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Note - this page contains multiple reviews.
Name: Herbert Morton
Email: calhm@aol.com
Age: 31
Occupation: Airline Pilot
NumberOfCruises: 6
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Dawn
SailingDate: 2/26/00 - Really the Ocean Princess
Itinerary: Southern Carribean
Cabin: C533/JJ
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 93
FoodRoomService: 85
CruiseStaff: 94
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck: 97
DiningRoomService: 98
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets: 95
CabinSteward: 98
ShoreExcVariety: n/a
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 90
ShoreExcValue: n/a
GoodForHoneymoon: n/a
CasinoStaff: 98
PrivateIsland: n/a
GoodForFamilies: n/a
LoungeService: n/a
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors: 98
BeautySalonStaff: n/a
EntertainmentLounges: 93
WheelchairAccess: n/a
ExerciseFacilities: 98
EntertShowLounge: 90
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon: n/a
EntertainmentPoolside: 85
CruiseActivities: 85
Casino: 93
AirSeaProgram: n/a
MedicalFacilities: n/a
ShipCleanliness: 99
EmbarkDisembark: 99
DiscoNightclubs: 99
DeckSpace: 93
Stabilization: 94
ShopsOnBoard: 95
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 93
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 05 Mar 2000
Time: 08:17:23
Remote Name: spider-tm012.proxy.aol.com
Remote User:
Comments
I sailed on the Ocean Princess on 2/26/00. This was my first Princess cruise and having previously sailed
before on Celebrity and Royal Carribean I was interested to see how Princess would compare.
Embarkation was a breeze. From the time I arrived at the dock (via taxi, I arranged my own air) until the
time I was on the ship was about 5 minutes. Upon check in they check your documents and give you a
cruise card which serves as your key, ID card and charge card for the ship. Excellent.
Upon boarding, although no one took you directly to your cabin, there was a chain of personnel who
would lead you to your cabin. I had a small inside cabin as I prefer to save the money to spend on other
things (unfortunately the casino!) I was concerned because I knew the cabin was only 135 sq ft which is
quite small. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the cabin. It was very well laid out, made
good use of angles and seemed much bigger than 135 sq. ft. Plenty of storage space and the bathroom
was adequate. It also included a safe and hair dryer. Overall very good.
The personnel on the ship were for the most part very friendly. The cabin steward, and restaurant
personnel were very good. The casino staff was among the friendliest I have come across as were the
purser's deck staff. It seemed as if anytime you walked past a Princess employee they would say hello.
The food was excellent. The availability of food was the best I have seen on any cruise, there was good
food available 24 hours a day. They have a pizzeria which served great pizza. The Horizon court served
food 24 hours per day, including a bistro service late at night where you can get the same quality food
you would in the restaurant for no charge! There were no midnight buffets on the cruise and they were
not missed.
The public areas were fantastic. The casino was excellent. The Wheelhouse bar is the most beautiful bar
I have seen on the ship. The Spinners nightclub was the best I have seen also. The restaurants, while
not as fancy as on some other ships (such as the Galaxy) was pleasant. Ocean Princess also had a
beautiful library and card room. The showroom lounge was pretty good and the theatre (yes a real movie
theatre) was very nice although the acoustics were not that good. The fitness center and spa were
excellent. The layout of the ship was very good. Most of the public areas were centered on 2 decks and
the flow was good.
I am not big on entertainment but the few shows I did go to were very good.
The Itinerary was San Juan, at sea, Curacao, Isla Margarita, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, St. Thomas. Curacao
was very nice. A ten minute walk from the ship and you are in the middle of town. All of the other stops
(except for St. Thomas) require that you take a tour to see anything worthwhile. Isla Margarita and St.
Kitts required taking a tender to the dock. St. Thomas was excellent for the shopping.
Disembarkation was easy.
As you can see I really liked Ocean Princess. However there were a few negatives:
- as a 31 year old, I feared that my fellow passengers would be must too old for me. My fears were
confirmed when upon entry there were about 15 wheelchairs underneath some stairs. While the clientele
was older then you would see on Royal Carribean and Celebrity, there were quite a few young people on
board.
- Princess seems petty on some issues. They charge up to $3.75 for an ice cream sundae by the pool.
They also have a 3% surchage on money charged to your account from the casino. You wouldn't expect
this on ships as classy as Princess!
Overall a great experience. Equal with Celebrity and just a little bit above Royal Carribean. Far superior
to Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Herb Morton calhm@aol.com
Name: Dennis Christel
Email: MonaNwally@webtv.net
Age: 45
Occupation: Cabinet Maker
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Ocean
SailingDate: Mar.4-11 2ooo
Itinerary: Southern Carribean Adventurer
Cabin: j/c316
FoodDiningRoom: 85
CruiseDirector: 80
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 85
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 93
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 84
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService: 85
ShoreExcValue: 92
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 83
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 95
LoungeService: 95
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 84
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 90
EntertShowLounge: 90
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 95
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram: 75
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 80
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 70
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 88
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 22 Mar 2000
Time: 13:49:20
Remote Name: proxy-564.public.rwc.webtv.net
Remote User:
Comments
Two years ago , my wife and i took our first cruise on the Majesty of the Seas with Royal Carribean. We
enjoyed it very much and had very few complaints. This time we decided to try a princess cruise to
compare because we plan on cruising every other year. Let me start by saying the Ocean Princess is a
beautiful ship and the way it was decorated was very impressive. It was about the same size as the
Majesty but i found the layout just a bit more complicated to figure out. We left port at 1:00 a:m ,which
was 2 hours late because some people were late coming aboard. By the next morning we noticed a
constant side to side rolling of the ship, which we thought was caused by the captain trying to make up
for lost time. The seas were not rough by any means but this rolling continued all week, and became very
annoying at times. Especially in the Vista Lounge , located in the very rear of the ship. I heard a lot of
passengers mention this all week. Our cabin steward,Jose, was great as was our waiter,Zoltan and his
assistant Andras. They all showed extra concern that all our needs were met. However i did not like the
main course selections as much as on our last cruise. i went to the backup menu 3 times,which was a
black angus steak. The steak was very good but i think Princess trys to impress people with fancy menu
dishes instead of food the average person would be interested in. All the dishes were very nicely
presented and i wish i would have taken my camera to dinner more often. The side trips were great and
we liked the way Princess lets you pre-book side trips before you cruise to save time and hassles later.
