(a very late) Cruise Review

At last, the review you've all been waiting for
(I was going to list all the reasons for the delay but now that it's here, there's not much point - they were all brilliantly believable though 😉😜)

Our Caribbean Princess Review

Embarkation

Quick and hassle free - our luggage arrived outside our room about 1½ hours after we'd set foot on the ship so it gave us chance to start unpacking early

Cabin (appearance)

Lovely. 

Spotlessly clean, bright and airy and nothing about the decor looked jaded or in need of replacement. 

Cabin (facilities)

The bed was a problem - sagging on both sides - I have never slept on a more uncomfortable mattress in my life......it was rock hard.  T actually prefers a firmer mattress but even he couldn't get comfy. 

L and C had asked for a topper as they were having the same problem & advised me to request one too - we did but I can't say it helped much and when I saw it the morning of departure*, I'm not surprised.......I've had thicker bacon butties!!!

I did notice that a few of the beds on the cabin crawl looked as worn as ours - the new mattresses can't come quick enough for me.

(*As we forgot to put a "don't disturb" sign on the door, our steward nipped in to change the bed for the new occupant while we were out saying hello to Lady Liberty and he left the topper in the wardrobe area along with all the dirty linen!   
I took a picture but - wouldn't you know it - it was one of those that didn't write to the SD card.)

The pillows were another problem.  They look lovely all plumped up but there is nothing in them, they flatten to nothing the minute you put your head on them.  We both struggled and because they gave hardly any support, T ended up with a sore neck.

We didn't use the balcony very much at all but even though it was small, it's certainly big enough for 2 - we even managed to have an Ultimate Balcony Dinner out there with no problems whatsoever.

(I don't think I'd get a balcony room on a T/A again, the weather isn't really good enough to justify the cost.) 

We did have 2 issues with the toilet not flushing - it wasn't blocked, it just wasn't whooshing!

(oh, that rhymes, I promise it wasn't intentional, I didn't realise I'd turned into Robert Browning until I read this back.......... I'm laughing my head off here).

I rang guest services and they had it fixed in a jiffy and I'm really glad cos it could have been iffy

(ok, ok......that was intentional.......I'll stop now)

Despite the bed, the loo and my dreadful poetry, everything else cabin-wise was fine.

Food & Drink (a subjective view!)

From the blog, you'll know that we weren't always that impressed with the food, specifically the food in the MDR.  We did have some nice meals there but others were pretty bad and those bad meals outweighed the good (I still haven't eaten eggs of any kind after that huevos rancheros debacle.....honestly 😌).

Pastries, muffins and sandwiches from the IC were wonderful. 

The pub lunch - terrific fish 'n chips but the peas need work (memo to Princess... they should always be marrowfat)

The pepperoni pizza from Prego's (while not as good as on the Island Princess) was still very tasty and T loved the burgers & fries from the Trident Grill.

The Horizon Court & Caribe Cafe both had some lovely food (the fish stew & Mexican lunch both get 5 stars from me) but the goodies on offer didn't always "marry up" e.g. a beef casserole needs some spuds (boiled or mashed) but during one lunch service, there weren't any (and yes, I asked). 

We quite often went up to the HC and left without eating because there was nothing to 'go' with the main part of the main courses (admittedly, that could be a British thing).

The 'made to order' tapas, cheeseboard and sushi in Vines were all delicious - I'm just sorry it took us over a week to try them out.

We had some issues with drink and, as we'd bought the All Inclusive Beverage Package, we found it to be a bit of a pain, quite frankly. 

The first day on board we were told they'd already run out of Coors Lite (really!!!).  Miller Lite was the alternative but within 3 days, they'd ran out of that too (they did eventually get some Coors..... while we were in Flam, I think).

Merlot 🍷 stocks were hit & miss - Vines had none at one point and it was very rare to be served it when we were in the MDR.  The Horizon Court gets a brownie point or 3 though because they always seemed to have some (just a pity we had to drink it from those horrible plastic glasses).

The biggest issue with eating & drinking in the buffets and atrium was seating..... or lack of it. 

