Review -Sea Princess - 11/11 - 14 day Caribbean

[Cruise2End]

This was the best cruise yet of our 7 past cruises (4 Princess, 2 Celebrity and 1 NCL). The cruise was 14 days with 10 islands, 3 sea days. The ship had a problem with the virus during the previous 2 week cruise, so we were given hand sanitizer before entering the buffet or dining room and it was available in the restrooms and other public areas as well for use, but our cruise thankfully had no problems that we’re aware of. We had wonderful weather – a bit of rain one port day and cloudy and overcast the last 2 sea days, but for the most part, the seas were like glass and the sun was shining. We initially chose this cruise for the itinerary, and it did not disappoint. We also really enjoyed the fact that a large percentage of the passengers were from the UK with several others from Europe as it made for interesting dinner conversations.

 

Embarkation went very smoothly – we arrived about 11:45 and were able to place our carry-ons in our room about a half hour later. Since we flew into FLL, we purchased some wine and diet Pepsi the evening before. We had no problems carrying on 4 bottles of wine and the soft drinks. We forgot to pack a corkscrew and asked Peter (our cabin steward) for one and 2 wine glasses – not a problem.

 

Room and Ship – We had an inside cabin and it was fine with plenty of storage area. The bathroom and shower were fine for our needs. We did not use the TV during our cruise nor do we spend much time there, thus the inside cabin. Peter did an excellent job in keeping the room, even towel animals a couple of days which we weren’t expecting. The beds are not updated, but were okay. A duvet, no sheet was on our bed throughout our stay. The ship is in wonderful condition and is the perfect size if you prefer not to sail on the new mega-size ships.

 

Entertainment –overall very good. The production shows were good and you could tell the crew put a lot into it. The other entertainers were good. The music throughout the ship was nice but they need to change up the piano music a bit – if I don’t hear the theme song from Phantom of the Opera for some time it’s okay. The music in the Wheelhouse Bar was really good, but unfortunately they need to turn the volume down a few notches so you can hear the person sitting next to you. It was a shame because this was a great place to meet for a before dinner drink, but you need to be able to converse. I must admit we enjoyed the fact that the casino was small, bingo was very played down as well as the art auctions. This may have to do with the fact that 2/3 of the ship were British, but whatever the reason it was wonderful not to get reams of papers and announcements on these things. We did not watch MUTS, but I have the patters at home if anyone is interested in particulars. DH participated in a lot of the trivia sessions which were really well attended on this cruise. We also used the library (no paperback exchange on this ship but a good selection of hardbacks to check out.)

 

Changeover in Barbados – Approximately 1/3 (600) of the passengers (most from UK) got off in Barbados and another group of approximately same number embarked in Barbados. We were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly this went as you had passengers permanently leaving, passengers embarking and at the same time passengers leaving for day trips in port. The captain and crew are to be commended for doing such a great job here.

 

Ports of Call – We tend to schedule our own tours if we can find them. However we did use the ship tours on St. Vincent (it was Sunday, not much open and not a lot offered privately) and on Trinidad (again not much offered privately and this isn’t an area you probably want to go off on your own and venture.)

11/11 – Embarkation in Ft. Lauderdale - We spent the night before at Amerisuites – very good value ($75) booked thru valuetrips.com, (but recommend that you confirm directly with the hotel after making your reservation online) Not fancy, but adequate and included free shuttle from airport to hotel and free shuttle from hotel to ship as well as the usual free continental breakfast. We spent the day before using the water taxi to see Ft. Lauderdale – very reasonable at $10 per person for the day. You are able to get on and off as often as you like and we ate a very reasonable lunch at Max’s Grille at Las Olas (also very cheap drinks - 3 nice drinks for $12) – would do this again as it was very enjoyable.

11/12 – Princess Cays (tendered) - this place has a nice beach and some souvenier stands but that’s it. This seemed a bit of a waste because it took about 3 hours to tender everyone off the ship and then you had to tender back. Nice beach but there were many on this itinerary.

11/13 – Sea Day

11/14 – Tortola – We got off the ship and walked to the Speedy’s - http://www.speedysbvi.com/ which included ferry / taxi service to the Baths and lunch for $35. It was a fun day but climbing the rocks may not be for someone limited physically. – Great pina coladas at Mad Dog Bar near the Baths taxi stop.

