February 11
– 18, 2006
By Tim
Larison
Travel
Agent and CLIA Certified Master Cruise Counselor (MCC)
With
Contributions by:
Travel
Agent Anne Larison, and our sons Andrew and Joshua (12 year old twins)
My family really enjoyed our 7 night Caribbean Princess
cruise in February 2006. We were joined on this special cruise by Anne’s
parents, Paul and Barbara McShane, celebrating their 50th wedding
anniversary.
Our cruise was very relaxing with great dining, fun
entertainment, interesting ports to visit, and all this on one of the
newest, most modern ships sailing today.
Below I will discuss some of the features of the
beautiful Caribbean Princess and the ports we visited. Anne will contribute
her comments on various parts of the trip preceded by the words “Anne’s
take:”
At the end of the report Andrew and Josh have
contributed what they enjoyed most about the cruise.
The Itinerary
Thu fly into Ft Lauderdale, stay the night at
Holiday Inn Express Convention Center
Fri sightseeing in Ft Lauderdale
Sat board the Caribbean Princess at 11:30 am, set
sail at 5 pm
Sun at sea
Mon at sea
Tue St Thomas
Wed St Maarten
Thu at sea
Fri Princess Cays, Princess Private Island
Sat return to Ft Lauderdale, am,
fly home to Denver
We especially enjoyed this cruise for the three “at
sea” days. The at sea days gave us more time to explore and enjoy the
Caribbean Princess. The ports we did visit:
St Thomas
This was my 2nd visit to St Thomas on a
cruise. For this visit I booked the family on a 6 hour tour of the island
through Sunny Liston Tours (website:
www.sunnylistontours.com ). Sunny gives an excellent tour which
features some shopping time, stops at the island’s scenic spots (including
the highest point on the island where you can see surrounding islands from a
mountain top), and finally a 2 hour visit to Sapphire beach.
Sunny has a “sunny” disposition, singing for us as he
took us to different parts of the island. By the end of the tour he had the
whole tour van singing with him – we all had a good time. If you want a mix
of shopping, history, scenery, and beach time I would recommend this tour
highly.
If you are only interested in visiting a beach, I would
recommend taking a taxi to a nearby beach or taking a shore excursion/ferry
to nearby St John to visit Trunk Bay. Sapphire Beach was nice but crowded –
I liked our beach experience at Trunk Bay on St John better on our 2004
Eastern Caribbean cruise.
Sunny Liston Tour Grade: A-
The Beach could have been better but otherwise this was
an excellent tour.
Anne’s Take:
If you enjoy jewelry shopping, St
Thomas is the place for you. I have never seen so many jewelry stores
together in one place. We were not interested in buying jewelry but I did
see many shoppers in the stores that day and the shopping expert on the
Caribbean Princess gives a ‘shopping’ seminar with tips and helpful
information for getting the best deals. The other specialty I saw was
tablecloths and linens. There were many good prices on beautiful linens
available throughout the area.
The other thing of note about the
day was that Sapphire Beach, while very enjoyable, did have the less
‘kid-friendly’ water/waves. There was a drop-off into deeper water only
about two feet into the water. The boys are good swimmers but not too
comfortable in ocean when too deep. This beach had more undertow than the
other two beaches we would visit.
St Maarten
At St Maarten we took a taxi to nearby Divi Little Bay
resort. I had read and our taxi driver confirmed that this was an excellent
beach for families. The boys really enjoyed the larger waves that pounded
the beach here. There wasn’t much of an undertow making the beach safe for
kids. The resort had beach games, like volleyball and crab races, and other
activities you could purchase like banana boat rides, parasailing,
waverunners, etc. Josh said “this was the best beach ever!” Our boys
really had a good time here.
The taxi ride to Divi Little Bay was $4 per person as
of Feb 2006. We noticed that Royal Caribbean and Carnival had organized
shore excursions here – we liked arriving on our own by taxi. If you visit
Divi Little Bay I highly recommend getting to the beach EARLY. We
arrived about 9 am and got a prime spot on the beach (renting beach chairs
for $5 each and a beach umbrella for $5). Later after 10 am when the Royal
Caribbean and Carnival excursions arrived the beach was much more crowded.
We didn’t mind the crowds since we had a prime beach spot, but had we
arrived later it would have been difficult to find a good location on the
beach.