The notices on the tables in the HC and Caribe Cafe asking people to leave when they'd finished their food were a waste of time - nobody took any notice and nobody from the crew did anything about it 😠. 

We actually saw one couple get 4 glasses of water, sit at a table for 4 and put a glass by each seat making it look like there were no spaces available - they proceeded to play cards and weren't challenged at all.

If people aren't eating or drinking or have nursed the same drink for hours just so they can play card games or mahjong then they should be asked to leave.  That's fair.

It was very difficult to find a seat in the atrium too - if you wanted a snack from the International Cafe for lunch, you stood little or no chance of eating it anywhere near the IC because there were no seats/tables available as people were sitting in them to read or watch the world go by.

Obviously, passengers should be allowed to sit in the atrium to read or play cards etc....I'm not saying it should be outlawed but there should be a few chairs and tables reserved for people who only want to eat & drink.  That's fair.

Entertainment (another subjective view)

Main Shows

We saw three.  The first wasn't to our taste, the second was terribly amateurish and although the third (the crew show) was actually amateur night, it put #2 to shame......it was magnificent. 

Xcite

The resident band - they were good.  They covered a wide variety of decades and genres and (loud drummer aside) we both quite enjoyed listening to them. 

Fun/games and quizzes

All a good laugh and a round of applause should go to every one of the passengers who joined in and made them so much fun for the rest of us watching from the sidelines. 

There was certainly enough going on for a 'sunny' cruise where people can also laze by the pool, have a swim, play golf or just go for a walk but for a cruise like this, when the weather is so bad that passengers are stuck inside 24/7, I think more entertainment could have been laid on.

Casino

We aren't big gamblers but I did enjoy playing (and losing) on the slot machines.

I don't know if they allowed smoking in there all the time or just on specific days but sometimes it smelled very strongly of cigarette smoke.

In room TV

Repeats, repeats, repeats....mainly of Downton Abbey & The Love Boat.

I'm surprised that Princess doesn't have some 'on demand' system in place yet.  Maybe something will be installed during the CB's drydock?!

The Staff (and passengers)

Some MDR staff lacked a bit of oomph and service could be very slow (or when they went missing, non existant) but they mostly did a good job. 

Buffet - again, sometimes a bit slow but the thing I really noticed was a lack of interaction - apart from having a laugh with one of the waiters during our first afternoon on board, no-one spoke to us unless it was to answer a good morning greeting or to ask about what drink we wanted.  

The bar staff were all excellent (particularly Kelvin & Don in Crooners)

Main entertainment team - superb

Generally, all members of the crew were very friendly, always willing to help and gave the impression that nothing was too much trouble.  Sometimes, they were treated very shabbily by the people they were serving or trying to help and I found it quite embarrassing to watch. 

Here's a message to those few people who feel entitled to treat people who work in the hospitality/cruise industry like they are some kind of sub-species.......

A please or a thank you goes a long way, clicking fingers to get attention isn't very nice and barking orders at someone standing 6 inches away from you is just plain boorish. 

Get your act together folks, the crews help to turn our cruises into wonderful experiences and treating them poorly, despite being looked after so phenomenally well by them, just makes you look stupid & ignorant.

That said, 99.99% of the passengers were fab 😁- it was lovely to get in the lift of a morning (or anytime, really) and be greeted with a chorus of hellos, "have a nice day" and "enjoy your trip" or whatever.   It really put a smile on my face. 

Chatting like long lost friends to people at the bars, lounges and dining rooms was wonderful - we heard such incredible life stories. People were more than happy to give advice (even if we didn't want it, ha ha) and, with us still being relative cruise newbies, some of it was invaluable.

To those (roughly) 3,168 people  -  thank you xxxx

and finally............

The Ship (public areas)

We saw nothing of the "tired and worn" appearance so many people had mentioned prior to our cruise. 

I can't even bring myself to spin the standard "well for a 12 year old ship, she's in good condition" blurb - it would imply that we forgave a few 'issues' because she's getting on a bit..........well, we just didn't see any 'issues'.  There was nothing that alarmed us or made us think "oh dear, that needs sorting out"

If we got back on her tomorrow and she was in the exact same condition, I'd not only be happy because I was taking another cruise, I'd be happy because I was back on the Caribbean Princess.

