Caribbean Princess-4/11/15-4/18-15: "The Last Cruise I'd Ever Take!"

So, it’s not what you think. This is not one of those: “I had such a bad time that I will never take another Princess cruise as long as I live” threads where people naturally chime in with a: “Don’t let the cabin door hit you on the way out!” reply. Far from it. We had a terrific time. The title derives from the fact that this itinerary was, quite literally, the last cruise that I ever thought I would want to take. Almost nothing about the typical Eastern Caribbean itinerary(ies) appealed to me, and I could never see myself booking one. So what happened? A bit of explanation is in order. And then, on to the Review and Journal.

To my way of thinking, “hit and run” port stops to Caribbean islands from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. are antithetical to the whole Caribbean experience. Living on “island time” does not mean constantly checking one’s watch to make sure that you arrive back to the dock in time for departure. Snorkeling on a reef at a crescent beach means that the only ones there are you, your family, a few sergeant majors, some parrot fish, a few grunts, some snappers and sea urchins. It doesn’t mean descending on the beaches with 3,000 of your closest friends. It means searching for distant stars in the dark of night. Not searching for tanzanite at every turn. I have chartered a bareboat sailboat in the Virgin Islands; explored the Southern shores of Puerto Rico, honeymooned at Little Dix Bay, taken family vacations to Caneel Bay and Little Dix Bay, just to name a few Caribbean adventures. The whole idea of seeing these island jewels on a 950 ship with over 3,000 people was like fingernails on a chalkboard. I would never do it. So, to quote the Talking Heads, “Well…How did I get here?” And their answer?...

Letting the days go by

Let the water hold me down

Letting the days go by

Water flowing underground

Into the blue again

After the money's gone

Once in a lifetime

Water flowing underground

Seems fitting. Especially the line about the money being gone. My answer? Blame (or thank) my daughter. Several consecutive harsh winters conspired to result in the school board’s truncation of what used to be her February vacation. That has been reduced to a long weekend. The only vacation in the second semester of school is now the “April vacation” which takes place the third week of April each year. So way back in the Fall, she and I had this conversation, (more or less):

Me: So…next summer you will be doing two mission trips* and likely some college visits. What do you want to do for April vacation? It is likely going to be our only true family vacation for the year.

Her: Dad…as much as I enjoy our adventurous vacations, (author’s note: she and I are cut from the same cloth and do not sit still very long, or very willingly), this Spring I want to do a relaxing beach vacation. The Spring musical will have ended, SATs, ACTs and AP exams will be around the corner. And Prom is right after the vacation week. I’d like to go to a beach somewhere and just “veg”, read a book and get some color into my pasty white complexion for Prom photos.

Me: OK. I can work with that. (* I am immensely proud of the fact that she is giving up three weeks of her summer for mission trips, the second of which is to the Dominican Republic to work with Haitian refugees providing assistance to medical workers and building/upgrading houses for the refugees whose living conditions are deplorable. So in essence, I figured that I would let her pick whatever she wanted to do for vacation, even if we make is seem like a “family decision.”)

So with the task at hand of finding a nice, relaxing beach vacation for our family, I set out looking at some familiar places that we had enjoyed in the past. These included the British Virgin Islands, St. Johns, Siesta Key in Sarasota, Hallendale/Miami, among others. I wasn’t really thrilled with the price points of any of these, especially the air fare for the more exotic locations. And then I figured…let me take a look to see if there are any interesting cruises that week. The problem being that our departure and return dates were set in stone, thus limiting our options considerably. But I know my daughter. As much as she wanted a quiet beach vacation, being on only child means having to hang with the ‘rents for a whole week. That worked like a charm when she was younger, and truth be told, still works today. But she gregarious by nature and makes friends quickly. On each and every cruise, she has had a pack/pod/rookery/colony/clutch of new friends by the end of the first day. All it takes is registering at the “Remix” teen center and going there after dinner on the first day. It never fails that there are like-minded teens (several of whom are children of the ship’s officers) who want to meet other teens. It doesn’t mean that they buy into the “organized activities” of the teen center. Far from it. That area simply serves as their home base from which to branch out and have fun. So while wallowing in the disappointment of what I was finding in terms of beach vacations, I had the idea of perhaps booking a cruise that traveled to several “beachy” islands. That way, we could beach during the day, (see what I did there? I turned a noun into a verb!) and she could hang with other kids her own age on sea days and at night. OK. So what was available?

