Caribbean Princess Review 9-18 9-day

[fig414]

What can I say. It was a tremendous cruise from start to finish. There seems to be some grumbling going around about our cruise and the next one. I think this is very natural because of the abrupt changes that everyone had to endure. After all they changed our intinerary from East to West and mid-cruise cut out Nassau as our 3rd stop and then added 2 days that thru a lot of people into a frenzy quite naturally as plans had to be changed in less than optimal conditions. We were lucky as we had plans to stay in Fla for the week after so the changes for us were great as we a nine day glorious cruise. So here goes:

Embarkation: Stayed per-cruise one night at Wyndham A/P ($50/Priceline) which was very nice and after 5/10 min cab arrived @11:20 and got on line. 11:35 doors opened and line started to move. We were in cabin @12:05. Very very smooth. Only line was for security.

Room: Dolphin mini suite. Incredible cabin. So much space and big balcony with 2 reclining chairs with cushions, 2 regular chairs, a table and a small table/drink stand. The bathroom was great size with tub and shower. The extra area in the cabin had a very big couch, a comfortable chair, extra TV, and extra counter space under the TV. The mini-suite is a must if you can spend the extra bucks. Even it you can't afford it, it's worth it.

The Ship: It's gorgeous. Very elegant. We thought the 2 main decks (6 and 7) were pretty hard to negotiate and are set up strangely but we figured it out after a while.

Dining: Our 1st foray into PC dining and did not know what to expect. We loved it to death. The 1st 2 nights we sat with other people and met some really nice people of all ages (we are 40ish). When we asked to sit alone we were sat right away with no wait. There were always plenty of open tables for 2 on each night which was great in the Palm. We thought the food was excellent and the service the same and we never had the same waiter. My wife is a chef, so she knows a little about food and agreed with me that almost everything tasted great. A couple misses here or there, but you are gonna get that anywhere.

Ports: Again, all plans went south with the Hurricane, but that's the risk you take. No big deal. In Cozumel we went to the new Paradise Beach which would have been fine except it poured for an hour so we went back to pier which of course was dry as a bone. In 9 days we figured it rained during the day for approx 2-3 hours which it pretty incredible but we know they know how to get you away from it if they can. We were not looking forward to Ocho Rios. We went to the new shopping/beach area right off the pier and had a blast. Margaritaville was great. Small but nice beach. Swim up bar in their pool which had a big slide in it and plenty of tables for lunch. Lots of people from the ship went here and the partying was plentiful.

Pools: Pools are plentiful and well spaced out. We never once had a problem getting a lounger and went to the pool each day. I laughed more than once thinking about the hysteria on the board way back when about the worry of the space ratios etc.

Nightlife: We thought it was a pretty quiet ship at night compared to our Carnival cruises (what a shock). The lounges were very nice we thought. The entertainment was very lame though. 2 shows pretty much sucked (Caliente was so bad). They had a crew talent show which we think might have been added on the next to last night that was absolutely hysterical. Club Fusion is great and they have many diverse things going on here each night. It's truly a multi-purpose joint. After 12 the only real place to go is Skywalkers. We think they should keep Club Fusion open really late so there is a choice but it closes after the last event, so Skywalkers it is. We went there almost every night and had a great time. Nice waiters who you get to know and the service is great. We met some great people up there too.

I know I forgot lots of stuff so ask away. I got a lot of help from this board and I'd like to give some back. After a week or so I plan to disappear from this board and try to get a life back. It was fun while it lasted. I think all the not so great reviews have to taken with a grain of salt. There were many people in a grumpy mood because of all the changes. Most had a great time and I know you will too.

[prophotogirl]

Thanks for such a nice review!:)

[consmarci]

Thank you thank you thank you! For a positive review and clearly a great "roll with the punches" outlook! You really helped us get psyched up for our 11/20 on the CP. We were getting worried reading all the negative reviews lately!

I hope we get to travel with lots of folks like you who have a positive attitude. You made my day!

[CruiseFever]

Coming from a member who I know first-hand has no problem stepping right up and expressing themselves no matter what the topic your review has a great deal of credibility.

 

The fact that it's positive is a bonus.

 

Thanks

[spongerob]

Thanks for adding your comments, Fig. It's nice to hear that you had a great time.:)

[rickdeb]

Hi everyone,

 

We were also on the cruise from 9/18/04. This was our first cruise and we were a little aprehensive. All worries were put to rest from the time we saw our ship coming into berth on the Saturday morning. What a beautiful scene it was!

