Just Back From The Caribbean Princess!

[monk888]

koolcruiser,

 

Aloha deck balconies are covered. I was on Riviera, one floor up. Lido, Riviera, Aloha and Baja balconies are covered, while Caribe and Dolphin are exposed.

[Froufie]

Hi Kool,

 

The balconies on Aloha (and Baja) are completed covered and private but not very big, but big enuf for two people to enjoy the table and two chairs and the gorgeous view!

 

The Caribe deck balconies are the biggest and are half covered and half exposed to those above, while the Dolphin balcoinies are completely exposed and open to those above.

 

We specifically chose the aloha deck for the covered balcony (I don't like to get too much sun and wanted to be able to sit out without frying!)....not sure why these would be cheaper??? unless they are completely towards the front of the ship? Midships is usually a bit more expensive - we were fourteen away from the aft.

 

Have not been on any Voyager class ships so I cannot comment.

[Rustynail]

Froufie,

Thanks for the info. Do you get any sun at all on the Alhola Deck balconies?

Thanks,

Dan

[mary07054]

One thing I thought was strange while on the Carib. Princ. was that I hardly

ever saw anyone using their balcony except the days we pulled into port. I know it was very hot out there but my husband and I used ours alot at night.

[Froufie]

Rusty,

 

While it was very warm out on the balcony, day and night.....the sun availability depended of course on the direction of the ship....and location of the sun! There are definitely opportunities for lots of sun on the balcony! :cool:

[Second seating]

Great review!

 

Deana

[Spicey477]

I, too, went on this sailing, and hung out a lot with Froufie and her DH, so a lot of my comments are the same. I just thought I would add my 2 cents on things but I don't have a formal review... Me and DH are 27 years old.

 

Embarkation:

Luckily DH talked me out of being at the pier at 11am that morning, and we got there at 12:30. Still 2 hours of waiting in the sun because the electrical problem. I thought that Princess did everything that they could to resolve the situation quickly and effectively. We were onboard by 2:30.

 

Room:

We had an outside window room on Emerald deck (E 216) and Jesus was our steward. He was great and we always were hooked up with what we asked for. We were last minute buyers and the balconies were sold out, but in retrospect, I think a window was enough. It was kind of too hot for us to be out on our balcony a lot.

 

Entertainment:

We saw Sarge (great!), and another guy (not James the Kid) and he was good too. We saw Let's Rock, and it was good, but a little "Vegas" or "European" as it had some questionable scenes that if I had children there I would be uncomfortable. Not bad though...

We thought we would be partying the night away at Skywalkers, but we never made it up there. This was truly a vacation and we took the time to relax, and we didn't party much. We did bingo and went to the art auction twice. We really enjoyed it, as we didn't know much about art going into the auction.

My husband did the few free golf things and enjoyed that. We also attended horse racing and Princess Idol. We didn't lay out much (as we live in FL and are used to being outside in the heat and can do it at home!:)), because of the heat and because it was very windy. My hair was all over the place and I could barely read a magazine and it would drive me nuts. I think I would be out all the time if I took a cruise in the winter, though.

 

Spa:

We had 3 treatments done. I had the steaming stones 50 min. massage. The spa is a beautiful facility and very well run. All of the people that work there are very friendly and professional. The stones were hot, but I got used to it and it was a great relaxing massage. My husband got the 50 min. Swedish massage and really enjoyed it as well. I also got an Aromavedic facial that was a lot of fun because Melissa the aesthetician was very friendly and pretty much we just talked the whole time. I wouldn't say that the facial was worth the money (I think $100 on port day) though, but it was a great time. I would think for $100, I would get a very intensive facial with lots of steaming and products and stuff, I think the products that they use are very expensive and that is what reflects in the price. She didn't push any products on me. I highly recommend the spa.

 

Ports:

In St. Thomas, I shopped (didn't buy anything) and my husband took the ship sponsored excursion to play golf at Mahogany Run. He had a lot of fun with the people that he played with and since he played well, it was a good time. However, he thought it was quite pricey ($170 to play, $30 to rent clubs, and $10 a SLEEVE for balls, and the pro sort of acted like they were included), and thought that next time he would be better off playing there without going through the adventures ashore. It was REALLY hot, so after he was done we just went back to the ship to relax.

 

Preface: I used to live in France, so I am a lover of all things French. I was disappointed that the adventures ashore and Nicole (shopping guru onboard) didn't really mention the French side of St. Martin much. It seemed like St. Maarten was really their focus.

We got off of the ship and went to rent a car (walk off pier and go to your right). After haggling with the companies, we got a Toyota jeep thing for $40 for the whole day. We got a map and took off. We drove around the whole island and really got to see the spirit of both sides of St. Martin. It was great. Orient Beach was amazing and we stopped and got some rental brochures to come back and visit, absolutely beautiful! We went to Marigot, and unfortunately it was during lunchtime and as it is in France, everything is closed during lunch. But, it is lovely and very French and not crazy and congested like Philipsburg. We finished driving around the island and it was just a really great day, I highly recommend it! We drove through Philipsburg but couldn't find a place to park, so we just went back as it was time to return the car.

