Canada/New England CB Review 8/24/08-8/31/08

[elisa456]

Through this last week I have found it very interesting to read so many different reviews and opinions for this cruise so I figured I would offer my two cents. I went with my parents having only cruised once before with Carnival. It was on an older ship on a shorter Western Caribbean itinerary and the food and service were just ok so I was looking forward to trying a different cruise line. My parents had used Princess a couple years ago for their Alaskan cruise and enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

Embarkation: We live outside NYC so we drove and parked at the Brooklyn terminal. We got their a little bit before noon and had no trouble getting right on the ship. We were on the Baja deck in a 3-person balcony cabin towards the middle of the ship. I was a little concerned about the room being too tight but it was fine; my bed came down from the ceiling. I loved having a balcony as I didn’t have one on my last cruise.

 

Dining: We had Anytime Dining and it worked for us. I don’t think my mom liked the fact that we could only make reservations after 8 pm but I knew going in that Anytime Dining is like when you go to a regular restaurant. The peak times are the busiest and sometimes you have to wait. We always ended up eating close to 8 pm though so we never had to wait for a table. I also heard through others that passengers that went before 6:30 really didn’t wait either. The only time it was an issue was the first night where both dining rooms had about 45 minute waits. Hopefully they can fix that in the future because even the wait staff told us that the first night is always the worst. I can totally understand why some prefer Traditional Dining but I just prefer to go to dinner when ever I want instead of at a set time and at the same table. Overall, I thought the food was great in the dining room and I don’t think my parents or I were disappointed in any of our meals. My dad has diabetes and there was always a dessert he could have and my mom has to be on a gluten free diet and they bent over backwards to accommodate her. We also went to both alternative restaurants and were very pleased. We usually went to breakfast at the buffet and there was always a good selection. I do agree with others that if you go during a peak time, it sometimes takes a bit to find a table. We went to dinner once at the buffet and we thought the food was just ok so we stuck to the dining rooms. Whenever we went to the Horizon Court/Café Caribe for a snack, we were always able to get sugar free or gluten free snacks, even if we had to ask. I also thought the service, from our steward to the wait staff to everyone that we encountered, was excellent. They were always helpful to us.

 

Entertainment: I am not much of a cruise entertainment person so we didn’t do a lot of it. As others have noted, the venues were crowded to begin with. I know that you sometimes had to go to a place a half hour or an hour early to just get seats. We sometimes sat outside the Explorer’s Lounge and listened to some acts that way and we went to the Crooner’s one night and listed to Bert Stratton, who was very good. We also did MUTS one time to see the movie 21. It was fun to watch it outside but half way through, the movie stopped and after 20 minutes of waiting (and no sign from the cruise staff that it would come back on), we decided to leave. We were able to watch the ending the next night on the TV though.

 

Halifax: I really liked Halifax. We just wanted to walk around the city so we purchased the hop on/ hop off tickets through Princess. We felt it was the best way for us to see the city. We went to the public gardens, the Citadel and walked along Upper Water Street and the waterfront. I previously took recommendations for lunch from previous posters and we were not disappointed in any of our selections. In Halifax, we ate at Salty’s and it was really nice to eat along the water. The weather was beautiful, as it was for most of the trip.

 

St. John: We decided not to purchase any tours and just walk on our own. We walked along Brunswick and Market Squares as well as City Market. We ate at Billy’s Seafood and it was fantastic. We also toured the Jewish Museum and walked along the Preservation district. We had great gelato at Opera Bistro. It was a very relaxing day.

 

Bar Harbor: I have only seen this mentioned maybe once but it took a long time for us to get a tender that morning. It said in the Patters that we should avoid a certain peak period if we could, which we did. I think if we had done the opposite, it would have been better because I read that passengers who went to get tender tickets a half hour to an hour before us, got off much quicker. It took at least an hour and 15 minutes (if not more) from the point that the tender tickets were given to us to the point where our number was called to go to the tender. Someone had told us that the process shouldn’t take longer than 40 minutes max so I was surprised it took so long. Once we did get to Bar Harbor, we bought tickets for a 1 hour tour on Olli’s Trolley. I was pleasantly surprised to see what we would be going to the top of Cadillac Mountain; I wasn’t positive if we would. Acadia National Park was beautiful and I am glad we got to see it. The rest of the afternoon, we just walked around the town. We ate at the West Street Café and it was great. All the seafood dishes my parents and I had there were really good.

