First Time on Princess - a Few Questions

[LovesCruising]

Hi Everyone, While we are not new to Cruising, (we have done Royal, Carnival, Celebrity & NCL) This will be the first time on Princess.

 

I am reading you can bring a bottle of wine pp on board. Water does not appear to be a problem.

 

We are looking at Caribbean Princess out of Brooklyn to Canada/New England.

 

I am also reading the Adult Serenity area has a charge? Also, anyone done this route? Is Newport a tender port?

 

Any other tips you could share about this ship would be greatly appreciated.

 

Have a cabin on hold which needs to be paid for by today.

Thanks so much for your help!

[denims]

Hi Everyone, While we are not new to Cruising, (we have done Royal, Carnival, Celebrity & NCL) This will be the first time on Princess.

 

I am reading you can bring a bottle of wine pp on board. Water does not appear to be a problem.

You can bring more than a bottle each.

We are looking at Caribbean Princess out of Brooklyn to Canada/New England.

 

I am also reading the Adult Serenity area has a charge? Also, anyone done this route? Is Newport a tender port?

 

Any other tips you could share about this ship would be greatly appreciated.

 

Have a cabin on hold which needs to be paid for by today.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

I have answered one of yur questions. (see above)

 

Have a great cruise!!!

[Vanilla]

Caribbean Princess is one of my favorite ships (Royal Caribbean/Princess/Carnival to compare to).

I haven't cruised the itinery you are sailing - but I bet it will be beautiful. Our favorite cabin on Caribbean Princess is R625. One floor from the Terrace Pool and Horizon Court. Also near stairs and elevators.

HAVE FUN!

[paul929207]

Princess does not set any limit on the number of bottles of wine and champagne you can carry on. You can also bring any amount of non-alcoholic beverages.

[willysgrandma]

I've done this itinerary on this ship.

 

I am also reading the Adult Serenity area has a charge? Yes. Don't remember what is was - maybe $20 per person, but not sure.

Also, anyone done this route? Is Newport a tender port? No.

 

Any other tips you could share about this ship would be greatly appreciated.

 

The International Cafe is fabulous and most of the food is free there.

[galasdax]

Newport is indeed a tender port, at least as of my sailing next week (!).

[Pam in CA]

Newport is indeed a tender port, at least as of my sailing next week (!).

While I haven't been to Newport on a cruise ship, I can't imagine that they would have a cruise dock big enough for the CB. I'd be very surprised if the ship docked and didn't tender.

 

As said, the International Cafe on deck 5 in the Piazza is fabulous. It's what Celebrity's Cova Cafe wishes it could be. Far better. Everything is free except for the gelato.

[OhioDogLover]

Just did Caribbean Princess to Newport. It is a tender port. Loved the itinerary. However, we will avoid Caribbean Princess in the future. It is least favorite of the Princess ships we have used -- Golden, Diamond, Grand and Star were all better IMHO. Caribbean Princess was just too crowded for us. If you can get the same itinerary on another ship, I would do it. That being said, it was a great cruise.

Ohiodoglover

[riansgrammy]

Newport is a tender port. And unless there have been improvements in the last 4 years, a very slow tender port. There are lots and lots of sailboats to go around. We missed our tour and ended up on our own (but very easy to do).

[karatemom2]

Just did Caribbean Princess to Newport. It is a tender port. Loved the itinerary. However, we will avoid Caribbean Princess in the future. It is least favorite of the Princess ships we have used -- Golden, Diamond, Grand and Star were all better IMHO. Caribbean Princess was just too crowded for us. If you can get the same itinerary on another ship, I would do it. That being said, it was a great cruise.

Ohiodoglover

 

Ditto this! We were on the same sailing with Ohiodoglover and it is a wonderful itinerary, but the crowding does present some real challenges. We had planned to book the CB for the British Isles cruise next summer but we have reconsidered that plan. Newport is indeed a tender port as is Bar Harbor.

[LovesCruising]

Thanks so much for all your replies and help!

