Hi Live from the Sea Princess 06-20 Jan 07

[julieh]

Hi everyone,

 

Embarked ship in Ft Lauderdale last Saturday. Flight from UK was on time but much prefer flying into Barbados as we had to collect our luggage clear customs and immigration transfer our luggage out of airport to coach park. In Barbados we did not see luggage from Gatwick airport until we got to the cabin. It took some passengers up to 3 hours to get from Ft Lauderdale airport to the ship. We did it in just over an hour.

 

Ship is fine although there have been one or two service issues in the anytime restaurant mainly with the head waiters ! but I will monitor and report back.

 

Cruise director Peter Tredgett and deputy Wendy ?? Seem to be quite good but again little early to judge yet. Passenger Services Directo Adam Gorst and Captain Kent.

 

We were at Princess Cays yesterday which was wonderfull however wish the stay was a little longer 1030/330 only. We are at sea today bound for Tortola, weather good average 80 degress and seas are a little choppy but no problem.

 

We have a cruise critic meeting at the wheelhouse bar in the patter today so will pop along and see who is there.

 

Will post again later when I know a little more

 

Julie

[English Tim]

It seems to have been raining here, for the last 48 hours. Have a great cruise and I hope the sun shines on you a lot more than it's doing here!

[katyj]

Hi Julie

Looking forward to reading all your posts, and experiences, as we join the ship as you leave on the 20th. Hope you have a wonderful time

[flamomo]

julieh,

Thanks for posting. I'll be following your progress.

Which itinerary are you doing - the Adventurer or the Islander?

We'll be boarding on Feb. 17th for the Islander route, and can't wait to get started.

[truebrit]

Hi Julieh

 

We're out of Manchester to Barbados on 10th February, so we are especially looking forward to your posts.

 

Have a super cruise.

 

John

[julieh]

Hi All,

 

Well we are in Tortola today. Weather Hot but cloudy. We arrived 1.5 hours late due to choppy seas (very rock and roll last night) and it was very unusual as we docked and went ashore but the gangplanks were lifted at 1.30 and the ship went to anchorage. Tender service then commenced at 2.30pm. There were 4 ships in today. One was at anchorage all the time and 2 HAL ships docked and stayed where they were.

Not sure why this happened! We are tendering again in St Martin tomorrow. Spent the day at Cane Garden Bay and had lunch at Rhymer's their ribs are great! Taxi fare is $6 each way.

 

Unfortunately didn't make the cc meeting as other arrangements overran but will keep my eye on the patter in case there is another.

 

There are new items on the restuarant menu's which is nice most of the old favourites are still around but it is nice to see some new ones. Horizon Court food seems to be limited (not as many choices and salad items very limited)

 

Show last was Shake, Rattle and Roll in the Vista lounge, have seen before but very good. The music in the wheelhouse is provided by Barnacles which are very good. Show tonight is Tribute.

 

Have a shopping trip booked to Marigot tomorrow so will report back on that tomorrow only $22 per person.

 

Off to change now.

 

Julie

[AliceS]

Julie,

 

How wonderful to hear from someone on Sea Princess. We will be there 3/3. I will follow your journey with interest. Look forward to the next post.

[Colo Cruiser]

Enjoy your cruise!! :)

[red devil]

Hi Julie

Looking forward to reading all your posts, and experiences, as we join the ship as you leave on the 20th. Hope you have a wonderful time

JUlie good job keep us posted (food) Kathy hope you keep up the post as we join the sea princess onFeb.3. Julie & kathy Have a great time and keep a smile and if you see someone sad give them one of your smiles. .

red devil

[CTGirl]

Hi Julie,

 

I'm glad you are posting live from the Sea Princess. My husband and I are booked on the March 17th sailing. We are on the Islander route out of Fort Lauderdale.

 

I am curious how the Barbados embarkation works. Do you know anything about it? I have never been on a cruise before that had two different embarkation ports. I can't find the Barbados option on the Princess site anywhere. Can you tell me how to find it?

 

Enjoy Marigot. We love St. Martin. We go every year to a timeshare. We always spend at least one day in Marigot. The people are very friendly.