Answer: Pretty much the only cruise that I swore that I would never take. Didn’t matter what cruise line I looked at. It appeared that we would be headed to a private island; St. Thomas; Nassau; and usually one additional port stop. Ugh! Exactly what I didn’t want to do. But in the end, three things swayed me. The first was that I had to get over that fact that this was not “my” vacation. It was to be my daughter’s. Knowing that we would get in ample snorkeling and beach time, coupled with the knowledge that she would be free from her parents several hours a day was enough to win me over. The second was St. Maarten/St. Martin. I had never been, and it is known to be the “culinary capital” of the Caribbean. Great. Get me out of Tanzanite Alley and into a fine French restaurant and I am sold. PCL had a cruise that called on this port. Third was price. The cost of these 7 day cruises was quite favorable. So when I fed all this data into my feeble brain, I concluded that the 7 day cruise on Caribbean Princess would be the perfect fit. Or as perfect as I was going to attain. It left on exactly the day we could depart; returned on exactly the day we needed to be back; and included stops at Princess Cays (not terribly interested); SMX (something to get excited about); St. Thomas (been there enough times to feel confident that I could break away from the 16,211 other people who be in port that day); and Nassau (this would be my toughest task…find an enjoyable way to spend a day in a place I have been multiple times and detested each and every visit). But I love a good challenge and concluded that this would be just what the doctor ordered. Not ideal. But what in life is? Could we turn this into a great vacation? Oh yes we could! In the coming days, I will add to this Review and Journal and hopefully add some photos as I get to them.

One word of note, however. Inasmuch as PCL has now ended this itinerary for the season, I’m not going to spend too much time on the details. It’s not like there is anyone out there thinking to themselves: “Great. I am taking this same cruise in two weeks so now I will know what to expect.” Unfortunately, the fleet does not return to the Caribbean until the late Fall, and by then the menus will be different, the crew members will be different, the entertainment will be different. So little of this will matter. So I will try to paint with a broad brush so as to keep this relevant to the overall Princess experience and the overall port stop experience. That said, there will naturally be quite a bit of our own experiences baked in. That can’t be helped. However, to the extent that you find yourself thinking: “That all sounds wonderful. We should do that!”, know that you won’t be able to. Not exactly, anyway. So bear with me and I hope that you enjoy the rest.

Departure Day: Saturday, April 11, 2015

We arrived into FLL late the night before, collected our luggage, rented a car from National, and drove to our hotel-the Sheraton Ft. Lauderdale Airport on Griffin Road. The hotel was booked using “points” and was perfectly fine. Very quiet, actually, given how close we were to the airport. My profile lists me as requesting rooms “away from the elevators” which also usually means away from the ice machines. All it took was one night many years ago where the head of my bed butted up against the wall with the ice machine to know that I would never want to repeat that experience. Anyway, our room was as far from the elevators as you could get, and was a corner room at the end of the hallway that was closest to the runways. Even still, we did not hear a peep from a plane all night or the next day. As for the rental car, I like having wheels on departure day so that I can run last minute errands and pick up a few items that we do not typically fly with. The cost of the car is less than paying for three people to take the Princess transfers, and by renting with National, we would get free transportation from the airport to Port Everglades after we returned the car.

So Day One began as planned, with me up early. (Not as early as Norris, as I was not headed to the breakwater to film the arrival of our ship!) But early enough so as to make a run to Publix, CVS and “Home Goods” all before 10:00. I got a couple bottles of water, some additional sunscreen, some insect repellant, a hair brush to replace the one my daughter forgot to pack, and, perhaps most importantly, some nice wine glasses to take on board so as to better enjoy the fine wine that we brought from our cellar back home. Princess has a very generous policy when it comes to taking on board personal wine, but their wine service on board leaves much to be desired and the wine glasses on the ship are awful, to put it mildly. If you are a “swirler” and a “sniffer” like me, you need a big glass. We have a Home Goods near us at home, and I was confident that I could find what I was looking for there. Turned out to be a good call. In addition to having all sorts of “sets of 4” glasses of all types from Riedel, Spiegelau and others, they also carry “odds and ends” of individual glasses. I was able to pick up these beauties for $3.99 per stem. When the cruise was over, they would be donated to “Vines”.

We brought with us a variety of wines including Cabernet and Pinot Noir, and purchased some more en route, (more on that later), so different stems for the different varietals would have been ideal, but my obnoxiousness when it comes to wine glasses can only be taken so far. So a single pair of Bordeaux style glasses would serve us well for all of the wines we consumed over the course of the week.