Overall grade for Divi Little Bay: A-
Our time at Divi Little Bay was an excellent family
outing. The facilities were clean and we liked the family environment.
While there were some food options we preferred eating a late lunch back at
the ship (we saw long lines for the beach buffet). Divi Little Bay is very
easy to reach by taxi.
Anne’s Take:
This beach was very kid-friendly.
There was very little undertow and yet there was enough wave action to keep
the boys on their toes. (They love Disney’s Castaway Cay, but there is not
much wave action at that family beach).
During the 3 hours
we were at Divi Little Bay there were several short rainstorms. The boys
continued to play in the water and it didn’t bother them in the least. Tim
and I were glad to have the beach umbrella but the storms came and went very
quickly. Even with the cloud cover during the rain showers the weather was
very warm and we were careful to reapply sunscreen after a few hours.
Princess Cay
On the last day of our cruise we visited Princess’
private island – Princess Cay. This is actually a private beach on the much
larger Island of Eleuthera. Eleuthera was originally discovered by
Christopher Columbus in 1492 and according to Princess is “often described
as the most beautiful and scenic of the islands of the Bahamas – 100 miles
long and averaging 2 miles wide”.
Like the cruise line private islands we have visited in
the past, Princess Cay offered a variety of beach activities (volleyball,
banana boat rides, jet ski rentals, snorkeling, etc) In comparison to
Disney’s and Holland America’s private islands the Princess area wasn’t as
big. Princess Cay featured the most sand we have seen on a beach anywhere,
however. The sandy beach was great for building sand castles as our boys
discovered.
Princess Cay also had a barbeque lunch featuring
hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs, fresh fruit, salads, etc. While not quite as
good as Disney’s Castaway Cay buffet the meal satisfied our hungry appetites
after a morning of beach activities.
Grade: B+
When looking at Caribbean cruise itineraries I always
look for a day at a cruise line private island – Princess Cays didn’t
disappoint as another fun private island destination. I rate Disney’s
Castaway Cay and Holland America’s private island better, though, because
those islands had more activities offered and better buffets.
One downside to the shore excursions was limited towel
availability. For shore excursions and at the ship’s pools instead of a
towel station Princess only supplied one towel per guest in your stateroom.
Anne’s Take:
I didn’t have the opportunity to
snorkel on this island, but we heard from many other passengers that it was
a good location and they saw many beautiful fish in the water. There is a
dock extending out into the water that you can stand on and see many of the
sea life right from the dock.
It did rain, a heavy downpour,
while we were on the island. The rain only lasted 15 minutes or so and then
the clouds passed and it was warm and beautiful again. The boys enjoyed
renting a float. The water was cold when first entered, but we did get used
to the coldness after a short while.
The Ship
The Caribbean Princess as of February 2006 was the
largest ship in the Princess fleet, at 116,000 tons and a double occupancy
capacity of 3120 guests (double occupancy). The ship was built in 2004, and
was the first of Princess “Super Grand Class” category of ships. The Crown
Princess, the sister ship of the Caribbean Princess, will have its maiden
voyage in June 2006.
The Caribbean Princess sparkled like new throughout.
The crew kept the vessel well maintained – to us it was like we were sailing
on her maiden voyage.
Our Staterooms
We booked an inside stateroom, A332 on the Aloha deck.
The stateroom slept four with two individual beds separated by night
stands. The 3rd and 4th beds were located directly
above the other beds in “bunk bed” style. We found this arrangement to be
fine – there was plenty of head clearance between the lower and upper beds
(better than what we experienced on our Holland America Westerdam cruise the
previous year).
While the stateroom was smaller than the inside
stateroom we sailed in a couple of months earlier on Disney, the storage was
well laid out so we had no problem storing a week’s worth of clothing and
supplies for the four of us. We particularly liked the large closet area.
The bathroom and shower were among the smallest we have had on a cruise, but
we didn’t mind as the smaller bathroom opened up more space for storage
elsewhere in the stateroom.
The McShane’s balcony stateroom was laid out in a
similar way. We liked the Aloha deck location for the balcony – on the Baja
deck and above the balconies were parallel with those above giving you more
privacy. Balconies on the Caribe deck and below jutted out from the ship,
so a balcony above could see into the Caribe deck balconies. If you book a
balcony on this ship, try to get on the Baja deck or above for more privacy.
