CARIBBEAN PRINCESS
 – cruising the Eastern and Southern Caribbean
by Tim Anderson

Caribbean Princess, Roseau, Dominica
High Season: Late June - August; Christmas and New Year's weeks; February through mid-April
Low Season: Late April - May; September - early January (excluding holiday weeks)
Hurricane Season: June - November but less likely to impact the Southern Caribbean

We cruised two weeks on the Caribbean Princess in November in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean.  I enjoyed the itinerary and highly recommend Princess.  The best points were the numerous stops along the way and the fine cuisine.  I also found the staff extremely friendly and helpful, which enhances the experience.  The downside was the number of guests at 3,080  is a bit overwhelming.  Many of the passengers were from Puerto Rico.  Staff at one of the shops in Roadtown complained that the Puerto Ricans don’t buy anything on the trips.  It made me wonder if that is one of the reasons the Caribbean Princess won’t sail out of Puerto Rico next year.  It’s repositioning to Fort Lauderdale instead as a home port next winter. Read more below.

Itinerary:

Puerto Rico, St Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, Dominica, Barbados, Aruba, Bonaire, Grenada, St Lucia, St Maarten

Castries, St Lucia, with Martinque visible on the horizon

Having Elite status with Princess made for an amazingly pampered experience including: Priority boarding Set times before dinner where you can enjoy free hors d’ouvres Free canapé selection before dinner on formal nights Free laundry 150 minutes of free internet Free initial mini bar contents Free shoe shine Priority on tenders Free afternoon tea on request Priority line up at the purser’s desk, and  Priority disembarkation These services increase allegiance to Princess immensely.

View Caribbean Princess Route - Nov 2011 in a larger map

Watch the Princess Video of the Ship        Caribbean Princess Bridge Cam

On the first of our two weeks, we had a balcony unit in stateroom R504 below the Lido deck.  This turned out to be a problem for me due to the foot traffic that resounded through our stateroom from the deck above.  I’d recommend that you never take a stateroom just below the pool deck and common areas on any cruise line.  There is constant foot traffic as people walk about above you through the pools and buffets.  You can also get noise from rolling carts and moving deck chairs.  The stateroom was lovely though and the balcony was great.  I especially appreciated the sliding glass door to the balcony.  Although it was heavy to move, it closed quietly, which means that other balcony doors did not disturb you.  Self closing single doors on balconies often close with a thud that reverberates along the entire deck, causing an erratic pattern of thuds to be endured by those relaxing on their decks and it was nice that this wasn’t an issue on the Caribbean Princess.

For our second week, moving to a mini suite on deck 9, suite D321, was exquisite!  The best part is that the suite was pure silence and relaxation.  On our first morning, it took us until after 10 to leave the suite and we were back before an hour had passed.  It was great.  The mini suite had larger space with a sofa, two TVs and a tub.  The deck was larger too, with 4 chairs.  The balconies are open above.  People in balconies above can see you when you are in the two chairs closest to the rail, but not in the two interior chairs.  Having the open air and greater light was wonderful in the morning shade of the ship for our day at sea as we headed south to Aruba.

Our steward on the first 7 days of the voyage, Runiel, was one of the friendliest we’ve ever had.  Service on the Caribbean Princess was superior.  Everyone smiles, makes eye contact and greets you.  During our first week, my complaint about noise above our stateroom at night resulted in a call from management, a follow up call, an offer to rope off the area above our stateroom at night, an offer to switch staterooms if a balcony became available, an offer to reduce the room price and an offer of an inside stateroom, which they didn’t recommend.  One mildly disappointing point, and somewhat surprising, is that Princess doesn’t have an automated TV billing system.  You can’t check the status of your bill or book shore excursions online.  