11/15 – St. Maarten (tendered) – Tour scheduled with Bernard - http://www.sxmtours.com ($30 per person for about 6 hours) - he took us all over the island both sides (Dutch and French) and explained many things to us – we were able to spend some time in the open air markets on the French side and purchased some French pastries and a beautiful tablecloth, and then on the dutch side had to try the guava berry daiquiris.

11/16 – St. Kitts – Tour scheduled with Thenford Grey - thenang06@yahoo.com $25 pp for 5 to 6 hours, He was a great historian – we covered Brimstone Hill Fortress , turtle beach, and the batik factory . During the beach/lunch stop at Turtle Beach, DH had one of the best deep tissue massages he has had in years with the woman who has a stand near the Sunset Beach restaurant on Turtle Beach - $40 ½ hr or $60 hr.

11/17 – St. Lucia – We had been here before and toured with Cosol so this time we just walked into town and enjoyed the open air market and purchased some spices.

11/18 – Barbados – Tour scheduled with Livingstone Griffith - livy@sunbeach.net - $30 per hour for group of up to 6. He will take you wherever you wish to see whatever you want. We spent most of our time driving around the entire island. We did make some stops at a cave by the sea in the north part of the island, a lunch stop where we watched surfers while having local cuisine and the Sunbury Plantation.

11/19 – St. Vincent – We did the Gardens ship tour $56 pp – 4 hours – very nice and we had an excellent guide Jason

11/20 – Port of Spain, Trinidad - ship tour – Highlights and scenic drive - $42 pp for 4 hours – glad we took this tour as otherwise you really wouldn’t get to see much. Much construction around the port area while we were there and not the best of areas – the bus stopped on our way back to see women preparing costumes for Carnival which was also very interesting.

11/21 – Bonaire – They offered personal tours when you got off the ship and we took the northern one. Cost was I think $25 and the drive and transportation were nice, but our tour guide was limited in his language skills so if you take this type of tour would highly recommend that you talk to your driver to determine his English skills beforehand.

11/22 – Aruba – Wix Tours offers an island tour for $20 (buses are available as you get off the ship so you can catch a tour there. Our tour guide, Laidy, was very good and she had no problem with English – we later found that she lived in PA, USA for a time. They dropped us off in town and there is a lot of shopping available at this port as well.

11/23 and 24 – sea days – cloudy and overcast but wonderful after a port intensive cruise.

11/25 – Disembarkation in Ft. Lauderdale – Earliest ever - we were at the airport before 9 am. Because this was the Thanksgiving weekend – our airline wasn’t allowing check-in more than 4 hours before flight time so we had to wait.

 

Food – The quality of food was excellent, and we thought the selection was pretty good. I had a poor steak once but otherwise, choices were very good. They offered lobster tails twice and crab legs one night so no complaints here. (there were 3 formal nites on this cruise). We used buffet usually for lunch - food was good and they offered a great variety of vegetables at lunch. Breakfast was okay – it was a little time consuming at times if you wanted a fried egg or omelet because of lines, but there was always a great selection of fruit and they did offer both American and English varieties of sausage and bacon to accommodate the passengers onboard. Ice cream was available at the back of the ship in Horizon court between 3 and 4 pm each afternoon. Part of the buffet was turned into Sterling Steakhouse each evening. We didn’t go there, but heard good feedback from those who did. ($15 pp charge for this) They had a huge spread of desserts one day as well as a huge display of fruits and desserts on Island Night and another huge display for Thanksgiving. (Hope the Brits don’t expect that kind of a spread if they come to someone’s home in the US on Thanksgiving Day. – we don’t carve Indian heads in our watermelons  !) Pizza was good – we had that a couple of times for lunch and so were the burgers available from the grill by the pool. We did initially start with Traditional Late but on the third day we switched to Anytime Dining – (we were advised we couldn’t switch back which was fine).

We had no waits for a table but always requested the largest table available – some may have had to wait if they were wanting a table for just 2 or 4.

 

In all a wonderful cruise and wonderful cruisemates. Too bad Princess will not be offering this itinerary next year as it was a wonderful cruise!!

