Eastern Caribbean June 24-July 1 review

[cbpanda]

We recently returned from our Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard the Caribbean Princess. We had a fabulous time and have nothing but praise and compliments. Therefore, if you read something here that comes across as negative, I don’t mean it to be; it just means that moment wasn’t as great as it could have been.

Not wanting to deal with delays since we booked the airfare ourselves on Airtran, we flew down a day early. My opinion is Airtran is the way to go. You pay for a coach seat, and for a small extra charge can upgrade to the front if there is an empty seat, which there usually is, and have plenty of fanny and legroom. We stayed at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort using points to get a room the nights before and after the cruise. First rate property. The cab ride from the airport was maybe 15-20 minutes and $20 before tip. Since they wanted us out of the room by 11:00, we decided to head for the pier. Now I have read what everyone says about embarkation, getting there later, etc. Our only other cruise experience was on the Carnival Victory out of Manhattan, which was an embarkation nightmare. This was the total opposite. We got to the terminal around 11:30, waited in line to go through the metal detector of which there is only one. Another could have speeded things up. In any event, they didn’t start boarding until noon anyway, and we were on the ship by 12:15! Easy. Lots of personnel were present to usher us to our stateroom. Zip. Smuggling on the contraband booze was a non-issue. I just put the clear booze in water bottles for the carry on luggage, and the other bottles went in checked luggage, which was quickly delivered, to our room.

We were in room Dolphin 207 on the starboard side. This is the deck, which sticks out over the lifeboats. Now I have read all the complaints about no privacy from above, but honestly, I didn’t look up that much so I could care less if someone was looking down at me. Which they are not, I am sure. Why look down at us when the beautiful scenery is in the other direction. And if they want to look at my fat belly instead of torques water, well have at it. DW did complain that it was really windy and wants to do the next deck up the next cruise, as the balcony is the same size but half covered, half not. The room is smaller though. I’ll adjust. The room itself was great for the three of us. The beds were already pushed together and included the foamy mattress pad. The duvet comforter was fabulous and cozy. The pillows were excellent. Some people have complained about the lack of hangers. If you could see the picture of the closet on our webshots account, you could see that we didn’t use ¾ of the hangers. I don’t know what type of clothes those complainers brought along, but we only hung up our dressy items most of which were on their own hangers in the garment bag anyway. More on the room: the bathroom was roomy and had a tub. We only showered which had better temp and pressure than most hotels we have stayed in. The room steward was pleasant and competent. Nothing special. Nothing bad. He did his job well. The insert between the beds was like the Himalayas between my DW and myself. The couch pulled out for our son to sleep on. After adding a layer of cushy foam, he said it was much more comfortable. Having the couch pulled out made coffee on the balcony every morning a little like an obstacle course, but we managed. Hey, price to pay for paradise. We did room service coffee, pastries for us and had juice and cereal for our son ready for whenever he arose from his comatose sleep. Now a word on Princess coffee of which I have read many complaints: we thought it was tasty. Then we would head up to the buffet for breakfast.

Food and dining: breakfasts in the buffet were good. DW loved the eggs benedict and I enjoyed the fresh made omelets. She and our son loved the pizza by the pool; I didn’t think it was anything special. The grill by the pool had some awesome french fries. We had anytime dining which worked well for us since we wanted to eat on a flexible time frame. There was one family we saw a few times that took up two large round tables. They must have been able to make a standing reservation because they had the same tables every time we saw them. We ate in the Palm dining room every night. Four out of six nights we had the same private table and waiter team who was fantastic. We couldn’t get them two nights. One night we sat by ourselves and had terrible service. The other night we shared a table with a very friendly family and again had terrible service. Those two nights the service was so bad we couldn’t wait to leave. The food, however, was fantastic. If you can’t decide between entrees or appetizers, my philosophy is get them both! Why not? You can. If you don’t like something, you send it back and get something else. They don’t care. On our anniversary, they brought us this chocolate cake that was heaven on a plate.

One word on this ship: Beautiful. I’ve read complaints about there being too much wood and not enough Vegas glitz. If you want that, take Carnival. While I understand Carnival owns pretty much all of the cruise lines, this ship was fabulous compared to the Victory. Everyone we talked with who was a repeat cruiser said Princess is definitely a step above Carnival. I can’t see anything worse than Carnival based on the Nova Scotia trip we went on. This ship is huge; however, I can only think of two times I felt it was crowded. Both were the last night while everyone, and I mean everyone, was trying to look at the portraits and pictures the photographers took all week. We just decided to come back at a later time and went to dinner. Pools: If you wanted a lounger by the main pools, then you would have to get there early. I enjoyed the Spa pool forward and the other adult pool in the stern. Neither was crowded and chairs were always available. The entertainment was pretty standard: Magicians, jugglers, hypnotist, fair cover band, and decent jazz trio. The “Piano Man” show I watched a little while and wasn’t really impressed, but it didn’t look too bad. Now everyone raves about Bert Stratton. I enjoyed his show, but one sitting was pretty much all I could take. He mostly does the same show over and over. Same songs, same routine, same shtick, so if you see him once you will be entertained. We got there about an hour before show time and had no trouble getting seats. He performs in the martini bar, which is located in a great spot if you enjoy people watching. Oh, and as my cruise account can attest, the martinis were pretty tasty! I did have trouble packing the souvenir martini glasses at the end of the trip. More on packing later.