 

Food:

Food was amazing and we have a few extra lbs. to account for it!:)

We chose PC dining because we like to be very flexible and eat very late if we want and wherever we want. We ate at Sterlings one night and it was excellent and worth more than the $15 cover charge! The same meal at Ruth's Chris would cost you $60 per person. We didn't do Sabatini's because I am not a seafood lover and also they were booked when we were going to go with some CC friends. We ate in the dining room 4 nights, Sabatini's once and Caribe Cafe twice. I didn't think that I would like eating buffet in a formal on formal night, but it was great. I loved the food in there, Carribean night, and on the second formal night they had beef wellington in there as well. Don't miss the desserts in there, they are excellent. Of course, we also ate a lot of pizza and hot dogs too during the day because the Horizon lunch tended to be a little lacking to our tastes.

For our next cruise (we have pre-booked another) with Princess, we will probably do Traditional. We liked the flexibility of PC, but the dining room was lacking in personal service and that cameraderie that you have with your waitstaff and the other people at your table. That is one of the special things about cruising.

 

Staff:

Graham Seymour was funny, but a little cheesy. He had a catchphrase "BYE!", kind of like "Seacrest OUT", and it was kind of like, ughh. I liked his morning program and we watched it every day. He was good at the horse races and singing at Island Night. He tortures Nicole the shopper every morning on TV and that is fun to watch.

As I said, our steward was great and we rewarded him generously for his service to us. He and my DH talked for about an hour one night and DH got all the skinny on him (he has worked for Princess for 9 years, his favorite place in St. Thomas is KMart, and he has won the staff kareoke championship many times!:)). Like Froufie said, the barstaff seemed a bit cool, and when you approach them friendly with a smile (I also work in foodservice and am VERY sensitive to all servicepeople), they aren't SO friendly back (mostly the poolside bars). The Explorer's Lounge bartender was very nice. I find that the cocktail servers outside take ages to get back to you with a drink, and it is much quicker just to go straight to the bar. But, I want them to get tips too, so I just ordered through them and waited for my drink (sometimes up to 10 minutes).

 

This was a great cruise, our first one, and we met some wonderful people through our Roll Call board here on CC. We had a blast with them and they truly made the cruise wonderful for us. I would definitely sail on the CP again and it was a great, relaxing, fun vacation.

 

Ok, at the start I said I didn't have a full review, sorry for those who thought that this would be short, I just got on a roll! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

[gopher's girl]

Thanks Spicey :) Great to hear your side of the ship, um, story!! Still sad that we didn't meet up. Where is your next cruise to?

[Froufie]

Ya Spicey - where are we cruising to next??? :D :p :D

 

Forget to tell you that Gopher's girl was on the SAME PLANE AS US on our return via Philadelphia, sitting just two rows in front of us - and we did not meet! How excruciating is that! :eek:

[gopher's girl]

That is so painful! I was telling Gopher about that and he couldn't believe it.

 

I am going to track down that comfy pillow that the girl in front of me had - she said it was from "bed, bath & beyond".

[Spicey477]

GG, we were looking for a tall gal everywhere. Who knows, we probably crossed paths many times as we always felt like we saw the same people over and over!

 

As for my pre-booking, no plans yet. Mr. Spicey has spring break from Feb 26-Mar 6, so I have been checking out those dates. There are a couple of itineraries then, like out of Galveston on the Grand, the CP of course, and out of LA on the Diamond. Since now we are out of FL, airfare is usually around $200 to any of those ports from Detroit. No matter what we do, I am really excited to start planning it!!!:)

 

I hope that you all are coming off of pcd and buckling up for fall. Not only do I have pcd, but I have "moving out of Florida just in time for Michigan fall/winter", so double depression!:) I bought a new pretty house here to get over it!

 

Take Care!

[budcann]

We'll be there in one week! Really looking forward to it. Sailed Grand several years ago, tried Celebrity, going "home" to Princess.

What is "Marigot"? We're looking for some ideas in St. Martin, thanks again!!

[Froufie]

I am envious and jealous and now missing my cruise and cruise buddies immensely. You will have a fabulous time!

 

Marigot is the capital of the French side (St. Martin) - very french and european-like, and Phillipsburg is the capital of the Dutch side (St. Maarten).

 

Have fun!...and hope you can post your experiences when you return!

 

Froufie

[Piperschic]

Froufie,

 

 

Thanks for the review. What is the balcony like on the Aloha deck? We are staying on that deck & leave in a couple of weeks. Is it covered at all? how many chairs/table?

 

Thanks!

 

Piper

[Froufie]

Hi Piper (looks like we're almost neighbours! :D )

 

Take we with you...please! :p

 

Our first "balcony" experience was on the Aloha deck - very adequate - we had two chairs and a table large enuf to hold all our breakfast goodies! - what a view! The balconies on this deck are completely covered - which is why we specifically chose this deck. Caribe deck balconies are larger and are half covered and uncovered - and the dolphin balconies are completely open - you can see both of these balconies from your view on the Aloha deck!

 

Happy sailing - have a SUPERB TIME!

 

Froufie

[crsshiplover]

Did anyone hire a driver for the day? There are 6 of us looking to see the island, take some pictures, hear some local culture, see the beautiful beaches, and hit the bar near the airport. Do you think I need to pre-arrange, or will I be able to do this at the pier? What do you think is a reasonable price? Anyone you recommend?