 

I look forward to your continued posts

Shelly

[flamomo]

'" am curious how the Barbados embarkation works. Do you know anything about it? I have never been on a cruise before that had two different embarkation ports. I can't find the Barbados option on the Princess site anywhere. Can you tell me how to find it?"

 

I believe the embarkation in Barbados is for PAX from the British Isles. I have read that these itineraries on the Sea are heavily marketed there, and that ogenerally the majority of PAX are from there. The Princess cruise literature we in the US get does not indicate that embarking in Barbados is even an option. We would have not known about the British aspect were it not for CC postings. I also understand that this cruising season is the last time these 14 day So Caribbean itineraries will sail from FLL. They will all go out of Barbados, with no visit to a US port like FLL. Too bad, because we would have liked to do the Adventurer itinerary at another time, since we will be on the Islander route next month.

[truebrit]

Hi !

 

I can confirm what Flomomo indicates.

 

Every 2 weeks dedicated charter flights from London (Gatwick) & Manchester

(Airbus A330) fly direct to Barbados. As everyone on the flight is going on the same cruise, they are considered to be in transit, so they leave the plane and go straight from the tarmac by bus to the boat.

 

Then we have 2 weeks of super cruising to look forward to.

 

I booked my cruise approximately 15 months ago and at that time Princess was offering around 45-50% discount off the quoted price.

 

I have travelled before with Princess on a charter flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It's a relatively painless way of starting and ending the cruise.

 

This beats going from Manchester to Fort Lauderdale via Chicago with overnight land accommodation.

 

If, as Flomomo indicates future cruises will be out of Barbados for all, this

will mean that Americans and Brits etc. will all start their cruise at the same time.

 

As we have a young Grandson, I can still look forward to visits to Florida and my friend, the rampant rodent in Orlando.

 

See ya!

 

John

[CTGirl]

Hi All,

 

Thanks for the replies. This option is not on the Princess website either. Is it on a specific British website ot do you have to go through a TA? Again this is just a matter of curiosity for me, I find it interesting.

 

Too bad about the 14 day not going out of Fort Lauderdale. This is a very easy embarkation port for us.

 

I am excited about going on the Sea Princess. Our first Princess cruise was on the Ocean Princess (not part of the fleet any more). We had a great time on that cruise. We have been mostly on the Golden since then. I really like the Golden but I'm also excited about going on a "Sister Ship" to the Ocean.

 

Happy Cruising

Shelly

[AliceS]

Shelly,

 

We're on the Sea from 3/3 to 3/17, so I will connect with you and share our experience. We did the Sea a year ago last November and really liked the 14 day. The embarkation in Barbados was different, but all of the passengers were great. Any questions?

 

I'm anxious to hear the rest of the posts LIVE right now. Do tell!!!

[JUST CRUZIN]

Save some food for us. Enjoy

[ricko1]

We will be leaving from Babados on Oct 27, 07. Happy to be leaving from Barbados, our favorite island.

We should get to spend 3 days before the cruise, hope we can find the BAJAN outdoor Main show. People on STILTS dancing better than I can on my two feet:D . It was billed as: THE BAJAN EXTRAVAGANZA..DON'T MISS IT.

[truebrit]

Hi Shelly

 

As far as the U.K and my booking is concerned, Princess advertised this in the UK press and in flyers through the post.

 

I don't recall that this was part of a large brochure. I use a Bank loyalty service which for £12/month gets Norma and I full multi-trip insurance, 10% off holidays booked with their dedicated TA, free access to exec. lounges on the way out and various other perks.

 

In the course of a year, I get more than my £144 back in exec. lounge entrance charges alone.

 

Cheeeeeeeeeeeers!

 

John

[julieh]

Hi everyone, thanks for the good wishes.

 

We arrived in St Kitts ontime. Only ship in port which is rare these days!

 

Weather hot in the 80's. Took a local taxi tour which we booked in the mall at the end of the pier. $25 per person for 2 hour tour. More shops being built here and it is developing into a nice pavement shopping area. More shops have opened since we were here last year.

