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This was our third cruise on the Caribbean Princess. We were glad to booked this particular sailing,  since it allowed us to leave the Jersey Shore on November 2, four days after Superstorm Sandy, rather than staying home where power wasn't restored until November 8.  Just to have heat and lights were a blessing!

Because of the emergency, embarkation took place in Manhattan, rather than in Brooklyn, where the pier was closed.   The cruise left 2 days late due to the above and Princess was gracious in giving us a 50% discount on a future cruise as well as a refund for the days missed.

EMBARKATION was a bit stressful, mostly due to post-storm conditions.  The lines for security were very long (2 ships had passengers embarking). Princess check-in ran more smoothly; however we were told that there no Preferred Check-In. 

CABIN was on Caribe deck, which gave us a nice-sized balcony.  However, there were a number of things that needed updating or repair, including stains on the sheets, a lamp that was loose, air conditioning that needed to be fixed, some mildew in the bathroom,  and a lumpy bed, none of which I blame on the cabin steward, one of the best one we ever had.  He was amazingly attentive and always smiling. Others on the ship didn't seem so happy to be there.

GENERAL SHIP ITEMS begin with kudos to Princess for their superior Elite program. The free laundry alone makes it worthwhile! The ship is starting to show wear, including the fact that a number of clocks on the ship had the wrong time, there were too many announcements from the Cruise Director, and there was a missing corner mirror at the end of the Promenade Deck to see oncoming "traffic",  a possible safety hazard. The Future Cruise rep had extremely limited office hours and always had a wait. She even made a joke about this at the Captains Circle party  This is a money-maker; why wouldn't you keep it staffed?   Finally, the casino was pleasant to be in .....on no-smoking days. If they could only make the whole ship non-smoking, it would be great. 

FOOD was the more part, better than I expected. I eat fish most nights, which was prepared well and the variety quite good, especially the orange roughy, the bronzini and jumbo shrimp. Desserts were always a treat, with the Love Boat Dream and souffles especially tasty. 

ENTERTAINMENT in the showroom was run of the mill, with comedians and uneven production shows. The Ultimate Deck Party and Piazza Party were more fun.  Trivia with the cruise staff was well organized.

PORTS OF CALL were changed due to the storm. We were supposed to call at San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua and Aruba, but wound up with Grand Turk and Aruba.  Grand Turk has beautiful beaches and welcoming people, but not much else.  The shore excursions were almost all late in leaving. We power snorkeled, well worth the money. The local dive masters were excellent.  In Aruba we opted for the beach on our own, having been there a number of times.  I'm surprised the cruise couldn't find one other port somewhere in the Caribbean. 

PURSER'S DESK was where we had the biggest problem and the main reason for me not giving the cruise more points.  During the Ultimate Deck Party, a beer bottle landed on my partner's head from the deck above (we assume accidentally). When he called 911 (his head was bleeding), he was told that the Infirmary was on Deck 4, where he went only to find it closed. No one told him he had to ring a bell after hours. He returned to the Purser's Desk to be asked IF he wanted help and was told that if he said, "yes", would probably be charged. He was left on his own to decide whether he needed medical care and file a report.   Only after we got the Night Manager was anything done. First he took us to a separate room to ask the same question, "Do you want help?"  My partner should have been told to get help first and that the bill would be discussed later.   After going to the Infirmary, finally, a Security Officer appeared and took some information.  The whole incident  was poorly handled, except by the ship's doctor, who waived the charges and gave excellent treatment.

DISEMBARKATION was handled smoothly,as Princess usually does, though the lines were slow at immigration.

Repositioning

Cruise was to leave Brooklyn NY on Halloween however hurricane Sandy changed all that. Ship could not get into Brooklyn and was 2 days late and arrived in Manhattan instead. We thought Princess did the best they could considering the circumstances, however, we were slightly disappointed with the fact that we only visited Grand Turk and Aruba. Would have preferred to skip Grand Turk and go to any of the other ports originally listed such as St. Maarten, or San Juan.

Food on new menus we thought was okay. We are not fish eaters so we did visit the buffet for several dinners. Service in dining room was very good as always.

Thought the balcony space was quite small, our room size was adequate.

Entertainment was just okay. Many of the production shows have been the same for the last few years.

Thought cruise staff was very helpful and pleasant. 

We asked for early walk-off on day of disembarkation and received a time of 10:30 AM. We immediately changed that with the purser's desk as that time was totally unacceptable when our car was right there waiting for us.

Caribbean Princess repositioning cruise

Going to keep it short, we have seen enough about Hurricane Sandy to be way tired of it! Friends from Texas flew in early to beat Sandy and possible airline interruptions. We all wound up huddled at our house doing day by day wait to see if NY would open and let Princess back in. They did finally and off to Manhattan we went.