Mini Suite D321

The meals were fabulous throughout the voyage.  The selection at the buffets was superior and paralleled the experience in the dining rooms.  The selection and quality were exquisite.  I was very impressed.  I enjoyed excellent roasted tomatoes, sautéed spinach, roast potatoes, stroganoff and roasts.  There was a large selection of seafood too.  It wasn’t so much the variety of selection, but rather the taste that made for a superior experience.  We also thoroughly enjoyed the Anytime dining experience offered only in the Island Dining Room.  We arrived before 6 for dinner and never waited for a table.  We opted for shared dining and always quickly filled a table.  It was a pleasure to meet others and share experiences as well as plans for future shore excursions.

The buffets were open until midnight, which is better availability than many cruise lines.  It’s a bit confusing that the Horizon Court buffet sometimes closed early, yet the access to the Café Caribbe buffet was through the closed Horizon Court.  The two buffets are side by side on floor 15 and have the same décor.  The Café Caribbe is at the stern and has more seating for couples.  I preferred it, but the distinctions are almost unnoticeable.  Coffee, decaf and hot water are readily available in the buffets, but juices and not available without requesting them.  The coffee was very good, with 2% and cream both available.  Princess allows you to fill your own plates in the buffet, doesn’t monitor guests for use of the sanitizer and crew will shake hands even on the first day of the cruise, which some cruise lines prohibit. 

Horizon Court Buffet

There were also several other dining options:

• The Piazza is a nice focal point on this ship.  There are many pastries and specialty sandwiches to enjoy for free at its International Café where you can also purchase specialty coffees at minimal charge.  The fresh baked chocolate croissants were amazing in the morning and adding a latte made for a pleasant reminder of a trip to Europe.  The offering changes throughout the day and is free.
• The soft ice cream is free and available from 11am to 11pm, but it isn’t self serve. An attendant runs the machine for you. 
• Pop corn is free by the pool side when the evening Movie Under the Stars begins. It is unbuttered, but salt is available. They could use some butter flavor to make it a little more palatable.
• The pool side Trident Grill is open from 11am to midnight and provides hamburgers, bratwurst and chicken burgers with fries.  There is no charge for meals.
• The pool side pizza oven is open from 11am to midnight as well.  There is no charge for pizza.

The Piazza

There are also lots of bars on the ship, including:

• Skywalkers bar is high up in the “handle bar: at the back of the ship and every evening before dinner it’s reserved for Elite Members. During the day it was a quiet location and a great place to read a book.
• The Outrigger bar at the stern was a pleasant place to sit at the back of the ship.  It has views out over the adult only pool and the wake of the boat.  Skywalkers is directly above and provides substantial shade to the area during the day, as well as some cover from any rain.  Unfortunately the Outrigger pool area allows smoking, but this will change when Princess institutes its new smoking policy in January 2012.
• Churchills is a bar that is a left over from a bygone era. You can smoke cigars and cigarettes here. It’s not too hard to find it – just follow the increasingly bad smells in the hallway until you arrive.

Outriggers Bar at the stern

The ship layout is a bit confusing.  There are the same facility types as on other ships, but I find it much more difficult to find these on the Caribbean Princess, as compared to, for example, the Island Princess.  There is a large gym facility.  You need to pass through the spa to find it though.  The Lotus spa has some interesting options.  The cabana massage is 50 minutes for $269.  The private Rasul is 50 minutes for $95 and provides you and a partner with all the pampering products to treat each other”.  A private room allows the oils to be “applied to the body to bring specific results”.  I said “Really?” to the female attendant who was promoting the Rasul.  She smiled sweetly and said “yes”.  The spa seemed to be very popular. 

Princess has a station on the gangway to monitor guests to prevent bringing alcohol other than wine on board at ports of call, but this wasn’t closely monitored and in fact the station was vacant at times.

One thing I noticed was the extensive advertising that Digicel does throught all the Caribbean islands to promote cell phone coverage. Consider bringing a cell phone and taking out a roaming package with them.

I highly recommend Princess for cruising.  I like the ships under 2,000 guests, such as the Coral Princess or the Island Princess.  The Pacific Princess and the Ocean Princess, with 680 guests, are the perfect size.  You will still get great quality on the larger ships like the Caribbean Princess though.