Caribbean Princess Review

When Can I Go Back?

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Caribbean Princess
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LollyMoz
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Nov 2009

Our trip began less than well when our friend dropped us off at the Tampa airport at 8:30 a.m. and drove away, only for us to find out that our 9:50 a.m. flight had been canceled and we would be unable to get on another flight for five hours. Delta had moved us to the 8:30 a.m. flight, which of course had just departed, but because we had neglected to notify them when we canceled our landline and went to only our cell phones, they still had our old phone number. Normally as we were preparing to leave the house, I would be online checking flight status, but for whatever reason, this particular morning I neglected to do that. My first bit of advice to anyone reading this seems fairly common sense (that's me slapping my own self on the forehead): update airlines when phone number changes; and CHECK FLIGHT STATUS. Okay, so there we were - luckily the gate agent took pity on us and allowed us to sit in the Crown room, which helped a small bit as we whiled away the hours. Obviously our connecting flight also had to be changed, so we didn't actually arrive in San Juan until after 9:00 p.m. We stayed one night pre-cruise at the La Concha in Condado. This is a gorgeous, sexy hotel and we used tens of thousands of Marriott points to get an upgraded room there. Oh how we had looked forward to enjoying this wonderful resort the day before our cruise. Of course with the change in our flight status and our late arrival time, we didn't get to do much of anything at the hotel, and those points were, for all intents and purposes, wasted. We arrived at the La Concha around 10:00 p.m. and the lobby was gearing up for a Halloween party (they don't get started until very late down there). The front desk clerk listened to our sob story and upgraded us to a Presidential Suite on the 11th floor. Things began to look up! The room was very, very nice...perhaps not what one might picture when thinking of a "presidential" suite, but lovely nonetheless. If you care to read a review of our hotel experience, I have written one on Cruise Critic's sister website, Trip Advisor. The next morning we were up early, had breakfast in the hotel (expensive, but worth it), and then walked across the street to Walgreens to pick up a few odds and ends. Finally it was time to head to the ship. We called a bellman (the staff at the La Concha are all wonderful), who helped us get our luggage downstairs and hailed us a cab. The cab fare from the hotel to the cruise terminal was $20 plus tip. We arrived at the terminal at 11:30, and we were about 70th outside the terminal doors. I had read that they open the doors at noon, so we were prepared to wait a half hour. The line grew and grew and grew. We were very glad that we got there early. While waiting, someone handed out health questionnaires and also the duty free shop's sale flyer. The door did not open until 12:20, and they ushered the first 300 people in line to the sitting area inside the terminal. There were no announcements explaining procedure. You could grab a Princess representative and ask the question individually, but really didn't get a whole lot of concrete info. Outside the duty free shop in the terminal, was a cart giving away tiny samples of frozen mimosa. Eventually, after sitting for 30 minutes with no information, people began to trickle over to the cart and into the duty free shop. I soon followed suit, getting a sample for myself and my hubby and taking a quick peek into the duty free shop to see what they had on offer. Sat back down for another 30 minutes. Still no info. So back I went to the cart for another sample. I had some money with me this time, so I went into the duty free shop to get a case of water, because it looked like the water was going fast. I picked the wrong line and after 15 minutes of standing there holding a case of water, and the line not moving, I gave up, put the water back, and went back to my seat. At almost 1:30, the Princess rep finally began calling a row or two at a time to go to the check in line. Now I will say that when I went to the duty free shop, I counted 16 check-in counter personnel that were either at their station, or down at one end chatting. There was no obvious reason why they were not opening the line. Anyway, once the line finally did open, it went very quickly and efficiently. Since we were toward the front, we got called by 1:40 and were finished checking in by 1:55. Then we went to the duty free and got our supplies, and got into another line to go through the security checkpoint. That line did not move quickly, but we were through it by 2:15, only to encounter yet ANOTHER line at the base of the elevator where they had one security guard checking everyone's passport and boarding card, very thoroughly. That line didn't move quickly at all, but we were finally through it by 2:30. Then we got to the top of the escalator and found yet another line at the gangway. We finally, finally got to our