Ports of call: Having been to St. Thomas before, I opted to stay on the ship and not go shopping in the morning. This was pretty neat. I think I saw about a dozen other passengers and got to swim in every pool all by myself. DW and son went shopping and returned for our afternoon excursion of SCUBA. This was a big disappointment as we dove off of Coki Beach. This was our son’s first dive, and he did great. Being off the beach meant water conditions were poor. When you dive in the Caribbean, you expect pristine water. The excursion people also didn’t say ahead of time they booked 26 people, which meant half would snorkel and have would dive, and then switch. A TOTAL misrepresentation. I didn’t pay almost a hundred bucks per person to snorkel. But, hey, diving is cool anyway, so even if the conditions were not perfect, it was still fun and it was a kick to see our son do something cool and new. So I didn’t snorkel. I enjoyed the coldest $2 Heinekens and sat in the shade while the other half dove. Who can complain? Off to St. Maarten! Talk about some inexpensive booze! I picked up two bottles of Johnny Walker Black for $22 a piece. They make rum in St. Maarten you can only get in St. Maarten. So again, shopping in the morning. We walked into town and took the water taxi back. The main street we walked along was one jewelry store after another and at each one there is a person trying to get you inside. Not pushy, but annoying. When we said “no thanks” they were polite and stopped. So now it’s 12:30 and time to head back to the ship for another SCUBA. I have about twelve bottles of contraband with me that I totally expect to have checked for me until the end of the cruise. Nope. I walked right on and up to my stateroom. That’s when it hit me. I have to take all of this back home in my luggage. Not to mention the carved coconut monkey heads we got the drink-of-the-night in one night. Yikes. Should have brought the bubble rap people suggested bringing. Good thing we had an extra suitcase. Diving in St. Maarten was excellent. Off a boat, fish, shipwrecks. Totally cool. Princess Cays was the last stop and one I would recommend skipping. Stay on the ship and enjoy the pools while most everyone else is ashore would be better. This would be the second time I knew there were 3000 other souls aboard. We went ashore, walked around for about an hour and got some excellent pictures of the ship. We heard lots of complaints about the crowds and food being bad. Stay on the ship and hit the buffet.

Teen program: We felt like there were two separate vacations going on here - our sons and ours. We saw him asleep in the cabin before breakfast, changing after breakfast, a quick kiss- kiss around lunch, dinner and then again at bedtime. He said it was, “Awesome”.

Then it was back in Ft. Lauderdale and getting off. We went to the buffet for breakfast and waited for our turn, which was late because they knew we had a flight the next day. If you want to get off first, tell them you have a flight early. It didn’t really matter to us since we sat and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, coffee and reading and another night back at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort and another complimentary canvas zippered boat bag!

[Jennifer823]

Thanks for posting, it sounds like you had a great time!

[mdmomof7]

Thanks for the detailed review, Claire. We're also from MD! We flew Air Tran and Southwest on our August cruise last year. Air Tran was the same price and much nicer. I didn't realize about the upgrade possibility. I'll have to check it out.

 

I also felt like there were 3000 others on board when we first embarked and went to the buffet. Yikes! I had to will myself not to panic and take it in stride. I did and it all turned out great! In fact, I really really wish we would have booked that future cruise/deposit while on board last year. We have been diligently scouring the extra $$ and looking for a week to go again ever since we got off the ship. We found it! Yippeee! We don't even care that we are doing the same exact itinerary. We'll just do different excursions and I MUST get back to St. Maarten for the jewelry I left behind. Hope it's still waiting for me!

 

We love the CB. We met others who also did and just one family on board that didn't care for it and went back to Carnival. I think the fresh water pools are a big plus as well as the understated decor. We also very much enjoyed the service along w/ all the other attributes people comment on in their reviews.

 

We just booked for 8/19 on the Caribe deck. Ooohhh! I can't wait for a balcony! Heee heee!

 

Thanks for the review!!

[Hebejeebe]

Hi MdMom - I'm happy to hear the good reviews. We are going on the 8/19 cruise and are flying on AirTran (BWI) for the first time. We've done Carnival cruises before (and loved them). I'm hoping the Princess is as good or better.

