CB 9-30 review...long!

[alexspepaw]

Hi Alexpaw - love your review. We were part of your Cruise Critic Roll Call on the CB. Your review is spot on - we too stood on our balcony and watched as everyone cheered the latecomers on board in Cozumel. I'll never forget the sounds of everyone yelling Run, Run, Run!!!!

 

Truly this was a fabulous cruise - we are first time cruisers and are hooked. The CB is a beautiful ship. We were on the Riviera deck and our Cabin Steward Benjamin took the best care of us. Our egg crate matress pad was on our bed when we arrived, the robes were delivered that night and when we asked for Wine Glasses, he brought them right away, and brought us fresh ones every day. The icebucket was always filled - we were fortunate to have him take such good care of us.

 

To all of you going on the CB in the future, you will love this ship!

 

Enjoy!

 

Thanks for the kind words...this really was one of my favorite cruises ever, and would have been even if there had been no poker (but I am glad there was!)

[KorrunaKanuck]

We're sailing October 28, 2007 (Eastern Caribbean) and this review couldn't be more timely. It looks like we picked the right cruise and I can hardly wait for tomorrows review.

[alexspepaw]

Last Day – Sea Day –

If there has to be a last day, at least it is a Sea Day. After Breakfast – my bro is still wearing his damn poker hat – we all just lounge around in different areas of the ship. I get most of my packing done, as I plan on staying up as late as possible tonight. I fill out two cards for employees, one for Michelle in the Casino, and one for Vincente in the Palm Dining Room. Yesterday we were all laughing because we saw Vincente selling water to some people going ashore – there were about 4 of them and I swear he sold them 8 large bottles of water. It was funny because the rest of my crowd had just been ribbing me about him up-selling me the bottles of wine.

Re the late couple in Cozumel, I heard their cab driver got arrested and left them stranded…so glad they made it back.

Lunch – lunched today at the Caribe Café behind the HC…they had Sushi and other Asian dishes, including a nice roast duck dish. It was all very good, and I wished I had checked out them out for lunch before. So be sure and look at both buffets before deciding at lunch.

After lunch my wife made an interesting comment to me – she said she had been talking to another lady on the elevator, and that both agreed the service on board the CB had been somewhat disappointing. The comment kind of floored me because as far as I was concerned, everything had been great. I asked for clarification, and she said that drink service by the pool areas had been hap-hazard. She only drinks soft drinks, but it goes to show you how something that is un-important to one person (me), can change another person’s total perception. I pointed out that I thought in-adequate pool service was not enough for her to make such a sweeping statement, and she reluctantly agreed (that doesn’t happen often, believe me.) I do think they need to add soda fountains in all the restaurants so the waiters do not have to go to a bar to get a soft drink.

We go to bingo twice, and a honeymooner from England (Liverpool? Dang scouser!) wins the $2500 jackpot. One of the things I really enjoyed about this cruise was getting to talk real football with all the UK cruisers. I was talking to one of the bartenders the first day; found out he was a City fan and he told me I was the first Yank he ever met who used the term “football”. Of course my Spurs are off to a rough start, so he was giving me some grief about that.

Dinner – after polishing off our smuggled booze on the balcony, we went to the Palm for the last time. I had the chicken and mushroom puff pastry, the linguini with clams, and then rare Prime Rib –all very good. I finished my Brunello with the Prime Rib, and them had one more Love Boat Dream for dessert, along with a limoncello(sp?) Vincente had been pushing all week. Mitch, Mike and I all gave Vincente and Elvis an extra tip in addition to the automatic gratuity. I had also tipped our cabin steward an extra $20.

Casino – of course I had to visit my friends at the poker table one last time…I had promised to buy my wife a present for letting me play so much, but she decided to take the money and play poker instead. She is playing pretty well, not losing money, when she gets JJ. She flops a J to give her a set, and goes all in against someone with AA. So there is $200 in the pot, and the ass hits an A on the river to take all her money. She turns to me and says “Thanks a lot, ass!” Yep, it was me. The casino host Michelle thought that was hilarious, and she says in her New Zealand accent – “who are we kidding here, you know she’s going to get it back from him”. And yes, I did give it back the next day. Dottie decided to turn in at that point, and I stayed until they threw us out at 2:00AM…I won an additional $470 the last night, to give me a grand total of +$1450 for the week. As we were cashing out our cards, one guy says he did not realize I had won that much – those of you who play know that is a compliment.

I treated myself to a late night snack upstairs, and headed back to good ole C753 for the last time.

Dis - Embarkation – as easy as Embarkation. We had breakfast upstairs at the HC…very crowded but we found a table. I saw our Head Waiter and gave him $10 for arranging the same table every night with Vincente. Princess gives you a color coded tag for your baggage, and a time and place to meet. We had 9:15 in the Coral Dining Room, and we were off the ship at 9:17, fantastic job. No problems finding luggage and porter, and we were off to the airport. My luck continued, as we had a 1:05 flight to Charlotte, but USAIR was able to accommodate us on their 10:00 flight, and we were home before our original flight left.

I know my perception of this cruise was colored by the PokerPro table, but even without that part I felt the food and service were very good. It was a most relaxing cruise, as we did not try to rush and see every show and do every excursion. I loved my aft corner balcony, and will try for it again.

Thanks for reading this long and I hope not too boring review – I really took advantage of this board before my cruise and I wanted to give a little back.

Keith

[figmentdj]

Great review Keith. It seems as though you always found a seat at the poker table. Was it ever crowded? Waiting list? Thanks.

[alexspepaw]

I never had to wait for a seat - but we always filled up and had one or two waiting around 10:00pm. We just handled the waiting list ourselves for the cash game...it was kind of neat the way we took over the table and helped new players get acclimated.

 

They did have a sign-up sheet for the tournament - you had to wait until the casino opened on te day of the tournament to sign up.

 

The hostess told me they have two tables on the Crown.

[barbarah33]

Thank you so much for the wonderful review!! I loved reading every part of it - and I have sailed on the CB before so I could easily relate to many of the things you mentioned. I am sailing on her again in two weeks and all of your great little details have just made me want to get on that ship sooner!

[Doug R.]

 

Charlie Sleeth was on the Piano and he is SO MUCH more talented that crazy man they usually have playing. It was the second time we have heard CS and he is flat out amazing. He is so talented.

 

Beware the Bert Stratton fanatics are going to detect that and get you ;) !

 

I don't care for him and I still think he has never finished a song ever. :D

[alexspepaw]

Thank you so much for the wonderful review!! I loved reading every part of it - and I have sailed on the CB before so I could easily relate to many of the things you mentioned. I am sailing on her again in two weeks and all of your great little details have just made me want to get on that ship sooner!

 

 

Thank you for the very kind words - I hope you have as much fun as I did!