[Cruise2End]

Forgot to mention the formal teas every afternoon- they were wonderful. Scones were to die for - tea replaced lunch a few days for us. Princess outdoes Celebrity in this area by far, but there were many more that attended on this ship probably because of the passenger base.

[GSDsky]

A well written review. Thanks for taking the time as we will be aboard for this intineray in Feb. You brought back memories of this past Jan as we did the other one. I agree with anytime and asking for large table. We always asked for a table of 10 as meeting others is part of you holiday.

Thank you again.

[coiran]

I believe they offer it next year - we are booked on the same cruise on March 3.

 

Ron

[CaribbeanCrazy]

Cruise2End,

Thank you for writing such an informative review!

We will be doing this intinerary in April. I have pre-reserved the same tour you took in Trinidad. Would you mind posting a few details of this excursion.

Like where you went...what you saw...that sort of thing. There is so little info re:Trinidad. Any you can give would be wonderful.:)

The other tour we were contemplating was the Asa Wright Nature Reserve. If anyone has any details regarding this tour please post them. To me 79.00pp seems like a lot just to go on a 1 hour hike. That's why we are leaning toward the Highlights tour.

 

Thanks again

CaribbeanCrazy

[Cruisin Kay D]

Cruise2End -- Great Review!! Agree that this also was our best cruise in 15!!

 

We enjoyed meeting & visiting with the you two at all the CC get-togethers and around the ship! Wasn't it great that Steve got the 2 at Wheelhouse scheduled through Princess & even listed in the Patter? Didn't we have a great group of people from our roll call -- in fact everyone I met was soooo delightful -- enjoyed so much meeting all the people from UK and Europe!!!

 

Some additional comments:

PARKING: We drove to the Ft. L & parked at ParkNFly, which had free shuttles to ship & back and charged $9 per day. It was quite convenient & I highly recommend using this company, instead of parking at port. Those who did park at port had a problem getting their cars since we left from Berth #19 and returned at #4.

 

CABIN: We had a balcony on Riviera deck -- LOVED the location; HOWEVER the cabin, bathroom & balcony are quite small -- we survived without too much tripping over each other but we both constantly tripped over the chair. Thankfully we had the balcony on which to store our snorkel gear & dry our swim suits. Our last 3 cruises were on Westerdam (mini-suite), Radiance of Seas (larger balcony cabins) and Grand Princess (mini-suite) and we had forgotten how small the balcony cabins are on the Sun Class ships. Seems like Princess could utilize the wall space above the TV for some shelving.

 

ANYTIME DINING: NEVER a wait -- NEVER found the dining room full. Wondered where everyone was eating?? Only found 1 weak menu but can't remember which night that was.

STERLING STEAKHOUSE: Ate there 1 night -- delicious -- smallest filet migno HUGE -- Shrimp Cocktail too large!

HORIZON COURT: Perfectly cooked fried eggs & omlettes!! We never had a wait -- must have hit it just right....

 

EXCURSIONS:

Used Princess excursion at Tortola for "BVI Sailaway".

No excursions taken on Trinidad -- would have liked to take a "highlights tour" if price had been lower, since we were only there 1/2 day.

No excursion taken on St. Martin -- we just took a cab to Orient Beach & swam.

Did our own thing at Bonaire to go snorkeling at Divi Flamingo & Windsock/Airport Beach.

We went on privately arranged snorkel trips at other stops and enjoyed all of them!!! St. Kitts Kenneths Dive Center 1/2 day -- St. Lucia Island Divers snorkel/boat trip to TiKaye Resort all day -- Barbados Thriller snorkel 1/2 day -- St. Vincents Wayne's Tour all day -- Aruba Roberto's 1/2 day.

 

FT. L WATER TAXI: We also used the watertaxi on Friday afternoon!! The PERFECT way to tour Ft. L and find restaurants!! What a deal at $10pp!

 

NOT OFFERING THIS ITINERARY NEXT FALL IS A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!!!

[bobpatj]

Thank you so much for your review. We are sailing Princess and the Sea for the first time, on Jan. 20th - the other 14 day itinerary. I hope someone will write as nice a review as yours about that one, before we sail. It's nice to hear your positive remarks about the ship, food and entertainment. We're looking forward to this cruise and January will be here before we know it!:D

[cruiseapril]

Thanks for the reviews. Would like to know more about Turtle Beach. Is the swimming good there?