[suzanne911]

Thanks for the great review! I just did the Western route on CB 6/3. Your review brought back some great memories. I was wondering, maybe your balcony was so windy because it was so far forward? Maybe if you got a Dolphin mini midship or farther aft, you would have less wind and a fabulous cabin. Or do what we did and get an Emerald deck mini, totally covered balcony and not windy at all. We loved it. Thanks again for the enjoyable review!

[mtaylor04]

Great review. I appreciate your posting as we will be doing the Eastern Caribbean in December.

 

Thanks again

Mary

[alscottg]

Do you happen to remember the name of the waiter that you had and loved? We are leaving on Saturday on CP and would like to make a "standing" reservation and am hoping to get a great waiter!!

 

Thanks so much....

[cbpanda]

Do you happen to remember the name of the waiter that you had and loved? We are leaving on Saturday on CP and would like to make a "standing" reservation and am hoping to get a great waiter!!

 

Thanks so much....

 

 

Our "waiting" team's names were Gica and Silviu (Table 23) in the Palm dining room. Both, I believe, were from Romania. Absolutely fantastic.

[cbpanda]

Thanks for the detailed review, Claire. We're also from MD! We flew Air Tran and Southwest on our August cruise last year. Air Tran was the same price and much nicer. I didn't realize about the upgrade possibility. I'll have to check it out.

 

I also felt like there were 3000 others on board when we first embarked and went to the buffet. Yikes! I had to will myself not to panic and take it in stride. I did and it all turned out great! In fact, I really really wish we would have booked that future cruise/deposit while on board last year. We have been diligently scouring the extra $$ and looking for a week to go again ever since we got off the ship. We found it! Yippeee! We don't even care that we are doing the same exact itinerary. We'll just do different excursions and I MUST get back to St. Maarten for the jewelry I left behind. Hope it's still waiting for me!

 

We love the CB. We met others who also did and just one family on board that didn't care for it and went back to Carnival. I think the fresh water pools are a big plus as well as the understated decor. We also very much enjoyed the service along w/ all the other attributes people comment on in their reviews.

 

We just booked for 8/19 on the Caribe deck. Ooohhh! I can't wait for a balcony! Heee heee!

 

Thanks for the review!!

 

Oh, yeah. Air Tran is great. It's nice to be able to upgrade at the last minute. It sure enhances the vacation.

 

My husband wrote the review (he was so excited about doing it). We absorbed just about every review or comment that we were able to find before we left, so he wanted to return the favor.

 

We have now just re-booked the CB for this time next year. Same ship, same itinerary (leave some of the jewelry in St. Maarten for me :D ). I just didn't get to see enough. We also booked on the Caribe deck rather than the Dolphin deck this time. I guess we'll sacrifice smaller rooms for the partial covered balcony.

 

Can't wait!!!!!:eek:

[cbpanda]

Great review. I appreciate your posting as we will be doing the Eastern Caribbean in December.

 

Thanks again

Mary

 

Anytime! And if you have any specific questions that my husband's review didn't answer, feel free to ask.

[cbpanda]

Thanks for the great review! I just did the Western route on CB 6/3. Your review brought back some great memories. I was wondering, maybe your balcony was so windy because it was so far forward? Maybe if you got a Dolphin mini midship or farther aft, you would have less wind and a fabulous cabin. Or do what we did and get an Emerald deck mini, totally covered balcony and not windy at all. We loved it. Thanks again for the enjoyable review!

 

You know....that didn't even dawn on me. It's quite possible that it was that windy, because it was forward. The balcony was great but it reminded me of a convertible car. You love it, but by the time you get where you're going, you feel wind whipped and exhausted.

 

We looked into the Emerald deck mini's but they are directly over Club Fusion and my husband didn't want to deal with the club noise at night.

 

We have booked the Caribe deck for next year, but I think next time we will take you up on your suggestion to book further back.

 

Thanks for the thoughts.:rolleyes:

[hightownCO]

cppanda, thanks for your review. We have a long time to wait till our trip but always appreciate reading how everyone else's trip went.

 

A couple of questions...

 

How was the motion in D207. We're in D228. I get seasick although will take meclazine. Just wondered if you could feel much up and down motion vs side to side or both?

 

Also, looked in your pasts posts and saw your son was 13. My daughter will be same age. I booked Princess specifically because it has these Off Limits clubs and includes 13 year olds.If you can get anything more than 'awesome' from him, my daughter would like to know if they had PS2 and what games? Did he 'hang' in Off Limits much? What sort of music do they have there or do they also show moves there in the club. Did he do any of the organized activities-scavenger hunt or such? Any add'l info would be appreciated!

 

Thanks much!

Sharon

[cbpanda]

cppanda, thanks for your review. We have a long time to wait till our trip but always appreciate reading how everyone else's trip went.

 

A couple of questions...

