Caribbean Princess Dec 2-9 a review and compare/contrast

[TwinCruiserMom]

We returned Sunday from a wonderful cruise aboard the Caribbean Princess. We are a family of 5 - twin sons, 13 and daughter 17. This was our second cruise this year on the Caribbean Princess as we were on the July 8th western sailing.

 

I will attempt to give the highlights of this cruise and a few compare and contrasts between the December and July cruises. If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer.

 

 

Pre-Cruise

 

Flew into Orlando and rented a car one way – Budget – and dropped it at the Quay location. We could get a direct flight (and cheaper) by flying into Orlando so that is why we chose this route. It took about 3 hours driving from Orlando to Embassy Suites Ft Lauderdale and we turned the car in right after arriving to avoid the $10 parking fee at the hotel. Also, we did not need the car for travel as there is plenty of shopping and restaurants within walking distance and we did not want to worry about dropping off the car in the morning.

 

The Embassy Suites is amazing! It has a gorgeous atrium area and beautiful pool with waterfall. They have a manager’s reception from 5:30pm – 7:30pm and we drank our share of rum punch, beer and wine. They made non-alcoholic drinks for the teens. There was popcorn and pretzels – not much to eat. We swam in the pool in the evening and it was just magical. The breakfast buffet in the morning was fabulous with made to order omelets and many selections.

 

We used our Hilton points so the hotel was free. We also got free shuttle service to the port because we reserved in July, but that has now changed. I believe it is $7 per person unless you reserve with their cruise package. We just loved that hotel and would stay there again in a heartbeat.

 

 

Embarkation

 

Arrived at the port around 10:15am, dropped our check in bags with the porters and went through the security line at the front of the building. We were given #2 and we sat down to wait. They have enlarged the waiting area since July and it accommodates many more people. The first groups in sit mostly in the padded chairs in the front, then the next groups come in the side doors and sit in an area with folding chairs. Still better than waiting outside in a long line.

 

In July, they started handing out card #3 about 11:00am, but on this December cruise at 11:00am you would have been given #5 or #6. Many more early birds.

 

The #1 group was placed in a preferred waiting area and #2 group was called before 12:00 noon. We quickly checked in and boarded. Very easy embarkation.

 

 

The Caribbean Princess

 

We just love this ship! Take along your good copy of the floor plan from the brochure book and you will have no problem navigating the ship. We spent the first day or so in July exploring everything so this cruise was easy as we knew our way around. The aft elevator situation with the Palm dining room can be confusing at first, but if you study the floor plans ahead of time, you will have no problems.

 

The service personnel are extremely accommodating and welcoming. I don’t know how anyone could fault this staff. Every person on staff greets you as you walk by, and I rarely saw anything other than a smile on their faces. I cannot think of anyone I encountered from the staff on this ship who was anything other than kind, respectful and welcoming. Of course, we are not complainers and we always smiled at and replied to the staff we met so that may have something to do with it.

 

We had Captain Romano who is a wonderful captain and he has the most beautiful Italian accent. This was his last cruise before his two month break, so Captain Kent should be onboard now.

 

We love the location of skywalkers on this ship and find it to be a lovely retreat during the day. A great place to kick back and read a book and have a beautiful view.

 

 

 

The Caribe deck – aft area

 

Our cabins were C743 and C717. The balcony on C743 is a bit bigger than the normal side facing balcony as there is an additional triangle portion which gives about 2 feet extra of railing and a bigger view area. Cabin C717 looked exactly the same as the Plaza deck insides we had in July. The inside cabins on this ship are very nice and they have the same closet and bathrooms as the balcony rooms.

 

The aft area on Caribe is very quiet and convenient to the elevators. It is very easy to run up a few flights of stairs to get appetizers in the Horizon and also easy to run down a few flights to the Promenade deck. On this cruise, there was a lot more movement in our cabin area compared to our Plaza deck cabins (P235 and P231) in July. It was interesting walking down the hall sometimes with everyone moving from one side of the hall to the other. It was especially interesting getting up in the night to use the bathroom as we had to touch the wall for support. I noticed that the ship seems to move faster at night and maybe this happens so the captain can make good time.