Back from my shopping adventures, the girls (as I will call my wife and daughter), were actually pretty close to being packed and ready to go. The last time we sailed out of Port Everglades, we arrived at the port just before noon, and by then the non-Elite line to check in had extended beyond the covered area and were started our day baking in the sun, which actually then became a brief shower. I told the girls that we should try to arrive earlier this time so as to be under a protected area upon arrival. It might mean more time seated in the terminal. But we would be cool and dry. They must have believed me, because they were mere minutes away from being ready when I returned from shopping. By 10:25 we were out the door and headed to the car to pack it up and drive to the airport. My rental car receipt shows that we returned the car at 10:42. There, at the point where you drive your car in to the return lane to have it electronically scanned for payment, I asked about the shuttle to Port Everglades. We were given detailed instructions on where to go, (up to the bus departure level) and what to look for, (the bus that says Port Everglades), and were told several times to have our rental car payment receipt out and ready for inspection. We wheeled our bags to the elevator and up to the correct floor and easily found the line for the buses to Port Everglades. These are full-blown buses, not shuttle vans. The line was long, but there were two buses there and they were able to accommodate everyone fairly quickly. The only snafu was that about half the people, in the time it took them to go from the place where the cars are returned and the folks there are telling everyone to have their receipt handy, to the place where they board the bus, did indeed fail to keep their receipts handy. The bus drivers check and they check closely. The receipt must be in hand and must be for that day’s date. Unfortunately, this scene repeated itself far too often:

“Herb—where did you put the receipt? Show the man your receipt! Oh for heaven’s sake, where is your receipt?!”

“I don’t know, Gladys. I had it here a minute ago. It must be here somewhere.”

…he says as he plows through a wallet that has not been purged of extraneous content since the Johnson administration. And that might just be “Andrew” and not “Lyndon”.

Eventually, we boarded the bus and the driver asks where everyone is headed:

80% say “Oasis!”

5% say “Liberty”

One man said “What did he say? Huh? Did he say something?” His wife yelled: “The man wants to know what ship we are going on. Tell him!”

The question nearly answered itself: “Oh! Is that what he said? OK. We are going to the Westerdam”.

And we replied, all by our lonesome: “Caribbean Princess.”

“OK”, says the bus driver. “You folks are first. First stop is Caribbean Princess.”

Score!!

Note that the circuit that the bus takes probably takes over a half an hour to complete. We were departing out of Terminal 2, so being first instead of last saved us no less than 30 minutes.

At 11:07 we were dropping our luggage off with a porter and tipping him so that our luggage did not get a swimming lesson. (Just kidding. I don’t think that tipping or not tipping plays any role in the occasional mishap. But we don’t pack light so he earned a tip from me.) We were in the first of several lines moments after that, and through the security checkpoint by 11:30. The person at the x-ray machine instantly recognized that my ballistic, rolling “Pelican” case held wine. I was told to take my bottles to the table with the red table cloth to check them in. Could I have nodded and then joined the next line for check-in without doing so? Sure. But as I stated before, Princess has a lenient personal wine policy that no doubt depends on people honoring the Honor System. Besides. My 17 year old was with me and I wasn’t about to give her a life lesson on cheating. So off to the red table it was. As I made the walk (of about 20 feet), to Line Number 2, these lines from Alice’s Restaurant jumped into my head:

They got a buildin' down in New York City called Whitehall Street, where you

Walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected and

Selected!.....

Proceeded down the hall, gettin' more injections, inspections, detections,

Neglections, and all kinds of stuff that they was doin' to me at the thing

there, and I was there for two hours... three hours... four hours... I was

There for a long time goin' through all kinds of mean, nasty, ugly things,

And I was just havin' a tough time there, and they was inspectin',

Injectin', every single part of me, and they was leavin' no part untouched!

But it turned out to be nothing of the sort. The line was short, and when it was my turn, I was asked to open my case, remove my bottles one by one, declare which ones should get stamps put on them, and which two were to be “free”. And I did. You can see an example of the stamp on the photo above.

The charge was made to my on board account and shows up as a charge from the “Palm” restaurant. I know this because we had Anytime Dining and never stepped foot into the Palm.

From there we proceeded to Line Number 3, which is the check-in line. That took about 20 minutes or so, and since the Elite Check-In line didn’t have many people in it when we got near the front, they started directed “Ordinary” passengers (which is the kindest antonym that my Thesaurus shows for the word “elite”) to the Elite Customer Service Person. Passports checked. On Line check-in paperwork checked. Credit card checked. We were given our cruise cards and directed to a waiting area and found our seats. (Sort of like the “Group W bench” from Alice’s Restaurant.) Despite the fact that the Elite check-in line had few people in it, the Elite seating area was large and full. We were in the second seating area of Ordinary folks, so we would be boarding fairly soon. And so it was. Boarding began at 12:15 and we were on board by 12:35.