 

How was the motion in D207. We're in D228. I get seasick although will take meclazine. Just wondered if you could feel much up and down motion vs side to side or both?

 

Also, looked in your pasts posts and saw your son was 13. My daughter will be same age. I booked Princess specifically because it has these Off Limits clubs and includes 13 year olds.If you can get anything more than 'awesome' from him, my daughter would like to know if they had PS2 and what games? Did he 'hang' in Off Limits much? What sort of music do they have there or do they also show moves there in the club. Did he do any of the organized activities-scavenger hunt or such? Any add'l info would be appreciated!

 

Thanks much!

Sharon

 

Hi Sharon,

 

To answer your questions:

 

The only motion we felt being so far forward was the side to side motion. I don't recall any up-down motion at all. I do remember being surprised that we could feel as much as we did.

 

The Off Limits Teen club was a great feature. As mentioned in the review we didn't actually see much of our son. The teen program doesn't require parents to sign the kids in and out. They are pretty much allowed to come and go as they want. There was PS2 (more then one), but I'm not sure how many they had. Also as far as games, the only one Sam mentioned was Guitar Hero. They had a PS2 tournament out on deck on evening on the big MUTS screen. Sam won the tournament because they were playing that Guitar Hero game. He is at camp this week, but can ask him when he gets back on Friday specifically which games were there if your daughter really wants to know. The kids are allowed to "hang" out there anytime they want. Sam was pretty much there as long as they were open. Lots of socializing, talking and getting to know everyone. They played movies and music videos on the screens in the center. The music was very generational (meaning, I didn't know any of it, but he liked it). And there was at least two teen sponsored movies played on the MUTS screen at night. They had discos, pool parties, casino night. Honestly, it was well done. He loved the structured activites, especially the scavenger hunt, and participated in all of them (except the ones obviously geared towards the girls).

 

I tried to get him to keep the activity sheets for the week, so we could post them for anybody interested, but no such luck. Sorry. Again, he will be home on Friday, if your daughter has specific questions, I'll be happy to pass them on.

[cbpanda]

cppanda, thanks for your review. We have a long time to wait till our trip but always appreciate reading how everyone else's trip went.

 

A couple of questions...

 

How was the motion in D207. We're in D228. I get seasick although will take meclazine. Just wondered if you could feel much up and down motion vs side to side or both?

 

Also, looked in your pasts posts and saw your son was 13. My daughter will be same age. I booked Princess specifically because it has these Off Limits clubs and includes 13 year olds.If you can get anything more than 'awesome' from him, my daughter would like to know if they had PS2 and what games? Did he 'hang' in Off Limits much? What sort of music do they have there or do they also show moves there in the club. Did he do any of the organized activities-scavenger hunt or such? Any add'l info would be appreciated!

 

Thanks much!

Sharon

 

****Sorry duplicate post ****

 

Hi Sharon,

 

To answer your questions:

 

The only motion we felt being so far forward was the side to side motion. I don't recall any up-down motion at all. I do remember being surprised that we could feel as much as we did.

 

The Off Limits Teen club was a great feature. As mentioned in the review we didn't actually see much of our son. The teen program doesn't require parents to sign the kids in and out. They are pretty much allowed to come and go as they want. There was PS2 (more then one), but I'm not sure how many they had. Also as far as games, the only one Sam mentioned was Guitar Hero. They had a PS2 tournament out on deck on evening on the big MUTS screen. Sam won the tournament because they were playing that Guitar Hero game. He is at camp this week, but can ask him when he gets back on Friday specifically which games were there if your daughter really wants to know. The kids are allowed to "hang" out there anytime they want. Sam was pretty much there as long as they were open. Lots of socializing, talking and getting to know everyone. They played movies and music videos on the screens in the center. The music was very generational (meaning, I didn't know any of it, but he liked it). And there was at least two teen sponsored movies played on the MUTS screen at night. They had discos, pool parties, casino night. Honestly, it was well done. He loved the structured activites, especially the scavenger hunt, and participated in all of them (except the ones obviously geared towards the girls).

 

I tried to get him to keep the activity sheets for the week, so we could post them for anybody interested, but no such luck. Sorry. Again, he will be home on Friday, if your daughter has specific questions, I'll be happy to pass them on.

[hightownCO]

Thanks for the add'l infor. I relayed it on to my daughter last night and she was excited. She's played the guitar hero and thought the tourney sounds great. She's looking forward to it and I think she'll be one that really gets into the structure and will enjoy the facilities. Something that's lacking on the other cruise lines for the younger teens.

[cbpanda]

Thanks for the add'l infor. I relayed it on to my daughter last night and she was excited. She's played the guitar hero and thought the tourney sounds great. She's looking forward to it and I think she'll be one that really gets into the structure and will enjoy the facilities. Something that's lacking on the other cruise lines for the younger teens.

 

Glad I could help. Hope you have a great time.