 

I would definitely say there was more movement on our Eastern Caribbean cruise than the Western Caribbean. I say this based not on the location of our cabins, but just walking the promenade and other decks, we could feel the movement more on this cruise. That first sea day on the Eastern was the worst and it couldn’t just be the waves as we never went over moderate during the whole cruise. I think that someone called that area of the ocean the Atlantic Straits or something like that. It could also be the wind that blows across the ship which makes it rock more. The CB is a tall ship and very affected by the wind. Many other passengers we encountered during the cruise also noted that it was rougher than they expected so I don't feel like our opinion is biased on this.

 

I will say that by the second sea day we were used to the rocking. We spent a lot of time walking the decks to acclimate ourselves to the motion and a few of us used a little bonine and ginger pills to get through the adjustment period. As a family, we did have a longer time adjusting to the movement on this cruise compared to the Western in July.

 

The aft is a nice area but if you are at all prone to motion sickness, stick to the midship area. We have three out of five family members with just mild motion sickness and we had to really work through that first 24 hours, but none of us ever became "sick". We all thought the movement was much less on the Plaza deck, but then our July cabins were not all the way forward on Plaza. We also agreed that the movement was more in the balcony room (C743) than the inside room (C717).

 

 

Our fellow passengers

 

On the July cruise, as expected, there were more families and more children. I saw many family groups with grandparents all the way down to babies traveling together. There were no problems that we noted with troublesome teens or kids on that cruise. I would say it was a nice mix of all generations.

 

On the December cruise, there were very few kids around. Mostly the children were in the 5 and under category or teenagers. There were also more elderly people and wheelchairs/scooters around. There were many couples from their 20s to 70s onboard and I noticed that many were traveling together in groups of couples. We are in our 40s and felt very comfortable and our teens were also fine with the passenger make up. Everyone on the cruise seemed to get along very well and I did not hear any complaining from fellow passengers.

 

There were 44 teens (13-17) on board and only 15 (including mine) signed up for the teen club. My kids are not big on the kids club type of activities, but they did use the teen club on about 3 different occasions. They went up one day to decorate t shirts and another day they made CD cases and dream catchers. Those are great, free, souveniers for the kids to remember their cruise. My teens enjoyed swimming (especially at sea when the pools are like wave pools), EATING :), reading and just exploring and hanging out on the cruiseship. The three of them got along very well sharing a room, except when the sister wanted to watch the romance channel on TV :rolleyes:

 

I will end part one here and hope to complete this review soon.

[Kerry&LuAnn]

Great review! Thanks for taking the time to share your observations.

 

We have loved the Caribbean Princess. The ship is beautiful, the staff are friendly and accommodating, the food and entertainment are outstanding.

[WISH84]

I look forward to reading the rest as we prepare to board her for the first time next month. Thanks.

[strummer]

Fanatstic review so far - looking forward to part two.

 

Just a question : can you buy bonine over the counter in the usa? Also is this a brand name? Can this be given to kids? My son got sea sick when we crossed the bay of biscay this april when it was very rough and was hoping the caribbean may be quite calm in comparison:D

 

Thank you

[TwinCruiserMom]

Fanatstic review so far - looking forward to part two.

 

Just a question : can you buy bonine over the counter in the usa? Also is this a brand name? Can this be given to kids? My son got sea sick when we crossed the bay of biscay this april when it was very rough and was hoping the caribbean may be quite calm in comparison:D

 

Thank you

 

Bonine is available over the counter at any pharmacy in the USA. It is a brand name for the drug Meclizine Hydrochloride. We bought our bottle at Walgreen's and it is the generic form available from the pharmacist without a prescription. Our tablets are 25mg and chewable and come in a bottle of 100 tablets. On the back it does say "Do not give to children under the age of 12 unless directed by a doctor". I think there is a drug called "Bonine for kids" which is most likely available in pharmacies as well. You need to try the medications out beforehand as Bonine makes me a little drowsy if I take a whole pill. So, I split the pills in half and use them for myself and my 13 year old twins. After 24 hours or so, they were no longer necessary as we did acclimate to the movement.

 

The Caribbean is very calm comparatively and the movement on the ship is nothing like the movement on the tender boats or a smaller ship.

[CruiseLiz]

Just to add to the Bonine reply - I recently (about 2 weeks ago) purchased the "less drowsy" formula of Bonine from Walgreens, I did not need to go to the pharmacist to get it (as you need to do for some non-prescription items.)

It was in the aisle with the decongestants and pain pills.

[strummer]

Thank you TwinCruiserMom & CruiseLiz for your advice it is appreciated.:)

[DiTomCruisers]

Thanks TCM.. So far so good...

