Cb 10/8-10/15/05

[Lin336]

This was our 8th cruise with Princess and 14th total. I had been reading all posts I could find about this ship since we booked in January and was expecting a crowded ship with average food and "so so" service. This was not the case at all! Here are our thoughts & experiences:

 

Flew into Ft. Lauderdale on Friday 10/7/05. We booked our own airfare but booked the pre-cruise hotel (Rennaisance) & transfers thru Princess. We were promptly met at the airport and escorted to the bus and as we were the only passengers there was no delay leaving for the hotel. Check in at the hotel went quickly and we were soon in our room. The room & the general hotel area was very clean and nice. Service was good & very friendly. We would recommend this hotel but think we will stay at the Embassy Suites next cruise - it seemed more convenient to several restaurants, drug store, etc.

 

Embarkation: We arrived at the port around 1:30pm and were in our room by 2pm. One of the smoothest & shortest ever!

 

Cabin: Baja 757. We felt this was a wonderful cabin. It is in the middle, aft/stern. There is an air conditioning duct on the right which produces some noise but it was not a problem at all - blended in nicely with the sound of the wake. There was plenty of storage space and the closet was large. The bathroom is on the small side but we had plenty of room for our "stuff". DH is not a small man and the shower size posed no problem. The stateroom steward, Aneth, was very friendly and provided great service. We did request the egg carton foam mattress topper & feather pillows which she provided promptly.

 

Dining Room: We chose 2nd seating traditional dining & were fortunate in our choice. The waiters (Silviu & Alex from Romania) were wonderful - very personable and provided some of the best service we ever had. We were seated at a table for 6 and our tablemates were delightful. The food was good to excellent - no complaints there.

 

Buffet: We ate breakfast & a couple of lunches in the Horizan Court and found the food to be good. It was plentiful & the hot food was hot & the cold food was cold. The selection was good and again, no complaints there - a buffet is a buffet is a buffet! The pizza & burgers by the pool were also good.

 

Caribe Cafe: Went there around 5:30pm for a "pre-dinner" snack on the seafood night. The lobster & crab legs were very tender. I would recommend this.

 

Pool Areas: We spent our time at the Neptune Pool. As we are early risers, we were usually at the pool by 8am so had no problem getting chairs. It did not seem to get really crowded until around lunch time.

 

I did purchase the soda card & never had a problem getting service with this either at the pool or in any of the bars.

 

Entertainment: We did not see any of the shows in the Princess Theater and only saw one guest comedian (only because we are not big "show" people and not because of the quality of the entertainment).

 

Service: We found the service to be very good. The crew we encountered were very pleasant - anytime we met one they always said "how are you", "good morning", etc. Did not encounter any indifference or rudeness. Maybe we were just lucky.

 

Debarkation: Went smoothly - no problem finding our luggage and were soon on our way to the airport.

 

Overall: The CB exceeded our expectations. We went expecting less & happily received more. In some ways, a cruise can be what you make it. The glass is half full for us not half empty. Definitely would cruise on the CB in the future.

 

If any specific questions, I will be happy to try to answer.

[Crazsea]

It sounds as though your experience was almost identical to my first two cruises on the CB. I'm looking forward to a third in December and a fourth in April.

 

Thank you for reassuring me that all is the same as I remember!:)

[teacha50]

Nice to see a positive review on here regarding CB!!!! ;)

 

teacha50@yahoo.com

 

Carnival Triumph 2001

RCCL AOS 2002

RCCL Enchantment 2003

Princess CB 10/29/05

[Flintstone]

Thank you for a "positive" reveiw! Six more weeks for us in B754!!!

Deb

[marly]

Lin336: So glad to hear you had a good time. My husband and I have been on CB four times and have our fifth booked. If you look for things to be wrong, I'm sure you'll find them. But if you just relax, don't sweat the small stuff and have a good time, you'll wind up having a GREAT time.:)

Marly