ROLL CALL: 2/25/07 Caribbean Princess

[2seattleguys]

we were directly below the big party area on the mexico cruise (sister ship) we didnt here a thing these ships are so well designed noise is not a factor plus being one floor down you dont wait for elevators . just run down the stairs and refresh that cocktail !!!!!!!:) same floor almost same room this trip!!!!:) we brought all kinds of bbse with us to mexico (put it in your checked luggage) the port authority inspects checked luggage and they dont care if booze is leaving the country. carry on is checked by princess and they dont want it brought on cause it cuts into profit, we talked to alot of people who brought everything on board even cases of beer in checked bags!

 

we just went to the costume store and saw two queens agonizing over costumes and we asked where they were going "on a gay cruise" was the reply same cruise small world

[TravelerRoss]

Hi Guys.....Looking forward to a great week on the ship. I have been on many cruises, and this itin. is still my favorite for the caribbean. I enjoy the days at sea more than the island stops. I'm traveling with a group of 15+ from Dayton, Ohio.

For those of you that are considering the shore excursions, please do some research in advance because you can will save LOTS of money by going on your own. I hear that most are planning the day at Orient Beach on ST. Martin. This is the best beach to spend the day because you have everything there such as shopping, food, beverages, watersports, and a very nice long beach to walk and people-watch . You can take a van shuttle for about $6.00 (aprox) each way. The excursion offered from Princess is around $65.00 (includes a cocktail and lunch), and you are only there for a few hours. Go on your own, pay for your own lunch and drinks, stay for as long as you want, and you will still come out cheaper. Have the driver drop you off downtown to do some quick shopping and take the water taxi or a nice 30min walk back to the ship... Just a FYI. Don't feel you need to do a Shore Excursion if you have never been to the islands. Ask around the ship. There will be plenty of vetern cruisers that will give you excellent advise to make your day at port a good one without having to spend a lot of your "FUN" money.

 

Ross C626

[TravelerRoss]

Hi Guys.....Looking forward to a great week on the ship. I have been on many cruises, and this itin. is still my favorite for the caribbean. I enjoy the days at sea more than the island stops. I'm traveling with a group of 15+ from Dayton, Ohio.

For those of you that are considering the shore excursions, please do some research in advance because you can will save LOTS of money by going on your own. I hear that most are planning the day at Orient Beach on ST. Martin. This is the best beach to spend the day because you have everything there such as shopping, food, beverages, watersports, and a very nice long beach to walk and people-watch . You can take a van shuttle for about $6.00 (aprox) each way. The excursion offered from Princess is around $65.00 (includes a cocktail and lunch), and you are only there for a few hours. Go on your own, pay for your own lunch and drinks, stay for as long as you want, and you will still come out cheaper. Have the driver drop you off downtown to do some quick shopping and take the water taxi or a nice 30min walk back to the ship... Just a FYI. Don't feel you need to do a Shore Excursion if you have never been to the islands. Ask around the ship. There will be plenty of vetern cruisers that will give you excellent advise to make your day at port a good one without having to spend a lot of your "FUN" money.

 

Ross C626

[kalypso333]

Hi AthleticCruiser:

 

We had the Lido deck on the RSVP Mexican Riviera trip in October - in fact we were the most forward cabin. It was great! We could not hear a thing, probably because we were upwind.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Today I had to keep reminding myself that next weekend is the last, so I better be making my list for the final packing.

 

Kip

[nj80snut]

hi guys, just spent the last hour reading all the posts here lol... I just got off the atlantis freedom cruise which was a great time btw :) it was my 2nd atlantis cruise, havent tried RSVP... yet...

 

My friend is going to book this cruise tomorrow and with the 2 for 1 deal it would be great to check it out. pretty much just need my boss's ok to take another week off in less than a month and im in!

 

thanks for all of your posts, they helped answer all of the questions I had in regards to the difference bw atlantis and rsvp... and after the freedom, I could definitely use another vacation :)

[QUALITYINLIFE]

Thanks all for such a warm greeting! I have lived 27 years in Los Angeles, but my heart will always be in DAYTON, OH, where I was born and raised!

 

Ross, so great that we are neighbors, I am in C612 ! I gotta spend some quality time with you other Dayton guys!

 

I graduated from Fairview H.S. but also attended Colonel White and Meadowdale ( we moved a lot!)....

 

I have no idea how we are going to be able to fit so many outfits in our luggage. I gotta buckle down this week..RED, what will I possible look like in RED? An exploded paint can? LOL.

At 49, don't catch me loose at any underwear party anytime soon, ok?

 

I am not really a "BEAR TYPE", but they do love me; any one know of any BEAR GROUPS going??

 

Thanks,

Robert aka: QUALITYINLIFE

 

e-mail me guys at Gr8guyla@aol.com

[dendren]

Thanks all for such a warm greeting! I have lived 27 years in Los Angeles, but my heart will always be in DAYTON, OH, where I was born and raised!