[EKELLEY]

TwinCruiserMom, We had the same cabin on the CB last year doing the Eastern and did not have much movement. This year we had cabin C753 and had alot of movement on the Eastern route. The seas were not rough so I think they need to check out the stablizers. We did have a great cruise though. Was your room steward Rolando?

[TwinCruiserMom]

TwinCruiserMom, We had the same cabin on the CB last year doing the Eastern and did not have much movement. This year we had cabin C753 and had alot of movement on the Eastern route. The seas were not rough so I think they need to check out the stablizers. We did have a great cruise though. Was your room steward Rolando?

 

 

Maybe you are right about the stabilizers because the movement was so much more than expected. And the seas were either listed as "slight" or "moderate" on the TV navigation channel.

 

For those of you who do not know, that channel is really cool. They list the wind speed and wave height (and many other things) and there is a map with a diagram of where your location is at that point in the cruise. Very interesting.

 

Yes, we had Rolando and he was terrific! I think he must have filled our ice for us 3 times every day. And he was always waiting in the hall and ready to make up the rooms in the morning and evening. He spoiled us rotten!

[TwinCruiserMom]

Thank you all for the kind words. Here is part two:

 

 

Dining

 

We had second seating traditional (8:15pm) in the Island dining room and loved it! We were given a private table for 5 for our family with our waiter Jose who was spectacular. Our teens were treated with the highest respect and every wish we had was fulfilled.

 

I personally liked the old dinner menus from the July cruise better than the new ones. I know it was a little easier for us to make our selections in July. The items used to be grouped by appetizers, salads, entrees, etc and there seemed to be more selections. The new menus are fine, but the portions were smaller especially the salads which were small enough to be funny sometimes. A word of advice would be to not hesitate about ordering more of something you like as they will bring you extra of anything.

 

To see the current dinner menus, go to:

 

http://www.cruisingthecaribbeanprincess.com/

 

That is one of my favorite sites! Bill does a tremendous job. We have spent hours on that site reviewing the patters and menus before each of our cruises.

 

No one in our family is a gourmet so we are fairly easy to please. We always found something interesting to order and enjoyed almost everything we ate in the dining room. My teens loved the fettuccine and ordered it as a side dish or entree many times. My daughter enjoyed fish almost every night. We loved the “Two Beef Filet Mignons” at the Captain’s Welcome Dinner - so tender and flavorful. We also loved Italian Night with the Eggplant Parmigiana and Shrimp in hot sauce. We thoroughly enjoyed all of our dinners on the ship.

 

The Love Boat Dream dessert has changed since July. It is now a little smaller and more chocolate tasting. I still had that for dessert 5 out of 7 nights!

 

The very best thing about traditional dining was the Baked Alaskan parade on the last night! The assistant waiters all wore cheesy star shaped glasses and paraded around the room with the candlelit baked Alaskans. The music was the Macarena and everyone was clapping and having a great time. We all were served huge slices of that delicious dessert and it was definitely a highlight for the kids.

 

In July, we had anytime dining and it worked out just fine. We made reservations for 6:00pm each day and on the second day, in the Coral, we had a great table and waitstaff that we kept all week.

 

We really enjoyed the later second seating on this cruise. It gave us much more time to relax after touring and we did not have to start getting ready for dinner until at least 6:00pm. On our July cruise, we always seemed to be hurrying to get ready and to dinner by 6:00pm. And, on this cruise, with all of the older passengers, we found that later dining was not as popular so that worked in our favor as well.

 

The Horizon court and Café Caribe is a fine place to pick up appetizers or get a quick snack in the off hours, but as many have mentioned, it can be a ZOO! We decided to have a late lunch there on the second sea day and we circled the entire area two times before we could find one table. Unfortunately, there are too many couples that sit at a table for 6 and then there is nowhere for a family to sit. They should have more two person tables scattered around – I did see some empty areas where more tables could fit. The buffet itself is better as the week goes on because people start to realize you do not have to wait in a long line, but you are supposed to go to each section and get your food and go.

 

I highly recommend the Coral dining room for breakfast as it makes for a more relaxed start for your day. We ate there 5 out of 7 mornings. We also had lunch 1or 2 times in the Coral. Mostly lunch was on land or at the pizza or hamburger spots.

 

Room service is great for salads and sandwiches which we ordered a few times after getting back from our tours. The room service breakfast menu is not so good and we did not order it once this time. We learned the hard way in July that they deliver up to a half hour earlier than the time you list on your card and the croissants and pastries are dry and hard.

