This was the spring break for our first-ever cruise since Grandma is not currently able to travel. After much research, I settled on Princess Cruises for an itinerary that includes Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Roatan, and Bahamas.
We flew into Fort Lauderdale, FL on 3/13/10. As a novice to this sort of trip, I had booked the flight to arrive at 1:53 pm, figuring it would give us minimal down time between arrival and boarding the ship. The website said the port was a 10-min taxi ride from the airport and the ship left port at 6:00 pm. I didn't initially realize that boarding began at 1:00, but they didn't recommend you arrive before 2:00 anyway. I didn't realize you had to be on board by 4:00 or they pull up the gangway. This did not leave any real time for flight delays, difficulty picking up checked baggage or getting taxis, etc. so I did worry a bit that things might not go smoothly. March is known for last-minute big snowstorms that can wreak havoc on airline schedules. I was encouraged, however, by reading a Cruise Critic posting from a gentleman who had arranged a similar schedule and was in his cabin on the ship within an hour of landing at the airport. Fortunately we had a similar hassle-free experience. I do think I would plan a little more leeway next time. I'd rather have to deal with down time than make alternate arrangements if things didn't happen exactly as they should.
We had purchased inexpensive walkie-talkies as a way of maintaining interfamily communication on board the ship, but they turned out to be relatively useless as many, many others also bring walkie-talkies so all the channels are full of chatter from a variety of people and it's hard to sort out when someone is talking to you. Besides, Michael chose to spend almost all of his down time in the cabin watching movies so we really didn't need to keep track of him.
Our cabin was very nice, small and compact but well laid out. There were two twin bunks on one side of the room, and Michael's bunk could be lowered from the ceiling to form a bunk bed arrangement over one of them. This precluded moving the twins together to make a double, but this wasn't a problem. It was delightful to have a balcony, especially because we really did spend a lot of time in the room. With Michael choosing to remain there when not eating or on shore excursions, I don't think Bob and I wanted to leave him alone all the time, so we often stayed there also.
I spent an hour a day, generally mid- to late afternoon, laying in the sun by the pool. It was not as warm as I had hoped, but nice in the sun as long as I could find a somewhat sheltered spot from the wind. The first day, the lanyard with my cruise card and newly purchased coffee card kept blowing in the wind, and when I went to order a smoothie, I discovered the lanyard was empty! Fortunately the cruise card had hit the deck a few feet from my chair and lay flat near a wall, but the cardboard coffee card was long gone. The waiter walked through the adjoining deck to look for it, but I suspect it blew straight out to sea. I was a bit miffed that the Passenger Services desk would not replace it for me even though I had just purchased it that morning and only used two punches, but they said people have too many times reported lost coffee cards when they gave their card to someone else to use. Fortunately our travel agent had sent us a BOGO coupon so we still had a full card with Bob. We never did use all the punches on that card so we really only lost the convenience of each having a card to carry.
We really enjoyed doing the fixed seating dining option in the formal dining room. We had sampled the buffet for our first lunch after getting into our cabin and found the food quite good, but somehow a buffet presentation doesn't make for a pretty plate of food and we had to walk through the dining room to find an available table. It was nice to sample a variety of dishes, but we really enjoyed the atmosphere of the evening meal in the dining room with our own wait staff and table. From that point on, I only used the buffet to pick up fresh fruit to supplement our breakfasts. I did walk through occasionally before dinner to get a look at some of the options since many of the fixed menu dishes were also on the buffet. We did also pick up some chilled lobster sections the first evening as an appetizer which we took back to the room.
Our primary waiter in the dining room for evening meals was Pat; the assistant was Neil. They were very pleasant, with Neil having the more perky personality. They never did pick up all week on the fact that I don't like ground pepper on anything; they continued to offer it with every appropriate dish. We remembered to photograph most of our offerings, and thoroughly enjoyed our food. All the dishes came plated attractively and we had enough time between courses to digest and appreciate our food. Portions were nicely sized to give you enough to eat without blimping, and we nearly always had room to enjoy dessert without feeling stuffed. Our waiter did learn after a night or two that we were not inclined to order wine with dinner so they generally removed the glasses that were usually preset on the table.
Our table in the dining room was set for six, and we learned that another party of three was assigned to sit with us, but they never showed up even once. At some point each evening, the head waiter for the dining room stopped at our table to make sure everything was satisfactory. He complained about the others who didn't have the grace to let them know they had changed to Anytime Dining so they could reassign their seats to another party. Apparently they aren't allowed to give away the seats until after a couple of days, and if people on the waiting list haven't gotten seats in that time period, they generally are no longer interested. I had been looking forward to meeting people at dinner, but it was also nice to have the table to ourselves.
We found ourselves able to sleep quite comfortably in the cabin. The bedding was comfortable and the gentle rocking of the ship that was mildly perceptible was actually rather nice. Our first full day was an At Sea day which gave us an opportunity to further explore the ship. We despaired of ever really getting to know where things were without consulting the maps on the walls or other references.
Our cabin was on the Aloha deck which was deck 12. There is no deck 13. The main pool with the Movies Under The Stars and the buffet restaurant are on deck 15, two floors up. There are two pool areas there with bars, and the main pool has decks above with chaise lounges. These were almost all filled so finding a spot to sit in the sun was challenging. Waiters circulate to bring drinks, but not too often. We had each purchased a sticker for our cruise cards to allow unlimited access to soft drinks, smoothies, non-alcoholic cocktails, etc. I think I was the only one of us who got my money's worth by ordering smoothies and NA cocktails pretty much daily. If we do this again, I think I'd opt to just pay as we go.