 

Ross, so great that we are neighbors, I am in C612 ! I gotta spend some quality time with you other Dayton guys!

 

I graduated from Fairview H.S. but also attended Colonel White and Meadowdale ( we moved a lot!)....

 

I have no idea how we are going to be able to fit so many outfits in our luggage. I gotta buckle down this week..RED, what will I possible look like in RED? An exploded paint can? LOL.

At 49, don't catch me loose at any underwear party anytime soon, ok?

 

I am not really a "BEAR TYPE", but they do love me; any one know of any BEAR GROUPS going??

 

Thanks,

Robert aka: QUALITYINLIFE

 

e-mail me guys at Gr8guyla@aol.com

 

grin... well, there are no organized bear groups in particular going on this cruise like the one in October, but trust me there will be *all* types of guys (and gals) on this cruise. The people on this cruise are incredibly diverse but like minded groups tend to find one another on these ships more often than not. Whoever you want to hang with I'm sure you'll find it, and if you are looking for bears to hang with... I guarantee that won't be difficult (that's where I usually am :)

[monumax]

Thank You Christopher and Matt....one less minor detail to think about.

Now still pondering how much wine to pack without it getting taken away by Princess.

 

Kev

 

According to the policy quoted below from the Princess website, it is OK to bring wine onboard, just not hard liquor:

 

"Carrier kindly requests that You do not bring alcoholic beverages of any kind (except wine and champagne) on board for consumption. Alcoholic beverages that are purchased duty free, from the ship’s gift shop, or at ports of call will be collected by Carrier personnel for safekeeping and delivered to Your stateroom on the last day of the voyage. A member of Carrier’s security staff will be at the gangway to assist with the storage of Your alcoholic beverage purchases. A corkage fee of $15.00 per bottle will be applied to wine and champagne consumed in the ship’s restaurant."

[monumax]

I see that there is only ONE opening left for the 8:15 a.m. Champagne Catamaran snorkling cruise to St. Thomas that many of us have scheduled. So if there is any single cruiser who wants to join us, better act now!

[Tim-n-Rick]

Good Afternoon! All the talk about excursions has me wondering. Are these exclusive to us or will the be passengers from other boats as well?

 

Welcome to all the new posters! This is going to be such a fun crowd! Remember if you want to be included in a directory we are compiling of Cruise Critic members please email me a photo along with your name, email address and cabin number. If you do not have a picture or do not want a picture published and would still like your name and email included let me know at timhyatt@bellsouth.net

 

Ok, I'm struggling to get through this day. I just spoke with our payroll manager and I have 145 hours of vacation so I may just take off after Wednesday of next week to pack and begin winding down from work before we head south. I so need this trip!

[Hogthrob]

How much does it cost and how do I register? Sounds like fun!!!!

[cjswitzerland]

Tim - in my past experience the cruise lines tend to organize excursions with operators that are exclusive to the passengers of their ship and then offer them through the online or reply mail sign ups. This has held true on straight and gay cruises.

 

Hogthrob - registration for the excursions can be done on the Princess website through the Cruise Personalizer. You need ou Booking number to access this section. Cost is 99 dollars for the half day excursion with alcohol incuded.

 

Tom - Tuesday night for the Steakhouse sounds great to me. I expect you will be the first on the ship (amongst us CC's if not all together) so go for it and book the table. Also tell Bertha to feel free to introduce away. That will get me past any shyness that creeps in.

 

Welcome to all the new posters. And those of you who are still waffling on whether or not to come: GET ON THE BOAT.

 

Est-ce qu'il y a quelqu'un qui parle français???? On peux discuter des mecs chauds discrètement.;)

 

Only one more Monday morning to wake up to before the bon voyage.

 

Christopher

[Boytjie]

As I paid for my lunch and got 3 dollar bills change, I had to smile thinking about it going into my tip pile and where I will be when I use it to tip... someplace warm and sunny! It's a balmy 39°F in New York City but snow is on it's way. As long as we can fly out on Friday the 23rd.

 

Question on towels for the pool or beach: do they provide pool towels like they do at hotels and resorts? And should we bring our own beach towels?

 

We are into packing "slightly used" clothes that can be discarded during a vacation to make room for new purchases.

 

Our beach towels might not be the swankiest if they are going to get discarded along the way.

 

That really ugly t-shirt = Trashy Tourist costume.

[Tim-n-Rick]

Est-ce qu'il y a quelqu'un qui parle français???? On peux discuter des mecs chauds discrètement.

 

Ok, I cheated. Free translation says "Does there be someone that speaks French? ??? One can discuss the hot guys discreetly" :D

 

You sneeky French speaking little cruiser you!

[dendren]

Good Afternoon! All the talk about excursions has me wondering. Are these exclusive to us or will the be passengers from other boats as well?

