Advice for Carribean Princess rooms & excursion

[escape07]

We have a guaranteed room (D611) for an eastern carribean cruise in april. Is there a better side of the ship to be on for this cruise? Also does anyone know if the mini suites balconies are worth it? On our last cruise we had an inside room so we aren't familiar with the balony sizes, etc.

 

Excursions in St. Thomas, St. Martin and Princess Cays.... which ones are the best?

[cbpanda]

We were on the Eastern itinerary in June of this year in cabin D207. We were on the starbard side as well. I remember not feeling as if we missed anything because we were on the "wrong" side. I don't think it makes too much of a difference on this itinerary. St. Thomas we had a harbor view off of our balcony. In St. Maarten we viewed the commercial dock, so we didn't get to see much until we left. But the views were plentiful then. In Princess Cays, the ship is anchored, so it doesn't matter what side you're on. We loved the minisuite and its balcony. We had breakfast out there every morning and cocktails every evening. My only complaint was that on the sea days it was REALLY windy out on the balcony, most likely because it was so far forward.

 

As far as excursions, I'm afraid I can't help much. We went scuba diving in both St. T and St. M and briefly got off the ship in PC. That said, I have read about some fantastic excursions on this board, and urge you to do a search on the ports.

[Tribefans]

We just completed the eastern cruise last Sunday. We were on the port side in an Aloha balcony cabin. I would think you will like the larger balcony. We had a better view of the port in St. Marten from the port side, but that only lasted for about an hour until the Carnival Victory pulled in beside us! I would say there is not a "best" side to be on.

 

As far as excursions, we would highly recommend the 12 Metre Challenge(America's Cup). It was a highlight of our cruise. You can be as active as you choose, as the passengers actually do crew the boat. We met so many nice people on board and had something to talk about whenever we saw each other again. After sailing in the AM, we went to Divi Little Bay for the afternoon since it is close to the dock. The beach was great and not at all crowded, but you are going during high season.

 

We did St. John on our own for the St. Thomas stop. We did that to get more time on the beach since the cruise excursion gives you only about an hour and a half. The taxi and ferry and admission fees make doing this on your own just as expensive as the Princess excursion, so if an hour and a half is long enough, that might be the way to go. We went to Trunk Bay, went early, and it was nearly empty when we got there. It is beautiful there. Just the perfect beach. There are lots of great beaches on St. John.

 

Check out the Cruise Destination boards on this site for lots more ideas on excursions. Have a great cruise, hope you have as much fun as we did.

[cruzzers]

Tribefans...Did you have any problems getting a taxi or transportation to the dock ferry for St JOhn?

[Tribefans]

cruzzers,

 

We had no trouble with taxis. They were waiting at Crown Bay when we got off the ship. They were trying to get a full load of pax all going to the same place, but gave up on that. We chose to go to Red Hook to get the hourly ferry, but we would have been in time for the ferry from Charlotte Amalie, and some say that is the better way to go. I had read about getting the local bus, but we didn't try that. There were taxis waiting at Cruz Bay, St. John, when we got there and there were taxis waiting at Trunk Bay when we left there in time for the 3:00 ferry back to St. Thomas. Also, no problem getting a taxi in Red Hook for the trip back to the ship. Our driver assumed we were going to the dock at Havensight, and when he realized we weren't he apologized because he would have taken a different route to Crown Bay. We had to drive through town, but we were still back at the ship by 4:15. We had allowed plenty of time so we wouldn't be rushed. It would have been nice to have the shops open at Crown Bay, since we had an extra hour with nothing to do.

Immigration onboard was a snap for Americans, once they remembered to tell us to bring along our passports.

[sandinmyshoes]

We took this cruise in Sept and did the two cities/countries bus tour through Princess. We weren't impressed, but we don't really care to see how poor and destitute the island inhabitants are. It breaks my heart everytime and I want to get off the bus and give them something to help. All of the islands on this itenerary are like this except Princess Cays. I would suggest doing a specific activity on each of the islands instead of a generic island tour. You will get to see parts of the islands without the entire thing being a heart wrenching journey.

 

In St. Thomas, skip Blackbeard's castle. It's nothing to be excited about. It's really just an old tower you can climb up and see the island with a small some-what modern hotel around it. No real pirate themeing or swashbuckling fun to be had here unless you have an active imagination. I would suggest St. John for an authentic island adventure, if you are interested in that.

 

Hope that helps some.