Caribbean Princess Cruise

April 3-12, 2009

Embarkation Day: Sunday, April 5th

Embarkation day was smooth as silk. Check out at the Sheraton is 10:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday (make a note folks). We navigated the insanely busy elevators and lobby. Checked out, had the bellman store our luggage, and grabbed the free trolley for a tour around the city. By the time the trolley ride was over, it was time to head to the ship.

Left the Sheraton at 12:15. Arrived at the pier at 12:30. Was onboard and in the room by 1:15. Found our aft balcony cabin (B754) and soon after unpacking the carry ons luggage arrived (around 2:00). Couldn’t ask for much more.

Lunch and dinner were both fine. Wait, I take that back, they were actually quite good: Very Good. The seafood buffet is no longer on sail away, but they did serve prime rib on the buffet this evening and a few seafood choices.

Sail away party was surprisingly fun with great bands and lots of dancing fun. All in all, an excellent embarkation day!!

First thought pros:

1) Wickedly smart closet arrangement in the regular balcony rooms. The lack of a closet door really makes the room much more functional. Bathroom shower is small, but everything else in the room is extremely functional. Nevermind the mess, we’re two gals so we have lots of stuff :).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) Very easy embarkation. They didn’t blink an eye at water, pop, or alcohol brought onboard. Organized and efficient from start to finish.

3)          Food. So far I give the food excellent for cruise ship standards.  

4)          Painless Muster Drill, although I’m absolutely convinced that Princess              does not monitor attendance, as our next door cabin mates were on their              balcony drinking Champaign as we left for the drill, and were still sitting I             n the same spot as we returned.

5)          Excellent Sail Away Party. Great tunes, dancing, and a lovely view sailing              out of  San Juan at night.

Initial Thought Room for Improvement:

1) Despite reading on numerous threads that the aft balconies are slightly larger than the 9 x 9 Caribe deck balconies, I’m sad to report that this aft balcony is smaller. If I can buy a tape measure in port, I’m doing it LOL……...but I can walk off a mean 3 foot step and this balcony is no more than 9 x 7.

2) Why didn’t someone warn me about the size of the safe? I can fit like a box of matches and a camera. Not a chance in hell of a laptop :).

3)         Drinks are positively watered down. I don’t drink much and had 2 of the              bartenders specials at the aft pool and had zero buzz. I should have been              toasty, or at least stumbling numb. I switched to wine in the evening              where I know the alcohol level is measured in tenths as opposed to              thousands. One glass of wine and I could feel alcohol effects.

Text Box: We had an unofficial meet-n-greet set up for embarkation day at 5:00 at outriggers with a nice showing: Kastaway Ken, LoraJ, Clea, Hadriana, and NCcruiser. Official meet-n-greet will be held tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. at Outriggers.

Cheryl’s Travel Forum

Photo from the top of the Sheraton. Carnival Liberty (forefront). RCL Adventure of the Seas and then the Caribbean Princess. I’m not sure what time they arrived in port, but all ships were securely docked by 5:00 a.m. when I went to capture them sailing in.

Inside of the safe is extremely small. Cell phone and passport provided for scale reference.

Cabin B754 Photos

Vines

Wine Bar on the bottom level of the Piazza.

New Piazza

Glass birds in one of many onboard shops.

International Café in the Evening. Tapas 3 for $1.00. The cost items were NOT WELL MARKED on the Caribbean Princess. In fact, unless they are giving away the chocolate fondue, I can’t find a price for that anywhere.  I can certainly see how some people may be confused.

Evening shots before sail away. Left is the Sanctuary and Lotus pool. Above is the Neptune pool in the foreground and MUTS in the rear.

 

Below: MUTS pool still busy in the evening. I ended up enjoying MUTS very much after dark, but personally found it slightly out of place during the day.

Carnival Liberty parked at Pier 3. Notice that she dwarfs the Sheraton (red light structure to the right of the Liberty).

Foreground is the San Juan Party Barge.

Main Theatre

These are perhaps the most plush seats I’ve seen in any theatre whether at sea or on land.

VERY Comfortable.

  9 story Sheraton Hotel dwarfed by the Liberty

Carnival Liberty

Theatre may look large, but is actually very small for a ship this size.  Get your seats early.