[fnewman]

Just returned from the Caribbean Princess last week. Yes, it was crowded, but it was not the ship's fault - 800 children on board had a lot to do with it. So many cabins that normally have only two people had 3 or 4 this trip. Just the combination of itinerary and school schedule.

[Clutterlady]

Have done this itinerary twice on the Caribbean Princess. This ship is our favorite! Since we do this itinerary when school is in session, we rarely experienced much crowding. You will love the ports and ship....enjoy:)

[Jennygirl]

have done Newport and as everyone is telling you ~ it IS a tender port but such a beautiful one and very well run. There is a dock once you get there and there are benches and the tour buses are lined up if you line up an excursion there. We went this past May and there were hardly any kids on board which made it very nice and peaceful L0L - we loved the Piazza area on the ship and loved our mini suite and the entertainment and the food etc.....in fact we are going back on her in October again. The Sanctuary is a fabulous KID FREE adult only section in the front of the ship - try it out - you'll love the quietness of it - treat yourself. Get up there fast to make reservations or you'll lose out. Can/NE is a great itinerary having done it twice already - There is always something new to see - Bar harbor is fabulous also and of course Boston - I could go on and on and on but I'll stop now. L0L Have fun!

:)

[Starzend]

Hi Everyone, While we are not new to Cruising, (we have done Royal, Carnival, Celebrity & NCL) This will be the first time on Princess.

 

I am reading you can bring a bottle of wine pp on board. Water does not appear to be a problem.

 

We are looking at Caribbean Princess out of Brooklyn to Canada/New England.

 

I am also reading the Adult Serenity area has a charge? Also, anyone done this route? Is Newport a tender port?

 

Any other tips you could share about this ship would be greatly appreciated.

 

Have a cabin on hold which needs to be paid for by today.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

Hi,

I was just on the Caribbean Princess for 18 days. One bottle of wine per person, however people do bring more without it being an issue.

The serenity section is called the Sanctuary. The cost is $20 for a full day, $10 for a half day.

Make your reservations during your 1st day, it fills up fast.

Buy a coffee card at the International Cafe (Deck 5 Piazza) if you want real filtered coffee, not the syrup coffee concentrate stuff.

The coffee card will get you unlimited (filtered coffee) and 16 specialty coffees.

Deck 15 forward will get you on top of the bridge.

Be sure to see the show 'Piano Man'..

Eat dinner early so it does not cut in to your night life, shows, etc.

Try the 2 specialty restaurants, Sabatini's ($20 person) & Crowne Grill ($25 person), YUM!

Have a wonderful voyage!

[LovesCruising]

Thank you Thank you - you has all be fabulous! We are traveling 9/24 so I assume there won't be as many children. Since we are booking so late - we were not able to do Mini - suite - booked balcony but keeping our eyes open for cancellations!

[Whitewings2]

We have been on the NE cruise with Princess and it was our least favorite cruise. Lots of lines to get off the ship - longer than we'd seen on our last 6/7 previous Princess cruises. I think disembarkation was badly organized our week for some reason. We went beg. Oct last year and it was already too cold, so we were not able to sit on deck much. We did enjoy some ports though - Providence, Boston and Bar Harbor, the others not so much.

As someone mentioned, you'll need to be at the spa early to get a place. Last summer on a Princess Med. cruise somewhere off Greece, we decided to have breakfast early and get to the spa to line up for the tickets since they only have a limited number of places. We got there an hour before they booked and were third in line. 30 mins before they sold tickets, the line was twenty long. The four of us picked out nice seats around the edge and the other passengers took their seats. Unfortunately, after 10 minutes because of our location we were getting so windblown, that even the three towels that the staff wraped us up in didn't work- far too cold and windy and this was off the coast of Greece where it's hot!!! The staff were wearing coats and scarves and came and wrapped us without us saying anything! Elsewhere on deck passengers were sunning themselves without any wind. After a while we asked for our money back which was no problem at all. So check out the location of the seats you chose and how warm it is on that day.