Despite no power at pier embarkation went pretty decent with two ships in. We sailed with changed itinerary and maybe a little lighter passenger wise but still plenty people boarded. Princess credited two days of our missed 10 day sailing per diem right onto our onboard accounts. Could spend or take in cash later in week your preference. Next they advised for those that made sailing we have a year to take credit of 50% of our PP price off as credit against next cruise good for 1 year. It already appears on my Princess account. Cannot ask for more than that. I thought Princess handled whole situation beyond their control wonderfully!

Cruise itself, we were are table 123 Palm dining traditional second seating, waitress and assistant EXCELLENT.

All staff all categories that we had contact with were smiling and excellent despite what I am sure were some trying days previous to our boarding.

Food was excellent and we had been concerned on if they had been able to properly restock with the storm and all, apparently they had.

Was great cruise look forward to sailing again soon. 

Disembark easy, we took EZluggage option they take bags off see them again at home airport. They also provide boarding passes. Our worked great with Jetblue, Friends with AA did not fair well had to get off and handle their bags due to some screwup. But also first start of port this was a reposition. This costs $20 pp but worth it plus easy to take cab.

Ship condition no complaints! Only wish they would reconsider and allow smoking on balconies. Enough is enough after all.

Caribbean Princess Sandy go away tour

So the cruise began a little odd when snow started to fall as we boarded the ship around noon on October 29th but that was the only odd thing about the entire cruise. The Captain wisely kept us in Port in Red Hook that night as there was a biiiig storm brewing and I, for one, was grateful since a remake of Titantic was not on my "things to do" list even though there was a seminar on the Titantic given by the author Bruce Caplan on one of the sea days. Anyway - it didnt matter that we stayed in port that night because if you didnt know it, you would swear you were sailing anyway. Luggage was delivered - wet but promptly. A very "wise" person told us to wrap a plastic garbage bag around our clothes and for some reason I listened, so my clothes were fine. There were lots of wet clothes on this ship that night believe me.
We travelled with two good friends but met up with so many new good friends from our CC Roll Call Boards. Having people you can hang out with and go places and eat with etc....was the perfect way to spend 10 days - 6 of which were sea days due to the fact that we missed San Juan. I was a little disappointed because we had dinner reservations at Barrachina's in OSJ and I was really looking forward to it. Guess we'll just have to book another cruise to PR in the future.
This was our 4th stay on the CB and we feel like we're home everytime we board this ship. Our favorite place was the Atrium/Piazza whatever you want to call it. It's a great people watching, coffee drinking, entertainment happening place, book reading, relaxing fun place and you just have to sit there any time of the day or night (since it's open 24/7 now (YAY) and you will see somebody you know or have seen somewhere around the ship.
ROOMS: We were on the Dolphin Deck D621 towards the back of the ship. We were in a mini-suite because we enjoy the bigger bathroom and the two tvs and couch. Our steward, JoVito was wonderful and we even recognized as having him on another cruise so it was really nice seeing him again. Any problem (plumbing) we had with the room was taken care of instantly. The bed was comfortable and the pillows were fine and the balcony was really great since we had no smokers (sorry smokers) on either side of us this cruise. Room service was fabulous - try the Turkey Club and the Flan - O M G!
EXCURSIONS: We missed PR as I said but we did go to Magens Bay again and the water was fabulous until it decided to rain like cats and dogs at noon. You have to make lemonade when handed lemons so I just stayed in the water and enjoyed every single minute of it - along with all the people we were with. Great beach - alot of walking (which I didnt do anyway) but a lot of walking for chairs etc..... St. Thomas - another fabulous beach - VALLEY CHURCH BEACH - the bus we arranged for drove us right up to the beach. A few steps and a couple of bucks and you had your own umbrella and beach chair and magnificent view. Loved it and will be one of my everlasting happy memories. ARUBA - didn't really get off the ship for personal reasons but next time I will be going to the Amsterdam Manor which got rave reviews from our roll call friends.
DINING: We had 6PM seating in the main dining room with a terrific waiter named ALLEN - The food was good - we aren't very picky and Princess does a great job in service and taste. We ate in the Crown Grill (Steakhouse) and Sabatini's for a special birthday dinner for one of our roll call members and I can't remember when we had a nicer time with new friends. We ate in the horizon court a couple of times and while we normally do not like the buffet, this trip was different. The choices were good and so was the food.
ENTERTAIMENT - eh, not so great as we've seen the shows before. Princess - can you change it up a little? I think everyone has seen Piano Man and Caribbean Caliente about 100 times now. No offense but I would just like to see some different shows. Trivia was always fun and the band ICON was great. The comedian Sarge was funny and sometimes not so funny. The team of Alfred and Seymour were hysterical and the Liars Club with CD, Dan Styne, Sarge, Alfred & Seymour was THE BEST!!!! They should improv on every cruise. The cruise staff was a bunch of great people including Armando and CJ and Fernando. They went above and beyond to provide a lot of laughs. CJ's trivia was hard but you always left learning something.
Once again - this was a 10 day cruise that I was sad to see end due in a large part to the people we met. Please join your ships roll call - it only enhances the experience. If I could cruise again with these same people I would sign up tomorrow.
 