 

Tim... in all the cruises I've taken with RSVP I've never seen a mixed excursion. Your catamaran trip and other excursions will be "family" only so no need to worry about being mixed in with those who aren't gay friendly. Even the operators have been unbelievably warm and comfortable with us. On the catamaran trip I took in Cozumel they were encouraging us to dance and party and even showed us how to do belly shots. Needless to say they were tipped very well. I wouldn't expect the morning champagne excursion to be as wild as the afternoon ones by any means but at the very least it will be all folks from the ship.

 

It is interesting to me how quick word gets around that a gay tour is coming in to port. After the bashings in St Marteen a while back I have to admit that's the one place that I will be a bit more aware of my surroundings than usual. Personally I wish RSVP had changed that port like they were talking about after the bashings happened. However, that said, the only excursion I've ever taken that felt even remotely homophobic or uncomfortable was one tour in the Dominican Republic that was supposed to be a city tour that included some of the prettier churches. After the first church we found the next ones curiously "closed" and locked up. Guess they didn't want a bunch of homos bursting in to flame or song and dance in their church :P

[cjswitzerland]

Ok, I cheated. Free translation says "Does there be someone that speaks French? ??? One can discuss the hot guys discreetly" :D

 

You sneeky French speaking little cruiser you!

 

Oh but you won't have the free tanslator with you on the ship....HEE HEE.

 

But think about it this way: if I hear someone talking about you in French (especially one of the bartenders or natives when we are at Orient Beach in St Martin) I could turn out to be a valuable resource.

 

(Oh and to save you time from having to look it up....'Je souris' means 'I am smiling.')

 

Christopher

 

Vous avez trouvez des bottes violettes pour la fête?

[cjswitzerland]

I see that there is only ONE opening left for the 8:15 a.m. Champagne Catamaran snorkling cruise to St. Thomas that many of us have scheduled. So if there is any single cruiser who wants to join us, better act now!

 

I just looked and it now reads WAITLIST ONLY.

 

Hogthrob: did you manage to grab the spot up to join us?

 

Christopher

[Tim-n-Rick]

Vous avez trouvez des bottes violettes pour la fête?

 

No, I am still looking for the purple boots but I do have alternatives on the way. :D

[gigand]

Dendren,

 

We know how you feel about St Martin. We were just there on the Atlantis cruise and did'nt have any issues or bad feelings. In fact the ship stayed from 8:00 am-1:30 am the next morning so we really got around. We shopped, zip line tour and in the evening we took a cab to the Atlantis casino and had dinner at Dare to be Rare. Everyone was cordial but we never put ourselves in situations where we were in shady venues or where there was not many people. We had a wonderful conversation with the cab driver who was respectful of our relationship and we wished him well with his upcomming marraige.

 

Jim & Terry

[Cruisydave]

it's been my experience that the ship provides towels for whatever you need. poolside is unbelievable. how they keep the supply coming always amazes me. and for beach excursions, they have them ready at the exits to the port. you grab one and go. they collect them on your return.

 

and of course, towels in the room are inexaustable. as many as you like.

i guess they're producing their own laundry water, so they just keep washing. (hard to believe there's a desalinization plant onboard.)

 

as for the steak house reservations....be careful about table size. there are lots of 2 and 4 tables, and even some sixes, but if you start trying to put huge parties together, you won't get the date, or time that you want. the large tables are very limited in my past experience. we had an 8 last time and there were only 2 eight tables in the restaurant. which means that there were only 13 chances to get one (2 each night and 1 on sailing night). very difficult. so try to scale down your parties, and your odds go up. just an observation......<G>

 

my best friend decided last night he's coming along....i'm so excited. my husband and my best friend on the same cruise..........

[gigand]

Tim,

 

You could always paint some boots purple.:D

[Tim-n-Rick]

Tim,

 

You could always paint some boots purple.:D

 

But that would require work and the work side of me grows less and less powerful the closer we get to the cruise. I'm afraid the play side has full control at this point.

 

Having said that, if worse comes to worse I'll break out the spray can or brush and try to find the energy. ;)

[gigand]

But that would require work and the work side of me grows less and less powerful the closer we get to the cruise. I'm afraid the play side has full control at this point.

 

Having said that, if worse comes to worse I'll break out the spray can or brush and try to find the energy. ;)

 

 

Yes, I see your point. And then finding purple paint might be another chore.

[Hogthrob]

Malheureusement, j'ai manque ma chance de partager votre journee festive. Mais j'ai hate a vous encontrez!

 

Too slow in the uptake and now that is one less champagne campaign for me. Oh well. I'll have to find something/one else to occupy my time that day :)

[cjswitzerland]

Malheureusement, j'ai manque ma chance de partager votre journee festive. Mais j'ai hate a vous encontrez!

 

Too slow in the uptake and now that is one less champagne campaign for me. Oh well. I'll have to find something/one else to occupy my time that day :)

 

...peut être vous pouvez arriver en tête de liste.

 

I would go ahead and sign up. You may find your name at the top of the waitlist and then if someone changes their mind... you are on.

 

Don't give up on the champagne that easily.

 

Christopher