WE DID IT :) tons of ?????

[Disneycruiser#1]

Thanks to you all ( Sue ;) ) we booked the Caribbean Princess for 8/28/04. Category BD, Baja Deck, cabin #314. Of course with our lives and my husbands CO fighting over when he transfers Units we have insurance but I feel good about it working out!

We have sailed on Carnival, RCI and DCL a lot but never on Princess and can you tell how excited I am!!! I feel as if we have discovered a new secret!

Questions:

1. Not sure if we are driving down from NC or flying if we get a good deal on airfare. We have only sailed out of Tampa at Port Canaveral? Do we fly into Ft. Lauderdale? Can someone recommend some good hotels?

2. We have never been to St. Thomas or St. Maarten. We want to keep cost down and be very laid back so...........I have read that we can take a taxi to Megan's Bay on our own or can book an excursion via Princess to St. Johns to snorkel?

I do not know if we should take a taxi to Megan's Bay and buy tickets on our own for the sky tram or book an Princess excursion to St. Johns to snorkel?

Any other suggestions or opinions on the choices above? If St. Johns which snorkel/beach or just snorkel excursion would you recommend?

3. What is there to do in St. Maarten. I read somewhere there are 2 beaches you can go to on your own. Great Bay via water taxi and I "think" Sapphire Beach via taxi. Is this correct and what is your input?

We opted for PV Dining which I still am confused about. All of the Catgeory BB's were gone but it seems we got a nice cabin. Catgeory BD, Baja deck 314 which is midship???

Once again, thank you for helping us and your kind words. I can't believe we are going and am very excited. Since we have never sailed Princess we will take any and all help you offer.

Thanks!!!

[BurBunny]

Congratulations!

Yes, the easiest airport to fly into is Fort Lauderdale. You can also fly into Miami which is about 45 minutes away.

There are a number of excellent hotels. Availabile on Priceline and/or Hotwire are the Hyatt Pier 66 (beach zone), Renaissance, Marriott Marina, Embassy Suites (Downtown zone). Also recommended are the various Days Inns/Suites. If you want a hotel on the beach the two Sheratons are good, as is the Doubletree Oceanfront. For a special experience, the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort is fabulous.

In St. Thomas, if you want snorkeling but not the logistics of going over to St. John, try Coki Beach on St. Thomas. You can get there on your own - no need to take a Princess excursion to get there. Good snorkeling from the shore. Not as scenic as St. John, but if you want to spend time shopping or doing other things, it is a bit easier logistically.

Otherwise, I'd do St. John on your own as well. Take a jitney taxi to the ferry dock, the ferry to St. John, then another jitney taxi to Trunk Bay (or Cinnamon Bay the next beach over - not as crowded).

Have a wonderful cruise!

[spongerob]

Congratulations on your new booking. I'm sure you'll be thrilled with your cruise.

Fort Lauderdale (FLL) is extremely handy for cruise passengers. The airport is only about 10 minutes away from the pier or from many hotels. Many people book through Priceline and get great rates. Our latest fave is the Renaissance on 17th street. It is close to a large shopping center for pre-cruise provisioning, there are good restaurants nearby, and the water taxi stop is just a short walk away. You can also go out on the skyway over the Intercoastal Waterway and view the ships in port. There is really no need for a car. You can book a private shuttle van to get you to the port for minimal cost. There are tons of other great places to stay.

Check the ports of call boards for information on St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Most Princess excursions are rather expensive. We really enjoy the all-day sail to St. John from St. Thomas, but at $120 per head it is a significant expense.

I've got to run, but I know others will give you tons of advice. Welcome to Princess!:)

[sue d. miller]

Congratulations!!!! YOU DID IT!!!!! Good for you. :) You will have millions of questions, and they will keep coming. Just throw them out. Between now and your cruise, We will have you a pro on anything Princess. We have great people here, with the knowledge of encyclopedias. You will get lots of answers. We know the questions are coming, so don't be afraid to ask. We are more than happy to help. I will give you the first tip. When you board, just kick back and relax and enjoy your time with hubby. Try not to over do. You will get tired quickly. There is lots to do on the ship. And if you fall in love with Princess, and I think you will, You will have many other cruises with your family to exhaust yourself!!! :eek: Take lots of pictures, and make it special!!! Sue

[mii]

I will repeat what Sue said; relax and enjoy. On our very first cruise(in fact it was Alaska) we were such greenhorns; did not know a thing and you know we had the best time of our life. I cannot begin to stress enough, sit back, relax and enjoy a drink and just think how lucky you are. Welcome to Princess.

Mairlyn

[verwirrt]

Congrats on your booking! I think you'll love your Baja deck balcony cabin. The balconies aren't quite as large as Caribe but they still accommodate two reclining chairs and a table quite nicely.