LOVED THIS CRUISE!

First, kudos to the Cruise Critic folks for helping build the pre-cruise excitement through the Roll Call Message Boards.  Our sailing had over 100 people involved, many of us who became fast friends onboard and learned a lot about sailing even before the cruise. Hopefully those of you will be sailing soon will join your Cruise Critic Roll Call.

This was my partner and my 2nd cruise on the CB in 2 years.  The ship is still great shape, though there were some signs of wear and tear, such as carpet stains and table lamps which were a bit frayed. The public rooms still look great and the ship was very clean.  Most of the staff were professional, though a few  didn't seem particularly happy to interact with passengers, which goes against the standards of Princess. There was some problem with temperature settings in both the cabin and the public rooms. Some were too hot; some too cold. 

Our repositioning cruise departure was delayed overnight in Brooklyn due to the freak snowstorm that hit on October 29. Kudos to the captain for his decision not to send 3,000 passengers and the crew into 20 foot high waters!  Because of this, we missed our stop in San Juan. 

The Ship:
The CB is a beautiful ship, with attractive public rooms, particularly the Atrium area, the Wheelhouse Bar, and the layout of gift shops. There is ample space to sunbathe, either at one of the 2 large pools or above where (particularly way forward or aft) where you could find some quiet space. As always, the troops of chair hogs took over the pool area and the staff didn't seem to take action.  MUTS (Movies Under the Stars) featured concerts, full-length films and the NFL games.

The layout of the ship is confusing, since many of the public rooms are only on one side of the Promenade deck (a deck which goes around the ship, but forward has you climbing stairs). Some of the elevators are a bit awkward also, with separate controls for the panoramic and non-panoramic elevators, all located in the Atrium area and only certain aft elevators which go to Skywalkers.

Embarkation/Disembarkation:
Embarkation in Brooklyn was smooth, with no more than 10 minutes from door to ship. Luggage was delivered promptly (within a few hours), but many passengers had their luggage or clothing ruined due them being left out in the weather
Disembarkation was also smooth, but a bit confusing to find the gangway due to poor signage.

Dining:
We tended to eat breakfast in the dining room, which had nearly everything as on the buffets (Horizon Court and Cafe Caribe). Breakfast was tasty and had varied touches from papaya to smoked fish. We tried the buffet, but found the layout to be very tight. This is probably the worst structural thing on the ships. They were also crowded, since the food stations are too close to each other for ease of walking.  Also, the system for getting omelets is a bit confusing. The ship should have kept the dining room open for breakfast service past 9am on sea days. 

Lunch on the buffets offered a nice assortment of hot and cold items; though there was more meat than fish (I don't eat meat).  Unless you looked, you wouldn't have noticed that Horizon Court always had different food than the Cafe Caribe. For example, sushi was available several days, but only in Caribe.

Dining Room dinner was usually good, but not wonderful, particularly with fish. They offered barramundi (which they described as perch) and roughy, but no sea bass, trout, or Dover Sole.  The head waiter was helpful, but didn't offer much outside of what was on the menu. My partner found the beef offerings of high quality, though he did have some overcooked meat.  Desserts were excellent, with the Love Boat Dream (a chocolate covered mousse offered each night) especially great.  Fruit sorbets were always good.

We ate at Sabatini's one night While the food is still excellent, the new policy of not bringing a tasting of all items of all appetizers to the table was disappointing. There were a number of things I would have liked to have tried, but didn't since I would have had to order a full-sized portion.

A pleasant surprise was the rolling  high tea cart on the Promenade Deck for those who chose not to go to the dining room for this service.

Cabins
Our cabin was exactly mid-ship, right next to the center elevators, which we never heard.  We took a balcony guarantee and got upgraded to a BD. The cabins are efficiently planned, but could use a bit more storage space, particularly above the beds. Beds were comfortable, but pillows were uneven in quality. They could replace the shower curtains with doors. Amenities were nice, with extra touches for elite passengers. Cabin steward (David) was very attentive. 

Entertainment
As we really didn't do the shows, I will say, however, that shows filled up and when we popped in for a minute, we usually had to stand. The offerings were routine (song and dance, comedians, hypnotists). 

Ports of Call--All done on our own----we didn't take ship shore excursions

St Thomas:  We took a sailboat ride with Fury Charters, which we found on Trip Advisor. Lots of fun, but he anchored in the same place as 4 other boats.  We enjoyed the seeing the sea turtles and snorkeling and the crew was great. The rest of the day we spent shopping for cheap booze. (We've been to STT lots of times.)

Antigua: We got day passes for Sandals, which is a beautiful property. The food was great and unlimited booze made the day go by smoothly. I took their boat to a reef out for an hour snorkeling trip. Day passes, however, are expensive ($110 per person). 