If you'd like to read about what we got up to in Orlando, check out the tabs at the top of the page (starting with "And so to Orlando").
I may combine them with the blog at a later date but for now, I'm keeping them separate.

20/9 to 22/9

Apologies for taking so long to finish off the cruise section of the blog.
I truly didn't have time in Orlando - we were trying to fit our normal 14 days there into 5.....it was busy, busy, busy.

Once we got home on Thursday we just wanted to sleep.  Friday it was hairdressers, sleeping, shopping, laundry, sleeping, finding out our car needs some work (which we can't get done til Monday and means that we couldn't drive down to get Pongo 😢😢), sleeping, laundry, catching up with family & friends, etc., etc., etc.

Below you'll find my posts on the last 3 days of the cruise.

I will be writing an overall review too....... our likes, dislikes (guess what's top of the list 😏) and what was brilliant etc. but I want to get the Florida part of our trip typed up properly first.

We were so busy at the theme parks, I didn't have time to write more than a few words once we got back to our room and I knew (iffy wi-fi at the hotel not withstanding) that I couldn't post them as they were.
I'm going to spend the next couple of days expanding on what I've already written (before I forget what went on) and as soon as I've done that, I'll get back to the CB review (and hopefully I will also have sorted out pics to upload onto the blog so you can see what I've been blabbing about)

In the meantime, thank you all for following us on T's birthday celebration adventure and I'm very grateful to everyone who sent emails via the blog and who tweeted & texted  their support (along with all the lovely comments I got from cruise forum members).
It was great to hear from you all.

Thanks again,

S x❤x❤x❤

Our last 2 and a bit days on board the CB (sob)

20/9 - Cruise Day 016 - Boston, USA (part two)

As you can tell from the start of my last post.....I was a very happy bunny as we arrived in Boston.

Daft as it seems - it was really exciting to wake up knowing that we've sailed across the Atlantic. My mum travelled the route many times when she was a Cunard stewardess in the 50s & 60s and I'm sooooo proud to have (sort of) followed in her footsteps.

It was just as exciting knowing we were back in Boston - isn't it just a lovely city? - we visited for 4 days just over 9 years ago and had a great time - we always said we'd be back...........We wanted to get the most out of our one day visit so before we left the UK, we decided what we'd like to see again and worked out the fastest walking routes so we could fit everything in.  I printed out maps and directions and, miraculously, we didn't forget to take them with us this time (remember, lack of maps meant we missed my namesake's bar wayyyyyyyyyyy back when in Amsterdam?!). .

After we'd done the immigration thingy whatsit (which took about an half hour - I'm very impressed with how Princess sort out the logistics of such a big operation) we hot footed it off the ship and started on "S &T's Best of Boston" walking tour.

Along with another couple, who were following directions to the same place via their phone, we got a bit lost getting to the first venue - not all the streets were sign posted and quite a lot of them didn't even show up on the maps - but us stalwarts never give up and, 35 mins later, we arrived at the Boston Tea Party Museum.

If you haven't been to the museum, you should definitely go.  It was one of the best touristy things we've seen so far and it was well worth paying for .............even if we did pay twice! 

Yes, you've probably guessed it - we may have remembered the maps but we completely forgot to take the online tickets we'd bought before we came away (a whole $49 worth).  Big duhhhhhhh

I wouldn't mind, they were right there in the folder with the maps, printed on bright yellow paper so how we (aka T!!!! 😁) missed them, I'll never know.  Big, big duhhhhhhh.

From start to finish the museum was pure fun (and of course, educational). There's loads of audience participation and the team make sure to include everyone......even if it's only to assign the names of known rebels to each 'audience member'.  T & I were the Bradlee brothers (me - Nathaniel, T - David).  We all learnt how to cheer, boo and raise our arms in a specific 18th century way and, once we'd been given a load of background info, we were then off to make mischief.

(Btw, apparently David had just been released from prison..........I tell ya, I always knew there was something shifty about my hubby 😅).

