Just back from the Sea Princess!

[cruzzers]

Sea Princess Review Feb. 25- March 11, 2006 Part I

Our trip started off with nice weather, flights on time and our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale at the AmeriSuties all in good order. We arrived ahead of schedule to find our room at AmeriSuites ready for us. The room was comfortable and clean and a good place to stay for the $99 we paid through Value Trips.

We pre-arranged to meet up with 12 of our Cruise Critic roll call group in the lobby around 6PM and walked to Bravo Italian Restaurant about 6/10 of a mile. We experienced a thunderstorm and the electricity went out right before we got our food. Emergency lighting came on and we ate a delicious meal in the dark together.

The next morning, we had a nice breakfast in the lobby and were ready to check out around 11:00. Due to the large crowd of people gathering to get on the free hotel shuttle, we decided to get a taxi and went straight to the port, avoiding the long lines. Cost for taxi was worth the $8 total we paid.

Embarkation was smooth and the line was short so it took just a few minutes once the doors were open for us to gain entrance to the Sea Princess. We were immediately allowed to go to our rooms to deposit our carry-on and then off to the buffet for lunch and exploration of the ship. Having sailed on the sister ship, Sun Princess, we were used to the layout and found the Sea Princess to be even more elegant that the sister ship. We were pleasantly surprised by the adequate size of our inside room, and found plenty of closet space to store everything.

Sail-away wasn’t scheduled until 7PM, so we had plenty of time to unpack and settle in before we joined our Cruise Critic Friends at the Seaview Bar for a drink and meeting before the ship departed. We had Personal Choice dining and enjoyed our first dinner with 6 others the first evening. We managed to make it to the introduction show and spent some time walking out on deck before retiring for the evening.

I will post part II tomorrow!

[chrysalis]

Thanks a lot Cruzzers. We will be boarding her on the 25th of this month, and will also be staying at the Amerisuites, the night before, and have been on the Sun a couple of times before. Sounds like we have similar tastes!

 

Looking forward to "part 2"

 

cheers

 

marc

[jmcruiser]

We just returned from the same sailing and it was quite possibly the best cruise yet (13th). Any questions, ask away, I'll try and answer.

[cruzinsince94]

I agree jmcruiser - everything was just wonderful. This was our 13th cruise and I have to say they are all good, but this was better! Food, entertainment, service, ports, etc.! We had a balcony and enjoyed every morning and evening drinking coffee (or wine) watching sailaways and sunsets. After this cruise we made Platinum and are anxiously awaiting next year!

[English Tim]

Thanks for the review. It adds to my excitement to read about other folks experiences.

 

Please can anyone explain the roll call procedure? I have registered my details for SP 19 Aug 2006, but can find no other cruisers.

[cruzzers]

Botham...Check out the roll calls for the upcoming Sea Princess Sailings. So far there is no roll call for your date but you can certainly start the thread. Here is the link to get you started:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=308

 

PS. It is great fun to have a CC group already established before you board the ship, so good luck to you in getting this going for your sailing!

[Toto2Kansas]

Our Sea Princess cruise in November was one of the best we have sailed on after 30 cruises. In part because of the great CC group we met with onboard. The ship was fantastic and we decided to book it again for December this year. Now that alone tells you how much we enjoyed it.

[cruzzers]

:o Continued from Part I.....

 

Day 1 ….Our first port scheduled was Princess Cays. Due to heavy seas and windy conditions, we had to skip this port and continue on for a day at sea. Since we have been here before, we were fine with having a restful day of relaxation onboard the ship. This would give us 2 days at sea before starting our very busy port intensive itinerary. We met for dinner and shows with some of our Cruise Critic Friends.

 

Day 2…A scheduled day at sea was spent relaxing and getting to know some of our new found friends. We had planned an afternoon Cruise Critic meeting, pre-arranged by Princess, in the Razzamataz Lounge, at our request. There was some mis-communication and upon our arrival, we found that we would be sharing the room with a craft class. The bar was not opened for us and there were no snacks as promised. After some discussion with the Purser, we were promised another meeting for our next day at sea. ( More about that later! )

 

 

 

Day 3…Tortola: We decided to go along with some of our CC group and hire a taxi to Brewer’s Bay Beach together for a day of swimming and snorkeling. Next time we will want to go to the Baths, as we have heard rave reviews about Speedy’s tour there from some of our CC Group.

 

Day 4…Sint Maarten: We purchased an all day pass for the water taxi at $5 each and decided to do some shopping and walking around town. We found some really nice little beach bags, 4 for $10, our best bargain of the day. We enjoyed looking in the shops and drinking Carib Beer in the afternoon at one of the local open-air bars on the beach.

