Princess Cruise - Day 2 (Sea Day)

Caribbean Princess

Day 2 - Sea Day

June 3, 2018

Today was a Sea Day and we slept in a little late. We were really exhausted from the night before and it felt like it was catching up to us. We went to grab some food at the Marketplace and then headed to the Calypo Bar on the pool deck. Funny thing is, we asked the bartender there to make us a drink, right from their menu and he had to look it up! I was a little surprised because this happened the day we got on the ship!  Coincidence? Not the same person either but figured he must of been new and just learning. So back up to the pool deck, sunscreen on and all, we had a Caribbean cooler. Great drink and very tasty! After about an hour there and feeling extremely hot, we decided to tour the ship and get our bearings as to where everything was and the public venues. Of course we hit some of the shops on board. One event that was going on was the Effy store. Of course, it’s a big gimmick as they have you standing around, thinking you are going to either buy something or win something, and you don’t. So we entered the raffle and left to continue to see what else was transpiring about the ship.

Since I was locked out of my phone, I purchased the internet package, costing about $159 and gave us 400 minutes plus and extra 30 minutes. If you are thinking about getting the internet package, I would say that it is definitely worth it! I would also purchase it onboard as you get a deal with extra minutes.  Remember, that it has to be purchased the first day at sea or you won't get the bonus minutes.  If you don't bring your laptop, they do have their own internet/library combo area and printing capabilities. However, their internet is slow. Sometimes it can take up to 5 minutes to get any kind of link or search to run. I brought my own computer and that seemed to help a little but not much. You are able to view your account on your mobile phone through caribbean.princess.com and not be charged. However, Princess does tell you several times to put your phone on airplane mode so that you don’t get charges the astronomical amount of money in order to use the internet/wireless network. 

Still locked out of my phone, there was no way for me to unlock it until I got on land and used the Wi-Fi in Grand Cayman. Just had to wait until tomorrow, which was frustrating enough and I do like to stay in contact with friends and loved ones. I was able to use the camera so that was a plus.

After exploring the ship some more, we went to Slice to get some pizza. They also had Focaccia and some Bruschetta fresh out of the oven! They make their own pizza on board and it was better than Norwegian cruise line’s pizza! On the other side was Salty Dog. Here, you were able make your own hamburger, hotdog, or sloppy joes. Very filling, so be careful not to overdo it. Both Slice and Salty Dog are complimentary so no worries on paying a cover fee. 

   

As with every ship I have been on, you can’t forget about a good game of Bingo! So we headed to Club Fusion to play. We purchased the super pack which enabled you to have the bingo table, 5 paper bingos and a raffle ticket. Of course we didn’t win but it was fun to play. The price was about $79 per super pack but there are others you can purchase for less. 

We headed back to the cabin and what a surprise!  A beautiful decoration for our 3 year anniversary!  Great idea also for family and friends celebrating their special occasion.  (If you ever want to do that for your friends, family, etc for their cruise, just contact Maraloha Travel, LLC and we can arrange it for you!)

After going back to the cabin after Bingo, we got dressed and ready to go see a show at the Princess Theater. This show was the Princess dancers and their production. I can tell you I was not impressed with it at all. I have seen many on ships, on Broadway, Opera’s, etc. and I was disappointed in this one. The two singers they had for this one show were not that great. I would rate it as mediocre. However, I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and see another one. 

Then it was off to the Skywalker Lounge to see if there was anything going on. Nope! The dance club was dead as a door-nail. It was about 1:30AM and they called last call already. Wow! I am a late night person and this was pretty disappointing.

 

Back to the cabin to get some rest for Grand Cayman.

Until tomorrow…..Grand Cayman!

Please feel free to comment as I would love to hear from you.  Tune in for Day 3 of our cruise on the Caribbean Princess!

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Princess Cruise - Day 1 (Embarkation)

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!

Please feel free to comment as I would love to hear from you.  Tune in for Day 2 of our cruise on the Caribbean Princess!

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