I won't spoil it by saying exactly what happens** because as well as the tour on the ship, there are a couple of very good gimmicky surprises - but gimmicky or not, it all helped tell the tale and tell it very well too. 

We had such a good time.

After that we walked (following directions from our not so good maps) to the Old South Meeting House (nice but not worth the entry fee), then went to take a few pics of the State House & have a walk around the Beacon Hill area.....such lovely old houses and very pretty narrow streets with higgedly piggedly lampposts stuck in very uneven pavements (sidewalks).  Admittedly, some parts look a bit worn now but strangely, it didn't make the area any less attractive.

We had planned to walk to the Old North Church and then to Boston Harbour for lunch but aching feet and the 80s+ temp (that constitutes a major heatwave where we're from!) put a stop to that.  Instead, we decided to take just one walk to see if a favourite eatery of ours was still in business so we set off for the Back Bay area.

We got a bit lost (nothing new there then!) but, credit where it's due............thanks to me 👌, we eventually found the place we were looking for - the Globe bar/restaurant on Boylston (which is a bit further up the road from 500 Boylston - the building used in the opening credits of Boston Legal) and, just like old times (by that I mean the 3 visits we'd made during our last trip!), we had a couple of beers and a very, very, tasty, tasty lunch.

Sated, we began our walk back to the ship but I decided (a whole 4 minutes after we'd started) that I just couldn't take another step so we hailed a cab & returned to the CB in relative luxury.  As we got back so much earlier than we thought we would, we did what any pair of self respecting, tired, worn out tourists would do...........we had a couple of hours kip.

We were up again at 5pm getting ready to go to L and C's for another sailaway/wine party (along with the other lovely couple from the first sailaway).  Again, it was fab.  L and C's port side room had a fantastic view and we got some super duper shots of the most beautiful Boston sunset.

We all continued having fun at dinner......I must add here (and you probably won't be surprised) that the food wasn't much fun but the company certainly was.  Despite the food (just don't ever have southern chicken, 3 of us did and left it!), the table service was wonderful and the waiters were a real good laugh.  We had a great time.

G and N left just before 10 to go to the late show in the Princess theatre and the rest of us went to Crooners for a nightcap. 

L and C stayed for about an hour but T & I sat up for a while longer having a good chat with another British couple.  

Don (the barman) called it a night around 12:15 and we were duly sent home (in the real world, he'd have kept our car keys & ordered us a cab) to have our penultimate night's sleep on the CB.

**Small spoiler alert...............

Woooo hoooooo, I was a rebel...........I threw the tea overboard.

(Down with taxes is what I say.  Power to the Sons of Liberty! 😜)

21/9 - Cruise Day 017 - At Sea, our final day

After a bit of a lie-in (we got up around 10ish), we finished our packing - I was glad we'd sorted most of it out the other day - we only had a few things to put away.  We left out just what we needed to wear for the evening along with the clothes we'd be wearing for disembarkation tomorrow.

We went up to the Caribe Cafe for our last lunch on board and Oh Boy! had they pulled out all the stops.  It was Mexican Fiesta Day (or something similar sounding) and it was fab-u-licious.  Next to the UBD, it was the best meal we had throughout the whole of the cruise.  Chilli, enchiladas, spicy roast chicken (cooked to perfection), rice, tortillas, bean salad......it just went on and on and on with scrummy yummy gorgeousness and we went on and on eating    

Word must have gotten around - the queue was quite long by the time we got there but by the time we'd finished our meal, the line had more than doubled.  To say it was a hugely popular lunch menu would be an understatement.

After eats we went to sort out our Future Cruise Credits but the office was shut - not wanting to wait around for 45 minutes until it re-opened, we decided to fill out an FCC form and pop it in the drop box (fingers crossed there's no problems with it?!) and then we went for a last walk around the ship.

Despite not doing much, we were a bit tired so we had a quick snooze before getting ready for our final evening aboard the CB.  During our afternoon walk, we'd checked out the dinner menu and didn't really fancy the sound of it (what a shocker, ha ha) so we thought we'd go to the buffet but, when it came time for dinner, we were still quite full from lunch so we ruled that out too.  