 

We had a balcony cabin on Baja (B331) and were pleasantly surprised by the size (bathroom lived up to all reports - tiny) of the room, closet area and balcony. We were greeted with champaigne chilling (we were renewing our vows with our friends who had the room next door) and a smiling and helpful steward (David). The sail-away with our new friends from cruise critic (sea bee's) was a fabulous way to start the party.

 

Despite the forced change of itinerary, the one day of rough seas (we were lucky - no sickness), the cruise was way more than we expected. We are now totally converted to cruising. We booked the future cruise and obtained the same deal for friends who were unable to come on this cruise.

 

Pools - if you want less hectic, try the adult only or if you just want to sun, go up one deck from the action. Dining - loved the PC - longest wait we had, for a party of 6, was 15min. Crew talent show (on extended part of cruise) was fantastic. Anyone going in the near future, be sure to ask Marlon (Coral dining room, usually with the water at the entrance) to sing, he does a mean Tom Jones!

 

CD staff - very unobtrusive. We had been told to expect announcements everywhere, all the time. Only heard maybe 3 per day, and they were not piped into cabins - only in public areas. Found all of them fun & friendly. Heard someone in the elevator complain about the announcements until he was put in his place by another cruiser. The cruise staff have a job to do, no-one is forcing you to participate in bingo, volleyball etc. Tune out what you don't want to hear.

 

Extended Cruise due to weather - while I think this might have been conveyed to us earlier on the Friday (announcement of port closure was made early afternoon, we were not told until 4-4:30), I feel the staff did their best despite some very disgruntled and upset guests. I realize that the weather did make for some unpopular changes, I also think that if you decide to cruise in hurricane season, esp during Sept, than you should be prepared for itinerary changes, delays and - the worst....a shortened cruise.

 

The new friends are a wonderful added bonus. Have already made plans to get together on Canadian Thanksgiving (Oct 11 for our friends south of the border) with some and our roll call is already talking about 'the next cruise'.

 

I guess it really is what ever you want to make of it. All I know is Rick and I had the best vacation of our lives and can't wait until we're back on board.

 

Like Fig, we'd be glad to answer any questions.

 

Best,

Debbie

[isujim]

Thanks for the review Fig..............

 

Just goes to show..........attitude is everything..........as most of us knew already.

[roe2ship]

Fig, wonderful review. Didn't you have to cancel this cruise back in May which you rescheduled now because of an accident with your spouse? That is great that it all worked out well for you.

[fig414]

Roe

We did have to cancel. Thanks for remembering. Because of the cancellation we got our mini-suite in Sept slightly cheaper than our regular balcony room in May. Then got 2 extra days to boot.

One thing I forgot in the review was the overall pleasantness of the crew. So many "good afternoons/evenings etc" all over the ship. And yes they were still pleasant on day 8 and 9. This despite not getting at least a half day off in FLL on that previous Saturday. I learned from a waiter we became friendly with that they call home from FLL on turnaround days from Fla because its way cheaper than calling from a port. This particular waiter we tipped extra in cash and he thanked us profusely

saying he saves any cash tips so he can buy his son a computer back in the Philipines.

[fig414]

One thing I forgot was the idea I'd gotten on this board that you can fill out breakfast card they leave in your room each night and ask for anything on their buffet. (Eggs, bacon, etc). No can do. Tried once early and tried once again to no avail. Oh, well.....

[Shelli]

We were also on this cruise, bringing along friends who'd never cruised before. For starters, they were upgraded at the pier from an outside to a balcony cabin! If that didn't make happy cruisers out of them, nothing would! :) Like Fig, we found embarkation a breeze, in spite of long lines-- I really never saw lines move so fast. We loved the ship for its beauty and never found crowds to be a problem... except for the lines at the Internet cafe when our cruise wasn't ending and we had to contact folks back home to make arrangements. Then it was up to an hour's wait in line!

 

Our favorite spot was at the aft pool-- adults only, never crowded, always delightful. I agree that food was excellent (although a little boring at the buffets-- same stuff frequently), but wasn't impressed with dining room service. It was just... OK. But everyone else we had one-on-one dealings with was very pleasant.

 

Other than the communications difficulties (not enough lines to call out! they need to fix that somehow!) due to the hurricane, I have to think hard to come up with any complaints. One might be that the captain is SOOO difficult to understand! When he was making his announcements about not going to the port, etc., we really had a very hard time deciphering what he was saying. Perhaps someone who spoke more understandably should have been the one to make such important announcements.

 

I wasn't thrilled with the ports, but what can you do?! We just shopped at the port in Cozumel (btw, Fig-- it rained there too!) and then went to Margaritaville as well in Ocho Rios. Loved it there!