Stateroom Grade: B
Not as big as some other staterooms we have had on
other cruise lines, but very well laid out with efficient storage. The
McShanes balcony was very nice and was a special treat for Paul and Barbara
to relax on the balcony during our sailing. Our stateroom attendant was
efficient in keeping our rooms clean all week.
Anne’s Take:
I especially like the storage space
in the Princess staterooms. There is room for all of our hanging clothes
and the suitcases in the closet. In addition to the drawers in the
nightstands and the desk, there is a 6 shelf cabinet with a door by the
bathroom. When trying to keep a small stateroom in order for 7 nights with
a family of 4 I truly appreciate the extra storage. There is also no door
on the closet. I have experienced other staterooms on other cruises where
the sliding door to the closet can slide open and closed on rough sea nights
and if not properly secured, quickly become annoying.
Another plus for Princess is that when
we boarded the ship around noon, our staterooms were available and ready for
us immediately. We’ve been on several lines where you had to wait an hour
or more for the staterooms to be ready after boarding.
Dining
The Caribbean Princess had three dining rooms, a large
buffet divided into two sections, and two specialty restaurants.
Personal Choice Dining rooms (Coral and Palm)
This was our third Princess cruise and the first one
where we had “Personal Choice” dining (also known as “anytime dining”).
There were two Personal Choice dining rooms on the ship, the Coral and Palm
dining rooms, as well as one “fixed seating time” dining room (the Island
dining room). In the Personal Choice dining rooms you could have dinner
anytime between 5:30 pm and 10 pm.
The fixed seating was sold out when we booked the
cruise and at first we were wary of how the Personal Choice dining would
work out. On the nights we ate in a Personal Choice dining room we dined
around 6 pm and we were seated immediately (there was no problem getting a
table for six). We had heard there could be waits at these dining rooms,
but we did not experience that. Eating early helped us avoid a wait.
If you have Personal Choice dining on this cruise and
you are dining at a popular time, I recommend checking out the Palm dining
room in the aft of the ship. The Coral dining room is more centrally
located and more easily accessible; hence it is more crowded at the popular
dining times. We ate at the Palm dining room on the first formal night with
no wait.
The dining room food was excellent! In fact I rate the
Princess main dining room food as the best I have had on any cruise
(consistently good for my three Princess cruises). I particularly like the
shrimp cocktail appetizer that is offered every night, and the NY Cheesecake
for dessert (also offered every night). We found our meat and chicken
dishes to be of good quality throughout the week. Our boys enjoyed the
option of ordering off of the adult menu on most nights – the kids menu also
had good choices.
We also had excellent breakfasts at the Coral dining
room on the couple of mornings we ate there instead of the buffet.
Horizon Court Buffet/Café Caribe
Another dining area where Princess excels is in their
buffets. The buffet is open 24 hours – the only cruise buffet we have seen
among our many cruises (8 different cruise lines) that has this feature.
While not as big as some buffets we have seen on other cruise lines, the
buffet was big enough for our tastes and the quality was good. I especially
liked the Horizon Court buffet for a quick breakfast or lunch.
Café Caribe
The Caribbean Princess also had a second buffet, the
Café Caribe, located directly behind the Horizon Court in the aft of the
ship. The selections at the Café Caribe were different on the “at sea” days
for lunch – I enjoyed the Oriental buffet here on a couple of afternoons.
In the mornings the Café Caribe served the same food as the main Horizon
Court buffet but was less crowded. If you had a difficult time finding a
seat in the Horizon Court for breakfast seating was usually available at the
Café Caribe with shorter lines for the food.
On most evenings the Café Caribe also had a special
menu for those who didn’t want to dine in the more formal Island, Coral, or
Palm Dining rooms. We ate dinner in the Café Caribe the last two nights of
our cruise – we liked the quick service with a nicer atmosphere than the
regular buffet (in the evening Café Caribe featured cloth table settings in
the evening with drink service from the wait staff). On Thursday night we
feasted on a seafood buffet here that included lobster, crab legs, and other
selections. On Friday night we ate prime rib at the Café Caribe that was as
good as what we had on an earlier night in the main dining room. The Café
Caribe was a good option for those who wanted a quick meal and who didn’t
want to dress up for dinner (we skipped the 2nd formal night and
dined here in our casual clothes)
One of the few downsides to the buffets was the free
drink options offered. If you did not buy a “soda” card for the week the
only free offerings were a glass of water or ice tea or hot drinks such as
coffee and hot tea. We liked the drink stations on our recent Disney,
Celebrity, and Holland America cruises better (offering lemonade, juice, and
soft drinks) than the limited drink offerings at the Princess buffets.