 

Day 5…St Kitts: We paired up with another couple and did the half island tour, which took us through the city and then to the Brimstone Fortress. After spending time walking the grounds and taking pictures from atop the fort, we headed back down to the Batik shops and Botanical Gardens. Cost for the taxi was $20 per person and $8 to enter the Fortress. Nice tour!

 

Day 6…St Lucia: This was the best land tour we have ever experienced! We pre-booked a tour with COSOL on the Internet prior to sailing. ($40 PP) There were 14 of us from the CC Boards all together on this and we all had a day full of sites and food. We stopped at a banana plantation, the sulfer springs, botanical garden, fishing village, numerous picture sites, overlooking the beautiful Pitons and bays along the coast and through the rain forest. We ate many of the island’s favorite dishes and had a cooler packed for us with local beer, rum punch, water, and soft drinks. Our day ended at the beach of our choice. A perfect end to one of the most memorable experiences we have ever had with any land tour!

 

Day 7…Barbados: This is the port where we dropped off some of our British passengers and picked up new ones. We took a wonderful snorkeling tour with an independent that was arranged by one of our CC friends on the Internet. It was called, “ Thriller Tours.” We were picked up downtown by the Waterfront Café and transported to 3 different snorkeling sites. I would have to say this was the best snorkeling tour we have ever been on and saw some amazing things. Our first stop was a spot where the beautiful sea turtles come in to feed. We were able to get up close and touch these wonderful giants of the sea. Our next stop was a guided snorkeling tour of the most beautiful reef I have ever seen and a huge variety of coral, fans, fish and underwater sites. The 3rd site was over 2 shipwrecks and then a stop for some swimming and access to the beach. We were provided snacks, rum punch and local beer and soft drinks. Another day of “WOW!”

 

Part III...To Be Continued Tomorrow!

[cruzzers]

Day 8…St. Vincent: 10 couples from our CC roll call booked this tour through the Internet prior to sailing. It was called “Baliene Tours with Wayne.” We were picked up right at the ship pier by boat and transported to view several areas of the island. One site was the set of the Pirates of the Caribbean, where we would later have lunch; fresh caught yellow fin tuna and all the native trimmings. (Yum!) The highlight of the trip would have to be the hike up a large boulder landslide to the Baliene Falls and our swim in the pool of fresh water at the base of the falls. Though it was quite a difficult climb, we all made it with only a few bruises and abrasions and loved every minute of it. The tour also took us to the most beautiful sparkling black beach we had ever seen to snorkel and swim. Ahhh..another day in Paradise!

 

 

Day 9….Port of Spain, Trinidad: The only port we booked a ship excursion! We booked the Maracas Beach tour and were pleasantly surprised to find this to be such a beautiful island. We drove for about an hour through the tropical rain forest before descending down to the gorgeous beach of Maracas Bay. Our bus driver was very well spoken and knowledgeable and made sure we got to see the highlights of the city and the rain forest, as well as the beach.

 

Day 10…Bonaire: Beautiful waters surround this white sand island. We walked downtown and boarded a water taxi over to the beach in Klein Bonaire for $18 PP. You can enjoy sitting on a beautiful island beach or snorkel the crystal clear reef to see a variety of fish here.

 

Day 11…Curacao: This is a very colorful island, with buildings decorated in bright tropical colors and lots of shopping available in this very busy city. We booked another tour off the Internet with “Bounty Adventures.” ($55 PP) We were picked up and taken by taxi to board a 93-foot wooden sailing schooner for our tour. We visited 2 snorkeling sites and had a wonderful buffet meal while onboard. Of course there was plenty of local beer, rum punch, and soft drinks available for us.

 

Day 12…Phew…Are we ever tired! This was a much-needed day at sea and our chance to talk about all our wonderful tours and reflect on our adventures. We also had the promised party for our CC Group. Princess promised to make up for the mistake they made on the first one and that they did. We were lavished with an open bar for 2 full hours, food, music, and the First Purser, Daniele and Cruise Director, JJ in attendance to make sure we were having a good time. This was another very memorable day for our Cruise Critic Gang, with 40 of us in attendance!

 

Day 13…Last day onboard and time to pack up now. We had the time of our lives and wouldn’t want to change a thing with this cruise. We met some amazing people and had a great time with our Cruise Critic friends. We can’t wait till the next Princess Cruise!

 

Day 14…Disembarkation was as smooth as ever. We waited with friends in the Horizon Court and went out well after our color was called. This made it very easy to find our luggage since it was the only 3 pieces sitting there for our color code! One last glance at the beautiful Sea Princess and it was off to the airport!

 

I will post my final summary tomorrow!

[Toto2Kansas]

Sounds like your tour with Wayne was good in St. Vincent. We have toured with him twice in the last two years and plan to go again in December when we return to that island.

Lots of fun and not an expensive tour by any means for what he delivers.