 

We were very happy with the food on both of our cruises on the Caribbean Princess and we all find dining on the ship to be one of our favorite cruising memories. Just wish we could walk to that dining room right now to enjoy an elegant dinner…

 

 

Entertainment

 

I will start by saying that we did not take part in much of the entertainment on this cruise. On the cruise in July, we saw Caribbean Caliente, which was a very high energy show, and we enjoyed it. We also went to the Cooking show and Galley tour last time and it was very fun and interesting.

 

We were very frustrated by the amount of football on MUTS on this cruise. They showed it all day Sunday, Monday night and Thursday night, which was a bit much! We also noticed that they showed some pretty good movies when we were at port which did not make much sense either since most people are off the ship at that time.

 

We had ambitions of watching the late movie or going to a show on several different nights, but after the late dinner we were so sleepy!

 

We did watch part of Phil Tag, the comedian’s show on the second formal night and stayed awake to watch the champagne waterfall. It was a very festive party with people hanging on the railings in the atrium to watch. Had a glass of champagne and toddled off to bed.

 

I would say our best entertainment was enjoying our balcony. Since we were able to get an excellent price we splurged on the balcony this time, but it is back to the inside rooms in December 2008.

 

 

Weather

 

The weather was just fabulous the entire week. Sailaway from Ft Lauderdale was gorgeous as the sun was setting in the west. Always fun to wave to the homeowners along the waterway. We had a few sprinkles on two or three occasions during the week, but never actual rain. In no time at all the sun was out and it was beautiful again. The temps were mostly in the 80’s and it was heaven after 20 degree weather in Ohio. The water temperatures in St. Martin and St. Thomas were nice and warm. Princess Cays water was a little on the cool side but the air temperature was perfect.

 

In July, it was so HOT, but we did have a gorgeous week with no rain at all. Cozumel was like an oven and you could not sit for long on the ship’s decks around noon or you would be cooked! I did prefer the weather in December compared to July.

 

Will write more later...

[vmom]

I was on the same cruise and also wondered about the movement on the first day and also part of the second. I was on the CB in the past, also Western Caribbean and didn't notice nearly as much movement then.

 

I also noticed a noticable vibration when we were in the Horizon buffet and Caribe area the first part of the cruise that I didn't notice previously nor did I notice it later in the cruise. I wondered if the vibration was due to a faulty stabilizer or possible due to the higher speed we were going at.

 

Our rooms were mid ship and we didn't notice the vibration in our cabins, but I made a mental note to reconsider an aft cabin for future cruises, because that vibration would have really bothered me if I had to feel it for long. The vibration was not noticed mid ship or forward. One of the men in our group was convinced that something was wrong somewhere because of it.

 

Anyone else feel that vibration at the beginning of the cruise at the aft?

[TwinCruiserMom]

And now part three and the end of my review:

 

 

 

St. Martin

 

We toured the island and my one major perception of this place is – tons of traffic!! I am not kidding here, especially in the Simpson Bay area going toward Maho Beach. We wanted to go to Marigot, then orient, then Maho and our driver just laughed and said there is no way you will make it back to your ship on time if you do Maho in the afternoon.

 

So we started off and drove toward Maho beach at 9:00am and the traffic was very, very slow at that time of the morning. We stopped at Rimas which is a big souvenier store with good prices. Our driver knew some short cuts and back streets to get through some of the long line of traffic, but I would say it took at least an hour to get to Maho. We saw one smaller sized jet land and then we were out of there.

 

Drove to Marigot and the traffic was ok until we got closer to the city. Then, again, it was wall to wall. Our driver parked as near as he could get to Fort Louis and by that time it was about 11:30am and fairly hot. We walked up the steps to the Fort, and there was a spectacular view from there. We took many pictures and caught our breath from the climb. After we walked back down, we looked for some quick food to eat and everything was very expensive so we decided to wait.

 

From there we crossed over to Orient Beach and were dropped off in a very congested area. We bought a couple of hamburgers ($6 each) and split them and walked to the left down the beach to be away from Club Orient. We ended up finding a patch of beach after the Kon Tiki and we just laid down our towels and went swimming.

 

I was not impressed with this beach, and I am very easy to impress beach-wise. The surrounding area is pretty, but the beach is packed with people and restaurants and beach bars. There are sellers constantly asking you to buy jewelry, sandals, hats, etc. They do not push when you say “No, thank you,” but it gets old after awhile. The water was a comfortable temperature, but there was a bunch of loose sea grass stuff floating in the water so that was a bit annoying. We swam for about an hour and then just decided to go back to the ship.