We also did not like the aggressive pushing of the
“drink card” on the 1st day of the cruise – for $3.95 a day you
could buy a soda card for unlimited soft drinks during the cruise. With the
limited free drink selection Princess almost forces you to buy this card.
We made do without it but did purchase soft drinks at $1.50 each at
different times.
Prego Pizza/Trident Grill
Near one of the pools Princess offered Prego Pizza,
with fresh cooked pizzas throughout the day. Our boys particularly liked
this dining option for lunch and on the nights the adults ate at the
specialty restaurants.
The Trident Grill offered hamburgers, hot dogs, and
French fries – another favorite of our son Josh for a snack or light lunch.
There was no extra charge for the pizza or the grill.
Scoops Ice Cream
Unlike some other ships, Princess charges for their ice
cream ($1.50 for a small bowl, $3.95 for a sundae). We thought the quality
of the ice cream was excellent (much better than what we had on Holland
America the previous year) so we didn’t mind the charge too much. We
enjoyed both hard serve and soft serve ice cream here.
Specialty Restaurant: Sabatinis Italian Restaurant
The adults dined at Sabatinis one evening – a true
culinary adventure! This is one of the best specialty restaurants
offered by any cruise line. The $20 per person additional charge for our 2
½ hour meal here was well worth it.
If you eat at Sabatinis, come hungry! We had NINETEEN
different food items – that’s right we had all of this placed on our plates:
Shrimp
Mussels
Slice of specialty pizza
Caviar
Eggplant
Baked Brie Cheese
Mushrooms
Sun dried tomatoes
Minestrone soup
Seafood spaghetti
Gnocchi
Cannoli
Artichoke Hearts
Prosciutto Ham
Shaved Beef
Melon Balls
Lobster or Veal Chops (main course)
Rice
New York Cheesecake or other desert options
Our Sabatini waiter said all we had to order was the
main course, and they would bring samples of everything else. This was a
good opportunity to try some different foods we hadn’t experienced before
(mussels, caviar, etc). If there was something that didn’t meet your taste,
it was easy to skip that course as there was plenty of other food still to
come.
For the main entrée I had an excellent lobster tail
dish. If I were to eat here again, though, I would order the veal. I
sampled some of Anne’s veal dish and it was the most flavorful and tender
veal I have ever tasted.
Sabatinis was truly the dining highlight of our cruise
that we will long remember
Specialty Restaurant: Sterling Steakhouse
The other specialty restaurant onboard, the Sterling
Steakhouse, had a $15 per person cover charge. The amount of food here was
much more modest when compared to Sabatini’s – in fact the 3 course meal
here was less than the 5 course evening meals served regularly in the ship’s
main dining rooms.
I had the shrimp cocktail appetizer here – the shrimp
was huge (more than twice the size of the shrimp cocktail offered in the
regular dining rooms). Barbara McShane commented that the shrimp cocktail
was a meal in itself!
For the main entrée a variety of steaks were offered
(filet mignon, porterhouse, etc). Not being a steak lover I ordered the ½
barbequed chicken. I found my chicken to be flavorful but a bit dry. The
filet mignon was good (8 oz or 10 oz portions were offered). Anne, Paul,
and Barbara all ordered steaks and rated the quality as a “9” on a scale of
10.
For dessert the NY Cheesecake was excellent.
While we enjoyed our meal at the Sterling Steakhouse,
if you had to pick one specialty restaurant on the Caribbean Princess to
dine at I would recommend Sabatinis.
Anne’s Take:
My parents and I are steak lovers,
so we probably enjoyed Sterling Steakhouse much more than Tim. One nice
feature is that they present the raw steak options at the beginning of your
meal on a serving cart. You have a chance to look over the size and quality
of the filet, the porterhouse, the t-bone, sirloin and all the choices when
ordering. Along with the steak and baked potatoes came delicious mushrooms
and they had a variety of topping for the potato. I felt everything was
excellent and highly recommend this restaurant to steak lovers.