The only other place we chose to go above our deck was on deck 16, a little lounge called Adagio that was generally quiet and a nice place to sit and order a drink. We did this a couple of times, once with Michael and once on our own the last night to hear the piano player for awhile. Adagio reminded me of a gentlemen's club decor with a lot of paneled wood. I had a Bellini cocktail one night and something with Grey Goose vodka the second time. They brought a little dish with a variety of stuffed olives (Bob was able to enjoy all of these since I don't do olives) and parmesan twisted breadsticks to enjoy with your drink.
The four floors immediately below our cabin deck were all primarily cabins. Deck 7 was the Promenade deck; you could walk around outside the ship on a small walkway. We did this on a couple of occasions. You had to walk up stairs for a small portion to deck 8 and then down on the other side. Looking in through the windows here, it appeared to be the employee area. Unfortunately, the wind was pretty strong as you rounded the bow which made this walk less pleasant for me. The wind was a bit chilly.
Inside on deck 7, the Princess Theater was the venue for live shows. We caught one performance of a round-the-world themed show that was nice. The lead singer had a wonderful voice, though the other singers were not up to her standard. The costuming and lighting was excellent, Vegas-style. The show started at 7 pm and lasted about 50 min so we had time to make our 8:15 dinner seating. We didn't make it to any of the other shows. We didn't have the energy to take in entertainment after our dinner seating and this was the only night we thought of going before dinner.
There was a photo gallery inside on deck 7 also where you could view the various photos they snap of you. Unfortunately, they don't ask your name or cruise card when they take the pictures, so they are not arranged by passenger name. You are obliged to look through all the displayed photos to find the ones you are in. I'm sure we never saw several of the photos they took of us. I would think they could equip the photographers with some kind of computer scanning device to scan the cruise card so they could digitally save the images for easier viewing, but I suspect they've done market research and find this system profitable enough. I got tired of looking at hundreds of pictures of strangers trying to find images of us.
There was also an extensive art gallery with items you could bid at during various auction times. The starting prices were high, so if you were so inclined, you could easily spend more than the cost of your cruise on art.
Deck 6 had the Crown Grill, Explorer's Lounge, access to the Theater, Crooner's bar, and the Passenger Services desk. There were also several shops. I had to purchase a contact lens case as I couldn't find one among the toiletries I'd packed (until after I returned to the room and found another small case with non-declarable non-liquid items that had 2 contact cases). In addition to the shop that carried essentials along with alcohol, cruise clothing, and gifts, there were jewelry stores, perfumeries, etc.
Deck 5 was one of our more frequent stops as the International Cafe was here. They had glass display cases and changed out their offerings throughout the day. In the mornings, they had a wonderful selection of pastries, and also yogurt parfaits or dishes of muesli. We generally came down and picked up items to take back to the cabin, sometimes supplemented by strawberries I'd collect from the buffet. The coffee shop was attached to the International Cafe. As long as we had our coffee card, we could get unlimited fresh-brewed coffee to go. They also had all the typical barista offerings including delicious mochas, lattes, etc. At lunch, they would have a different quiche each day and several deli-type salads including a shrimp salad that was delicious. A couple of days we stopped here after returning from the shore excursions for lunch. They also had ham-and-cheese croissants or paninis. They displayed the fresh items in the case and then heated them for you to order. They also had a full display of decadent desserts including tiramisu, brownies and cakes. Between 3-4 pm daily, they would bring out a variety of fresh-baked, warm-from-the-oven cookies brought around by the staff. One particularly charismatic gentleman would yell "COOKIE! COOKIE! COOKIE!...Oscar" when he brought them out. We sampled several of these.
Deck 5 was also the center of the Piazza, the showplace of the ship. They often had a musical group doing background music in the center area. There were some tables and chairs here where you could enjoy your coffee or a drink, and servers would come to bring refreshments. There was also the sushi bar across from the International Cafe. Sushi was complimentary but the selection was a little limited. They had a nice California roll, and you could get tuna or yellowtail nagiri, but that was about it. They also had some tapas offerings but we didn't try those.
The evening of that first full day was formal night so photographers were stationed in various areas on decks 5 and 6. You could have your portraits taken in as many venues as you chose without charge. You purchased the portraits you wanted at a later time. Again they didn't have any method for sorting them by your name so you had to look through the gallery to find your proofs. We chose a photographer at the foot of the ornate staircase for our portraits. We all enjoyed dressing up, Bob in his tux, Michael in his suit with his jaunty cap purchased in the airport, and me in a long sparkly gown with the black/gold scarf spread as a shawl.
They did a champagne-glass pyramid in the center of the piazza to start the evening's festivities. They invited ladies from the cruise to climb the ladder and assist the maitre'd to pour champagne into the topmost glass to cascade down the fountain for photos. They also passed complimentary champagne and hors d'ouvres among the watchers, including caviar canapes. My photos didn't turn out too well as we were on the stairs above and the flash didn't go far enough to illuminate the scene. The lights were low so my pictures are quite dark.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment