CB review 9/9 & 9/16 w/vegetarian info

[rebeccac]

This is bound to get long as we did B2B Western/Eastern Caribbean.

 

Background - DH and I are both 40. We were celebrating our 10th anniversary and had not had a vacation since 2000. This was the first cruise for both of us. I am a vegetarian (still do eggs and dairy). DH still does meat.

 

Pre-cruise - We flew into Ft. Lauderdale on Friday afternoon. We stayed at the Amerisuites on 17th St. Once we got our luggage, there was a bank of phones to call the hotel and they sent a free shuttle. The hotel was clean and would have been fine for a one night stay if it had not been for the world's hardest mattress. Neither of us slept very much. The front desk said they are under new management and will be making some improvements soon. Some of the others who stayed there did not have the same problem. We ate at the Tex Mex place right next door. It was pretty good. The next morning ate at the free continental breakfast. It was pretty standard, but DH said the coffee was horrible (I don't drink the stuff myself). Walked to Publix to get a few last minute things. We went downstairs to wait for the free shuttle to the pier and met several people from the 9/9 Roll Call, a fun bunch of people.

 

Embarkation - We arrived shortly after 11a, got in a line and very shortly afterward were in the air-conditioned waiting area. We were supposed to have gotten a number, but the guy handing them out must have stepped away when we entered. Luckily DH noticed it so we were able to go back and get #3. After a brief delay, they started calling out all the various numbers and we headed on board. Fairly easy.

 

Cabin - We were in B755. The cabin was just fine for both of us. Plenty of closet space. We did buy and use the over the door shoe holder on the outside of the bathroom door to hold not only shoes, but also suntan lotion and other sundries. The bathroom was small, but perfectly functional. No problems with the shower. Also very small. The balcony was great. Two loungers, a small table, two chairs and a small dining table. There was some noise from the moving water behind us, but we both found it rather pleasant. If we were moving particulary fast there was a bit of vibration, but for the most part it did not bother us. For the first week Raul was our steward (his contract was ending). He got us the eggcrate topper and it did help. The mattress could definately have stood to be replaced, but after the one at the Amerisuites, it was heaven. Raul was very helpful and prompt to answer all our requests. The second week we had Edwin. He always had a smile on his face a mile wide. We had fewer requests to make the second week.

 

Ship - We thought the ship was beautiful. The atrium was very pretty. The ship itself seemed to be well kept up. The pools were nice, but crowded on sea days. They could use a few more spaces with shade for the pale and easily burned such as myself. The dining rooms were nice, but not memorable (we mostly ate in the Palm with the occasional foray into the Coral). We never went into the casino when it was open as for the most part it was too smoky for our tastes and neither of us are really gamblers. The shops were o.k., but nothing outstanding in my opinion, however I am not much of a shopper. I had no complaints, but nothing to compare it to either.

 