Overall dining grade: A
With an excellent buffet, very good main dining room
food, numerous quick dining options (pizza, grill, ice cream), one
extraordinary specialty restaurant (Sabatinis), and one excellent specialty
restaurant (Sterling Steakhouse), Princess in my opinion has the best food of
any cruise line we have sailed on.
Entertainment
Princess Theatre
The main Princess theatre featured two production shows
and a variety of comedy acts during the week.
The “not to be missed” production show of the week was
“The Piano Man”. This stage show featured a tribute to famous pianists such
as Liberace, Elton John, Barry Manilow, Billy Joel, and others. The music
from the live band was excellent, the singing was very good, and the show had
a number of impressive dance routines. The colorful costumes in this show
were also a plus.
I talked to one long time cruiser, on her 34th
Princess cruise, and she told me “Don’t miss the Piano Man!” She was right –
this was one of the best stage shows I have seen on a cruise ship.
The Princess Theatre is not as big as main theatres I
have seen on other ships. As a result every show we attended was standing
room only. If you are planning to attend a show at the Princess Theatre try
to arrive 30 minutes early to ensure yourself a seat.
Explorers Lounge/Club Fusion/other bars
The ship had two other show lounges – the Explorers
Lounge which featured dancing and comedy acts, and Club Fusion which also
featured dancing and singing. One night we missed getting a seat at the
Princess Theatre, so instead we attended a comedy show at the Explorers
Lounge. I was impressed with the number of show options available each night.
The comedy show we attended by Steve Morris was
excellent. Steve was an excellent guitar player (he once toured with the
Beach Boys) and he was also very funny. He did a Neal Diamond impersonation
which was uncanny in resemblance to this famous singer.
Another comedian we saw, James “the kid” Rock, we did not
care for as his humor was more “R” rated adult material. Steve’s comedy
routine was very funny and very clean.
At the Crooners bar midship from 9 to 11 pm piano player and singer Bert
Stratton had a standing room only crowd most nights with his performance of
popular songs and the stories behind those songs. Bert had a loyal following
and to some was the best entertainer on the ship. Skywalkers Nightclub high
above the rest of the ship was a popular dance spot in the late evening.
Movies Under The Stars
Princess premiered its “Movies Under The Stars” concept
on this ship. At one of the pools there was a large outdoor movie screen with
an excellent sound system. We attended Movies under the Stars on different
nights (we saw four films - The Greatest Game Ever Played, Just Like Heaven,
Proof, and Cinderella Man). The experience was amazing. Here we were sailing
in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean watching a movie outdoors! It reminded me
of watching movies under the stars at the drive in theatre back home.
Princess sets up comfy deck chairs with extra padding for
its evening movie shows, and free popcorn is distributed. The wind was
minimal as the chairs are setup in an area shielded by plexiglass along the
deck. As we were watching a movie one night I pointed out to Anne a full moon
overhead.
A Princess salesperson I talked to said the Movies Under
the Stars was Princess’ answer to Royal Caribbean’s Rock Climbing Wall.
Princess has a great concept here. More people like movies than climbing
walls – the movies under the stars have a broad appeal. After I attended my
first movie under the stars I couldn’t wait to attend more on subsequent
nights.
The outdoor movies didn’t work as well during the day.
Movies or concerts are shown starting at 8 a.m. In the day I noticed many
pool dwellers not even paying attention to the movie playing overhead – it was
more of a distraction during the day. For swimming I would recommend picking
one of the other pools (not the one under the movie screen) for a quieter
environment.
Princess also showed movies during the week in the main
Princess theatre, in the Explorers Lounge, and in Club Fusion. While I still
think Disney has the best movie experience at sea (and Disney has copied the
Princess concept of outdoor movies on the Disney Magic), the Princess movie
setup was the next best I have seen on a cruise ship. The variety of movies
shown was good.
Overall Entertainment Grade: A-
Excellent stage shows in the Princess theatres, at least
one good comedian, entertaining lounge singers, and the wonderful Movies Under
the Stars gives the Caribbean Princess an A- in my book in the entertainment
category. The “minus” is only because I think the main theatre could be
bigger on a ship this large (many who wanted to attend a show couldn’t find a
seat), and the outdoor movies didn’t work as well during the day as in the
evening.