Aruba:  We love Aruba, having been there last year on the CB.  We found the same beach (Malmok) we visited last year for snorkeling. While, there were no facilities, it only cost us only $2.60 US for a round trip local bus ticket there. The afternoon was spent shopping. 

Sea Days: The best! We played trivia, walked or jogged the decks, found quiet areas to sunbathe,   worked out (the gym could use some updated equipment, but never packed), used the sauna and steam, or sat on Promenade deck reading.

Conclusions:
The fares on the sailing were very affordable and for your money, the CB delivered a great cruise. Princess consistently offers a quality experience for first time or repeat passengers. We plan on continuing to sail them.

Repositioning Cruise from Brooklyn to Lauderdale

We started the cruise in NYC; actually we stayed in Newark at the Hilton Penn Station hotel and found this to be very easy to get into and out of NYC at a fraction of the price of a NYC hotel. I think we paid about $120 per night and thought it was a great deal plus we could leave our hotel room, walk across the covered ramp to Penn Station, catch the train and are at World Trade area in 15 mins. 

Spent the day in NYV city walking around, doing a little shopping (who can resist?), riding the subways and eating from the street vendors.  I had two hot dogs (yum) and Mr. QT ordered a hot dog and a hamburger...more on that later. Great day had, love NYC the people are so friendly.
We took advantage of the Princess transfers and caught the Hiltons free shuttle back to the Newark airport and got the Princess bus to the cruise area. The day we left a big snow storm was slated, the day before the weather was so warm, and we thought, "No way". The day of the cruise leaving, we awoke to clouds and rain, while at the airport the temp dropped a lot and, yes way, it was snowing and hard. Wind too...oh joy.

We had 3 bottles of wine and a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin along with two 1 litre bottles of Tonic Water and these all make it to our cabin in our checked luggage.  3 bottles were in our carry on luggage.
Luggage made it to our cabin about 5 mins after we did and was soaking wet, my clothes were nice and dry thanks to a tip I received here on Cruise Critic. Pack your clothes then put them into a kitchen garbage bag. Voila nice tidy dry clothes reach your state room. Mr.QT scoffed at this and did not do this...guess whose  clothes were damp? HA!
Embarkment was so easy, we arrived about noonish and were on the ship in about 15 mins. It was one of the easiest embarkments ever. We had been upgraded from a BF to a BB, C222 and we LOVED this room.  It is the normal sized Princess stateroom with an extra large balcony. Loved it and loved Jaynel (Jay) our room steward. He was the best steward we have ever had. Our two requests, wine glasses and a filled ice container were there each and everyday. He kept the room spotless (I made sure to keep the room as clean as I could so it would be easy for him to get in and out fast) and was a pleasure to deal with. We tipped him $20 over and beyond the auto tips and filled out a "You made a difference" card. Stellar service.
Next time Mr.QT books a insider or a reg balcony I am going to be screaming," I wants the Caribe balcony" It is worth pouting to get one.

So we are on the ship (she did look a little worse for wear then last time we saw her but nothing over the top). Snow was on the pool deck and chairs and it was so surreal. Sometime in the afternoon the captain came on to say that because of a large storm with 20 foot waves we would not be leaving till Sunday morning. There was a little complaining but not much. Since we have cruised in 20 foot waves we were very happy to hear the Captain's wise decision and told him so when we met at the Chef's table. The captain was a very friendly approachable man and we were thrilled to be sailing with him.

Supper time comes and we are enjoying a glass of wine and tapas at Vines.....this is a new feature since our last CB cruise and must say I did like it a lot as well as International Cafe where I got our coffees and  Capps each morning. IC also had the best doughnuts, yoghurt parfaits, chicken salad (OMG good and made for a great snack when coming back famished from the ports). We fell into the habit of bringing those wonderful grilled breakfast sandwiches into our room and eating them on the balcony on port days. Those tasty grilled sandwiches coupled with real brewed coffee (me) and a triple shot Capp (Mr.QT) and a Jam doughnut (sadly me) made for a great port breakfast.  Egg Mcmuffins are never going to come close to be alright again HA.

So far all is good, then half way through dinner, I had the Prime Rib rare as usual and as usual it was great. M.QT was suddenly not feeling well and decided to have the chilli.....

Good but not up to usual Princess standards but still good :

We booked this trip, after a bad experience we had on the CB in July of 2010, after some luring by Princess to try the ship off peak time. The trip started off really rough with a freak October snow storm that dumped up to 18" of snow in the immediate NY Metro area. Even coming from North Jersey we had no problems getting to the dock and as usual checking in at the Brooklyn location was very easy. We probably arrived a bit early (11:15) and has to wait a bit before boarding but were on by 12:00 noon.

This is the last cruise prior to a dry dock and while the ship is a bit tired she is still in great shape. The crew works hard to keep it that way and the only problem we experienced were some out of service public rest rooms and also some AC issues which were corrected with a phone call. 