I agree with spongerob, to check out the Ports of Call board. I didn't even realize they existed until a couple of months ago when Sue pointed that out! Lot's of great info there.

Keep the questions coming!

Sharon

[GloriaF]

I'm glad to hear that you made a decision and booked the CP!

You'll have a great cruise and you have a great balcony!

In St Maarten, there are several beaches. Chris mentioned Sapphire and Baie Rouge as being beautiful and not crowded; and there is also Orient Beach, which has a nude area as well as a clothed area. That would be a nice send off memory for your husband. ;)

[Disneycruiser#1]

Thanks everyone! I will keep checking the ports of call. Going on Princess for the first time is neat but I wish I had the knowledge I do about Princess like I do the Disney Magic :) There are so many inside tips. Thanks again and keep your fingers it will work out!

[sue d. miller]

Don't worry!! It will work out just fine!! You just have to believe!!! :)

[Disneycruiser#1]

How does the Personal Choice Dining work? Was I right to pick that?

Thanks!!!

[Disneycruiser#1]

Bur Bunny and all----where is Coki Beach in St. Thomas and how do we get there? Is it closer than Magen's Bay or Sapphire Beach? Is Coki Beach right by the ship pier or is that Great Bay Beach?

Thanks, looking to save money but think in St. Thomas going over to St. John's would be great!

[Disneycruiser#1]

Goodness, I hope you all do not hate me bc I will chill out. I emailed my TA and requested PC Dining even though I have no clue how it works and he did not email me back. Is it hard to get this option, was I right to request it and how does it work?

I have exceeded my 20 question limit for the day but thanks for eveyone's help!!!

[sue d. miller]

LOL!!! You will be fine. PC dining is a good thing. You can eat at any time you choose between 5:30 and 10 p.m. There are two dining rooms to choose from. Each night you will have a different table and a different waiter. You can also, if you choose, have the same waiter and table, at the same time, each night. If you choose to do this, just ask the Maitre D. The menu is the same as the Traditional, and the dress code is the same. The only thing different about PC is the singing waiters are not in PC. :)

[monk888]

Disneycruiser,

PC Dining is great! I see this as one of the greatest things about this ship and the Princess cruise line. The choices for meals on the Caribbean Princess are endless when you do PC Dining! You can:

1. Go to the Horizon Court or Cafe Caribe any time of day.
2. Show up at the Coral Dining Room any time between 5:30 and 10PM.
3. Show up at the Palm Dining Room any time between 5:30 and 10PM.
4. Grab a slice or two at Prego any time between 11AM and 8PM.
5. Grab a burger, hot dog, brat and fries at the Trident Grill between 11AM and 8PM.
6. Do room service any time.
7. OD on ice cream at Scoops.
8. Stuff your face at Sabatini's for a $20 pp cover charge (well worth it!).
9. Cut into a delicious steak at Sterlings for a $15 pp cover charge.

We were on the June 26 sailing and had a great time.

[Pam in CA]

To add to what Monk says, you can also eat in the Horizon Court 24/7 -- it's always open.

Not to confuse things, with Traditional dining, you can do all of the above except for the Coral and Palm dining rooms. The only difference is that you eat at either early or late seating. Either way, you have lots of options.

[surfnsun]

DH and I loved PC dining. Princess was DH's first cruise and my second. His only request for a cruise was "I don't want a schedule for anything! I want to relax and do whatever I want to do when I want to do it!" Obviously, we had to be on the ship at a given time, but other than that, I booked a cruise that did not have any "schedules" we had to abide by, i.e. traditional dining. It's one of the reasons I chose Princess. We showed up to dine whenever we felt hungry instead of a pre-determined time. A matter of personal preference, but it worked for us.

About Coki Beach, we did purchase an excursion at the last minute and chose to go diving there. We noticed alot of people snorkling too. I think next time we'll invest in an excursion to St. John's, but there is nothing wrong with Coki Beach if you want to just catch a taxi at the port and enjoy the beach. Nice scenic drive on the way, and it took no more than 10-15 minutes to get there. I'll dig through my pics and see if I can find some of Coki Beach...

[surfnsun]

Here ya go, disneycruiser#1. Not the best, but it's what I've got. The better pics of Coki were taken under the water, i.e. picture#2 which may give you a taste of the snorkeling, since we weren't very deep! :D


P.S. Sorry if some of you have seen at least one of these before, just trying to help the OP.

[Viki]

[COLOR=Red][FONT=Georgia][COLOR=Navy]You may want to check flights from Raleigh (RDU) to Fort Lauderdale. We live near Charlotte but we can get much better deals flying from Raleigh or Greensboro. Hope this helps....Have Fun [/COLOR] [/FONT] :D[/COLOR]