 

Boston: My parents and I split up that day and they went on the Scenic Boston tour where at the end they drop you off at Quincy Market. They hung around there a little while and they came back on the shuttle Princess offered; they said the shuttle system ran smoothly. I decided to buy a ticket for the hop on/ hop off Old Town Trolley (used them before) and picked it up at the nearby Westin, which is a good 15 minute walk from the ship. I spent most my time at Quincy Market, the Prudential Center area and Beacon Hill (which I had not been to before). I have been to Boston a couple of times before but it was nice to get a tour of the whole city again.

 

Newport: This was the only day where it was cloudy and rained (well, mostly drizzled) but we didn’t let that get in our way of seeing the town. Actually, the night before, it was a bit rocky on the ship (the only time I felt swaying on the ship) to the point where people coming out of the dining room were saying they weren’t sure if it was the ship or they were drunk. My parents and I don’t get sea sick so it wasn’t an issue. The tendering for Newport went really fast (it only took 10-15 minutes to call our ticket number) and we decided to walk around the wharf area in the morning. We ate at the Black Pearl, which was also very good, and had great chocolate mousse. We had a Grand Mansion tour in the afternoon so we got to see The Elms, which was interesting and just toured some other areas of the town. By the time we returned, it was ready to take the tender back to the ship.

 

Other: On the sea day, my mom and I enjoyed a 3-service special in the spa where I got a scalp massage, shoulder massage and facial. I felt very relaxed afterwards. The spa itself was very nice and even though we didn’t go, we checked out the exercise room which also looked nice.

 

Disembarkation: We elected to do the “walk off with your luggage” program and it was chaotic. Again, I think it has to do with the time that you go because I have seen that passengers that went an hour after us, breezed right through and got off the ship. We got there at 7:15 which is what the ticket said we should do. They tried to filter people into the Coral dining room but it was just too many people and no one knew what to do. They then started to filter people out the other end of the dining room but it was a free-for-all at that point and there were like 4 different lines forming within the dining room to get out. Mind you this really didn’t delay us and we still were the first group to get off the ship, but I hope they make it less chaotic in the future.

 

Overall, I was very happy with this cruise. We were mostly lucky with the weather and I enjoyed the ports a lot. Even though there were some minor annoyances here and there, I did enjoy the ship, the food and the staff. I would definitely consider cruising with Princess again.

[Whimsy]

Elisa, nice review! Glad you had a good time and Princess was able to accomodate your parents special diet.

 

Thanks for posting!

[johnlcruise]

Thanks for taking the time to report about your cruise,.

Sounds like you had a good time.

[mii]

Thank you for a well balanced review. Bar harbor is one of my very favorite stops. Love it there. Have been there twice and would go back in a heartbeat.

 

Marilyn

[Clutterlady]

Thank you for a well balanced and honest review:)

[JandD Mom]

Elisa,

 

I was on your cruise and think your review was great. Thanks for posting. We were soooo lucky with the weather. It was spectacular. I think that helped tremendously. The poor people on the next week didn't have it as good, and they missed Newport.

 

Thanks!

[elisa456]

Elisa,

 

I was on your cruise and think your review was great. Thanks for posting. We were soooo lucky with the weather. It was spectacular. I think that helped tremendously. The poor people on the next week didn't have it as good, and they missed Newport.

 

Thanks!

 

JandD Mom - I definitely think good weather makes a difference. We really did get lucky with most of the ports and even with Newport, it wasn't that bad. I had a feeling when I was listening to the weather reports last week that one of the last ports would be cancelled.

[Casshew]

Hi Elisa, I was on this cruise with you... thanks for your review :)

 

We were so lucky with weather and calm seas... MUCH luckier then the cruisers from last week. Sounds like you had some great meals on shore, that is something we didn't really do except for New Brunswick.

[zacc]

Elisa

 

I will be on The CB Sept14th and was wondering if they do the Chefs Table? I am hoping you remember.

 

Thanks

[elisa456]

Elisa

 

I will be on The CB Sept14th and was wondering if they do the Chefs Table? I am hoping you remember.

 

Thanks

 

zacc - I am pretty sure they do. Personally, I did not look into it but I know the poster Beckcab mentioned in the review posted a while back. I believe this is the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=836912

 

I am glad I did research on the Ports of Call forums because I received tons of restaurant ideas from there.