Back 6-26 Carib Princess

[Seayalater]

Wonderful ship

Big but not overwhelming. Got lost till last 3 days onboard.

Secret: Deck 8 promanade. Gorgeous and private strolling around here.

Beautiful sunsets, photo opps. Did the "King of the World" thing here w/DD's.

 

Sign up for the "makeover" in Lotus Spa. I NEVER win anything, but got chosen for this. They treated me like a queen! I wasn't going to do it at first, too shy and didn't want to be filmed, but Claire reassured me it wouldn't be too painful, so I did it. Sarah cut my hair (she also cuts the Captains) and Joy did my manicure. Kelvin & Claire from the cruise staff were quite funny and embarrased themselves more then me....although running around the Lotus deck getting videotaped came close!

Then Helen in the boutique did my makeup, a bit overdone but , heck, it comes off! went back the next day for shampoo , styling and make up again for the show "If They Could Sea Me Now" in Club Fusion. If any fellow cruise critics attended...you were a nice crowd, I was quite nervous.Got flowers and champagne. Quite a treat.

 

Dinner was PC. We made a standing reservation in the Palm and requested a window table. Our waiters Rhesty & Efren were extremely nice.

I must complain a bit, nothing to do w/the ship, but fellow passengers.

2 nights we were next to a table of 7 children under age 8 with their parents at another table who basically left their kids to be waited on hand & foot by our patient saints of waiters. The last night the parents informed R & E that"NO, the children will NOT be having what's on the menus, but will be having lobster again"

7 KIDS UNDER AGE 8 HAVING LOBSTER!! So be it. Then the shouting started and the "I don't want LOBSTER" then a Dad demanding Rhesty to "bring their lobster over to me, I'll eat it" then the kids getting louder and more restless and noisy and jumping up & down....the parents drinking their bloody marys..

Then the killer was the kids then demanded "spagetti, plain, by-the-way", Rhesty kindly obliged and then the older kid said "bring us meatballs"

the parent occasionally shouting "Ben? You behaving?"

Alex, quiet down"

I only bring this up because I didn't let it ruin our trip, but to point out that these hard working crew members are people too, working at their job while we are on vacation. No some subserviant species at our beck and call to cater to our every whim. They deserve respect.

Rhesty came over to us several times with an apologetic look in his eyes and asked it he could do anything, were we happy?

I assured him I understood the situation and we wrote up a nice comment card for him & his assistant.

 

Highlights: Magens Bay in St. Thomas. As it was hot we decided not to ferry to Trunks Bay and took a $6/pp taxi thru the mountains for a splendid morning here. There's shade which is nice as well as showers (salt water) and changing rooms, bathrooms and food & drink.

 

St. Maartan: tourist trap, nice beach, rented a jet ski for $40/ half-hr.Beach chairs w/umbrellas for $10 a pair. $1 beers and bottled water.

 

Inside stateroom on Baja, not claustraphobic at all, quiet and kept tidy by room steward David. Requested a towel animal (they only do them for kids, I was told) but he made one for our teenage girls (an ape). He said when Carnival took them over they were taught to make towel animals (like they have nothing else to do!!)

 

Could feel the ship rocking in stateroom bathroom expecially (11th floor) but nothing drastic.

 

Elevators are horribly slow. Always took the stairs. Excellent pizza, souffles (yum) & the beef choices were always tender. Princess needs to work on quality NOT quantity. Sometimes less is more.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

[beachlovergirl]

Seayalater - Congrats on the makeover....sounds like fun. What beach did you go to in St. Maarten?

 

Wow, I would never have 7 kids under the age of 8 sit at a table by themselves....that's asking for trouble, and it's not fair to the people sitting around them. Sounds like that mentality "It's my vacation let someone else take care of my kids" thing again! I would have to say something to the parents...lol....as soon as the kids started getting louder ! You only had them next to you 2 nights.....someone else got the pleasure the other nights. :(

 

Dee

[spongerob]

Interesting comments...thanks for sharing your experiences. In regards to the kids, I wonder if the parents are the same type who question the need to have tips charged to their childrens' accounts. Fortunately the worst behavior was on the last night, and you didn't have to put up with it again.

