Cabin Review

My Husband (51) and I (45) sailed out of Brooklyn on the Caribbean Princess on June 11th. This was our fifth cruise together and our first with Princess. We have sailed before with NCL (Sun and Spirit), Holland America (Noordam) and Royal Caribbean (Explorer).

Embarkation was a breeze - much better then embarkation in Cape Liberty, Bayonne.  The Terminal was very easy to get to and parking was right there. Arrived at the terminal at 11:30 and were in our stateroom by 12:15. It did take a few hours for our luggage to come, it didn't actually appear until we had sailed, but it was all there and that's what counts!

We had a balcony cabin (A614). It was clean and relatively comfortable with plenty of storage space with a closet that was very nearly the entire width of the stateroom. Wilson, our room steward was terrific and very pleasant to deal with. A couple of negatives - teeny, tiny bathroom with a shower that had no room to move around in (you had to shut the water off to soap up). Also, the cabin was about half way between midship and aft on deck 12 and I was surprised I could feel vibration (especially when leaning back on the headboard of the bed when reading), I didn't think that would be an issue in this location.

I purchased the coffee card and in my opinion it was well worth it, I really enjoyed the cappuccino. I did feel that the staff working the coffee counter could have made an effort to be a little more personable. I left an additional tip at the end of the cruise but I would have left twice that amount and been more particular about who received it if anyone there had left a more positive impression.  Still the coffee was good, the service wasn't bad and the International Cafe overall is a nice touch.

We found the food on board to be quite adequate even though some things were a little hit or miss (this included desserts but the hard ice cream was always delicious!). While my husband enjoyed the fish and chips at the "Pub Lunch" early in the week he did not enjoy the same meal in the dining room (as a second entree!) a couple days later. Some of the themed dinners in the Caribe Cafe were not what I would consider authentic ethnic cuisine. That being said, we never went hungry. If we didn't like one dish we could always find another that was more to our taste.

Random observations - Pool chairs were not hard to find unless you wanted one in the shade. We did not use the Sanctuary but they did allow us to go in and take a look around, very pretty but very windy. Couldn't get near the Spa Pool but lucked out at the Terrace Pool. Doubled my money playing Black Jack in the casino, on the "smoke free" nights it was a pleasant place. My husband was very disappointed with the promenade deck, it is very narrow all along its length as well as being continued via a staircase on the next deck up and not condusive to a good walk. We did not go to any shows but the MUTS was fun. The stinky cheese in the Vine Bar in the Piazza during the evenings really needs to go, the smell was awful and everyone kept looking around to see who the culprit was!

We did not take any shore excursions through the cruise line but enjoyed each port. Bermuda was new for us. We went to Hamilton (felt like I missed something here), Horseshoe Bay beach and Church Bay beach, both of which were very nice though Horseshoe Bay was a little crowded. You can definitely use the public transportation here, it is very easy to navigate and well worth the price. On Puerto Rico we took a taxi to Isla Verde which is a lot like Miami Beach. The beach was clean and the water nice though not as clear as some other Caribbean Islands. Rented chairs and an umbrella and took a nice walk. Taxi's are there to take you back whenever you are ready ($20 each way per load).  Shopped in Old San Juan in the evening - Silver Planet is a wonderful store on Calle Forteleza, lovely silver jewelry with amber, larimar and other stones. Reasonable prices and great service. From St Thomas we took the ferry over to St John and enjoyed a beautiful day at Trunk Bay, the snorkeling, as usual, was the best. We went to Governor's Beach on Grand Turk, it was very nice. The water was so clear I didn't want to get out. A $3 taxi ride there and a nice walk back (mostly along the beach) was well worth it if you want to get away from the crowd at Margaritaville.

While disembarkation was a bit of a hassle - too many people doing the express walkoff and not enough staff to direct everyone - we were off the ship and in the car on our way home by 8:20am.

Overall it was a wonderful cruise with the calmest seas we have ever sailed.  The Caribbean Princess is a beautiful ship and very well maintained.  I would definitely consider sailing her again. For those of you worried about the negative reviews - while nothing is ever perfect and yes some things may have slipped recently, we are all responsible for our own attitude and ultimately how good a time we choose to have. Happy cruising.