Next up….First impressions of the ship, sailaway, and the rest of Day One. Meanwhile, here are photos of the port area, and some of our neighboring ships that day: the Oasis, Liberty of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, and the Westerdam:

Love your writing style. Thanks for my daily giggle.

Departure Day (Continued):

Of course the first thing one does when one gets on board a Princess Ship is head to one’s cabin! That is one of the great features of PCL. For the most part, cabins are ready upon arrival. So we dropped off our carry-on bags, and I made my Specialty Dining reservations for the week. Yes, it did take about 25 rings for the phone to be answered, but all in all, that’s not so bad. As 1:00 was quickly approaching and we had our heart set on a sit-down, MDR lunch, we made a beeline for the Coral dining room, having noted that prior reports consistently advised that this was the dining room available for lunch. We walked right to the podium and were not dissuaded in the least from dining there. It is so refreshing not to be met with the tired: “Lunch? Oh. That is up top at the buffet!” insult of incredulity. Instead, we were escorted to a window-side four top. We had a light lunch as the portions didn’t really allow for much more than that. It was here that I reminded the girls that “cruise ship ordering” differs from land-based ordering. Because you can order whatever you want, in any order, in any amount, portions are often smaller than what we are used to. But if you want an entrée as your appetizer, you can. If you are brought something that does not meet your expectations, order something else. Etc. Still, we aren’t huge “volume” eaters, so a light lunch was just fine. I had a salami plate and something that was called Cacciatore Style Chicken. Not sure what “Cacciatore Style” means. It is either Chicken Cacciatore or it is not. (It was). But they made it seem as if I was in a museum and that this was a work of art “in the style of Rubens”. But alas, there were no Rubens on the lunch menu.

Still wanting to give the crew more time to deliver our checked bags, we headed down to the International Café in the Piazza for the first of what proved to be a daily routine of early afternoon espressos with our coffee card. For those keeping score at home, our card was punched once for each “double espresso” ordered, and only one crew member found this confusing. Fresh brewed coffee was available with the card, and even though I had the card handy, it was never once inspected to see if it still had punches left on it, or even if the card was from the current sailing. I am not encouraging cheating. I am just reporting.

Here are photos of the Piazza and the bar at the International Café. Quite a busy place on Day One:

At the forward end of the International Café, (that’s the “front of the ship”) where the deck transitions to the “art gallery”, there was a table set up selling the Beverage Package. Though it was a bit less conspicuous, this was also the place to buy the Ultimate Kid’s Package which we got for our daughter.

At the other end of the Piazza (toward the stern, or the “aft”, or the “back of the ship”) is the Island Dining Room. Passengers cannot get any further aft than that on Deck 5.

Espressos finished. UKP purchased. Time to head back to the cabin to unpack. And as anticipated, our bags had arrived and it was time to settle in.

What a wonderful review! Thank you!

I am also enjoying this and the funny thing is that we felt exactly the same way as you about the itinerary. We were "long cruise" snobs and couldn't imagine how 7 (or 4 or 5) days would ever satisfy. Well, they satisfied so well, and were the best itineraries for simple beach escapes, that we are hoping to repeat them next winter. Fortunately (for us), it will be on a different ship.

Departure Day (Continued):

A few words about the condition of the ship. It doesn’t take serious sleuthing to dredge up threads complaining about the condition of the Caribbean Princess, (or the posts that come to her defense). I can’t tell you what others have experienced, and things can change monthly, or even weekly. So perhaps older reports of the ship being in need of TLC are fair. But from my observation, I just didn’t see it. Painters and varnishers (if that is a word), were everywhere. The Vines Shop was completely boarded over with significant work being done there. I half hoped that perhaps an Alfredo’s was being placed behind the construction wall, but alas, the space was too small to allow for anything bigger than a take-out counter. Certainly not big enough for a full restaurant. Still, having sailed on both the Crown and Sapphire within the past 3 years, I cannot say that the Caribbean Princess fell short of either of those two ships in terms of visible condition. It is a ship that spends 24/7/365 at sea. In the salt air. Rust happens. It is a brutal environment and one has to accept what that brings. In speaking with several crew members, it was apparent that Princess was doing its best to push through a lot of superficial touch-ups before sending the ship overseas for the European Summer cruises. As I said, work was being done in many places, but not in a way that closed off any areas from the passengers on this cruise, save the Vines Shop as noted above.

