Caribbean Princess Review

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Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Caribbean Princess
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Trafalgar
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jul 2008

My husband and I are dedicated cruisers and this was our sixth adventure on Princess, our first being the year Princess acquired the Sitmar line. We found the July 1, 2008 sailing on the Caribbean Princess to be a most enjoyable experience. We booked a few days in NYC at the ParkLane Hotel and then used a car hire for transport to Red Hook, Brooklyn. The car service charge plus tip totaled $55 (including tolls). Life was easier when ships sailed from the WestSide Piers of Manhattan. Embarkation was the absolute BEST of our multi years of experience...20 minutes from the desk to our cabin. The ship is beautiful, though I was disappointed at times to find empty glasses lingering in corners of elevators and a few stay Kleenex in public areas. (The ship needs to be more aware of public areas and the passengers need to avoid such behaviors.) The main atrium was nicely done, the library stocked with a good selection and never did we wait in "line" for more than a few minutes. Activities were plentiful but much too LOUD. The volume at the main pool was deafening and the assistant cruise director would SCREAM into her microphone. That said, our favorite activity is to look at the sea. The balcony with our Aloha Deck cabin offered great views and on that deck we had a "roof" to protect us from the sun's rays. (Be aware that many of the balconies have full exposure to the sun.) The promenade deck provided a place for a delightful stroll and comfortable chairs in quiet surroundings. Service was 100+%. From our cabin stewardess to the various waiters we met with the "anytime dining" option (perhaps the BEST feature of the "new" ships would be the anytime dining) we constantly were impressed with attitude, personalities and efficiency. We did not participate in shore excursions as we have many times travelled to the Eastern Caribbean. The day before sailing we received a call (from both Princess and our travel agent) that the sailing time had been moved up one hour (though the ship sailed late) and that St. Maarten had been replaced with Tortola. We enjoyed our visit to Tortola and would like to return. though we were told that all shops in San Juan would be closed as it was the 4th of July, we walked into Old San Juan to find all shops open. As we equate most ship entertainment with high school musical productions, we did not attend any of the shows. We did find the classical musicians to be excellent, especially the pianist. We We attended only one lecture and were amazed at how unprepared the "expert" was on the subject of Caribbean history and customs. The only real negative we would offer would be that the airconditioning in our cabin did not function. We lost a few nights of sleep due to the temperature in the cabin. Twice our cabin was checked (per our request) and we were told adjustments would be made, but we felt no difference and our comfort was negatively impacted. As to the dining and the food...simply wonderful. Breakfast in the dining room offered freshly made and hot food, always well prepared. Breakfast and lunch buffets were without exception excellent and fresh trays were continuously being presented. Dinner was fantastic. The barimundi and the butterfish were truly gifts of the sea! We did an evening at each of the "extra charge" restaurants. Sabatini's offered Italian selections with much emphasis on seafood, it was very good. But OUTSTANDING was the Sterling Steak House. I would encourage passengers to enjoy both and to book reservations when you board the ship as these two venues "fill up" quickly. Disembarkation went smoothly. We purchased the ship's transport to Penn Station. A Princess Cruise representative was waiting for us by our luggage, met us again as we departed customs, and escorted us to the comfortable coach...$25 per person, such a deal!!!! We would definitely recommend the ship, and that is based on a long history of cruising. Consider requesting "table for two" in the restaurants...it spares one from having to deal with the personalities who book a cruise to do just one thing...and that is complain. We find that isolating ourselves from such negativity adds a great deal to our vacation.

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