 

One very exciting thing that happened is that my husband was a finalist in Princess Idol. That was really neat! He didn't win, but hey, being one of the six finalists was quite an honor anyway.

 

All in all, I loved our cruise-- and I loved the ship as well. And so did our friends, who are now asking where we should cruise to next! I'd go back in a minute!

[lynwar]

My husband and I were on the 9/18 cruise as well. Fig and his wife were part of our Sea Bees group,(as were Debbie and Shelli) who we finally got to meet at the end of the week at the Owners Horse Race-there were 2 horses purchased within our group and we all had a great time "trashing talking" about each other's and tauting the winner.(Both horses lost).While those in our group intermingled in small groups during the week, there was more than enough activities to keep all of us involved and we'd end up meeting each other along the way at different points. The Activiites Staff was exceptionally friendly and approachable and we learned three new phrases during the week. "Fantastic", "Good Stuff" and "Well Done", since most of the staff was from the British Isles. I loved the accents.

The food was good-not gourmet-but fine, and Hubby really enjoyed the Crablegs and Lobster up in the Caribe Buffet. We spent a lot of time up there, and in the Horizon Court. In fact, we enjoyed the first formal night in the Cafe, with our bottle of wine, an excellent server, Dennis, and a sunset.The tables are always set in the evening with cloths and silverware. It was a nice, intimate dinner for two.

I'm not a pool person, but enjoy sitting in the pool area by the windows, either writing, or people watching. Server, Uma, from India, was very nice and he provided me with a nice cold glass of water on different occasions. The Movies Under the Stars was on during the day and showed selected older, and more recent movies.I really enjoyed that, as people in the pool could watch, or from the edge or on an upper deck. I saw movies I wouldn't have seen otherwise. I missed Shrek 2 out there in the evening, but caught it in the Explorer's Lounge on one of our extended days.We also were treated to Monday Night Football, plus a Sunday night game, although my Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost that one! There's nothing better than watching a game on the 16th deck of a cruise ship in the evening air, on a big screen, while being served drinks.

We did not encounter any really bad or rude staff people.We didn't have an emergency situation when we had two extra days so didn't have the need for the internet or the phones.I did try to call out a few times, but never got a line. My cell phone worked once we reached Ft. L. Since we live 2 1/2 hours from there, and drove down, everything was cool, except for the extra charges for getting our car out of the garage.

In closing, we had a wonderful time, and have some great memories of this beautiful ship, which we shared with new friends, the Sea Bees. We are trying to get another trip going for next year. We saw her come in to port on May 8 at 5:15AM-with her lights on (I was on deck to see us come in after our cruise), and to leave for her cruise on July 3. Both wonderful sights.

I hope others will consider cruising aboard this great ship. Lynne

[OCruisers]

. I got a lot of help from this board and I'd like to give some back. After a week or so I plan to disappear from this board and try to get a life back. It was fun while it lasted. I think all the not so great reviews have to taken with a grain of salt. There were many people in a grumpy mood because of all the changes. Most had a great time and I know you will too.

 

fig414 .... Great Review! Please don't disappear! :confused: All of us need your help in planning our cruises ... and, certainly, you'll be planning another!!!!

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[DEERINH2O]

Thanks for the great review, though we are going on the Star, we are looking at CB for next year.

It was nice to hear a review that was fun.:p

 

Kathy

[waterrats]

lynne - thanks for allerting me that fig posted a review. And also many others from our group have joined in as well. I have some reading to do tonight and most likely will add my comments on the cruise as well.

 

Without reading any of the posts, this cruise was awesome. Best vacation!!!!!!

 

Fig, say hi to Trish for us. Maybe we can get together on Dec 23rd for a drink.

[lynwar]

Joe, I'm glad you found it. I've been emailing a review of sorts to Pammy Hound. I'm up to that Thursday, with the large swells. If you want to see what I've written so far, I'll send it to you.It's not nearly as insightful as Fig's but it's from my point of view and what I experienced. Lynne

I just went over to our roll call and I feel like the Maytag Repair Man.

The Caribbean Princess is a great ship and outside of the usual little glitches here and there most of us in our group have no large complaints. We had a wonderful time! Lynne

[newbiejay]

Thank you, thank you to you all for posting such nice reviews. We are on the 11/27/04 CP and can hardly wait. It will be my first cruise and I am dying to start packing. No matter what happens I intend to have a wonderful cruise and hopefully many more.

[lynwar]

newbiejay- have a great time. You will be in awe when you first see the ship at the pier! She is so high and beautiful. I'll be looking forward to your remarks when you return. Lynne