pleased that you got your husband hooked - better late than never1

 

Kind regards

 

Bigdasher

[Tatka]

Great review and nice way to remind us about our CB experience in July.

 

Too bad you didn't watch Piano man as it was better of two shows.

 

Did you go to Terrace pool in the back? IMHO it was the best pool of all... There we felt like being on the yacht!!!!

 

Did you go to Wheelhouse bar? Music and settings were fantastic there. :)

 

From your review I feel you should try Celebrity now.:D

[swom]

I really enjoyed your review. Thanks so much. It's so nice to see a great review from a first time Princess cruiser. We will be going on our first Princess cruise in April of next year and I can't tell you how much your review meant to me.

Thank you again!!!!!

[mseldga]

Thanks for the nice responses - sorry the review ended up being so long. I thought I'd just do a real quick synopses, but ended up with more to say than I realized!

 

To answer your questions: We were on Caribe deck - deck 10 - and felt that it was a great location. We were near the back, right by the back elevators. My favorite drink was probably the Mai Tai - I'm very into fruity boat drinks and loved that one! I think it was the drink of the day on the day we were in Jamaica. Tatka, I heard Piano Man was good and we were sorry we missed it. We did find the Terrace pool - I was calling it the aft pool in my review, but that's the one I meant. We loved it too! Definitely a yacht-like feeling. We found the Wheelhouse Bar on the next to last night and sat there for a drink and a couple of dances. I agree that it was a nice bar and wish we had found it sooner.

[cruzzers]

Wow! What a great review to live vicariously through your experiences! We are going on the CB in Dec and this just makes us even more anxious to get onboard. I think we will take your husband's advise and go a bit later to the port. I hate the cattle call experience and try to avoid lines every chance I get. Thanks for your review.

[pollyanno]

Thanks for the nice responses - sorry the review ended up being so long. I thought I'd just do a real quick synopses, but ended up with more to say than I realized!

 

there is no such thing as a too long review...

 

thanks, I enjoyed it a lot. :)

 

anno

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for the great review. We went on the Tulum excursion in January and enjoyed it as well. Loved Playa de Carmen too!

[pollyanno]

Thanks for the nice responses - sorry the review ended up being so long. I thought I'd just do a real quick synopses, but ended up with more to say than I realized!

 

there is no such thing as a too long review...

 

thanks, I enjoyed it a lot. :)

 

anno

[Tak8]

Thanks for the review. For your Stingray excursion, what time did you meet Capt. Bryan and what time did you return? Was there any time to do anything else?

[sherman931]

Geat review...sounds like you really enjoyed yourselves. In less than two weeks I board the CB for the 3rd time...can't wait:)

[mseldga]

Tak8: Capt. Bryan actually has a few tours going on, so it would depend which tour you were booked with. I originally tried to book a tour that left at 8:30 - can't remember the name of that boat - but was advised that with the tendering system they usually recommend the Buccaneer catamaran sail which met at 10:00. As it turned out, we could have easily made the earlier time, and if you feel pretty confident you can get your group up and ready in time to catch the early tenders, I'd go for the earlier one - stingray city was very crowded when we were there and I bet the earlier times are a little less crowded. Anyway, we were onshore by 8:30 and had until 10:00 to see Georgetown. We met at Capt. Bryan's at 10:00 and were on the bus on the way to the boat by 10:15 or so. The tour itself had three stops - stingray city, coral gardens, and one other reef - and we were back at the pier at around 2:30. The last tender back to the CB was at 4:30, so we had a little more time to have a drink and another quick walk around Georgetown.

Hope that answers your questions - let me know if you have any more!

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Great review. Personally I liked the location of the Terrace pool but found it quite cool back there since Skywalkers blocks most of the sunshine.

 

Would you mind if I added your review to my website??

 

Bill

[cruzinchris]

Thank you for the thorough and well-written review. I haven't been reading reviews of the CB lately as DH and I are currently booked on the Dawn for January, 2007. We sailed on the CB in January 2005 and 2006; obviously, we enjoyed it enough to do an encore sailing :D .

 

Your entire cruise sounded very romantic, and it's nice to know that you enjoyed lots of quality time together ;) .

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your cruise experience here at CC.

Chris

[mseldga]

Thanks again for all the positive feedback everyone. I loved reading anything I could find - especially reviews - before our trip, so I'm glad to contribute to this great community.

 

Bill, I'd be happy for you to add my review to your site - I loved reading all of your info and reviews before my trip.

[emdia43]

Great review! We had Ren as our cabin steward also and thought he was just charming.

Re Hammocks on Princess Cays- there were some,but you had to walk quite a way down the beach to the left of the dock to find them. They were in a shady area.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Thanks for letting me add your review. I have added it at the following link.

http://www.cruisingthecaribbeanprincess.com/review31A.html

 

Thanks again

Bill

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

Bill remind me to save patters and do a review and whatever else in Oct...

 

Since you've been soo helpful.

 

 

Ok..question..the ONLY Princess ship we have done was the Pacific..the ORGINAL one a few yrs back before she was sold/retired.

 

I keep seeing ppl mention a 'mailbox' across from the stateroom..

 

what is this/ anyone got a pic?

 

Meg

[prarie cruiser]

I was on the same cruise as you and agree very much with the things you wrote. Palm dining area and the aft pool are great. I also liked the comedian you did. Hypnotist was only ok, the juggler was good, but the comedian that appeared with him was terrible. I thought it was an absolutely great week. Also, I loved both the CD and Josh, also Romeo!

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Bill remind me to save patters and do a review and whatever else in Oct...

 

Since you've been soo helpful.

 

 

Ok..question..the ONLY Princess ship we have done was the Pacific..the ORGINAL one a few yrs back before she was sold/retired.

 

I keep seeing ppl mention a 'mailbox' across from the stateroom..

 

what is this/ anyone got a pic?

 

Meg

 

OK as long as you remind me to remind you!!:D I'm so forgetful anymore it's not even funny. I write myself notes, and of course can't find the notes when I need them. I don't know if it's possible but if you could get copies of the menus in the main dining rooms that would be totally awesome.

 

Have a great cruise. Looking forward to your review.:)

 

Bill

[mseldga]

Re Hammocks on Princess Cays- there were some,but you had to walk quite a way down the beach to the left of the dock to find them. They were in a shady area.

Doh! That's what we get for being lazy and staying in our little area!:o I'll have to explore more next time.

[mseldga]

I keep seeing ppl mention a 'mailbox' across from the stateroom..what is this/ anyone got a pic?

 

Meg

Meg, I think what people mean is the brass ledge that has your name and is on the left hand wall by your door. The stewards put the patters and other notices there. I'll try to attach a picture . . . hopefully that worked.

 

Prarie Cruiser - glad you had a great trip too - we had the best weather didn't we? :)

[serene56]

awesome review--- cant wait til february so we can try princess.

 

how do you get the balloons on your door?

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Meg, I think what people mean is the brass ledge that has your name and is on the left hand wall by your door. The stewards put the patters and other notices there. I'll try to attach a picture . . . hopefully that worked.

 

Prarie Cruiser - glad you had a great trip too - we had the best weather didn't we? :)

 

Hey Prairie Cruiser, did you bring back copies of the menus??

 

Bill

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

Meg, I think what people mean is the brass ledge that has your name and is on the left hand wall by your door. The stewards put the patters and other notices there. I'll try to attach a picture . . . hopefully that worked.

 

Prarie Cruiser - glad you had a great trip too - we had the best weather didn't we? :)

 

ok..thanks... yep... the pacific didn't have that...

 

Meg