cabin by 2:40 p.m., over three hours after we got into the first line at the terminal. Never have we ever encountered such a slow embarkation process, but to be fair, I've read that this phenomenon only happens at the first cruise after repositioning. I would think that had to be true, otherwise no one would leave out of San Juan. It left a decidedly unpleasant taste in our mouths...until we had our first glass of champagne in the cabin of course. I had ordered a celebrations package that arrived in our cabin shortly after we did, hence the champagne. Our room steward knocked on the door mere moments after we walked in. His name was Arturo and he was great! I had pre-ordered an egg crate after reading such horror stories about the beds on Princess. Upon arrival, I felt the bed, but there didn't seem to be an egg crate on there, so I asked Arturo for one. Turns out there was one on there, but it was pretty worn and thin to say the least. Get two - or even three. To get this out of the way up front: Princess PLEASE do something about those beds and the pillows. Seriously - it's time. No, it's beyond time. The connector that hooked the two singles together to make a queen made a mound in the bed that we called the Great Wall. As a matter of fact, my husband made a joke about the mound just this morning, two weeks after our cruise. Obviously it made an impression. So enough about the bad beds. We had our carry-on bag and a beach bag with a few things in it, so we proceeded to get semi-settled in. One of our other two bags didn't get to us until nearly 10:00 p.m. The third bag???? Reading the review up to this point, you might think it is going to be negative. Oh contraire! From the moment we (finally) got on board, the cruise was fantastic! One of the very first things I did, within 10 minutes of getting in the cabin, was to call the dining reservation line and ask to be put on the list for Chef's Table. It worked, as we got our invitation the next day. More about that later, but I can't stress enough how amazing an experience this was and would highly recommend those who enjoy food and wine to make every effort to get to this highly sought-after event. I then checked out the closet - 24 hangers, many with clips for trousers or skirts. Plenty of storage space in the floor-to-ceiling cabinet and two drawers each in the night stands. Suitcases fit under the bed except for our largest one, which fit snugly up against the far wall in the closet. Only one electrical outlet by the desk. The outlet in the bathroom does not accommodate a hair dryer, or curling iron but there is a hair dryer by the desk (I brought my own.). We brought along a power strip and I'd recommend that as well. We have a thing about smells and brought along a plug in air freshener. After settling in, we walked around the ship and explored. Got a drink of the day in a souvenir cup and a slice or two of pizza which was very tasty. Muster was at 8:00 p.m. and was very quick and easy. That night was the Juan Carlos show - very, very talented guitarist. Enjoyed that a lot. Sailaway was at 11:00 p.m. after which we checked out Skywalkers, which was very quiet indeed, with only one couple dancing and maybe six people throughout the rest of the club. We got back to our cabin - still no third bag. At 11:45 p.m. we got a knock on the door; a gentleman four or five cabins down the hall had our suitcase placed outside of his cabin. What a long day that was! First port was St. Thomas. Weather a bit rainy at first but it cleared later on. We got room service (fruit bowl as well) which was always extremely punctual. If we asked for our breakfast at 8:00, it was 8:00 a.m. on the dot! Every morning I would sit outside on our balcony and highlight the Patter with the activities for the day and listen to the morning show on TV with Dan and Sam. There was some chemistry going on between the two of them, or so it seemed. Lots of giggling and flirting, but also lots of good information. We showered and went up to the Lido deck to walk around. Had some pizza again. The staff there wasn't overly friendly. A waiter approached us and asked us if we wanted a beverage and when my husband asked for water, he disappeared, never to be seen again. By the way, as an aside - there were hand sanitizers everywhere. I overheard a woman by the elevators saying that she hadn't seen any; I'm here to tell you they were everywhere, at each dining location, each check out counter in the boutiques, front desk, etc. but we also had our own pocket sized ones just in case. Later, we went to the Coral dining room for lunch. The waiter mixed up our order of appetizers, but it turned out okay because I actually liked the soup I got better than what I had originally ordered. The mussels were terrific, the cheesesteak good. Fish was a bit dry, but fine. Desserts were great. Hubby went back to the room to relax and I tried to get off the ship, but it was raining and I had no umbrella so got right back on. I walked around the ship, watched a bit of he movie Eagle Eye on MUTS. Then went back to the cabin to take a nap (such a tough day don'tcha know). At 4:00 p.m. we had cocktails and canapEs delivered