 

It was Island night last night. Great buffet on deck and a fun lively atmosphere

 

Have booked for the steakhouse Friday night it was booked up for tonight. We have tried 3 times to get in so guess you need to book early.

 

Seas have been calm now we have gone further south.

 

We are staying in an aft suite on caribe deck which is very spacious. The balcony is huge but not alot of shade on it. There is lots of storage space and the bathroom is enormous.

 

Off to St Lucia tomorrow will report back then.

 

Julie

[CTGirl]

As far as the U.K and my booking is concerned, Princess advertised this in the UK press and in flyers through the post.

 

Thanks John,

 

You have cleared up the mystery for me.

 

Julie,

 

Enjoy St Kitts and St Lucia. Say hello to the monkeys on St. Kitts for me.

 

Shelly

[Toto2Kansas]

Hi everyone, thanks for the good wishes.

 

We arrived in St Kitts ontime. Only ship in port which is rare these days!

 

Weather hot in the 80's. Took a local taxi tour which we booked in the mall at the end of the pier. $25 per person for 2 hour tour. More shops being built here and it is developing into a nice pavement shopping area. More shops have opened since we were here last year.

 

It was Island night last night. Great buffet on deck and a fun lively atmosphere

 

Have booked for the steakhouse Friday night it was booked up for tonight. We have tried 3 times to get in so guess you need to book early.

 

Seas have been calm now we have gone further south.

 

We are staying in an aft suite on caribe deck which is very spacious. The balcony is huge but not alot of shade on it. There is lots of storage space and the bathroom is enormous.

 

Off to St Lucia tomorrow will report back then.

 

Julie

 

There were two nights on the Sea where they moved the steakhouse outside, they were the best nights for dining. Weather was perfect and so much nicer to dine under the stars than in the other half of the horizon court. We noticed that early, there were many tables available so you might check on that. Most seemed to want to dine in the 8-9 timeframe. So, if you are game to have dinner earlier, you might be able to get a reservation if you talk to them. Best of luck, it was the best meal of the cruise.

[flamomo]

"There were two nights on the Sea where they moved the steakhouse outside, they were the best nights for dining. Weather was perfect and so much nicer to dine under the stars "

 

I read on another thread that the sound from MUTS was disturbing to some of those dining "under the stars". I don't know how intrusive it was, as that poster didn't say if it completely disrupted their meal, or if it was just annoying.

[AliceS]

Julie,

What happened to St. Martin? What did you do there?

[galelynn]

Hi Julie,

 

Glad you are having a good time, I am enjoying your posts.

 

Lynn

[Toto2Kansas]

"There were two nights on the Sea where they moved the steakhouse outside, they were the best nights for dining. Weather was perfect and so much nicer to dine under the stars "

 

I read on another thread that the sound from MUTS was disturbing to some of those dining "under the stars". I don't know how intrusive it was, as that poster didn't say if it completely disrupted their meal, or if it was just annoying.

 

What you are talking about I think, was my post from the Sea Princess.

The first night, MUTS was very very loud with opera. Siince we aren't fans of opera, it did disturb us somewhat. We could have asked if they would turn it down, but didn't. So, I guess that was our fault.

The second time we dined under the stars at Sterling the sound was much lower and I would not have traded that for anything. Having the Sterlings Steakhouse in one side of the Horizon Court is just not appealing at all. Dining out under the starts, even with MUTS blareing, is better than being inside.

[chrysalis]

What you are talking about I think, was my post from the Sea Princess.

The first night, MUTS was very very loud with opera. Siince we aren't fans of opera, it did disturb us somewhat. We could have asked if they would turn it down, but didn't. So, I guess that was our fault.

The second time we dined under the stars at Sterling the sound was much lower and I would not have traded that for anything. Having the Sterlings Steakhouse in one side of the Horizon Court is just not appealing at all. Dining out under the starts, even with MUTS blareing, is better than being inside.

 

Sterlings under the Stars is fantastic...we had a great night for it...the "Three Tenors" doing a 'live from.... outdoor concert' was on the big screen and the volume was just perfect. I only wish they had Sterlings outdoors on the Sun.