Our cabin was a Dolphin Deck Mini-Suite in the 300 range, just as it transitions to the 400 range of cabins. So, Port side, almost mid-ship. Here are some photos of the cabin. Nothing that you haven’t seen before. But like the “Find the Hidden Objects” game from “Highlights Magazine”, I thought I would play a “public service” game and list off some things that we like to bring along on cruises and you can see if you can find them. This will allow me to explain what we bring, and how those things are useful, just in case this might help others in the future. First, the photos:

Can you spot the:

Extension cord—We plug this in behind the TV that faces the bed, and then we plug chargers into the multi-outlet end that we set in front of the TV.

Magnetic Clip—We stick one to the walls (which are metal and can hold magnets) to hold papers, deck plans, Patters and notes that we write to each other. We are all used to texting and emailing each other, but at sea, that is sub-optimal. So we go “old school” and write notes to each other, using the magnetic clip as our “mailbox”. It’s a great way for our teenager to tell us where she is headed and when we can expect to see her again.

The UKP Plastic Cup—Hint: it must have been painted by the artist who designed the Partridge Family Bus.

Frosted votives with electric candles—These serve many purposes. One or two used in the cabin as night lights. Many nights, our daughter got back to the cabin after we were already in bed. This way, she could make her way to the pull-out sofa without turning on the overhead lights. One sits on the bottom shelf in the bathroom so that 1) we can find our way to the bathroom without turning on lights, and 2) to remind ourselves to STEP UP to the bathroom. This saves many a stubbed toe. Finally, the flickering “candle” provides a nice mood on the balcony at night for wine or cocktails.

Blue Bluetooth speaker—While the Bluetooth function is limited while our phones are in “airplane mode” on the ship, a simple audio jack allows us to play music in the cabin through our phones or other devices. Works great on the balcony too, (at low volume so as not to disturb anyone).

Wine glasses that we brought on board.

Bottle of Fiji Water—Why is this useful? Well, it helps to have a SQUARE bottle as that shape is perfect for sitting up at the top of the refrigerator where the cooling element is. This is the coldest place in the fridge, and the square shape of this bottle sits up there perfectly without rolling around.

GPS—Yes, your GPS will work at sea. If you go out onto your balcony, you will find a signal, and you can “suction cup” one of these puppies right onto your blue plastic balcony window. Or, once you find a signal, you can move the GPS indoors and put the suction cup onto the sliding glass door facing inwards. We find it fun and amusing to track our progress and identify land masses such as smaller islands that we are passing. If your GPS only has a cigarette lighter charger, you will need a “car to AC” adapter that you can get for a couple of bucks from Amazon. Take that along with your charger to re-charge the GPS.

So those are a few of the items that we bring on board that some might not have thought about. Hope that was fun and educational!

Moving on…

We met our cabin steward, Irwin, who was kind, polite and a hard worker. He brought us our glasses of “Mini-Suite Sparkling Wine” which was worth exactly what we paid for it. But we sipped it while we unpacked. I asked Irwin to re-supply our cabin for a total of three passengers, as we only had two of everything, from towels to balcony chairs. He said that he could take care of everything except the balcony chairs and said that it was “unsafe” to have more than two chairs out there. I thought that this was an odd response and told him that we have always had three chairs for three people; that we were paying for three people in the cabin, and all three people ought to be entitled to use the balcony, and that if “safety” was truly a concern, we would be happy to trade our ottomans for a third chair, and that this would relieve the problem of overcrowding. I did all of this is a mild-mannered way knowing that this wasn’t really his issue, but that of someone above his pay grade. Still, I wanted to give him “talking points” as he pled our case to his supervisor. I told him that I was confident that he would succeed in his quest, but that if for any reason he did not, that I would be happy to speak to his supervisor, not to scold him, but to discuss the policy. He agreed to make a run at it, and in about half an hour, he returned with a third chair, no ottoman. And we got to keep our other ottomans. I thanked him graciously. On my post-cruise survey, I was quite pointed about this issue. If three people are paying for a cabin with a balcony, they should not have to draw straws to see who gets to use the balcony. It is unfortunate that an adversarial encounter must occur on Day One. But this seems to be par for the course. That said, on our last three cruises, we are three for three in asking for and receiving a third chair.