About an hour prior to departure the Captain came on and announced that due to the weather conditions at sea we would be staying overnight in Brooklyn and leaving at 6:00 AM the next morning. The consensus of most on board was that this was more about the liability the Princess would incur, to get many of the late passengers to San Juan, as there were many delays at the airports. Reports were anywhere from 200 to 1,000 late arriving passengers. We do know two things. First a Carnival ship sailed right down the Hudson past us on time and a Royal Caribbean ship left Boston on schedule and sailed through the storm on schedule. This made us miss San Juan and made for a lengthy sea travel to St. Thomas the first port of call.

Our cabin was an interior cabin on Aloha deck mid ship. Our steward did an OK job but she did miss our empty tissue and shampoo bottles for two days until we said something. We had anytime dining party of four and never had an issue with a table any night between the hours of 7:00 and 8:30 PM. The food was still good but definitely a bit of a step down from previous years. The dining staff in the Island room we found a bit impersonal while the Coral room for the most part was very good. We did have a problem in both with unexplained delays between courses, especially waiting for the dessert course. Another thing we noticed was little things like failing to refill soda glasses unless we asked. We found the Horizon Court and Caribe Cafe OK. Although some of the lunch selections we down right horrible thank god for the burger and pizza bars. They were also confusing as on different days and times they reversed the entrances and exits and I really don't understand why. 

The entertainment was OK. We have seen the production shows before and they are nothing special. We were fortunate for the CD Dan Styne (who is very good) to book Sarge who was picked up in Aruba as a concession for leaving late. We have had the pleasure of seeing him in the past and he is tremendous. His popularity exacerbated one of the CB's big problems in that the ship is too big for their public areas. People arrived 45 minutes ahead of showtime for his shows and the second one was simulcasted to the Explorers lounge due to over flow. It was next to impossible to get near a machine or table most nights in the casino.St. Thomas: Due to the number of ships in port (5) we just took a cab for the first time to Magens Bay. We were not overly impressed, although the weather did not help, as it was raining by noon. We usually go to Trunk Bay but the schedule was going to make that tight. We ended the day in Senor Frogs dock side. 

Antigua: First time to this island and what a pleasure. Took a cab to Valley Church Beach and spent a beautiful day. Came back and did a bit of shopping. Typical poverty stricken island once you get out of th cruise area.

Aruba: Have been here before on land and by sea. Rented a car and drove the "wild side" to the collapsed Natural Bridge. Then spent the remainder of the day on Eagle Beach though the water was a bit churned up.

All in all our party of 10 enjoyed this trip which was a great value for what we spent. We were though extremely disappointed in missing the San Juan stop as we feel it was uncalled for. One last annoyance that I hope they address during the dry dock. The Internet access or better yet lack of it. You get tired of hearing their excuses especially when we were there at midnight with clear skies and only three people in the cafe and you could still not log on. My wife and I each get 250 free minutes and we used almost all of them just checking email 1 or 2 times per day. Many were unhappy as there were times you would waste 10 minutes and could still not even log on. When this is one of the few remaining reasonable ways to communicate home this is unacceptable and when we sailed Royal Caribbean in April we did not have these issues.

Repo 10/29/2011

We arrived in NY a week early and stayed at the Holiday Inn Midtown which turned out to my surprise to be a great area. We had a great time in NY, took in 3 shows, Promises Promises, Rock of Ages and Fela. Fela wasn't what I would call my cup of tea, the other two plays were fantastic and I would highly recommend. We had a great time in NY and it was hard to leave even though we were going on a cruise. 



Embarkation was very quick. Getting there was an experience considering our driver through Carmel didn't know where he was going or how to get there. We had used Carmel earlier in the week from Newark and that driver was excellent, all depends who you get. 



We got to our cabin quickly and Wilfred was our cabin steward who was great. Our room had a horrible cigar smell to it which Wilfred took care of right away, changed the drapes, deodorized the room and changed all bed linens. He did an outstanding job the entire cruise. Our cabin was nice although we did have some young 20 year olds two floors up and two cabins over who loved to blow air horns and make a whole lot of noise. We did find the occasional cigarette butt on our deck but it was nice being able to see the Pilot get off the ship as those above couldn't see a thing, they always asked what we were looking at. 



We didn't see much of the entertainment on board, although we did see the comedian a couple of times, Phil Tag, who was really funny. The cruise director Dan Styne has to be the worst CD we have ever come in contact with on any cruise. One morning we were all standing in line for coffee at the International Cafe when Dan came along and joined the line up, one would think he might say Good Morning everyone, how is everyone doing...........NO he just pretended we didn't all exist and never said a word. I think he should remember that it is all of us that pays his wages and part of his job is to acknowledge people. 



We had anytime dining and I definitely wouldn't do that again, because I felt we never got to know our waiters. We did both Sabitini's and the Crown Grill which were both good. Food overall was OK, but I have to say the food on Royal Caribbean and Carnival are by far better. We mainly had breakfast from the International Cafe, which we had a breakfast egg muffin which was just enough and good.