Glad you enjoyed it.

[cruzzers]

Toto... We got the Wayne's tour information from you when you went in Nov. It was great! I am jealous that you are going again in Dec. We were on the Sun last year and loved it too. In fact, we met up with another couple from the Sun (that we met last year) while we were in port together and did the COSOL tour together this time. This was truly the best cruise we have ever been on and our CC group was so much fun. There were about 40 of us at the last get-together in Razzamataz.

[Toto2Kansas]

Terry and Beth, sorry, didn't remember giving you Wayne's info. I had a lot of emails asking for it back then and drew a blank.

 

I told him last time that once we returned to CC we would spread the word. His tour really is nice, and the price is very reasonable. Plus he is a fun guy too, along with his crew.

 

Now, the next time we go, if I can just limit the rum punch, I might see dinner on the ship that night. LOL Last time I missed it. >>>>blushing<<<<

[cdnguy]

Terry and Beth.

We were with Toto on the November Sea Princess Cruise as well. Really glad you enjoyed everything you did on your cruise. Actually I was the one that gave you considerable information about Wayne's tour on our roll call when you enquired about things to do in St. Vincent. We'll certainly be back there sometime as Wayne definitely knows how to give everyone a good time.

Last month on the Sun Princess we took tha Bounty Adventures tour in Curacao as well. That's another tour you did that we would highly recommend.

 

Enjoyed your excellent review. Brought back many pleasant memories.

[Toto2Kansas]

Gerry, at least now I am not questioning my memory quite as much. ROFL

[cruzzers]

Actually, someone else from our CC board, (Frank47) was the one to arrange Wayne's tour for our group of 20. Our roll call watched your board because you were the first group to do the Caribbean back in Nov. We had to live vicariously through you till it was time for us to cruise. We really enjoyed all your comments on the tours and the pictures you all posted after your return. It helped us all decide which tours we would take and I can say, we didn't strike out on any of the tours, thanks to you and all the information on these boards.

[Toto2Kansas]

Glad we could be of assistance. That's what these boards are really great for, sharing all the information and tour info.

I am glad we didn't let you down.:D

[cruzzers]

Continued from Part III.....

 

*Summary: We have been on several cruises, but have to say this was definitely one of the best ever. We love the Personal Choice dining and never had to wait for a table to come open and got to dine with a variety of different people. We found the buffet food to be very good and liked the selection and variety. There is room for improvement as far as access to the drink stations are concerned. We could only get iced tea in the buffet line and the only other drink station was by the grill, supplied with water and hot drinks. A set up on the Promenade deck would be a nice addition.

*We were pleasantly surprised by the size and storage of our inside cabin (C505) and had a wonderful attendant. The shower was even big enough to move around in, without the shower curtain clinging to us. The only complaint was that we were right by a service hallway and every morning at 6:30 AM, the staff was getting their work carts ready for the day. No sleeping in for us!

*The crew and staff were friendly and always willing to please and the Sea Princess is an elegant ship that has been maintained very well. I do have to say, we were not that impressed with the Movies Under the Stars addition. We liked the concept but think we expected more recent movies to be shown. We love the production shows and they were excellent but we felt like there needed to be more than 3 main shows on a 14 -day cruise.

*One more suggestion is for Princess to have more lounge chairs for sea days. The chair hogs were out early, so we were only able to get chairs on one of our 4 days at sea and had to be up at the crack of dawn to get them! Princess did have staff members remove items from chairs that sat for long periods of time. With all this said, we would love to take this cruise again and probably will sometime in the future.

 

You may view some of our pictures at the following web site:

http://community.webshots.com/user/lewisbunch100

[Polar Bear]

I am so glad that my Hubby found this thread...what a glowing review of the Sea Princess and your photos are great.:D ...we leave on the Sea in just under three weeks...the opposite cruise to yours....

thank you

[cruzzers]

Dannish...You will enjoy the Sea Princess. We would love to do the other ports sometime in the future too. We could easily have stayed onboard for another 14 days as many people were doing. Please report back to this thread when you return so we can keep this thread going for reviews.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[cruzzers]

Good luck and safe travels to all of you heading to Ft Lauderdale this weekend to sail on the Sea Princess. If you have even half as much fun as we did, you will love this cruise!

[Shelby Cruiser]

Yes, Beth & Terry, it was a blast. Everyone should enjoy their time on the Sea. We really liked the ports. Finally started doing the ironing that we acumulated. It is really hard to get back in the normal swing of things. We got so spoiled. Hope everyone has great weather & I know you will run into some friendly people on board. Miss our bumping into each other. :)

[cruzzers]

We are missing our Cruise Critic friends and would love to hear from anyone who has sailed on the Sea Princess recently. If you are going on a future cruise, you will be in for a real treat!