After we unpacked, I headed up to the Lido Deck to see if the passageway to the Deck above the Bridge was open for sailaway. It was. I made a note of it and headed back to the cabin to get ready for the Muster Drill. Our Muster Station was the Casino. Boy, what a bad idea that is. Seriously. If there was an actual emergency and people had to muster at a moment’s notice, what would they do with all the cash and chips lying about. And the area is not conducive to foot traffic. Casinos are intentionally designed to discourage easy movement from place to place as they want you to stick around and gamble. Thankfully, we didn’t have to see the casino “in action” as a true muster area. But if the need ever arose, I imagine that this would be a really bad situation.

After the muster, we headed up to the Lido Observation area. As we pulled out of port, we waved frantically at the building that houses the “sailaway video camera” and can be easily spotted at the 1:12-1:24 mark of our sailaway video. Here are a few pictures that we took from that spot. One is of a house that I someday hope to own after I win the Powerball:

...and because each post is limited to the number of photos contained therein...:cool:...continuing on another post.

And a photo of the Pilot Boat as it approached us. How many times do you think the Pilot steps from a cruise ship, boards the Pilot Boat and says: “Look at me! I’m the captain now!”??

After that, we headed to the Calypso Pool to watch some concerts on MUTS. Beyonce and James Taylor. This was a nice, relaxing hour and a half and was the first bit of “doing nothing” that we had done since we left home.

For anyone who does not know, here is what a "MUTS" screen looks like in the wild:

The evening, including dinner and entertainment, will be continued on another post, perhaps tomorrow. Until then...Happy Sailing!

Great review. Looking forward to the rest of it Thanks.

It's a delight to read your review. Thank you for the time you are putting into your CB cruise experience. I understand not allowing 3 chairs on the Royal/Regal balcony, but the Caribbean Princess balcony...? We often had 4 chairs.

What a wonderful review! Thank you!

I am also enjoying this

Thanks. It is always a joy to relive the trip by writing about it.

It's a delight to read your review. Thank you for the time you are putting into your CB cruise experience. I understand not allowing 3 chairs on the Royal/Regal balcony, but the Caribbean Princess balcony...? We often had 4 chairs.

Thanks. And you are right about the chairs. One of the reasons that we pick the Grand Class ships over the newer ships is precisely for this reason. Someday it may be just me and my wife on a cruise and this will be a non-issue. But as of right now, we choose to sail on ships that can accommodate all of us and we want and expect same. And the idea that one can have an Ultimate Balcony Dinner on the same balcony that is "unsafe" for 3 chairs is pretty silly.

Fun review; fantastic photos. Dare I hope for some food porn? Either way, please take your time; omit nothing! I love a good long review, especially ones as well-written and well-observed as yours.

"a muts screen in the wild"...I am loving this review! my problem is being patient enough to wait for the rest of the installments!

Thank you for taking the time to tell your story of your vacation. I am totally loving it! You definitely have a way with words!

:D Teresa

Great review. :)

Entertaining review--keep it coming! I'm supposed to be on a Spring TA right now, but life happened so I'll get my cruise fix via your review. Thanks for taking time to share your experience and for the fantastic photos.

I am loving this review! my problem is being patient enough to wait for the rest of the installments!

Love your writing style and can not wait for the rest!

Think the extension cord (great idea, please may I pinch it?) is sitting in front of the tv, and the decorated cup is on the desk surface beside the sofa. couldn't (poor eyesight) identify anything else. Am thoroughly enjoying your report, shall go back to reading!

Crochetcruise

Think there's 2 votive candles near the painted cup.

Crochetcruise :cool:

Jimmy- off to a rollicking great start!

I am especially looking forward to St Maarten and your desire to have a relaxing French meal in Grand Case. That was my plan in January but it was vetoed by a vote for a semi-sub, upon which not even a ship's biscuit riddled with bole-weevils was offered. All along the short seafront there were people dining with a beautiful view. The restaurant I wanted to eat at didn't respond to my e mails for a reservation but there are enough places lined up next to each other that I am sure a walk-in could have happened.

Also Nassau- never been and not enticed by all I have read but hope to see your take on it.

Keep the photos coming!

Norris

Departure Day (Continued….Into That Good Night)