 

Now, Orient beach may be better in the morning or in the off season, or maybe we just hit it on a less than perfect day, but it is not a restful place in December, so if that is what you are looking for, you may want to do some more research. I do not see where it is such a beautiful beach – 7 mile in Grand Cayman is gorgeous and Sapphire on St. Thomas is more scenic and very restful.

 

St. Thomas

 

I have one word of advice for this island – Godfrey! What a wonderful tour. He picked us up at the ship at 10:00am – right on time and we went into town to shop and walk around. Walked up the 99 steps and shopped in the market area then we met with Godfrey around 11:45am. He took us on a very informative tour of the island with stops along the way pointing out the other islands, historic buildings and he gave us tons of information on the various hurricanes that hit the island. He had a speaker so we could hear him in the back of the safari and when he was not talking, he played some nice Caribbean instrumental music. We stopped at Mountaintop and Drake’s seat and he stopped many times for us to take pictures. There were about 20 people total in our safari and everyone was very pleasant and we were all very pleased with the tour.

 

This island is beautiful! It was a gorgeous day and the views were unbelievable. Many times you just find yourself saying, “WOW!”

 

Those of us on the tour who wanted to go to a beach, chose Sapphire, so he dropped us off there and we had about two hours to enjoy the beach. We did not buy food or drinks, but I do remember the prices being a little high. Chairs were $7 to rent and there were restrooms available. It was a nice, quiet beach and there was tons of shade. We used our snorkel masks and saw quite a few fish. The water was very comfortable and the sand was thick and soft. We saw two iguanas who were not very big and many little duck like birds that were so cute.

 

Godfrey was right there to pick us up on time and we were back to the ship around 4:15pm. He charges $25 per person which is a steal. The posted taxi prices for Sapphire beach are $11 per person each way to give you an idea of price comparison. We all tipped him at the end of our wonderful tour.

 

 

Princess Cays

 

We just love this stop! In July, we chose to get off the tender and go to the right over the bridge. It was ok over there but a lot of rocks were in the water, so this time we went to the left side of the beach. We found a great spot between the beach, restrooms and lunch lines and truly enjoyed a gorgeous day. The weather was perfect again, although the water was a little cool. We were in one of the first tenders off the ship and we stayed until just before 2:00pm.

 

If you go to the dock over by the snorkeling area, you will see tons of colorful fish in the very clear water. I actually saw more fish from there than I did when I had the mask on in the water.

 

The lunch served is very simple – hamburgers, big hot dogs, grilled chicken, I think there were ribs, and salads. There is also lots of fresh fruit.

 

I could spend days at that place – it is so relaxing and enjoyable. Unfortunately, they leave the area around 3-3:30pm so you have to get back onboard earlier than you may like. Do not wait for the last tenders because the line starts to get longer the closer to 3pm it gets.

 

 

The Bridge Tour

 

I decided on this cruise that I would write a letter to Captain Romano telling him how much we enjoy the Caribbean Princess and asking for a bridge tour for our family. I figured it was worth a try. I wrote the letter on Monday morning, and was about to give up hope, when on Thursday evening we received our invitations in our mailbox.

 

We met at 3pm and we were escorted to the bridge with about 10 other people. Captain Romano greeted each of us and then turned us over to Bryan, one of the staff officers. He told us all about the navigation and safety equipment and he took the time to answer all of our questions. The view from the bridge is amazing and we never felt rushed along. Towards the end of our tour, we looked out the starboard side, and saw a huge rainbow! We were allowed to take pictures, but no video. The kids sure learned a lot about how the ship is run and it was a great experience for our whole family.

 

 

Disembarkation

 

All too soon it was time to leave the ship. We packed our large bags and put them out the night before. In the morning, we ate breakfast in the Coral, which was a good choice. We were to meet in the Island dining room at 9:15am and were quickly off the ship, had our bags and then waited to get the Budget rent a car shuttle which took a long while to get there. To be fair, there were about 6 ships in port. We picked up our rental car at the Quay location (check the gas – we only had ½ tank) and were off to Orlando. Too soon we were out of Florida and 80 degree temps and back in Ohio with 30 degrees and foggy/misty conditions upon landing at the airport. Yuck.

