Caribbean Princess Review
The Greats and not so greats on the Southern Explorer!
Rating by category
Additional details
My partner and I (34 and 31, respectively) were on the Caribbean Princess for the Southern Caribbean Explore roundtrip voyage departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico on February 14, 2010, with stops in St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire, Aruba followed by a day at sea before returning to San Juan on the morning of February 21. It was my better half's second cruise, and my first, so this cruise report is certainly a deeper look at the trip and cruise experience from a beginner's perspective.
Embarkation: Embarkation for the Caribbean Princess was smooth and effortless - we had arrived the previous day and spent the night in San Juan at the Caribe Hilton to avoid winter weather delays that snarled much of the country and showed up at the Pan Am Pier terminal shortly after 2 pm. Once we figured out where we needed to drop off our bags and enter the terminal, we didn't encounter any lines and breezed through check-in and were on the ship quickly. Once on board (through deck 7), we made our way to our cabin on the Emerald deck (deck 8).
The only hitch was that we had no idea which pier to go to in order to board the ship (Pan Am piers or Old San Juan) - thanks to CruiseCritic we learned the correct pier, and a quick call to the Princess 800 number confirmed it. Also, the cabs were more costly than we had anticipated - a cab from the airport to the hotel was about $26, and so was a cab for the very short ride from the hotel to the ship.
Cabin Review
Despite my desire for a balcony cabin, my partner talked me out of it to take advantage of a great last minute deal on a guaranteed oceanview room. About a week before the cruise we were assigned Room E622 on the port side of the Emerald Deck (deck 8). It was an obstructed oceanview, with one of the larger tenders in front of the window. While it was indeed obstructed, you could still see through the tender and to the side. Having the natural light helped our internal clocks, and I understand other cabins in the same category with the smaller life boats facing them actually had direct views.
I have to say, the room was really nice and much larger than I expected. On entering, there is a short hallway to the bedroom area, much like a hotel, with the bathroom tucked away on the left and an open closet area with a shelf bureau and safe at the end. We didn't pack light - three suitcases, a suit bag, two carry-ons and snorkel equipment for two - but storage was absolutely no problem. The bathroom has a smart layout and we had plenty of space for our toiletries. A lot of people have complained about the "clingy" shower curtain, and I am sure the sliding plexiglass shower doors are nicer, but it was never an issue for us. There is one standard outlet (two prong) in the bathroom.
Forward of the bathroom and closet space is the ensuite room. The two twins pushed together to make a very spacious and comfortable queen bed with four pillows (we requested extra pillows without a problem). There is a desk/vanity with a hair dryer attached to the wall, phone, and two three-prong plugs. I had read here on Cruise Critic to bring an alarm clock and power bar for extra plugs, and I am glad I did for the two cameras, iPods, laptop, cellphones, etc. If you forget an alarm clock, there is an automated wake-up service through the in-room phone. There are also plenty of mirrors, which make the room feel bigger.
The room also had a flat screen TV, with movies, cable programs, ship's bridge camera, bridge station to track movement and speed, even old episodes of the Love Boat (which, admittedly, were neat to watch at night onboard). There was also a chair, small side table, and refrigerator stocked with a bucket of ice and sodas (there is a charge if you drink the sodas). Even so, the fridge easily accommodated two bottles of bubbly we brought aboard - which, is the limit per person to bring aboard.
Overall we were extremely pleased with the room -- it was very quiet, right across from the laundry if you needed to iron a few wrinkles out of a shirt, and it's location not far from the elevator or a short walk up the hall to the piazza or down the stairs to the promenade made it extremely convenient.