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

[Bimmer09]

Great read Jimmy-thanks for sharing it with us!

 

Norris

[Camelia-]

We just completed the transatlantic crossing on this ship and our cabin steward was also Irwin. I totally agree with your description of him - he was excellent and very relaxed..even on debarkation day when lots of stewards are visibly stressed. I also confess that..with Irwin's permission...we lingered in our cabin past 8:00..trying to hang on to just a little more time in relaxation before hitting the hustle and bustle of crowds exiting the ship.

 

The ship is in great shape..for its age..and there was nothing that I could complain about (except maybe a very shaky chair in Horizon Court which should have been retired).

 

I join others in thanking you for your wonderful review and final thoughts..

 

Camelia

[moresun]

THANK YOU Such a good review and beautiful pictures!

[JEM4205]

THANK YOU Such a good review and beautiful pictures!

 

Ditto!:)

[Matcodixon]

Another one here adding to the "Thanks for taking the time to write such a great review" appreciation list.

Your comments regarding you daughter and how life moves on hit home indeed. I will always remember the great vacations we took together as a family. Now she is married and lives on the other coast. We will be together again for a vacation in 2 weeks, but it has been too long in between.

 

Enjoy making the memories.

Dixon

[4boysnana]

Thank you for taking us on your journey. I looked forward to each report and loved your pictures.

Good luck to your daughter! I loved cruising with my daughter who had her own first child two weeks ago. Maybe I will be blessed enough to cruise with them both in the future. OK,OK what's his name can come also.

 

Thanks again

 

4boysnana

[Gabrielle R.]

I was caught by the title on day 1, I stayed and read and oooooooohed and aaaaahhhhhhhhed over the pictures. Coming home from a long day teaching teenagers I enjoyed reading your story. I thought your daughter reminded me of many of my 'kids' at school. Wished I had been on the cruise with you and your lovely family.

 

THANK YOU for making my evening reading just a bit better!

Gabrielle

[jlf1]

Great review, love your writing style.

 

Judy

[crochetcruise]

THANK YOU for a wonderful report on a cruise I, because of disability, may never be able to take personally. Due to your kindness, I felt I was perched on your shoulder, eagerly watching everything, your descriptions are SO lifelike, I could easily imagine actually BEINGthere!

 

I've taken copious notes on what to include in my own report when I sail on 11/11/2016 from Sydney to Melbourne. 1 point I HAD overlooked, but a friend remembered, was to note whether I was facing the bow, port, aft or starboard when taking photos and on what deck, so people have a more accurate picture of the location.

 

Under 544 days until I sail. Yes I am eagerly counting the days!

 

Crochetcruise :cool:

[Dartmoordan]

Thanks for great review, we are off on Caribbean Princess soon so started reading this with some trepidation! It was a relief and pleasure to read such a well written and humorous review especially since we have been to most of the ports you reviewed. We are definitely going to the French side of St Maarten next time. :)

[JimmyVWine]

Thank you all for the kind words. It's always a pleasure knowing that I have been able to give back a little to those who have imparted so much information to me. Not sure where the next ocean adventure will be. Greek Isles? Panama Canal? Or maybe we will find ourselves again in dire need of a trip anywhere, just to escape from life for a while.

 

I almost forgot to answer the question above about camera equipment, so let me take a moment to both answer and editorialize. First, the answers. I use a Canon T3i (which has been discontinued, but has been replaced by the T5i which, for all practical purposes, is identical in specs and performance. I think that the newest model may in fact be the T6i. The bells and whistles that they are adding on to each new model are rather incremental and in many instances unnecessary for my purposes.) For this trip, I brought along 3 lenses--A Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II for most shots; a Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM for wide angle and ship interior shots; and a Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 USM II for a bit of zooming.

 

Now for the editorializing. I am not a professional photographer. Far from it. But I care enough about the pictures I take to have read some books and learned to use the features that come with the camera. "Point and shoot" will only get you so far. Also, you will take better photos with a $200 camera attached to a $1,500 lens than you will with a $1,500 camera attached to a $200 lens. The 24-70 lens listed above retails for $1,900. I don't own that (or the wide angle lens), and I never will. For vacations, I rent really good lenses for a week. It is well worth the investment. The 55-200 lens is a "kit" or "consumer" lens that I bought, and I also have another kit lens that came with the camera, (hence the name "kit lens"). Most of the time when I go on vacation, I leave the kit lenses home. This time, I didn't rent a big zoom lens because I didn't think that I would need to take pictures of far away subjects and that proved to be true. But if you are going to a place like Alaska, you will want a zoom lens for wildlife photos. Don't skimp on the lens. Rent a really good one, or, if you are so lucky, buy one. But some of those puppies cost more than a car. There is a reason why they are so expensive compared to a $200 kit lens. You get what you pay for.