Children’s Programming
Our 12 year old twin boys really enjoyed the kids club –
they were in a group of 8 to 12 year olds. On “at sea” days the programming
ran from 9 to noon, and from 2 to 5 pm. On every night there was children’s
programming from 7 to 10 pm. The boys liked the different contests Princess
had for prizes (scavenger hunts, casino games, ping pong and foosball
tournaments, build a roller coaster, etc). The boys also enjoyed the Play
Station 2 time that was featured the last ½ hour of each session. The club
even had some educational time – during one session the boys each dissected a
squid!
The boys report there were about 25 kids in their age
group in the kids club. We saw lots of families on the cruise, not as many as
on a Disney cruise but more than we saw on Holland America last March. I
would recommend this cruise for families – Princess has an underrated kids
program.
Children’s club grade: A-
“A” for activities offered. The “minus’ is only because
the clubs are not open for as many hours as Disney’s. Our 12 year olds are
now independent enough where they could find things to do when the clubs were
closed, but for families with smaller kids the limited hours of the club could
be more of an issue. The club did offer after-hours kid sitting from 10 pm to
1 am each night for a fee of $5/hour per child.
Other activities
The ship had many other activities – a large casino,
bingo, trivia contests, dance lessons, pool games, and more. There was
something for everyone.
Internet Café/wireless access
The Caribbean Princess had a large internet café that had
a strong internet connection throughout the whole cruise. The 35 cents/minute
charge here was less expensive than I have seen on most cruise lines. There
were no blocks of minutes you could buy – just a flat rate of 35 cents a
minute. I found the internet connection good 80 % of the time – occasionally
I did have to switch terminals when the terminal I sat down at wasn’t
working. By the end of the cruise I found I had spent less money on the
internet at 35 cents a minute than I had with Disney’s $99 unlimited plan for
the entire cruise.
The wireless capability on this ship was not as good.
Wireless was only available in the atrium area, and I found it to be extremely
slow at times (much slower than the internet café speeds). With wireless
access you do buy blocks of time ($10 for 30 minute blocks). I had originally
planned to check my email through my laptop’s wireless connection, but
switched over to the internet café after encountering slow wireless access
times the first day. At times it was also difficult to find a free table in
the atrium to place a laptop for wireless access.
In addition various classes were offered as part of
Princess “Computer at Sea” curriculum. These classes were $25 each and seemed
popular with several cruise passengers. Classes were taught on digital photo
editing, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and other topics.
Overall Computer grade: B
The internet café was fine and the computer classes were
a nice addition, but a new ship like the Caribbean Princess should have better
wireless access.
Pre-cruise stay
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Convention Center
for two nights before the cruise. We were very pleased with our stay here.
This Holiday Inn Express (there are 3 in the area) had a free airport shuttle
– we waited about 10 minutes before the van came to get us. The hotel was
located within easy walking distance of a large number of restaurants and
shopping. We especially liked Carlos and Pepe’s Mexican restaurant – only a 5
minute walk from the hotel. Also right outside the hotel’s doors was a city
bus stop. We took the $1 per person (50 cents for seniors and children) city
bus to the beach and to the Galleria Mall on our full day in Ft Lauderdale on
Friday. A hotel staff member told us the hotel met the latest hurricane
construction limits with windows that can withstand winds of 170 mph.
The hotel offered a shuttle to the cruise port at $6 per
person – this could be scheduled the day before your cruise. We took
advantage of this shuttle when the hotel staff told us that cabs were
difficult to get on the busy cruise mornings.
Holiday Inn Express Grade: A-
For a “budget” hotel this is an excellent choice. We
liked the location, the free high speed internet availability, refrigerator
and microwave in our room, the complementary bottled water, and the
complementary breakfast buffet in the morning (a limited menu with pastries,
hard boiled eggs, waffles, cereal, juice, etc). Our stay here was much
better than our previous stay in Ft Lauderdale at the Comfort Suites on Davey
road. You could stay in nicer and more scenic locations (i.e. on the beach)
for a higher price, but for a clean comfortable low priced hotel with lots of
amenities we thought the Holiday Inn Express was a great choice.
Summary
I wrote much of this trip report while sitting on a deck
chair on the promenade deck (deck 7) as we sailed in the open sea. What a day
at the office! Overall we had a wonderful time on our Caribbean Princess
cruise. We thoroughly enjoyed the features of this new and modern cruise ship
(excellent food, very good entertainment, comfortable staterooms, and loads of
activities including the innovative Movies Under the Stars). The ports we
visited offered nice relaxing days at the beach.
