Caribbean Princess
Day 1 - Embarkation & Sail Away Day
June 2, 2018
Well, as we did last year, we were off to a late start and didn’t get to the hotel until 2am. It wasn't so bad that we arrived late as we had a late checkout at 12pm. We were staying at the Four Points By Sheraton in Fort Lauderdale, only 5 minutes away from the cruise pier. The hotel was a reasonably priced and included free parking for the entire time we were sailing. The shuttle to the cruise pier from the hotel was run by a different company, and not the hotel, which the website does not state that. The shuttle was only $16 per person/round trip . In addition, the hotel shuttle, even though it stated that they have it free to the pier, it was not. It only went to the airport so I told management to make sure that they tell that to people as on their website it was misleading that the shuttle was supposedly free through them.
We got on the shuttle at 12:55pm and arrived no later than 10 minutes to the pier. It was easy on as I was given Elite status for my graduation accreditation for Princess Cruises.
It was perfect timing to get on the ship at 1:30pm as we were able to go to our cabin and unwind from the day before. The cabin was pretty spacious along with the closet area. You could fit all your clothes and your luggage all in that area with no problem. The bathroom was a little small with not much ample room to fit your toiletries for one person. However, there was a spacious balcony and huge flat screen tv, with a separate vanity/sitting desk to do your business if necessary.
On my trip, however, I got locked out of my phone so I spent pretty much most of the day on the ship while in port, to get it to open. I completely forgot my pin, tried to have the system search for my phone thru Samsung and no luck. Either I had to completely factory reset my phone or wait until I got to Grand Cayman to find a Wi-Fi spot to get this phone unlocked. So, being stressed just from that, I was still able to use my camera on the phone, had to call my carrier to make sure I don’t get cellular roaming charges, and hopefully get this mess cleared up.
After that, we went to the Marketplace to get some food. This is your typical buffet café on the ship. They are open later than most food venues and not very crowded. This is nice as I don’t see many kids running around, noise level was quiet, and the food was much better. Even the service! As soon as you sit down with your food, a waiter comes up to you and asked you if you want to drink. This is usually not typical on the cruises I have been on, except for the more upscale ones. 
At 3:30pm it was time to do the Muster Station drill. Of course, most people were talking during it which drives me nuts! I bet when there is an actual emergency, and I have been through some, they wont remember a damn thing! With that said, Princess made announcements that parents were responsible for the behavior of their kids, people to be mindful of others late at night returning to their cabin, and if you see someone overboard, grab the life preserver and throw it overboard to the person. Again, this was a nice change as the other cruise lines don’t mention about parents being responsible, late night noise or the life preserver. I smiled at this and hoped that other cruise ships would follow this practice.
We then went to explore the ship, both the Pool on Deck 15 and some of the outside bars. The first bar we went to was the Calypso bar on Deck 16. We went to get a drink, however, when we asked for something on their menu, the bartender didn’t know how to make it??? It was just weird to experience these bartenders, being on the ship this long, don’t know how to make their own drinks that are on their menu?
Because I bought the drink package, we are able to have 15 drinks a day. This includes alcohol, soda, water, and coffee, even in the International Café on deck 5. If you think that you would not go through that many, you just might!
After having a few, we headed back to the cabin and relaxed a little before getting ready to explore the ship at night. We headed to the casino and it seemed that there were not a lot of people in there. Some were playing the slot machines, others on the tables. However, this casino is VERY small. They only have about 20 slot machines, craps table, poker pro table, blackjack, and Texas Hold ‘Em. That’s it. I was really surprised to see that as that again, is not typical on a big ship.
Usually no one is around after 1AM. Really? Most of the ships I have been on are up until the wee hours of the morning. However, you do have an older crowd, some in-between, and some who just want to relax and not be stressed out. It also seems that everyone goes to bed early on this ship.
The schedule for meals is another story I will get into later and trying to make a reservation for one of the specialty restaurants, Sabatini’s or Crown Grill.
Until tomorrow…..a day at sea!
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