[Cruisin Kay D]

bobpatj -- you might post that request on the roll call thread for the 11/25 group -- someone on Sea now might see your request & respond to you!! They did not have as large a roll call as our 11/11 group, but there were several very active contributors.

[Cruise2End]

We arrived in Trinidad very early 7 am, and because we were only there til 1 pm, they started the tours "very" early - even earlier than most of the tour operators are accustomed to. We boarded the bus and went thru rush hour traffic downtown (the guide explained they had a permit to do this because normally they would not be allowed to use the major streets during rush hour.)

She also explained that traffic on Trinidad is very heavy because evidently Trinidad is sent cars that Japan is unable to sell and they are sold at more reasonable prices, so most residents have the ability to purchase cars. We stopped at the Tropical Botanical Gardens (but this isn't much so if you're really into Botanical Gardens - do the tour in St. Vincent or elsewhere), then we continued thru town to the countryside, and went to Maracas Beach. There we could get off the bus for just a short time - maybe 45 minutes, enough to walk over to the beach to look but not enough time to swim or anything. There were restroom facilities there (and you had to pay to use if you were not part of a tour). On Maracas Beach, they sell something called Bake'n Shark. This is delicious- it's a sandwich of fried shark on homemade bread and they have a wide variety of various toppings you add yourself (whatever/as much toppings as you want) - I think the sandwiches are $3, but I really encourage you to try this - have tour guide explain the toppings offered. We then drove back through town and we went past several huge old homes that the tour guide explained. It was not part of the tour, but the guide knew someone who had a small business making Carnival outfits, so she had the driver stop and we all got to go in and see the process of how the headdresses were made which was really interesting.

 

I couldn't find a tour outside the ship's that I felt comfortable taking. We had taken this same tour several years ago when we first visited Trinidad and realized it as soon as we arrived at the Tropical Garden, but I'm still glad we took the tour - this one was much better. Unfortunately, a lot of your tour experience depends on the guide/driver and it's pot luck as to what you get.

[Cruise2End]

Kay, same goes here. We really enjoyed meeting you and all the CC folks as well as the other passengers.

 

As Kay said, Steve did a wonderful job of getting our CC get togethers actually printed in the Patter. I think you have to submit early for this, but we actually had others who had just lurked these Boards or those who didn't know what Cruise Critics was but were just interested in finding out, stop in at our get togethers. That was great.

 

Also for those of you interested, Sea has self-service laundries that are free -you buy the detergent, etc at the desk or you may wish to bring your own detergent, especially if you have skin problems. The laundromats are a bit in demand (the laundry on each floor has only 2 washers and 2 dryers) but it's still really nice on a long cruise to be able to have this option.

[CaribbeanCrazy]

Cruise2End,

Thank you for reviewing the Trinidad Highlights tour:)

How were the views? Did they stop anywhere for photo-ops...other than Maracas beach? Which side of the bus would be best for seeing the views of the coastline?

Sorry for so many questions!

 

CaribbeanCrazy

[Cruise2End]

We did stop for some views of the ocean and Trinidad but I honestly don't remember exactly where. I would ask your guide when you board the bus as it appears that the tours and even routes can change as the need arises, so that would be your best bet.

[CaribbeanCrazy]

Thanks Again:)

You have been a lot of help:)

[Pam in CA]

Great reviews! We were on the Sea Princess this past summer for a 2-week cruise and thoroughly enjoyed the ship and the British "atmosphere."

 

You're right that the balconies on the Sun-class ships are very small. They are. But they are also far more private than the Grand-class ships since they are "cut into the hull" -- enclosed -- rather than open with dividers.

[MaryPoppinz]

Nice review!

 

Do you remember where you bought the tablecloth in St. Martin? I bought one from Provence in Marigot several years ago, and it was beautiful and very well-priced. I've since searched the world and the internet and haven't been able to find one like it. It's easy to find similar Provencal tablecloths, but the colors and design of the one I bought in St. Martin were unusual.

[Cruise2End]

You're right about the tablecloths being unusual - we bought in the open air market there in Marigot - it was a booth near parking lot. This one had parrots and flowers embroidered and was perfect for the Jimmy Buffet/ tropical parties we usually host once or twice a year. I'm not sure of the exact size, but it's round with 8 napkins - it was $35.

