24 June - 1 July Caribbean Princess review

[mdgary]

Here is our (myself, DW, 16 y/o DS and his 15 y/o girlfriend) review of the Western Caribbean cruise onboard the Caribbean Princess. We flew into Fort Lauderdale on Saturday evening and called for the shuttle to the hotel which came within about 15 minutes. We stayed at the Comfort Suites Airport/Cruise Port which was OK but nothing special. At dinner time, we were going to ask the desk for restaurant locations but they were busy at the front desk so we decided to just walk and check for ourselves which was a mistake. We walked a couple of blocks down and didn’t really see anything other than fast food so we decided to just go to Denny’s (what a way to start a vacation!!). Come to find out that if we walked just a little further down 17th street there were several real restaurants available.

 

Sunday morning (CRUISE DAY!!!!) We took the 11:00 shuttle to the port (sign up in advance) and arrived around 11:15 but they had not started the boarding process but there were plenty of seats available in the terminal and waited until they called our for boarding group 5. They started the boarding process around 12:10 and went very quickly and called for group 5 around 12:20. After the quick check-in at the counter we were walking onboard by 12:30. Stopped for the traditional welcome onboard photo op and then got the coke stickers for my son and his girlfriend then off to find our cabin. My wife and our son’s girlfriend had cabin B718 (balcony) and my son and I had cabin B720 (interior across the hall). The cabins were very nice and had plenty of storage space available although the showers are very, very small. They had my wife’s cabin setup as a queen bed (we had asked for twins) but when we met our cabin steward (Wency) we asked him to change them back to twins and he quickly changed them back later that afternoon. Wency was very friendly and did a great job for us all week long.

 

Before exploring the ship we had lunch in the Horizon Court/Café Caribe. The buffet’s have a good selection available and we thought the food there was very good. The layout of the buffet if very poor but other than that we always enjoyed it. After lunch we explored around the ship and finally got to get our sail away drinks and got ready for a great week in the sun.

 

Cabins:

Baja718 (Interior) and Baja720 (Balcony): Great location at the rear of the ship and very convenient to the Horizon/Café Caribe buffet and Club Fusion. No problems with noise in either of the cabins. Both cabins are the same size and have plenty of storage space available.

 

Entertainment:

As I mentioned above we had previously seen the production shows last year so we skipped them this time but I do recall that Piano Man was a very good show and shouldn’t be missed. Comedian Steve Moris was as funny as ever and was great to watch during both his shows. We also saw hypnotist Joshua Seth but if you miss his show don’t be disappointed as you won’t miss much. One don’t miss is Lovena Fox. She is a terrific singer and put’s on a great show with a wide range of songs. And one surprise that we really enjoyed was the Princess Pop Idol contest as there were several passengers that sang really well.

 

Dining:

We chose the Anytime dining option and went to the Palm dining room on 3 of the nights and tried Sterlings Steakhouse on Monday (Caribbean Night). The food was excellent on all nights but the service was a little hit or miss. Our server on the first formal night (Daniel – not sure where he was from) was not friendly or helpful in any way and seemed annoyed that we were there. Our server for the second formal night (Fred from South Africa) was just the opposite and very nice and helpful and made the meal very enjoyable. We made reservations for Sterlings at 6:00 on Monday and surprisingly nearly had the restaurant to ourselves. The service was fine and the meal was delicious and well worth the extra cost.

 

The Horizon Court/Cafe Caribe always have a good selection available and we thought the food was very good. The only problem with the buffet is the layout as there isn't any real order and you are continually running into other passengers.

 

Port Visits:

Princess Cays: The only thing we signed up for on Princess Cays was for the water boats and that was fun but after about 15 minutes of peddling we were ready to head back to the beach. As expected, we went across the bridge to the quiet side and our son and girlfriend went the other way. Beautiful island for just relaxing and enjoying the day.

 

Ocho Rios: After reading several negative reviews about Ocho Rios we were a little leery of this port visit. We decided against visiting Dunns Falls and opted for doing the river tubing tour. Our tour guides were great and made sure everyone had a safe and fun trip down the river. Although I wasn’t thrilled with Jamaica I would recommend this tour.

After returning to the dock we do some shopping at the Island Village. Although just a 5 minute walk we wimped out and took the overpriced bus to and from the port. The shops were good but nothing special. We had lunch at Margaritaville but because they were so slow we wound up bring it back to the ship to eat.

 

Cayman Islands: On Caymans we did the Stingray Catamaran trip. Nice and enjoyable with plenty of time to swim with the stingrays.

 

Cozumel: Our favorite port. We did the horseback tour and once again had a great time. The tour takes you through the rainforest (I guess that’s what it was) and on the beach briefly. The guides were very helpful for those of us not used to being on a horse. At the end of the trip you get a nice lunch and time to use the resorts facilities. Again, we would recommend this tour. After heading back to the city it was off to the shops for great day of shopping for my wife.

