L*O*N*G Review of Star Princess Canada/N.E. Cruise 10/7 - 10/14, 2006
As way of introduction, I sailed with my husband, his brother, and his wife. We are all in our 50s. This was our 4th cruise and the brother's second. We have cruised with Carnival and Celebrity before. This was our first Princess cruise as well as our first cool weather cruise. We drove to Brooklyn from Frederick, Maryland, a 4.5 hour trip. The pier's website has good driving directions, and we had no trouble finding the pier or with parking. Be prepared when you leave the ship. You must pay for parking before exiting the lot. You can pay before you leave the terminal (just have your parking stub with you), or you can pay when you get to the parking lot (you'll have to go to your car to retrieve your parking stub). The machines take Visa and cash (maybe Master Card). But they do not take Discover card, a shock for me. Fortunately, I had the $128 in cash. Halfway through the trip, my mother-in-law grew critically ill, and the brothers plus the other wife left the ship in Bar Harbor and flew to Houston. Since our car was in NYC, I stayed on the ship. Princess was very accommodating with placing phone calls for us and getting us on the first tender to Bar Harbor. But I can tell you cruising alone is not much fun. DH's mother passed away Sunday night, but he was able to talk to her briefly the night he flew in.
General Impressions - We found Princess to be sedate. This, no doubt, owed to the type of cruise. Of the over 2,000 passengers, only 45 children and 5 teens were on board (understandably), and the majority of the cruisers were over 50. The wait staff was also reserved. Certainly, Carnival is a fun ship, but Celebrity also spiced up the dining experience with, for instance, magic tricks at the table. I am not advocating a wild, party atmosphere, but a fun evening of crazy karaoke would have been nice as would the traditional feast-for-the-eyes midnight buffet! I did, however, enjoy the lack of speaker announcements and lack of photographers everywhere you turned.