After laying in a near coma-like state on deck for an hour and a half, it was time to go back to the cabin and get ready for dinner. A quick shower and change of clothes and we were ready for our trip’s first foray into Anytime Dining. We have never had any issues with ATD, and in all our visits to the MDRs, we have never once been handed one of those UFOs that signal the joyous occasion when a table is ready for you. Still, I have read enough horror stories here to always be on guard. Typically, I try to ward off the evil “wait time spirits” by making reservations as often as permitted. But on departure day, I didn’t bother. Not sure they would even have let me. But here is my strategy, and it has served me well over the years. If we are on a cruise where one of the Anytime MDRs isn’t really an Anytime MDR, but instead is a: “Sometimes It’s An Anytime MDR”, then that is where we head. The Patter will tell you that this MDR is “Early Fixed Seating” at 5:30 and that it opens as an Anytime MDR at 7:15. On our cruise, this would be the Coral Dining Room. The Island really was an Anytime MDR at any time. This notation in the Patter is probably enough to keep the ATD people away from Coral Dining Room until 7:15. Or perhaps 7:10. This fact, coupled with the fact that it seemed as if the vast majority of passengers wanted to dine early, made it such that getting seated just after 7:00 in the Coral Dining Room was rather easy. Lines developed quickly at the entrance to the Island Dining room by 5:10-5:15. Apparently, “Early Bird Specials” are not limited to the land. “Early Albatross Specials” must be a “thing” at sea. But that is not our thing. Indeed, many days we ate lunch closer to 1:30 or 2:00, so an early dinner was not something to fight for.

So we typically head to the Sometimes It’s An Anytime Dining Room around 7:00. All it takes is a few tables to finish their “Fixed Dining” by then, and for the crew to reset the table, and voila! You are in. The 7:15 “start time” isn’t set in stone and is more of a suggestion. At least, it seems that way. So despite the cautions against ADT and the promise of long waits and light-up UFOs being handed out, we stuck to our plan and were seated immediately.

Unfortunately, now I must transition into the part of the Journal and Review that many will find deeply disappointing. I am not going to go into too much detail about the food itself, at least not in the MDRs. Yes, we had the “Caribbean Influenced” menus. Yes, sometimes that did open up new areas to explore, and yes, sometimes it resulted in shrinking down the number of items on the menu that interested us. But as I said when I started this piece, the Caribbean season is over, and future passengers are not likely to encounter the same menu options. So droning on and on about what we ate is frankly of little use. And personal tastes being what they are, my “loving” something is not going to change the opinion of someone who “hated” the same thing. And sorry, but I do not have food porn photos. My wife and daughter will put up with many of my idiosyncrasies, but a camera at the dinner table is not one of them. You see, most food pictures, (in my opinion), look awful. Phood Photography is a difficult thing. That is why so many photos that you see in culinary magazines are actually of fake food. It takes quite a stylist to take good food porn. You can’t just be some hack in the San Fernando Valley pumping out shot after shot hoping to sell it to the dregs of society. You need slave flashes, light boxes, diffusers, macro lenses, and all sorts of paraphernalia that I won’t, (and am not allowed to), bring to the table. Nevertheless, where a dish excelled, or deeply disappointed, I will let you know.

All that said, I will chime in here about something that is likely to prove useful to all future Princess Cruisers. Norman Love. Believe the hype. We intentionally went out of our way to try as many NL creations as possible, and each was better than the last. Princess has really upped its dessert game in this regard. In the past, our desserts have rarely been better or more inspired than the typical mid-afternoon offerings at the International Café. But the NL Creations are on par with top, four star destination restaurants. Or at least the ones we had were. So if you see a NL dessert on the menu and are not allergic to chocolate, get it! And if you are allergic to chocolate, jab yourself with an EpiPen and get the dessert anyway!

So on the first night I had a Caribbean Shrimp Cocktail starter and Braised Short Ribs as my entrée. Both were tasty and are recommended, but the portioning was very small. My wife and daughter each ordered other things, and the total volume of their meals all but doubled mine. So if you are inclined to order the Short Ribs, (and I assume that they are not going away after Caribbean Season), and you are a member of the Big Eater’s Circle*, you may want to request a double order.

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*From “Cheers”

Norm: I'm gonna invite you guys all to the Hungry Heifer tonight. Well, what was supposed to be a sad little farewell dinner is gonna turn into the happiest meal of Mr. Sid Nelson's life. Everyone's gonna be there, guys. Even the Big Eaters Circle.

Woody: You in that, Mr. P?

Norm: Oh, no, no, Woody, please. This is a closed table. I mean, someone has to die before you can get a seat there.

Woody: Wow, too bad.

Norm: Oh, no. These guys drop dead like once a week. I've got a real shot at it, I think.

The good news is that I had plenty of room for dessert.

On to the Entertainment portion of the program.