Luckily our cabin was nice and cool, although parts of the ship were quite warm in certain areas. 



Out of all the ports we visited, by far Bermuda was the nicest. St Lucia and Antigua were your typical Caribbean islands. We went with our own private tours on St Lucia and Antigua. St Lucia we went with Herod's tours which was good and with Antigua we went with Lawrence of Antigua where our driver was Joyce and she was amazing, made us feel like family ending the day with a warm hug. She would stop where ever we wanted and took her time we never felt rushed, tour lasted longer than it was suppose to by over an hour. 



Overall the cruise was good, although I would say I prefer Royal Caribbean or Carnival. We did this repositioning cruise 4 years ago on the Crown Princess and I would say I preferred that ship. The Caribbean Princess really needs to deal with the air conditioning problem on the ship. 



If you are a wine lover go to Vines and see Alain, he was by far the nicest crew member we had met on the ship. 



We did have a good time and would sail with Princess again. 

Repositioning Cruise NY - SJ

We took the 8 day repositioning cruise on the Caribbean Princess from New York to San Juan. This will be a little lengthy review because I want to cover everything and address frequent issues brought up by other reviewers. First off let me put this all in prospective. This was a vacation so you should relax and enjoy. And for what my partner and I paid, it boiled down to $218 a day for both of us. Where else can you get an 8 day vacation with lodging, great sights and endless food for $218 a day? 



New York: We left Thurs prior to the cruise taking Amtrak from DC to NY for 2 days in NY before getting on our cruise. I must say Amtrak is the only way to go to NY from DC. It was so easy and stress free. We stayed at the new Fashion 26 on 26th and 7th Ave. Over all a nice hotel and would probably stay there again. Thur night we saw La Cage Aux Folles with Kelsey Grammer. Great show and gave us our catch phrase to use on the cruise, "Be Nice". Friday we spent sightseeing and enjoying New York. Sat morning we got up and got ready to head to the port. We had a limo coming at noon to pick us up but arrived 30 mins early. The limo ride and driver was great and I would recommend to others Manhattan VIP Limo. 



Embarkation: We arrived at the port early at a little after 12. We checked our bags easily at the curb, remembering to tip, and was off to check in. Check in line was short and at check in noticed Princess changed our cabins. My partner and I and another couple had AD mini-suites next to each other on deck 8, but Princess had upgraded us to AA mini-suites not next to each other on deck 9. We specifically wanted AD cabins because of the covered balconies and next to each other. So instead we had to deal with the constant direct sun, no privacy (everybody above you can see you on your balcony), and all the cigarette butts, bottle caps, and trash that people threw down. 



Because of the confusion with our cabins we boarded right after they started boarding so we could head to passenger services to make sure everything was straightened out since our luggage and pre-purchased cabin items would now be going to the wrong cabin. They made notes and assured us all would be fixed. We did get our pre-purchased cabin items but found our luggage at the original cabins and had to drag them to our new ones.



Cabin: Like mentioned previously my partner and I had an AA mini-suite on deck 9. They have a good layout which gives us plenty of space without becoming too pricey. Nice size balcony that we hardly used because of being uncovered. Cabin was really clean and well maintained despite showing her age. The bathroom tile, tub area and some carpet areas were in need of an upgrade. Our room steward, Willfred, did an outstanding job the entire week. He even took care of having a light bulb in the bathroom, which was going out, replaced before we had the chance to tell him. 



Ultimate Ships Tour: We signed up for the Ultimate Ships Tour as soon as we got on board and was part of the selected 12 to go. This was well worth the $150 dollars for both experience and gifts you receive. We started by seeing behind the scene at the theater. Then went to the kitchen where we met not only the Caribbean's head chef but also Princess' master chef that was on board for this cruise. I was very impressed with the fact that everything on board is made from scratch. That includes things like the bread and ice creams. Next we went to the engine control room, photo shop, print shop, and laundry. We had to miss the medical facility because of ongoing medical cases so we headed to the funnels (highest part of the ship) for our next stop. Our final stop was the bridge where we met the captain and saw how the bridge works. We ended with Champaign and snacks in the chapel. Later that day we received a terry cloth Princess robe, chef's jacket, personalized note pads, and photos from the tour. Was a highlight of the cruise and definitely recommended. 



Food: Over all the food was really great. For breakfast we normally ate in the buffet except for the 2 mornings we had a Champaign breakfast in our cabin. Despite dealing with aggressive passengers who feared someone would take the last piece of bacon and leaving them without, the buffet was good and offered a lot of selections. The ship was still in react mode and not allowing us to serve ourselves for the first few days because of the Norovirus breakout on the previous cruise.

