Caribbean Princess Review

4.0 / 5.0
2,769 reviews

Christmas 2010 Caribbean Princess Cruise

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Caribbean Princess
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algr34
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Dec 2010

Embarcation process was relatively easy even though they ask you to fill some information about weather or not you have a cold and have you wait on plastic chairs until they call you to do the check in. We have a mini-suite with balcony Deck Dolphin. I have specified that we were celebrating my husband's birthday so we found 3 balloons in the entrance of the suite stating Happy Birthday. We were greeted almost immediately by Marcos. He quickly asked if we needed anything to which we answer that we will be needing extra blankets. He also congratulated my husband for his birthday. This was a nice touch and a surprise for my husband. Immediately he got us blankets and offered us some champagne. All along the cruise we received an excellent service from Marcos. All that we could need we got it. In our suite we had a choice of fruits so we had fresh fruits daily. I was not sure when Marcos rested because he was ALWAYS around when needed greeting you with a big smile. The suite itself was very comfortable. 2 LCD's, Sofa, BIG closet and bathtub and shower. The balcony was big the only drawback is that it has no roof so everybody above you can see you and when the sun was intense it was hard to be in the balcony. The TV service was good you have news stations, movies and more in the programing. The reason for us to go on this trip was to relax and have a good time. We like to explore, have a good time and eat well.

The food was not what I expected. It was OK. I have to understand that the cruise was at full capacity which included 500 kids for the Christmas week. So, you can say that they might have been too busy and the food was not that good. We had anytime dinning because we booked the cruise too close to embarkation date and the assigned seating were full. Anytime dinning is when you show up and the will seat you upon availability of seats. The problem we had was that since we were 2 we were asked to share with tables of 7-8 people. We did it the first day but it was hard to get all the food at the same time for the table. So, next day we try to go late so we were able to get a 2 people table. We were greeted by Sandu. He was great we ask about wines and he offer us the box of premium wines. This included Robert Mondavi Reserve 2002, Ruffino and Sena (Chilean Wine) all for $159. For people who enjoy good wines this is an excellent deal since one of the bottles is worth $100 by itself. You purchased the box and the box will follow you to all dinning or bars in the ship. Once you paid the box there were no tip or corkage fee. We bought the box and enjoy the wines in Sabatini, Main Dinner and the buffet. We tried for the third day to go to the main room but since we were 2 we were asked to wait or to share. We decided to try Sabatini which has a 20 dollar cover charge. We showed up without reservations and were greeted by the Maitre D which accommodated us on a table for 2 in less than 5 minutes. That is when our GREAT experience started. We were welcome by Sandro from Portugal. This is the nicest waiter you could encounter. He explained the menu which includes tasting of all appetizers in the menu and an entree. It includes also the bread and home made pasta. The food was excellent but Sandro was even better. He will walk you through the menu describing the appetizers and asking you as to when you are ready to go to the other tasting. We were the last ones at the restaurant and he never rushed us or pressure us to finish our meal. We engage him in conversation regarding food and wine and he was happy to give us his opinion and his experience. He made our experience at Sabatinis very special. We actually went twice to Sabatinis not only the food is excellent but the service and the pampering was great. Overall, food was average except on the Sabatinis.

We indulge our-self in the Ultimate Ship tour. This is a tour for 6 to 12 people that takes you behind the scenes in the cruise ship. We were taken to the Theater and the dressing rooms, Galley which included bakery, storage rooms, fridges, Laundry, Photo Lab, Print Shop, Engine, and Bridge. I was not sure what to expect and this was my favorite part of the trip. Seen the Galley and all what it encompass, the laundry room and how the manage to wash, dry and fold towels, bed shits, napkins and the guest cloths was enlightening. The engine room and how the ship is ran but even better the view from the bridge. The captain received us on the bridge and explained how (more or less) the ship is directed from port to port. We were escorted by a photographer which took pictures of us as a group in various locations and individual pictures with the captain. At the end of the tour not only you got a better idea of all the work that goes into the cruise but we got a cooks jacket t with the Princess Logo, Bath Robe with the Princess Logo, personalized stationary and the pictures taken during the tour. I would recommend the tour to anybody that is curios about how things get done in the cruise. It is worth the money.

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