The Caribbean Princess - March 9th, 2008
This was our 20th cruise, 2nd with Princess We are both in our low 50‘s. Previously we have sailed on five Carnival ships and thirteen Royal Caribbean. We’ll be comparing a lot with the Voyager and Freedom class RCL ships in this review.
We flew to Ft Lauderdale a day early, a good idea for anyone because of possible delays. We stayed at the Yankee Clipper right on the beach and were given a room overlooking the pool. It was ok, just nothing special. We just wanted to be away from the cold northeast. Today was about 76, but the stiff breeze made it seem much cooler. We ate dinner at the restaurant inside the hotel. Great sandwiches while watching kids swim in the pool. You could see them because behind the entire length of the bar was the pool which you could see into like an aquarium.
The next day was sunny, but quite cool. Only in the 50’s. I bought us some coffee and donuts in the hotel’s Starbucks and waited until 11 or so to head to the port. We were in the waiting area at 11:30 with ticket #5. They started calling numbers at noon and ours was called at 12:30. Once on board, we went straight to our cheapo inside cabin on deck 8, which was ready. We dropped our bags and headed to deck 15 to eat. Fish was very good, deserts, not so great. Afterwards, we explored the ship a little, then my wife headed for the hot tub while I rested my eyes. Back to the cabin awhile later and our room steward Fernando introduced himself. Our luggage had arrived, so we unpacked and headed to the Princess Theater for muster drill. Much better than out in the heat with RCL.
We opted for early traditional dinner seating. I had the prime rib which was very disappointing. Just didn’t taste all that great to me. The dining room was probably less than half full. I guess people had other ideas for dinner. Our table of 8 had only 1 other couple eating with us, cousins from Canada. We enjoyed them a lot.
After dinner, we checked out the shops. Same exact merchandise for the most part that every other cruise we’ve been on has. No surprises here. We went to the 9 PM show and our cruise director Dan Styne was quite funny. Trouble is that we almost never saw him except for the main shows in the Princess Theater. The nod for cruise directors goes to RCL where they are for the most part very involved with many activities on the ships. Not just the main shows. The comedian was a guy called Sarge. Turned out to be VERY funny. No disappointment here. My wife was quite tired by the end of the show, so she headed to bed and I checked out the casino. I wanted to see the electronic holdum table that I’ve heard about. No one was there so I walked around a bit and found a blackjack table to donate to. Lost my limit and headed to bed.
There was no midnight buffet. Again not missed by us now, but I do think it is too bad for first timers to miss this experience.
There were formal nights on Monday (at sea day) and on Friday (at sea day). The rest were “smart casual” with no semi-formal night.
We did not try either of the 2 optional restaurants. We also did not buy ice cream. We don’t like to patronize these places. We think it encourages charges for more services in the future, and is not a good trend for cruising.
The ship is pretty. However, we missed the large atriums we enjoyed on almost all other ships. This one is small, only 4 floors or so high. The promenade on the large RCL ships puts this ship to shame. Sorry Princess lovers. Even the older Carnival ships have much nicer (although somewhat gaudy sometimes) atriums. Theirs go from the bottom floor to the top floor ceiling. There are some nice lounge areas. The ship rarely felt crowded - lots of nice little intimate areas.
Monday and Tuesday were at sea days and we love them. We explored the ship some more and relaxed. As I said previously, we are from Upstate NY and we are sick of winter. We enjoy getting away and doing nothing. Lots of naps, reading and meeting new friends.
I think it was Tuesday night when I sat at the electronic holdem poker table. I loved the fast hands while interacting with the other players. One guy at our table started with the $100 buy in and was up to over $900. I did well too, but not that well. I ended up coming back several nights and playing with mostly the same players. Lot’s of fun if you like holdem.
Ports
St Maarten
This is one of our favorite places to visit. We usually get off the ship as early as possible and head straight for Orient Beach. Cost with a car load was $6pp. I believe if you have only the 2 of you, the cost is $9pp, but that rarely happens on the way over. This is paradise. This visit we found a great place to sit and what a deal! The cost was only $7pp. You each received a chair, umbrella, and a free drink. Any drink from the bar! How can that be beat. We stayed and ate lunch too. In fact we stayed from 8:45 until 3:15, it was such a perfect day.
After another great dinner tonight was one of main production shows, “The Beatlemaniacs“. We had previously seen “Beatlemania” on a Royal Caribbean cruise a few years ago and to this day, I believe in 20 cruises, it was the best show I ever saw on a ship. That show was an hour and 10 minutes including 2 encores. Unfortunately this show, although ok, did not measure up to Beatlemania. This show had too much so so humor mixed in and I didn’t care for it. I want to hear them singing, not joking.
Went to the Island Deck Party for awhile and retired. It was a really busy day.
St Thomas
Another of our favorite ports and it’s another gorgeous day. On this cruise we were docked at the Crown Bay, used by Princess and others. A much smaller and less busy part of St Thomas, the shopping area was miniscule in relation to Havensite where we had always docked in the past.
Unfortunately this morning, the first thing she says to me is “The room is spinning“. Well I know what you’re thinking. Nope, that’s not it. She is a very light drinker. After a few minutes, she was feeling a little better and we had some breakfast and got ready for the beach.