[mary07054]

seeyalater - nice review. tell me how did your teenage girls like the cruise?

[Seayalater]

in St. Maarten we took a $5 pp water taxi that allows you to go back to ship or port as many times as you want with a red wrist band. We went to the beach on town. Water was pretty clear, no fish but the jet skies smell like gas so that 's a drag. Some venders rent 2 loungers, umbrella and 2 beers or 2 pops for $10. As the sun is intense, it's smart to do this.

 

Mary: Our 2 teenagers 17 & 13 loved the pool area people watching and sun bathing, getting dressed up for dinner & pictures and taking line dancing lessons, movies on sea days and the beaches. Inches of gold for ankle braclets and going to the shows at night. Hypnotist, comedians, cheesy British duo, obnoxious juggler.....the Art Auction is a hoot. Some folks have too much money!

Graham the Cruise Director is irreverant and cheeky (British) and darn refreshing as he makes fun of most everyone, including the Italian captain, who by the way is totally assesible and always walking around the ship.

[laginog]

How long will Graham be on the CP? I hope he's still aboard for our Sept 25th sailing!!! He sounds fantastic!!! I've been telling our friends that are "first time cruisers" that the CD really makes the cruise a lot of fun!!!

[WendyG]

laginog-you are not kidding when you said the CD makes the cruise!

I had the pleasure of having Graham on my Golden and Grand cruise (he wasn't on the Sun Princess though) and that was my least favorite.

 

I'm leaving on the CP on 7-17, I'll ask him how long he'll be on...here's a pic of him (and me) He is absolutely fabulous!

[beachlovergirl]

laginog - On another thread, I asked that same question about Graham Seymour still being on the CP in October and SS Oceanlover wrote:

 

"I asked at the pursers desk about Graham Seymour and they weren't sure if he would still be here in October. They explained he usally does 4 month stints on the Caribbean Princess and they said they think he is doing the Golden after that."

 

If that's true, he probably won't be on my cruise. :(

 

WendyG - Nice picture!!! Please ask Graham personally, if you can.....thanks!!! :)

 

Dee

[laginog]

Well....we'll be doing the last CP cruise in September......maybe we'll get lucky and get his last cruise!!!!

[beachnative]

It is perfectly clear why the parents had the kids sit at a different table...with such rude and poorly raised children the parents didn't want them.

 

It is always a joy to see well-behaved children in public. We often make a pleasant comment to the parents as we exit...they deserve being given accolades because of all the work they put into rearing their children.

 

I hope the parents of the little brats read this board but wouldn't count on it. It was gracious of you not to say anything to their parents...they would probably have responded with something equally as rude as their offsprings' actions!

[minnjudy]

We had a similar experience last week on CP. Our table was small, just the four of us.....DH, myself, and two sons ages 15-20. There were three large tables near us.

Everyone at these tables seemed to be together. The adults sat at one table, the children (all 10 and under) sat at another table...about 12 of them. The third table was a mix. They were Spanish speaking, and constantly yelling loudly from one table to the other. The children would run in circles between the tables, also laughing and yelling. The parents would yell to the children, but obviously not asking them to sit down and be quiet. The waiters had to constantly avoid the kids while carrying trays. There were times when they were noisier than others, but it was very rude of the parents not to mix those kids in with the adults more, and show them how to act for a nice dinner setting. Our waiter was very gracious, and constantly apologized to us for the noise level. But we kept our table, even though I did think of asking for a transfer. It appeared the dining room was full. I do enjoy the traditional dining, but had hoped to be placed at a larger table. However, we were on a waiting list, and glad to get the traditional dining, and enjoyed it despite the activity near us.

[cruisinsuz]

I, too, was on this same cruise and I believe the children everyone is describing were our neighbors on the Dolphin deck. We were literally surrounded by them. Our cabin was right in the middle of a string of cabins they all had-there had to be at least 15 all together and the children were out of control. On more than one occaision my husband had to knock on several doors to find an adult to let them know that their children were running up and down the halls screaming and yelling. They politely promised to handle the situation, but it continued all week. The family was from Honduras. I only know this because they won bingo three times last week and all the kids were present at each game being just as rowdy as they were in the dining room and the hallways/staterooms.