[majorwibi]

Thanks for the great review(s)!!

 

Im heading out on this same itin on the 9th of Dec and this made me really happy we chose this itin.

 

If you have a chance to scan the patters I would love to get a copy of them. Email address is majorwibi@gmail.com

[katyj]

There is also a great little shop about half way down the main shopping street in Phillipsberg, St Martin which sells some fantastic tablecloths, and napiery. It's on the side nearest the beach. I spent ages in there last January, they had some really nice xmas ones reduced.

[MaryPoppinz]

Thanks - - I will have to check out those tablecloth shops, because neither of those is where I bought my Provencal cloth. I buy a lot of linens when I travel, but this particular one was more expensive than most (but still a good buy) and very different....and so I gave it to my mom (who has the same obsession, if not bigger!) I have been kicking myself ever since for not buying more than one!

 

Now back to your Sea Princess discussion :)

[two4cruising]

We were on the same cruise and did the following tours with Princess:

 

Tortola - Tropical forest walk and beach:

It was a four hour tour - we went with an open-air safari bus along the island’s scenic roads to Sage Mountain National Park with serveral photo stops with wonderfuls views of the different Virgin islands. At the national park we took an one-hour guided walk along one of the nature trails to the highest peak. We could see a lot of tropical trees and plants. After our walk we got a complimentary beverage at the Mountain View Restaurant. Then we drove to Cane Garden Bay and spend one hour there swimming in the beautiful ocean. I liked this tour very much because we got some from everything - sightseeing, nature, exercise and beach.

 

 

St. Vincent - Darvue Waterfall, Coastal Cruise & Snorkeling:

Our tour started with boarding a big catamaran boat. We sailed down St. Vincent’s gorgeous coast to the north, the guide pointed out the highlights, like the Fortress, villages and aeras (bays, caves) where the movie Pirates of the Caribbean were shot. Then we stopped at a secluded beach for swimming and snorkeling. The CC group which took Waynes tour was there too. Finally, we went to Walillabou Bay where the "Port Royal" film set of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean movie was built - dock and buildings are still there. Then we passed the island’s Bat Cave. After this we went out to watch for whales or dolphins. The captain of the boat said, that he saw a whale, but we did not saw it. Then we left the catamaran and boarded an air-conditioned minibus, which took us to Darvue Falls (= dark view falls). To reach it we had to pass a rope bridge which was made out of bamboos. Darvue Falls features a 75-foot cascade that plunges down a sheer rock face into a small pool. The pool was not deep enough to swim but you got a really good freshwater shower and massage, when standing underneath it. After this we drove to a beachside restaurant where a lunch buffet was served. Then we drove 1,5 hours back to the SEA Princess. It was a very scenic drive and we passed small villages, our guide pointed us out the different trees and plant besides the street. St. Vincent is a real vision, wonderful nature, unspoiled and not much tourismus. I really can recommend to visit this island and take one of the tours (regardless if private or with the ship).

[OCruisers]

These reports have been so very much appreciated by those of us to follow!

 

:confused: Did any of you talk to anyone who in St. Vincent who took an excursion offered by the ship called "Bequia By Sailing Catamaran"? :confused: Would love to hear how others liked it!

 

Thanks again for your time to tell us about your cruise! We can't wait 'til it's our turn on January 6th! :)

[Cruisin Kay D]

FYI: Somewhere along the line I saw a question or comment about the FREE self-service laundry on each floor -- the washers are front-loaders by Miele, so don't use too much detergent!! I brought along 2 little boxes of powder & used only 1/2 a box for one load of whites. The washer has a separate rinse option & ran that seeing there was still some soapsuds. The dryers are small & slow, so I broke my washer load into 2 dryer loads which took quite a while. However everything came out soooo nice. Many ladies were using the irons -- there are 3 of those per floor, I recall. The free washer/dryer is a feature I missed dearly last year on HA Westerdam!!!

[rolando]

Great review!! Thanks

 

Do you recall who the deputy cruise director and assistant cruise director were during your cruise?

 

Many thanks

Rolando

[English Tim]

Thanks for the review.:)