We opted for a close beach to this port called Emerald Beach. A very short $4pp cab ride and we were there. The cab drops you off at a hotel with bathroom, bar, and some shops. The long beach is really nice with soft sand, no seaweed, and great view. Chairs and umbrella cost $20 for the 2 of us and was collected after you sat for awhile. Unfortunately my wife was not feeling up to par again, so we had to leave after only a couple hrs. She was walking as if she was extremely intoxicated and was sick to her stomach. We’ll definitely be back though. The crowds are way less than Megan’s Bay and I think it’s just as nice. I managed to get my wife back to the ship just in time. Not fun! She stayed in bed the rest of the day. I grabbed her some rolls and soda and as long as she laid down, she felt much better.
I was hesitant to go to dinner myself, but she urged me to not miss it. Good for me, not so good for her. They had French onion soup, crab legs, and lamb chops. Favorites for both of us.
I watched TV for awhile with her instead of going to the show. Then headed to the casino for more holdem action. Another good night money wise.
The next day Friday, was an at sea day. Unfortunately my sweetie, although somewhat better, still not quite right. I brought her fruit and croissants and as long as she stayed horizontal, she was ok. She stayed in bed all morning and had had enough of that. She has a terrible back and it’s killing her to stay in bed. In the afternoon she went out on one of the side decks and sat in one of the chairs along the walkway. Nice at sea day today too.
We both went to formal dinner tonight. Served Lobster, prawns and Beef Wellington. For desert, we had passion fruit soufflé and a Love Boat Dream.
We went to the production show, “The Piano Man” and it was very good. After that we headed for a favorite of ours, “The Marriage Game show”. All of the lines call it a little something different. This one was not good at all. The person conducting it was only one of the assistants and was really terrible. Not funny a funny show as we’re used to. Here’s where a good cruise director could have come in and he missed the boat!
Princess Cays
The wife is feeling MUCH better and is up at 6 and already headed for the hot tub. This morning is very cloudy and we didn’t head over to the island until 11:30 when the sun began to break out. We had some barbeque food and sat some. Also had a $7.25 drink in a plastic cup and it wasn’t even very good. Very over priced in comparison to RCL. We walked around a bit and headed back around 2. The ship was leaving soon after that.
We’re winding down a great cruise, but a little disappointed because we lost a little bit of it because my wife was not feeling well. She suspected that what she had was Vertigo. She’s an RN and has seen it before.
Ft Lauderdale
The last day as you know is no fun. Your great vacation is over and withdrawal has a firm hold on you.
We met in the casino as instructed by 8 and at 8:05 we were led off the ship. Very easy and in plenty of time to catch out 11:55 flight home
Some Positives
Hot tubs and pools open all night which was very nice! Also nice pads on the lounges.
Few children and teens whooping it up - older average crowd than we are used to.
Some different buffet choices at breakfast, lunch (Horizon Court), and dinner. Good coffee.
Lifeboat drill was inside instead of in the hot sun.
Production shows were mostly very good.
Great bands. Great Piano bar with Bert with an E!
Disembark was easy. Just go to designated waiting are at appointed time and you are guided off.
Some Negatives
Most of the hot tubs are very small, and my wife uses them a lot because of her bad back. Enough room for only 4 adults or 6 very close friends. Many are in the full sun with no overhead protection. They also don’t seem to work at full pressure.
Drinks do not measure up to either Carnival or RCL and are more expensive. My wife missed her Love Connection (RCL) a lot. No free lemonade or punch at lunch.
The Skywalkers Nightclub on the back of the ship is really nice. It’s Princess’ version of the Royal Crown Lounge on RCCI ships. It affords great views and is always open to go and sit, but something we missed there is that there is no bar service until it opens up for business at night. RCCI gets the nod for this because there was always someone to take your drink order almost anytime in the Royal Crown Lounge.
Deserts, although not bad, were not as good on this ship as on past cruises. Dining rooms are all small with very low ceilings. Not large, wide open, multiple level dining rooms as are in many of the newest ships of other companies.
Internet is way over priced. 75 cents a minute and before that, they get you for $2 and call it a setup fee. RCL costs .50 a minute with no other fees.
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Comments
Food was very good overall. Except for the buffets though, we did not think it was that much different from Carnival and RCCI. Presentation was somewhat better. Barbecue on Princess Cays was only hot dogs and hamburgers for me. Nothing great.
The Cornish game hen one night was a new choice that we hadn’t had before. My wife enjoyed that a lot. Always found something to make us happy most nights. No bad meals on the ship.
Entertainment
Comedian Sarge did a couple shows and we enjoyed him.
The piano bar entertainer Bert was amazing. He played numerous requests one night without skipping a beat.
Comedian - magician James Michael was ok one night.
London Pub Night- fun- don’t miss
Island Night Deck Night- good fun enjoyed throwing the streamers.
Liked the band, Junction 21 in the Explorer lounge. They are an extremely versatile band. The female vocalist was excellent and could sing anything. Probably the best band we’ve ever listened to on the ocean.
We’ll be back someday.