As a travel agent I book many families and adults on the
Disney cruise; I would encourage Disney fans to consider this cruise, too.
Often a Caribbean Princess cruise will price less than Disney’s (especially
during peak times), yet still offer a good vacation. I know our family
enjoyed our 7 days on the Caribbean Princess, and I saw many others who felt
the same as us.
Anne’s Take:
I agree that this was one of the best cruises we have
experienced. It was all the more special for me to be able to experience this
cruise with my parents. They had not been on a cruise for 30 years and
enjoyed everything about trip. We again had the opportunity to create
special memories, eat very well and have fun as a family with ping pong,
miniature golf, swimming and many more activities. The time together seems to
pass so quickly but we have our pictures, memories and future adventures to
look forward to in the future.
Andrew’s Trip Report:
“I had a great time
onboard the Caribbean Princess ship. There were many awesome activities you
could try like Basketball, Ping Pong, Paddle Tennis, Golf, Swimming and much
more. I really enjoyed the kid’s club that they provided on the ship. It’s
very cool because it has a mini plasma screen T.V., 6 PS2’s, a foosball table,
and a juke box with literally 100 modern songs. I spent most of my time on
the PS2s mainly because the T.V. was never on. For the girls there was a bead
station where you could create things out of beads. (I didn’t go into that
area at all). Other than the electronics and the beads, we had tournaments
and many other activities. There was a Ping Pong tourney that I easily won,
(Go Me). Later on there was a Foosball tourney as well, which I got second
place in. Other activities included scavenger hunts, squid dissection, (It’s
a dead squid don’t worry), Roller coaster building, pop star singing, disco
and casino night.
The food on this cruise was good with one
disappointment. They didn’t have any pasta in the buffet, (I love pasta!),
and the pasta in the dining room had peas in it! But the other food was
great! The steak was so tender and the burgers were so juicy, it makes me
hungry just thinking about that food again. With the drinks at the buffet,
if you don’t buy this special soda package that costs roughly $4.00 a day then
you’re out of luck, unless you don’t mind ice tea and water for every meal. So
my suggestion is that you should buy the soda package.
I had a great time on all of the islands that we
visited. St. Thomas was first; we took a tour around the island with this fun
driver who played loud music. Then he let us off at a beach where the water
was very deep. The next island was St. Maarten, we took a cab to a beach with
big waves, we enjoyed that! The final island was Princess Cays, the waves were
very calm there, but there were a lot of rocks and coral. We rented a float
mat so we go further out without hitting the coral. We had a good hour of
swimming time and then we had lunch and it started to rain! It was pouring out
there! So we headed back to the ship and that pretty much ended our fabulous
cruise.”
Josh’s Trip Report:
“I had a great cruise on
the Caribbean Princess. The kids club was really fun and entertaining. There
was a big room with lots of different activities. One of my favorite parts
was the Playstation 2 area. There were six TVs and lots of the games were for
two players. There were also two different tournaments. One was for ping
pong (Andrew got first place) and foosball (Andrew got second place). During
the day, there were a lot of activities planned for us. On the last day, we
watched a movie and played lots of games.
I liked the food on this cruise a lot. There were three
big dining rooms, and the Anytime Dining was great because we could eat when
we got hungry. We ate in the buffet for lunch every day and that was great.
Sometimes I would get a burger from the grill while everyone was having food
from the buffet. The only bad thing was that when we ate in the buffet I had
to have water because I don’t like iced tea.
We swam in the pool at the back of the ship once and it
was fun. The two other pools in the middle were too deep for me. One night we
watched “The Greatest Game Ever Played” out by the pool. We got popcorn and
comfy chairs to sit in while the movie was playing.
The ports were great on this cruise. At St. Thomas, we
went on a tour with a really funny guide and then he dropped us off at a nice
beach. We had a really good lunch there. At St. Maartin we got to a really
fun beach. The waves were great and there wasn’t much undertow. When we got
to Princess Cay, we went to the beach and had a good time. After that, we ate
lunch at a delicious island buffet and went back to the ship.
I had a great cruise and I hope we go on another one like
this again.”
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