Food - We both thought the food was very good. Not great perhaps, but for the most part good. We mostly had breakfast and lunch at the buffets and most dinners (except the last two) in the dining rooms. We had a variety of different servers, but on the last night of week #1, we found Leon from South Africa and he just cracked us up. We requested one of his tables several times week #2 and for the most part were able to get him. We tended to start dinner somewhere between 6p and 7p. We never had to wait for a seat, but we were also willing to share a table. We actually met several very nice people that way. Now for the vegetarian info. There is a section of the menu which list the vegetarian options. If you were a vegan, you would definately need to work with your servers to figure out what would work for you, but I think it could be done although I might stick with one set of servers, so that they know the deal. The first night they served a mushroom soup which was my favorite soup of the whole trip. The salads for the whole week were good, some dressings being better than others. For my main course I had a Moroccon Vegetable thing which was tasty. Dessert was profiteroles with berries, which was very tasty. The second night I had a cold pineapple soup, which was good, but tasted too much like a pina colada in my opinion. Main course was a linguine with vegetable in a sofrito sauce which I enjoyed very much. I had the Love Boat Dream for dessert which was very tasty, but after all the build up by some on these boards not quite as good as I had imagined. Night three was a vegetable cutlet which was not bad, but tasted a lot like mashed potatoes to me. Dessert was a chocolate hazlenut souffle which was yummy. Night four was a very tasty minestrone, a good eggplant parmesean appetizer, main course was a penne arrabiata which was yummy and warm peach souffle for dessert also tasty. Night five - A fruit appetizer which I did not enjoy, but that was only because I do not like melons and it was very heavy on the melony type fruits. The garlic soup was very tasty. Cheese ravioli for the main course was good, but ordinary. Dessert was a duo of mouses which was yummy. Night six - Another cold soup which was o.k., but not my favorite. Main course was a tofu and snap pea thing with miso sauce. Tasty. Night seven - This was our least favorite meal for both of us. I had a fruit appetizer which came with a little jello in the middle. I thought this was odd, but was informed that all jello served on the ship is sugar free and vegetarian. The entree was a roasted eggplant with pine nuts in a mint sauce which I though was a bit bland. The menus repeated themselves week #2. I did try a few different entrees. Night one - a pasta with broccoli and olives which was very tasty. Night two - another pasta dish with peas and olives also good. Night five - a pasta with vegetables in a pesto sauce which I really enjoyed. It was not on the vegetarian menu, but on the regular side. However, I had seen it made in cooking demonstration week #1 and it did not have anything in it I wouldn't eat. Night six and seven, we ate dinner in the buffet. Night three we ate at Sabatinis. We made the reservation by going directly to the restaurant on one of the last nights of week #1. At that time I talked to the manager and explained my diet and they were very willing to work with me. I got several different kinds of grilled/marinated vegetables for the appetizer. The pizza was very tasty. The minestrone they serve is not vegetarian (made with chicken broth), so they made me a salad. I had a pasta with tomato sauce and a gnocchi with a gorgonzola cream sauce which were both good. I got a cake with berries which was soaked in way too much rum for my tastes. One advantage of being a vegetarian was that I did not come out of there quite as full as DH. I really enjoyed the pizza served by the Neptune Pool. It is thin crust and very tasty. They always had cheese as an option and sometimes there special of the day was also vegetarian. I tried the veggie burger at the grill by the pool, but thought it was a bit mushy and pasty.

 

Entertainment - If you want to go to one of the production shows in the theater, show up at least a half hour early to get a seat. It can get very crowded. Week #1 had an impressionist that was o.k. Week #2 had an impressionist that we did not enjoy at all. Troy Thirdgill, a comedian, was on both weeks and he was very funny. We never did see Caribbean Caliente (one of the production shows), but the second week we did make it to Piano Man (the other production show) which was a little cheesy, but enjoyable. Week #1, there was an Elton John tribute act who was o.k. We saw Bert Stratton several times in both Crooners Lounge and Explorers Lounge where he did one show each week. We thought he was a lot of fun. Also a very nice guy. DH ran into him getting coffee on our turnaround day and had quite a nice chat. They weren't showing a lot of movies that I wanted to see at night on MUTS. We did go to see the DaVinci code week #1, but the bass was so loud it hurt my ears and DH was not able to understand the dialog. The situation was probably made worse by the seats we had which were in a corner by some stairs on the second level. We left after about ten minutes. We did manage to enjoy several movies during the day. We tried to see Good Night and Good Luck in the Explorers Lounge one day, but there was some weird rollling video interference which drove both of us nuts. We looked in on one of the movies during the day in the Theater and it looked/sounded good, but we never did time it right to see a whole movie. We did the merengue and cha cha dance classes which were enjoyable, but crowded. Not being much of a night owl, I never did manage to stay awake late enough for Starwalkers.

 

Ports - Our first stop was Princess Cays. We got there early and got two loungers under this little thatched roof thing. The water was lovely. Water shoes were necessary. The BBQ lunch had a few things I could eat, but it was mostly just a snack for me. Ocho Rios - we did the canopy adventure, which is a zipline tour through the forest. It was soooo much fun. The bus ride to the site was also a bit of an adventure. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Grand Cayman - we did a stingray and one snorkling stop trip with Captain Marvin. It was very cool. I would highly recommend doing an independent tour as most of them seemed to me only around a dozen people. The ship tours had significantly more than that. Cozumel - we were going to go to Paradise Beach, but due to a sunscreen oversight in Grand Cayman we were both fairly well burned on our backs, so we just did a little shopping. St. Thomas - I had planned on a beach day, but DH really wanted to go golfing (he had taken several lessons with the pro onboard and was really enjoying himself), so he went with a group from the ship to Mahogany Run and really enjoyed himself. I stayed on board and hung out by the pool watching movies. St. Maarten - we did the America's Cup race. We were on Stars and Stipes and won the race. DH really enjoyed it, but wished we had more wind. I was grateful it was fairly calm. It started to rain as we were coming back in. It eventually became a downpour. We were with a bunch of people from this week's Roll Call and afterward we had lunch and went shopping. We figured we were alreay so wet, we might as well continue on. On the way back to the ship, we managed to get even wetter. In fact we all got so wet, we just couldn't help but laugh. It was a great day.