Instead, we decided to kill 2 birds with one stone and go to Vines for some tapas & sushi as it would give us chance to say thank you & goodbye to Jack & Cherry (two of the most hard working bar staff on the CB).

Following our light dinner in Vines (yummy), we travelled around the ship saying our goodbyes to everyone who'd made this such a wonderful birthday celebration and ended up in Explorers for our final evening's entertainment.

Mary Ann, L and C joined us for the last ever trivia quiz of the cruise (we were predictably rubbish) and then, after saying goodbye to Mary Ann and doing a lot of goodbye hugging with L and C, we started to make our way to Crooners.....it took us a while to get there - we got stopped by every one of the Explorers' bar staff, they all wanted a goodbye hug too - it was actually quite emotional.....I got a lump in my throat & very teary eyes (good job it was near the end of the night cos it totally ruined my makeup  😅).

After a final drink & farewell in Crooners we trotted off to our room and got ready for our last sleep on board the Caribbean Princess.  

(Wonders will never cease, we actually remembered to set the wake up alarm for 4:30am - we were due to sail past the Statue of Liberty around 5:45...........we just couldn't miss that.)

22/9 - Cruise Day 018 - New York, disembarkation

We were up before the larks and after whizzing down to the IC for a couple of hot drinks, we were ready to wave to Lady Liberty at around 5:30. 

We made our way to one of the top decks - it was cold and very windy but we forgot all that as we sailed under the (Hudson?) bridge - we could see the statue in the distance and it was amazing to watch it getting closer and closer. It really is an iconic sight.

More and more people had started to arrive by now but we managed to get a great speck on deck 16 (port side, near the bow) and stayed there until the ship sailed passed the statue and had started to turn 180 degrees to reverse into Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

We still hadn't drank the half bottle of champers we'd got with our UBD so before we went back to our room, we nipped down to the HC for some orange juice - that meant we could have a bucks fizz on our balcony as we watched a fab sunrise over Manhattan.  

At 8am we had to leave the cabin and I truly welled up - I didn't want to go.  I really didn't want to go.

T sweet talked me out of trying to become a stowaway and, with me still teary-eyed, we walked into the corridor & closed our door one last time (cue dramatic music...... just like you hear in those weepies from the 1930s)........

As we didn't want brekky, once we were out of the room, there wasn't actually that much to do except wait until our colour/number (navy 2) was called to leave the ship.  We stayed on the Promenade Deck for quite some time watching the goings on on the water (Staten Island Ferry etc) and @8:50 we made our way to the casino (our disembarkation meeting point) to sit and wait, and wait, and wait.

Things were running a bit slow so we were delayed getting off the ship (and made even more delayed by me saying goodbye at every stage......bye deck 7, bye casino, bye fave slot machine in the casino, bye CB (repeatedly), bye ganglplank!) but when we eventually got into the terminal, we found our luggage easily enough, got through customs pdq and, in no time at all, were searching out the coach that would be taking us to Newark for our flight to Orlando.

I must say, all the Brooklyn terminal staff were very friendly - nearly every one of them said "Welcome to Brooklyn", it was lovely.  Round of applause for them please.

The journey to the airport was quite uneventful for us - sadly, one couple found that a piece of their luggage had been accidentally taken by someone else who'd gotten off at the previous terminal stop. Once the rest of us had been dropped off, the driver was taking them back to Terminal A to try and sort it out.  I hope they found it.  

(I must have had a premonition or something because at the very first stop, I'd asked T to get off the coach to make sure no one took our cases or if they were taken off - so the driver could get at other luggage - that they were put back on!).

We were sooooooo grateful for the porter/sidewalk check-in clerk (is that what they're called?) who spotted us struggling as we left the coach - he just took over. 

He loaded our cases onto a trolley, got us to the check in desk, checked us in, gave us our luggage tags and boarding passes, told us where to go to get to security and then cheerily waved goodbye to go in search of another clueless couple to help.  What a very nice man (and well worth the tip)  

Well, that's it, with a new destination to get to - via a plane and not a ship - our cruise had definitely come to an end and we were about to start on a different part of our adventure.

We were on our way to Orlando 😁😉😁😉😁