to the room as part of the celebrations package. On the order form that came with the package, I had checked each appetizer offered, thinking that since they knew there were two of us in the cabin, we'd get two each. Wrong. Note to self, be sure to ask for 2 (or more) of each selection. The appetizers were absolutely delicious! (Oh another side note about asking for two of something: each morning we ordered a pot of tea and a pot of coffee with our room service breakfast. Both of us drink cream in our beverages, and one little pot of cream did not suffice. So we always, always asked for two. Only once in 7 days did we get two pots of cream - it became a running joke. I would write a giant 2 on the order form, circle it, and put exclamation points, but still only one small pot of cream came up each day. So I'd call down there and order another one which without fail arrived within moments and with lots of smiling apologies. It didn't bother us and as I said, became sort of a joke.) That evening we had our pre-brief for chef's table. It was formal night but we only brought formal attire for one of the two nights, so we elected to eat at Cafe Caribe that night. We had great service and the food was very good. Open seating, plenty of room early on. At 7:30 was the Captain's champagne waterfall, which is really a photo op for Elite status cruisers. Carl Strong was the comedian that evening and we enjoyed him, though a couple of people did walk out. Those that stayed - and it was a full house - had a great time! After his show we wandered through the boutiques and stopped to listen to Bert Stratton in Crooners. He's wonderful - a great entertainer. There was a full moon that night, so we enjoyed a cocktail on the balcony, with the moon hanging in the sky right outside, leaving a silvery trail on the water. How awesome. We were blessed with fairly calm seas so very little motion. I loved our cabin and the location. Had no problem with the balcony being open - the folks above looked down at us from time to time, but didn't bother us at all. I'd select a cabin on Dolphin Deck again. The rest of the cruise passed by all too quickly. We had great weather and enjoyed being outside on our balcony quite a bit. Actually we spent more time on the ship than we usually do; the CB is quite entertaining in and of itself. My hubby really enjoyed sitting in the hot tub watching whatever was on MUTS. We ate ourselves silly, visiting all possible food venues with the exception of the burger stand (which smelled and looked very good). Chef's Table was an amazing evening. The Captain was an honored guest and we very much enjoyed the chance to have a one-on-one conversation with this lovely Italian gentleman. It was fascinating to be inside the galley during dinner rush. The food at Chef's Table was exquisite. As for ports: our favorite was St. Lucia - a lush island very reminiscent of the South Pacific. We tried Antigua but were so put off by the gauntlet of taxi drivers, or "tourism representatives" that would not take no for an answer, that we made a beeline back to the ship. The CB was fully booked during our cruise and the buffets and pools would get crowded during certain times as one would expect. Nothing out of the ordinary. We had one mini (informal) and one formal Cruise Critic meet and greet. Lots of fun and nice to be able to put faces with the names of folks we've been in touch with for months. We saw all but one of the production shows and they were very good with great costumes. Both comedians were very funny and enjoyable. By the way, the CB is very punctual. If they say a show starts at 8:15, it starts at 8:15! Things I'm glad I brought on the cruise include binoculars, power strip, a small pair of scissors, bottled water, champagne bottle stopper; highlighter, journal, one of our feather pillows, and a pair of slippers (the rubber floor on the balcony was sometimes hard on the feet). We had anytime dining and we always got there early and never once had to wait for a table for two. We'd do anytime again. Disembarkation was smooth as silk. We met our group at 8:10, were called at 8:30, found our bags promptly, and by 9:00 a.m. were in a taxi on the way to the airport. There were two ships disembarking that Sunday and the airport was a zoo with every other person sporting a cruise luggage tag. Important note: make sure when departing from San Juan that you go through the USDA checkpoint FIRST before getting in line for your airline; they will not let you check your bags until you have a USDA sticker. Overall, it was a fabulous cruise and they had to drag me off the ship (you may still see my fingernail marks in the hallway). I'd recommend it (and have) to my friends and family.

Cabin Review

Cabin AE

Great location near the elevators. Very little movement. Somewhat near the crew area, could hear crew elevators occasionally. Lots of closet and shelf space. Great bathroom with good full size tub. Plenty of storage in bathroom. suitcases fit under bed. Beds not good, nor pillows. Wonderful balcony with four chairs, two of which recline. Recommend this location.

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