 

Turnaround - At the end of week #1, we got new cruise cards and some in transit cards. In the morning we used the self service laundry to was clothes (very nice when on a two week cruise) We met at the Casino at 10:15a on Saturday. There were probably about 100 or so other people also staying on board. I have to say this part did seem a bit unorganized. At one point a crew member came over and said something (we were too far away to hear), people started moving, we followed. We went off the ship, through immigration showing our passports and then after a bit of a wait, we went back on the ship using our new cruise cards.

 

Disembarkation - We had a 12:18p flight, so we were in one of the earlier groups getting off. It did get a bit jammed up by the exit, but the rest went smoothly. Again through immigration. We retrieved our luggage, made much easier by bright luggage straps. Got a porter, went through customs. By 9:30a we were in a cab on the way to the airport.

 

Overall - We had a great time. We loved the ship. We enjoyed the stops. We will definately cruise with Princess again. In fact, while on board we did an open booking for a future cruise. I would highly recommend a cruise vacation.

 

For those of you who made it to the end of my novel, congratulations. If there are any questions, feel free to ask.

[Coolmama_1]

Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for the review.

[Whimsy]

I really enjoyed your review. Thank you!

[lindanick]

Thanks for a great review. I am going soon and will be in B749. I hope by then Edwin will know all about egg crates and extra pillows and loads of ice. Money talks.

 

Did you have new furniture for the balcony?

 

Linda

:)

[cbpanda]

Great review. Thanks. We are anxiously anticipating our return trip on the CB next year.

[ski353]

Thanks for a great review. I'm on the CB 9/30 and am also staying at AmeriSuites on Friday.

[Christapie]

Thank you for the review. I eat meat but I still enjoyed the options that I would normally would have never tried. Think I will try some of the items you mentioned.

 

I think when people take the time to write after their cruise is sooo nice. Thank you again and so glad you will be cruising again.

 

Christapie

[cruzinchris]

Rebeccac,

I enjoyed your thorough and well-written review. I'm sure that others will appreciate your details about vegetarian selections. There have been questions recently about some of the offerings (i.e. gelatin), and your findings could have provided necessary information to these passengers.

 

Thanks, again, for the fine review.

Chris

[mortysmama]

Rebeccac...thank you for taking the time to write that wonderful detailed review. We will be on the CB in March and your review just hightened the excitement.

[jimcradd]

Hi Rebeccac,

thanks for the great reveiw. My partner and I are doing the b2b 10/7 and 10/14 and can't wait. I'm really looking forward to two weeks of relaxing. A couple of questions. After the end of week 1 and after you go through immigration and reboard can you just come and go from the ship? We are thinking that we will go to the beach that day but if getting off againis a big hassle we might just stay on the ship all day.

 

At the end of week one do they close out your shipboard account and start you with a zero balance?

Even though they have my credit card info I usually try and pay off my balance in cash the night before the cruise ends. Just wondering if I have to do this twice or just at the end of the second week. Thanks.

Jim

[rebeccac]

We got the new balcony furniture on our second week, but I understand they are still working their way through all the cabins.

 

After you go through immigration, you did get the option to either go back on the ship or go out and do something in Ft. Lauderdale. I don't know how easy it would be to go back on and then get off again as we just went right back on the ship.

 

They closed out the account at the end of week #1 and just transferred that balance to the beginning of week #2. I will warn you to check your account a few times; the passenger services desk will print you out your bill. We found one mistake from the very first day. The first man we went to was less than helpful, but when the situation had not been corrected by turnaround day, the second man very promptly gave us a credit for week #2 in the amount of the incorrect charge.

[CruisingWalter]

Wow! As the DH described in the above novel, I can honestly say I've never seen my wife write so much at a single time! I'm impressed! :) Just to follow-up a little bit on what she wrote.

 

Cabin: We called Raul immediately for the egg crate topper as soon as we walked into the room. I would recommend the same because who knows how many folks will ask for it and you'll get it sooner if you ask earlier.