 

 

Some observations

 

On the Eastern cruise, we would have been better off on the port side of the ship. Each of the places we docked had a better view on the port side, although the view on the starboard side was not bad. But, you never know which way the Captain will dock so it is a chance no matter where your room is located.

 

Two sea days in a row was a little much for us. The ship is more crowded on sea days – everywhere – and that can get old after two days. Stick to the dining rooms and get to the pools early and it will be more bearable.

 

Inside rooms are perfectly fine so do not feel bad if you cannot afford the balcony rooms. There is always somewhere on deck to find a lounge chair and relax. Remember Skywalkers during the day as it is very nice and restful.

 

Do eat in the dining rooms at night with your children. My teens are more than happy to dress up to eat there and they have so enjoyed the elegant dining and have tried so many new food items. Some of our best memories are of those evening dinners we all enjoyed together.

 

We enjoyed both the July and December cruises on the CB and I would not hesitate to repeat either one of them. Both have their pros and cons, but all in all they were both fabulous vacations for our family.

 

 

 

Happy cruising to all of you and I hope you enjoy the Caribbean Princess as much as we have!

[WISH84]

29 days and counting for us and your review was great. I know when I hit 10 days out I'm going to send out one last email for opinions and confirmations as this will not only be our first Princess cruise but our first Eastern Caribbean cruise as well. Your review was very informative.

[sherman931]

Was on that cruise also....had a great time. I believe the rocking motion was not due to the specific height of the seas, but rather the direction. A couple of days the seas were 4 - 7 ft and they were off the beam (side). So it is can feel more pronounce because the ship can roll in the trough of the swells. That is were the stabilizers come in, they help reduce the roll.

[TwinCruiserMom]

I was on the same cruise and also wondered about the movement on the first day and also part of the second. I was on the CB in the past, also Western Caribbean and didn't notice nearly as much movement then.

 

I also noticed a noticable vibration when we were in the Horizon buffet and Caribe area the first part of the cruise that I didn't notice previously nor did I notice it later in the cruise. I wondered if the vibration was due to a faulty stabilizer or possible due to the higher speed we were going at.

 

Our rooms were mid ship and we didn't notice the vibration in our cabins, but I made a mental note to reconsider an aft cabin for future cruises, because that vibration would have really bothered me if I had to feel it for long. The vibration was not noticed mid ship or forward. One of the men in our group was convinced that something was wrong somewhere because of it.

 

Anyone else feel that vibration at the beginning of the cruise at the aft?

 

 

I did not notice any vibrations in our aft room on Caribe - only the different rocking motions.

 

I have felt the vibrations on both of my cruises mostly in skywalkers and sometimes in Cafe Caribe or Horizon. It really is very noticeable at times especially in skywalkers where you can even hear the buzz of the vibrations. I have never felt those vibrations on any of the lower decks.

[vmom]

I did not notice any vibrations in our aft room on Caribe - only the different rocking motions.

 

I have felt the vibrations on both of my cruises mostly in skywalkers and sometimes in Cafe Caribe or Horizon. It really is very noticeable at times especially in skywalkers where you can even hear the buzz of the vibrations. I have never felt those vibrations on any of the lower decks.

 

Thanks for the feedback. We felt it in the Horizon and Caribe areas, just as you said. We won't hesitate now to book an aft.

[sppunk]

Whom did you leave your note to the captain with, a purser?

[TwinCruiserMom]

Whom did you leave your note to the captain with, a purser?

 

 

I just took the note to the passenger services desk and asked them to give it to Captain Romano. I did not give any explanations and they did not ask any questions. I would imagine he receives many different letters throughout the week.

[MercedMike]

Unfortunately, there are too many couples that sit at a table for 6 and then there is nowhere for a family to sit. ...

 

So, here is a question for the group -- are you bashful about going up to a couple sitting at a big table and saying, "Mind if we join you?" We do that frequently, almost always meet a good response, and most often have a nice conversation. Lots of time they are sitting at the big table because there were no smaller ones available, and are happy to have company.

[sppunk]

I just took the note to the passenger services desk and asked them to give it to Captain Romano. I did not give any explanations and they did not ask any questions. I would imagine he receives many different letters throughout the week.

Thank you! I think I'll give this shot next time we sail - it certainly can't hurt. :)

[kimgvlsc]

Thanks for a great review...we leave in February for our first cruise on the CB and I can't wait! We have a family of 12 and none of us have been on the Princess Line before.