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Name: Melinda Vaughn
Email: rjv@meridianlabs.com
Age: 33
Occupation: at-home mom
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Dawn
SailingDate: March 28, 1998
Itinerary: Southern Carribean
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector:
CabinComfort: 98
FoodRoomService: 90
CruiseStaff:
CabinAmenities: 100
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 95
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 100
FoodVariety: 100
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 85
TenderService: 95
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges:
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 85
EntertShowLounge: 85
OverallPortsofCall: 95
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 95
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram: 90
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 100
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 100
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 95
SpaceRatio: 100
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 10 Apr 1998
Time: 00:41:30
Remote Name: 199.117.103.1
Remote User:
Comments
We cruised the San Juan-Barbados-St. Lucia-Martinique-St. Maarten-St. Thomas itinerary the
end of March. This was a special getaway vacation for
us and we enjoyed it very much. The staff on the ship was wonderful - very polite and
friendly. We had a cabin with a balcony which I would highly
recommend. The balcony had a small table and two chairs which was wonderful for breakfast
or just kicking back with a book and a soda. Throwing
open the drapes in the morning was great - a new picture postcard view every day. This
room layout also allowed for you to access the bed from
both sides rather than one side being shoved up against the wall. And leaving the sliding
door open at night to hear the ocean and feel the breeze
was heavenly.
Our dining experience went quite well. Wonderful wait staff and we were fortunate to have
great table mates. My husband was impressed that after
the first night at dinner Benjamin automatically brought him iced tea at each meal. And by
the last night he would bring us all of the desserts for the
whole table to sample! The menu was quite varied - there were theme nights (French,
Italian, etc.) and the menu always listed a vegetarian menu
and a healthy choice menu. There were also some regular selections such as cesaer salad
and grilled chicken breast that you could have at any
time. We ordered shrimp cocktails several times and requested different side dishes and it
was all handled smoothly and efficiently. We had second
seating and I would highly recommend it. On several nights we were scheduled for our show
before dinner which gave us time to go out on deck or
to the bar afterwards without being up until 2AM.
Entertainment was OK. The Pirates musical and the American musical were good - the
Oddessea show was not what I had hoped. The shows in the
lounge were pretty lame with the exception of the first night - the Hawaian Cowboy was
good. The other two British performers were so-so - the
comic seemed to retrieve all his jokes from the internet as we had read them all before!
Carribean night on the deck was lots of fun and there was a
wonderful steel drum band and a string quartet that played throughout the ship.
We used the exercise facilities quite a bit. You have to sign up for treadmills - first
day at sea is packed. The nautilus equipment was awkward and
poorly layed out for use, but there were also free weights available. The promenade deck
is great for a walk or run.
Ports of call: Barbados was very hot in town and windy - leave that straw hat on the ship.
We did the snorkeling/catamarran excursion which was
good. The snorkelling part was so-so but the 1 1/2 hour catamarran ride was awesome. St.
Lucia is beautiful. We took an all-day excurion that
included land and sea. The sea portion was first (to our surprise) and was wonderful -
beautiful wind and lively music to dance to on the boat. We
pulled into a cove for swimming for an hour and the local "entrepeneurs" canoed
out with shells, coconuts, "crafts", etc. to try to sell to us. They can
be somewhat aggressive but were overall polite. I would have enjoyed going back to
Castries by boat too - the drive through the interior was long
and hot. We visited the Mt. Coubriel estate which was quite interesting and the native
lunch was very good. The sulphur springs were OK - we live in
Colorado and are kind of used to natural wonders. The drive back was quite bumpy - road
maintenance is obviously not a priority here. Lots of
roadside livestock and the school children in uniforms were darling, although school zones
don't seem to exist. We got back to the boat and
napped. Martinique was very French. Let's just say the people here make Parisians seem
friendly. I speak French so there was no language barrier
- just that politeness barrier. We opted for a "day off" and took a water taxi
over to the beach at the Meridian Hotel. The view looking back at Fort de
France was beautiful - the hotel was pretty crowded. Roundtrip was only $5.00 each - not
too bad. And I had a chance to drink Orangina which I
love! Back in town I shopped with one of my table mates - lots of shoe and fabric stores.
This seemed more an actual town that people who live here
shopped in rather than the tourist mecca that other ports were. Heard that Martinique will
probably be off the itinerary next year - St. Kitts possibly in
its place. As far as shopping, buy your French perfume elsewhere - the prices were not too
good. St. Maarten made for a great day. We did the 12
meter sailboat regatta and would highly recommend it to everyone whether you've ever
sailed or not. You can kick back and do nothing or work the
boat and the ride is awesome. Cool hats and T-shirts too back at the dock. We tendered in
to St. Maarten - all other ports were dockside. I felt the
tender service was quite good and easy to locate to get back to the ship. Phillipsburg is
a quaint town - saw many crew members purchasing
electronics so perhaps they are a good find here. We had lunch and drinks at Everyt'ing
Cool - try the #14 amaretto colada. Not much beach in
town - we heard that Orient Beach was quite nice. St. Thomas was an adventure too. We took
off on our own and went to Coki Beach to snorkel. You
can rent snorkelling equipment and lounge chairs there, and I became hooked on Bailey's
Banana Coladas in lieu of food. The snorkelling is
amazing - I have never seen water so clear. There were rock outcroppings and cliffs around
which house lots of coral and fish and, if you really
wanted to see more, Coral World is right next door. We went through downtown Charlotte
Amalie which is kind of a big tourist trap. My husband
enjoyed looking at watches, I bought a nice crocheted lace tablecloth at a good price and
a couple of T-shirts. If you are really into jewelry you will be
in heaven. One note about St. Thomas is the cab drivers use vans which often hold up to 14
people and they will continually try to fill the van up on
the way to your destination. Stopping every corner to solicit passengers got old quickly.
Look for a smaller cab/car or expect a longer than
anticipated ride. Mysterious stops are common too - on the way back to the ship from
downtown our cab driver pulled in and bought groceries for
supper - no tip there! You arrive back in San Juan quite early. Our flight wasn't until
4:00 PM so we did the resort option. A waste of time if you ask
me - we were barely there long enough to change, swim, lunch and catch the shuttle to the
airport. Next time we would get off and tour Old San Juan
which is quite near where the ship docks and then catch a taxi to the airport.
Getting on and off the ship was easy - both were very smoothly handled without a lot of
waiting in line. You can check your bags home with the airline
reps right at the dock for lighter sightseeing. We used the air/sea program which did not
provide the best flying itinerary. All of us going and coming
to Denver were booked the same, which meant we had a 5 1/2 hour flight from San Juan to
Chicago, a 3 1/2 hour layover at O'Hare, and a 2 1/2
hour flight to Denver. A very long day!
Other hints: Take a lot more sunscreen than you think you will need to avoid paying $10.00
a bottle for it on ship or off. Aloe vera gel is also an
essential. Take a baseball cap or be sure your sun hat secures with ties as it is breezy
everywhere. American money is accepted everywhere;
however, change given back is usually in local currency so taking a lot of smaller bills
($1,$5,$10) is advised. Also cab driver don't seem to make
change very well... Don't pack hair dryers or beach towels - both are provided on board
Photos from the on-ship photographers are quite
expensive, especially the formal ones so budget for it if you want them The gift shop on
board has a great T-shirt sale the last night of the cruise,
including kids sizes A room service gratuity is automatically billed to you, although
nothing is really mentioned about this Don't bother with the
shopping/port talks in the lounge - they are replayed on the TV all the time
Feel free to contact me with any questions - I found this forum very useful before we
cruised. Have a good trip!!
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