We had traditional early seating in the Palm dining room for dinner and enjoyed it every evening. Both our lead and back waiter were quite attentive and a lot of fun despite taking a couple days for the lead waiter to warm up to our nutty bunch. The sommelier visited us daily and was very personable and offered great wine selection advice. 

We ate at the Crown Grill on the second formal night and that was outstanding. The dining room had really good food but Crown Grill was even a level higher and well worth the $25 surcharge. Tried the pub lunch twice and found it good. Had the pizza, burgers/hotdogs, and Ice Cream from on deck and all rated thumbs up. The pasties and coffee from the International Cafe were over the top and the service by our favorite barista, Samuelle, with his big smile and friendly words made our day. 

We ate about everything on this cruise which is why our pants are tight now. There is just too much to choose from to eat and if you don't find something you want on the menu, ask they will no doubt make it for you for the following evening. 



Entertainment: Over all we found the entertainment good. There's a wide variety of stuff to do in order to please a wide range of people. The first evening we tried to see a show in the theater but arrived after it started and there were no seats. So arrive early if you want to see something. We saw the martini demonstration which was fun and the guys doing it looked as if they were really enjoying themselves. We did the wine tasting with food pairing. That was a lot of fun and quite informative. Sadly though there was a table of quite rude passengers that would not quiet down, even when one of our group went over and asked, so it was a little hard to hear. The piano player at Crooners was really good and it was fun to watch his antics and how he got the crowd involved. Probably the most disappointing fact was how the DJ in Skywalkers just ignored what was requested and played what he wanted. Princess can't sell drinks if the DJ doesn't play music people want to hear which is what brought them into the club. 



Ports: We stopped at 4 ports before finishing the cruise in San Juan. First stop was Bermuda. Our beach resort shore excursion got cancelled so we just went into Hamilton and walked around. For $12 per person we got an all day water taxi/bus ticket. With 2 ships in port the line to get both the ticket and water taxi was crazy. We seemed to spend more time waiting on transportation to get around than we did enjoying Hamilton. Second stop was St Lucia. There we took a Tram/Zip line tour in the rain forest. That was a lot of fun and highly recommended. Third stop was Antigua. We chose to just walk around again but regretted it afterwards. Not much to see around the port. We should have scheduled some sort of excursion. Forth stop was St Thomas. We've all been here before so we knew what we were doing. We took a taxi downtown and did a little shopping then went over to the yacht basin for more shopping and a snack. We planned to stop at the Hooters for lunch but it was just so hot that we were drained by then.



Disembarkation: We normally opt to pay the fee and check our bags through to the airport directly from the ship. However because of regulations in San Juan, we could not do this. It's a great service when available. Walking off with our bags didn't make sense on this cruise so we put our bags out the night before to have them removed from the ship for us. The morning of disembarkation we had to be out of our cabins by 8 o'clock. So after breakfast we gathered our carryon bags and went to the International cafe to wait until our 10 o'clock time slot to get off. However, due to customs issues they were running about an hour and a half behind schedule. So we waited and waited but since we had an afternoon flight there was no worry. Princess had no control over this so there was no need complaining to them like we saw many people doing. There were two people that really made me feel like I needed to apologize on behalf of the normal sane Americans. First was the husband of a family who was yelling at the lady calling the group numbers to disembark. He actually told this lady that since he's getting off the ship a little late his vacation was totally ruined. Really? Now the grand prize winner was this rude lady that sat at the bar next to the International Cafe. After she returned to her seat from getting a plate full of pasties from the Cafe, my friend commented to her, "you were just served by the Master Chef of Princess". The corporate master chef was helping out serving pasties during our delay. And her response was, "Well he better be doing something because this delay is his fault after all". Not sure how a customs delay is the fault of a Master Chef but maybe she had some inside information no one else had. And what I found funny, 15 mins later when they announced everyone else could disembark, even though she had been complaining about having to get off, she just sat there and ate. So I apologize on behalf of these people and remind you that not all Americans are that way. 



Last thoughts: I know I've run on long enough but just a few last thoughts. Even though all cabin were occupied the ship never felt crowded as some had mentioned. Only during disembarkation did you fell crowded. We never had any issues finding a deck chair. Might not have been in the first row by the pool but chairs were available. There seemed to be a lot more scooters on this cruise than last. Watch your toes from the crazy drivers. One got mine in the casino. We never had an issue with room temp. You needed to close your drapes during the day to help because of the fierce sun. The last night there seemed to be a lot more people out at the bars and club. And in closing, remember, $218 a day and "be nice". 

8 Day Caribbean Princess Oct 23rd

We used the transfer from LaGuardia airport to the Brooklyn Pier. Very fast, friendly and efficient. The Princess rep was waiting for us at baggage claim. It took a little longer than expected to board, as the cruise before had an outbreak of NoroVirus, and had to be disinfected. Once we were on the ship, we immediately felt relaxed!