There seem to be two types of people on this Board. Those who care deeply about who their Cruise Director (CD) is going to be, and those who care not at all. Let me just say that I don’t know the ins and outs of how much entertainment gets booked on each cruise; who the entertainers are; where they perform; or how often they perform. But if the CD has a hand in any of that, then yes, the CD matters. Ours was Paul Chandler-Burns. And if he had anything to do with the bookings, then this guy is a top CD. (And I didn’t even see him once in person. Seriously. My fault, no doubt and not his. But I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup. Just goes to prove that a CD does not have to be ubiquitous to be good). The talent on this ship and the number of times and places that they performed was by far the best I have experienced on any cruise. At times it appeared as if this was a prison ship and the entertainers were sentenced to ‘round the clock performances as their punishment. Good for us. Tiring for them. And for the most part, I am not referring to the “Main Stage Theater” performers, though I will give you a rundown on what was available each night. Our typical nights entailed my daughter going to meet up with her new best friends, and my wife and I finding a lounge to hang out in. We are more “small venue” live music people than large venue people. So this cruise was perfect for us.

On board were:

• Tetiana Karmatska-pianist
  
• Kevin Barry-Dutro Quartet-Jazz
  
• The Massina Duo-Keyboard and Vocalist
  
• Rocco of La Paire-Acrobat/Juggler
  
• Wislon Jean-Baptiste-Steel Drums
  
• Fresh Power-Rock Band
  
• Kieon Cox-Acoustic Guitarist
  
• and
  
• Bert (with an “e”) Stratton-Pianist/Singer
  

These folks were everywhere, at all times. Seriously. It is a miracle that the singers did not get hoarse. Well, maybe some did. The first entertainers we encountered were “Fresh Power” at the Sailaway Party. My heart skipped a beat when I first saw that name in the Patter. I read it as “Fresh Powder”, which, as a skier, is usually a good thing to see. But in trying to escape from a never-ending Winter, and with snow still covering our yard when we left for vacation, the last thing that I wanted to see was fresh powder. While I was unsure if I would “come home new” from my cruise, I sure as heck wanted to come home to a “new yard” with no snow. So I was relieved to see that my eyes deceived me, and that the band was called Fresh Power, with the “d” being either silent or missing altogether.

The musicianship of this band was quite good, and the female lead singer was strong. Unfortunately, about a third of the songs were performed by the lead guitarist, (probably to give the lead singer a needed break). But he was bad. And his pronunciation was, well, let’s just say “unique”. Not sure what his first language is, but it isn’t English. Not that this is a problem. He can be anything he wants. But when “Brown Eyed Girl” is sung as “Brown Owled Girl”, one must cringe. Good guitarist. Poor vocalist.

On day one, we headed to Crooners. The Main Stage Show was the “Welcome Aboard” show and those have always let me down. Way too much of an infomercial for my taste. So we opted for “small venue” entertainment and were not disappointed. Kieron Cox had finished up an early set at Explorer’s Lounge and had moved over to Crooners for the 8:45 set. If you are unfamiliar with him, think Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, and every other soulful young artist of today. And let me tell you. The dude abides! Really talented, personable, self-deprecating and fun to watch. We caught most of his set with the hopes of landing a decent seat to see Bert Stratton. We knew that he draws a standing room only crowd and we didn’t feel like standing. I had only heard/seen him in passing on our Alaska cruise on Sapphire. This time, I wanted the whole megillah.

What can one say about Bert that hasn’t already been said. There were people there wearing “I’ve been Bertified” T-Shirts. We were joined at our table by women who booked this cruise specifically because Bert was on it. And it proved to be a fun week with Bert, as this was to be his last cruise before a much-needed vacation. He will be off for 6 weeks, then on for 6 more, and then off for 19 weeks. So this was somewhat of a farewell cruise for him, and in another month, he will have an even bigger “farewell tour” as he prepares for his 19 week vacation.

On this night, it was acoustic Bert. And perhaps this is heresy, but I preferred it. The man has sick piano skills, and when he sings, he mostly relegates his ivory tickling to a secondary role. But in choosing between his vocals and his musicianship, I much prefer the latter. In any event, we closed the place down that night and headed for bed. Next up….Princess Cays. With Photos. I promise.

I'm sorry you missed the Welcome Aboard show because you would have been treated to Paul Chandler-Burns' wonderful sense of humor. It's the first time I've ever laughed at the standard Princess slide show introducing the ship. Repeatedly.

Fresh Power is Hungarian, and, in fact, their female lead did get laryngitis on one of our cruises. One of the female lead singer from the production company had to fill in during the Love Boat Disco Deck party. As for their other performances while Ms. Power was down for the count...as you said, the band needs her voice.

Aahhhhhh.....Rocco. Mr. Six Pack. Let me just sit back and sip my coffee and remember good times and good views. :D

Really enjoying your review! Thanks for taking the time and effort.:)