 

Rebecca noted how we could feel some vibration as the ship really got up to speed, but it was fine. But she did wake up early whenever we came into a port with a dock because when the ship started to swing around horizontally it would definitely increase the vibration in the back. This was actually kind of cool because it woke us up to see just about all the dockings and that is a sight unto itself. I never imagined a 954 foot ship could spin in place and then back into it's slip just like I parallel park my car. Just something I thought I would mention. We loved it, but others might not.

 

Also, the balcony was completely private. Nobody can look down into our cabin and we can't look down into those below due to the way the back of the ship was designed. That was really nice and the natural roof of the balcony above us meant that our balcony was in shade for 90% of the trip. We LOVED that, especially during the hot days so we probably used our balcony more than most folks would.

 

Dining: Palm Dining Room seems to be hard for most folks to find because there is only one set of elevators and one set of stairs that take you there so it's never crowded. At least one of Leon's tables is 110 (or at least it was on our cruises.). The thing about Leon is that he was the only waiter to go through the entire menu with the table before ordering, not only describing what each item was but also giving his opinion on what he felt were good and not so good items. I really appreciated that along with his good humor.

 

I found most of the meals quite good. I forgot that Cornish Game Hen is generally served as a whole side of chicken so it was a bit clunky to try and eat on Formal Night. But I remember Lobster, Lamb Chops and Pot Roast as all being very good. There was a pasta dish with Rabbit that was also quite good on Italian night.

 

I found the free coffee not bad and quite drinkable. Certainly not the coffee I make at home, but not bad at all. In fact, fill a glass with ice and make a nice iced coffee to take out to the pool area. Very nice. I purchased the Coffee Card at the Lobby Bar and the best deal is if you keep getting a large (16oz) Latte. Keep in mind that a coffee card is 15 drinks so for a two week cruise it worked out for me alone. If you're two people, then it would work out fine for one week.

 

Golf: If you play golf, you really owe it to yourself to take at least one lesson with the Golf Pro, who is now Brian Fallon. Ryan Cater and Brian were sharing Pro duties during our two weeks as Brian was learning how to run the facility from Ryan. I've been playing since my teens and never took a lesson in my life. I took 4 lessons total over the two weeks and have never hit the ball straighter and longer than I do now. Ryan suggested I play Mahogony Run the second week as he said it is the prettiest course in the Caribbean. I completely agree and was so glad I went as it was just a fun day and I made some new friends on the course, including the Chickenman from these boards. You do not need to bring anything with you, they will set you up with the glove, shoes, balls and clubs which by the way are the Nike SQ Driver, Ignite woods and Slingshot Irons that Tiger is playing with. Excellent equipment. Ryan is now on the Coral Princess and Brian has stayed on as the Pro for CB. You'll have a lot of fun up there and you can even just play a round of golf on the simulator if you don't want the lessons.

 

Entertainment: Can't say enough about Bert Stratton. He just made us smile and was very enjoyable. I'd say about 50% of the songs remained the same each time we saw him, but especially the second week he was really mixing in new songs. The final night he played "Free Bird" from the sheet music because someone requested it and he said he never played it before. I honestly don't like that song, but it sounded great with the piano. I know some folks don't get him, but then with entertainment, you can't please everyone. I especially enjoyed running into Bert around the ship and having a chance to chat.

 

Piano Man was quite good, I especially enjoyed the staging of the band and the lighting design. Troy Thurdgill was just great.

 

Favorite Secret Place: One day I was up on the Sports Deck taking photos forward and I saw some passengers standing on the "hammerhead" right on top of the bridge. I thought this was a restricted area that only ship's officers could go, but turns out to be an un-marked area of the ship where you can stand out in the elements and get an unobstructed view forward.

 

Go to the Lido Deck (the pool deck) and I recommend the Port Side to enter. Go all the way forward so you'll walk into a cabin hallway and keep going forward all the way till you see a door with a window looking out and a sign "Strong Winds are possible...." Just open that door and walk up to the hammerhead. It's an amazing sight, but be sure to hold on to your hats, or just take them off. If you happened to walk in on the Starboard side, you'll need to follow the hallway around to the left to get to the second door.

 

Well, that's my 2 cents. I'll be uploading pictures to my website later today so I'll let you know when they're there! Also wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who participates in these forums. Rebecca learned so much that really made our first cruise so much more enjoyable that it would have been if we did not have this awesome resource. So THANK YOU!!!