 

 

The Ship:

The ship is kept in terrific shape with the crew always cleaning or painting something to keep her looking brand new. The staff was always very friendly and helpful but not pushy in the least

 

Disembarkation: Just like embarkation, the process went very smooth and quickly with no problems. . Overall we had a great time onboard and we were sorry to have to get off after just one week.

[Coolmama_1]

Nice review. Thanks for sharing.

[martyz]

Thanks for your review. Is this the correct dinner nights for the CB on the Western:

1st Sailaway Dinner

2nd Italian DInner

3rd Captain's Welcome DInner

4th Caribbean Dinner

5th Captain's Gala Dinner

6th Chef's Dinner

7th Landfall Dinner

[mdgary]

Thanks for your review. Is this the correct dinner nights for the CB on the Western:

1st Sailaway Dinner

2nd Italian DInner

3rd Captain's Welcome DInner

4th Caribbean Dinner

5th Captain's Gala Dinner

6th Chef's Dinner

7th Landfall Dinner

 

 

That might be the Eastern menu.

 

This was posted on another thread earlier and is correct:

 

Sunday (day 1) - Sailaway Dinner

Monday (day 2) - Caribbean Dinner

Tuesday (day 3) - Captain's Welcome Dinner - formal night

Wednesday (day 4) - Italian Dinner

Thursday (day 5) - Captain's Gala Dinner - formal night

Friday (day 6) - Chef's Dinner

Saturday (day 7) - Landfall Dinner

[martyz]

Is that for the Western Itinerary?

[Whimsy]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review. I love reading the reviews of the ship I am sailing on in the future, it helps to pass the weeks.

 

What did you all have at Sterling's to eat? We ate at Sabatini's last cruise and are wanting to try Sterling's this time.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. :)

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Thanks for the review. Would you mind if I added it to my website?

 

I have updated my site to reflect the correct order for the Western itinerary menus.

 

Bill

[tvaud]

That might be the Eastern menu.

 

This was posted on another thread earlier and is correct:

 

Sunday (day 1) - Sailaway Dinner

Monday (day 2) - Caribbean Dinner

Tuesday (day 3) - Captain's Welcome Dinner - formal night

Wednesday (day 4) - Italian Dinner

Thursday (day 5) - Captain's Gala Dinner - formal night

Friday (day 6) - Chef's Dinner

Saturday (day 7) - Landfall Dinner

 

Isn't it odd that the formal nights are the 3rd and 5th???:confused:

[vplsh]

Isn't it odd that the formal nights are the 3rd and 5th???:confused:

 

Formal nights are on sea days- on this itinerary those are the sea days.

[mdgary]

Thanks for the review. Would you mind if I added it to my website?

 

I have updated my site to reflect the correct order for the Western itinerary menus.

 

Bill

 

Don't mind at all. Hopefully it will help someone out.

[mdgary]

Thanks for the review. Would you mind if I added it to my website?

 

I have updated my site to reflect the correct order for the Western itinerary menus.

 

Bill

 

By the way. I think your site is great and found it very helpful.

[martyz]

On the CB the 5th night is not a sea day it is Grand Cayman. Is Bill's web site updated? It shows the Caribbean Night as the 4th night not the second? Which is it?

[S.S.Oceanlover]

On the CB the 5th night is not a sea day it is Grand Cayman. Is Bill's web site updated? It shows the Caribbean Night as the 4th night not the second? Which is it?

 

Marty,

As stated above I have updated it to reflect the current order of the menus. When you go to the Western menus page you may need to hit the refresh button on your browser.:)

 

Bill

[S.S.Oceanlover]

By the way. I think your site is great and found it very helpful.

 

Thank you.:)

 

And thank you for letting me add your review to my site.

It can be found at:

http://www.cruisingthecaribbeanprincess.com/review36Aws.html

 

Thanks again

 

Bill

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Formal nights are on sea days- on this itinerary those are the sea days.

 

Lisa,

The second sea day on the Western CB route is the last night of the cruise. Since everyone is packing to get off the next day they wouldn't have a formal dinner that night.

 

I suspect it's on day 5 since everyone is back onboard the ship by 4pm. Day 6 is at Cozumel and doesn't leave until 6pm.

 

Bill

[NthernLgts]

Mdgary....A prior poster has said to order the steaks at Sterlings one level more done than you prefer (i.e. if you want medium rare, order medium, etc..). Did you find this to be the case and is the cover still $15/pp?

[mdgary]

Mdgary....A prior poster has said to order the steaks at Sterlings one level more done than you prefer (i.e. if you want medium rare, order medium, etc..). Did you find this to be the case and is the cover still $15/pp?

 

I didn't find that to be the case when we ordered. I asked for medium-well and that's what I got. As for the cover, yes it's still $15 per person.