Our Mini-Suite was wonderful and our room steward, Benjamin, did a great job. Going above and beyond by getting us an egg-create (recommended) for the bed and also getting me an oscillating fan (need the noise). I loved our veranda, the only small issue was the fact that everyone above the 9th floor can look down on you. A must, that we enjoyed so much with the balcony, was viewing the millions of stars at night! Simply gorgeous!



Formal night was very hot and hectic. It's fun getting dressed up, but not when all other 3098 fellow passengers are doing the same. This was our first cruise, so we wanted the experience, but next time (and we are definitely going again!) I think we are going to skip all of the hoopla and have a hot dog by the pool (Best hot dog EVER, by the way). If you want a table for two when dining, and have anytime dining, call VERY early in the morning to get reservations. They go fast. But don't be afraid of sitting with new people. We ate in the dining room five or six times, and always had great conversation. Also, don't be afraid to try something new. I LOVED the watermelon and feta cheese appetizer I tried. Who would have thought?



Bermuda had the clearest waters. We did the shore excursion to Horseshoe Bay and loved every minute of it. Our driver also acted as a tour guide, so it was almost like getting a two for one!



The two days at sea were a little rough, sunny weather the whole time, but a lot of motion, especially in the dining areas and in the fitness center. Many people had the motion sickness patches behind their ears, but luckily we did not need them. 



St. Lucia was Heaven. We did the shore excursion to the plantation, drive thru volcano (very high sulfur smell), and then a catamaran ride with swimming from soufriere. This was an amazing full day journey and we highly recommend it. There was not a lot of vigorous walking, so I believe most should be able to enjoy. When we swam (jumping from the catamaran, if desired) we paid a local $5 to snorkel, and saw so many neat sights! From swimming, we sailed to Marigot Bay - Breath Taking! When you go to St. Lucia, try all that is offered to you. We had fresh coconut water and meat, cocoa seeds (DON"T SWALLOW!) tried all natural coco butter, smelled amazing coco powder, even chewed on sugar cane! Hint: There is a Coca Cola plant on the island, so if you want a REAL Coke, with sugar and not corn syrup, St. Lucia is the place to get it! The Piton beer was also a hit with my husband!



Antigua was nice. We had a beach day excursion. VERY HOT!!! and we loved it! We bought a rum punch from a local and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD! If you find him, he will say "Let me take you to Disneyland!"



I wasn't looking forward to St. Thomas, as all I had heard about the island was SHOPPING, SHOPPING, SHOPPING. SO not true! We went on the Bones Pirate Schooner. SO MUCH FUN!!!! Jason was extremely knowledgeable on underwater sea life and Mango was such a great host! The rum punch was fantastic, and our cups never went empty. We went to Turtle Cove, and just as the name suggests, we saw TURTLES!!! in their natural habitat! After our great time on the pirate ship (we all got temporarily-tattooed) we took a taxi/truck to the shopping district and had a scrumptious cheeseburger at the Big Kahuna (where we also got BOGO drinks from the woman in the information booth just outside of the restaurant). 



Our last port was San Juan, which was also our disembarkation day. One way Princess could improve, is how they get the passengers off the ship when disembarking. We literally were on the FLOOR, waiting on our number and color to be called. Once we were off of the ship, we had to wait in the customs line for over an hour, and then once we loaded the bus (transfer from ship to airport-excursion) we were off to the airport. 1/4 mile from the airport (airport in sight), the bus breaks down!!!! We had to unload the luggage, and walk to the terminal! Not so bad, though it was 90 degrees! Once in the airport, a very helpful, fellow passenger, noticed we did not have the USDA approval stamp on our luggage. There are no signs for this inspection (that we saw) and this inspection must be done BEFORE checking your bags. ALL bags are checked, and stickered. 



All in all, we had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect and the crew tried very hard to get everyone involved with the ships activities. I competed in the Princess PopStar Karaoke contest, and my husband tried out for the Sexiest Legs contest, both being beat out by "older" men! But it was all in fun! The Food was nice, sometimes a little TOO fancy, sometimes lacking. Again, the hot dogs on deck 15 were awesome! We purchased the unlimited soda cup on the first night, and with it, got a sticker for our card. Towards the end of our cruise, we realized we could use the cup AND the card, separately, and both get soda, with no one ever asking twice. Room service was OK. Some nights we would be on hold for 20+ minutes, other nights, they answered right away. One morning room service failed to be delivered (every night you can fill out a card and place it on your door, ordering breakfast for the next day). The Movies Under The Stars was fun, but if it was a good sporting event or movie, get there early, 'cause seats are hard to come by. The movies that ran, typically, are to be released onto DVD within the coming weeks. We watched Grown-Ups, A Team, Toy Story 3, Karate Kid, and SEX and The CITY 2 (played in the Princess Theater) Also, I enjoyed a lecture in the theater on how the ship functions and how the bridge navigates. Very informative on a slow day at sea.



We are so excited to plan our next cruise, and there are no reasons why it shouldn't be with Princess again! 

Amazing First Cruise!!!!!

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