We used these children as a bad example for our 8 and 11-year olds on how never to behave.

They literally acted as if they owned the ship and the rest of us were just there by chance.

I hate to be so harsh because I love kids, but these were truly annoying children and I am appalled at the way their parents allowed them to run amuck.

Other than that, we had an awesome time on the CP!!!

[laginog]

Wendy---

Please do ask Graham when his last sailing on the CP will be. I know a lot of CC'ers would like to know. And, if you don't mind, maybe ask who will be taking his place. We've only cruised one other time with Princess and we had Alistaire Greener on the Star Princess. He was fantastic too! I would be OK if he was on the CP! But....I wouldn't be familiar with anyone else. The other CC'ers could let us Princess newbies know how the "new CD" is!!!

[*KristenInCT*]

Hey Dee!!! I see you booked the CP for October!! We are getting there, we sail Sept. 11th. Mike and I are going to hit Las Vegas in a couple weeks for five days, it was a anniversary present to us. We will get warmed up for the cruise. Are you doing the Western or Eastern on the CP. Actually we booked Carnivals Destiny for next April....the price was right! RCCL prices were a bit high for next spring. Hey...its a cruise Im happy. Hope all is well in NJ!!!!

 

Kristen & Mike

[beachlovergirl]

Hi Kristen !!!!

 

Yeah, after all the planning for my nieces' graduation cruise on the CP (which they are on this week !!!), I couldn't help myself and last month booked the eastern caribbean for John and I to celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary. We just got upgraded to a AA mini-suite (D416) so I'm happy. :D You're doing the western caribbean right?

 

Happy anniversary to you and Mike (is this your 1st or 2nd anniversary?)

Have fun in Vegas....where are you staying?

 

We really had a good time with you guys on the Adventure of the Seas.....it was a great sailaway party out of San Juan !

 

Dee

[*KristenInCT*]

We booked our trip to Las Vegas just last week! lol Talk about last minute. We are staying at Harrahs Mon-Fri (19-23) ...I have been to LV just once before and stayed at the Monte Carlo, something different this time. Its is our second year anniversary...time flies! OOOOOOH the upgrade fairy visited you on the CP!! I wish!!! We do have a balcony, think its B727...thats all I care about! I am so excited to try Princess...but I still love RCCL also. ;) AOS was fun...we had a blast with all of you. I think of all the money Mike and I would have if we didnt love to travel so much...but...hey...cant take it with you! KIT!!!

Kristen!

[Seayalater]

regarding the table of 7 kids. They were Americans because the lot of them were blond. I also know a few names Alex, Ben & Zack because they were yelling at each other.

Anyway the worst part of the trip is going back to work tomorrow!!

I can't wait for my pictures to come back.

 

Maria

[Nunu]

Hey Kristen, when you're in Vegas make sure you guys go and see the "duelling pianos" show at Harrah's. It is at one of the bars and consists of various piano players who sit across from one another and play requests from the patrons. It's a free show (other than the drink costs and requests) and is an absolute blast! They will do stuff like play endless Barry Manilow until someone ponies up some cash for a request, and was our favourite part of our Feb. trip. Have fun, Scott.

[cruisinsuz]

Thanks for the clarification, Maria. I guess Minnjudy's description fits my neighbors better! She described their behavior to a tee!

[WendyG]

I will definitely be asking Graham how long he'll be on the CP. I love talking with him (british accents are so sexy) :)

 

I wonder if he knows about the CC change, he's a member among us and usually posts his "itinerary" 2-3 times per year. :)

[beachlovergirl]

Kristen - I hope you win big in Vegas so you can go on more cruises, of course! :D

 

WendyG - I haven't seen Graham post on the boards in awhile....tell him we miss him on here. By the way, you two do make a cute couple in your picture....lol. ;)

 

Dee