 

Also, take advantage of what digital photography does best, and that is, take way more photos using way more settings that you think you need to. You can always delete later. For example, for the sunset photos that you see here, I took dozens of pictures each day, "bracketing" the exposure value up and down many different ways. And I focused, (or, more accurately, set the exposure value) sometimes on the setting sun, sometimes on the water, sometimes on the sky to the right of the sun, and so forth. You never really know which way is going to capture the image that you want until you look at the pictures later. And after you find a couple that you like, delete the rest. But all of this depends on your willingness to learn how to force your camera into different exposure values and not just the single value that your camera's "brain" has determined is "best". Most of the time your camera is right. But in odd or difficult lighting situations like sunsets, your eye might be a better judge than the camera.

 

OK. Enough of the lesson. As I said, I am not a pro, and those who are, (or who are far more advance than me) may tell me that everything that I have said is wrong. That's OK. I'm always willing to learn more. :) I'm happy to answer any other questions that come up. I may not always be right, but I can usually fake my way through most situations!!

[greenie082756]

Thank you for taking the time and effort to tell us all about your cruise and adventures.

Wonderfully delightful it was and the photos brought back memories.

 

Fantastic!!:D

[Retiring cajun]

jimmyvwine, how did the uncovered balcony work for you guys? curious @ sun. we have mini suite dolphin deck on CB in February.

[#1Nanna]

Oh My Word! I just found this review and started reading and could not stop... What an enjoyable read. Love your style!!!! You had me laughing out loud! What a nice way to start my day!

Thanks for the time & effort you put into sharing with others! : )

[JimmyVWine]

jimmyvwine, how did the uncovered balcony work for you guys? curious @ sun. we have mini suite dolphin deck on CB in February.

We love the uncovered balconies. Since we were off the ship in each of the ports, we never had to deal with direct, overhead, scorching sun during the mid-day hours except on sea days. And then, we had just as much shade as we had sun, because it depends on your direction of travel. Still, it helps to bring a hat.

 

Oh My Word! I just found this review and started reading and could not stop... What an enjoyable read. Love your style!!!! You had me laughing out loud! What a nice way to start my day!

Thanks for the time & effort you put into sharing with others! : )

Thank you for the kind words. :)

[newcruzer2]

I just stumbled across your review, I was drawn in by the title but... was Pleasantly surprised. I will be on the caribbean princess in a couple weeks, I also loathe nassau but most importantly...LOVED the Info on st martin. A hurricane made us miss st martin last Oct on the allure ots, and I booked regal to st martin for Dec 2016.....your info will be invaluable THANK YOU, after your review, I may be more jazzed about st martin than ever :)

[Retiring cajun]

jimmyvwine, thx for response on uncovered balcony! think we'll have umbrellas. guess we can always open them up for shade[emoji4]

[yoyosma]

jimmyvwine, thx for response on uncovered balcony! think we'll have umbrellas. guess we can always open them up for shade[emoji4]

 

OH! I can see someone turning into Mary Poppins with an open umbrella on a balcony. It might be a tad windy at times. Or not.

[Retiring cajun]

yoyosma, haha! Hope not[emoji4]

[yoyosma]

Where's the like button when you need it?

[princessscubamom]

i just wanted to thank you for this wonderful review of the Caribbean Princess and your cruise! we took our 1st cruise on this ship in her inaugural season back in 2004 and have cruised on her several times since. love that ship and still think she is beautiful. Commodore Romano was the Captain on our first cruise and we occasionally as a family do our own impersonations of him during the morning announcements. CB was the first to have MUTS and we would not hesitate to cruise on her again...she is still beautiful and we have a fond spot in our hearts for her <3

i also want to add that our sons...who were 16 and 14 when we took our 1st "real" cruise.....still cruise with us even though they are grown, out on their own, and living elsewhere in the state. when we say we are planning a cruise, they are pretty much" we're in...where are we going"??? LOL. i wish that too for you with your daughter. cruising just allows us all to relax, enjoy time together as a family with no schedules or worries :)