The land rover trip on Barbados was especially fun and our guide Ralph was really a fun guy to be
around. We took two snorkeling tours also but high winds and big waves made it difficult on Antigua. We
really enjoyed the rain forest tour on Trinidad and had lots of fun snapping pictures or the many
hummingbirds we saw. The crew and staff onboard were very nice but the cruise director,Paul,seemed to
repeat all the same phrases all week , almost as if he were reciting them on cue. All in all we had a great
time on this cruise but i would give Royal Carribean a slight nod because of a more stable ride and
slightly better food. But we would sail with Princess again.
Name: tom smith
Email: tasmith@dynasty.net
Age: 53
Occupation: RN
NumberOfCruises: 4
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Ocean
SailingDate: march4,2000
Itinerary: san juan,trinidad,barbados,antigua,martinique,st.h
Cabin: c749
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector:
CabinComfort: 100
FoodRoomService: 90
CruiseStaff:
CabinAmenities: 100
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService:
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward:
ShoreExcVariety: 80
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 75
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 75
LoungeService:
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess: 100
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 90
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities: 85
Casino:
AirSeaProgram: 95
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness:
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs: 95
DeckSpace:
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 100
SpaceRatio:
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 26 Mar 2000
Time: 14:52:59
Remote Name: hmax4.dyn189.ky.us.dynastyonline.net
Remote User:
Comments
WE sailed on The Ocean Princess on March 4 from San Juan. We arrived at the airport at 4:30 p.m. and
finally arrived at the ship at 6:30 p.m.; not because of Princess Cruise Lines,but because of an Art
Festival there that had traffic backed up. We were not informed that our luggage would be picked up by
Princess Cruise Lines at the airport, so waited 30 minutes to find out from a Rep. that luggage was
already picked up before getting to the baggage pick-up. We thought that our luggage had been lost.
Check in was an absolute breeze; the fastest I have had on any other cruise line. We were given a card
which listed our cabin number,table seating and time for dinner, and also functioned as our room key.
We were directed to an elevator and directed to our room on exit.
We had originally been booked in a
mini-suite, but were up-graded at no additional cost to a suite with wonderful amenities. The bath was
larger than mine at home with marbel floors and ceilings and a whirlpool bath. The shower was entirely
glass enclosed. We had two televisions, a wet bar, and an enormous walk in closet with a safe. The only
detrement to having a suite is that they are in the aft of the ship and there is no view of either side of the
ship. Our first day was in Trinidad where Carnival was being celebrated. The streets were filthy with
people quite drunk and passed out in the streets and gutters. We were followed by people seeking
money and bottles; I felt very threatened and finally returned to the ship for safety reasons. We rented a
taxi in Barbados with 10 other people for $20.00 each for a 3 hour tour of the island. Much cheaper than
planned excurions that Princess had to offer. Rained in Martinique, so only went to local shops next to
the ship.
St Thomas is always a favorite; narrow streets with wonderful shops and an opportunity to
barter for prices. Found out that one can no longer bring any type of tobacco products into the U.S. as
they are tax exempt.If one is seeking tobacco, then must buy tobacco products produced outside of the
United States. There is a $1000.00 fine if one is caught with tobacco products from St. Thomas.
Overall,a wonderful cruise with attentive staff for only their third sailing. Would recommend this; have
already booked for next yr. on The Ocean Princess for a different cruise. Tom Smith
Name: Ngoc Ho
Email: n.ho@worldnet.att.net
Age: 31
Occupation: Human Resources Consultant
NumberOfCruises: 3
TravelAgent: Yes
Ship: Princess-Ocean
SailingDate: 3/18/00
Itinerary: Southern Caribbean
Cabin: A740
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 95
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck:
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 85
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 97
ShoreExcVariety: 92
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService: 90
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 95
LoungeService: 90
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors: 95
BeautySalonStaff: 95
EntertainmentLounges: 95
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 97
EntertShowLounge: 92
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon: 95
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities: 85
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 85
ShopsOnBoard: 95
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 27 Mar 2000
Time: 16:52:07
Remote Name: 246.hartford-01-02rs.ct.dial-access.att.net
Remote User:
Comments
This was our third cruise. Our last two cruises were on Carnival and Celebrity. We sailed the Ocean
Princess' Southern Carribbean tour. The itinerary was Trinidad, Barbados, Antigua, Martinique, and St.
Thomas.
We were very impressed with the Ocean Princess. The ship was absolutely gorgeous. While the Ocean
Princess was large, it never seemed crowded. The architects did a good job of creating little nooks and
crannies so that you forgot that there were 2000 passengers on board.
Embarkation in Puerto Rico was quick and painless. There were no lines and no waiting. Our bags
arrived at our rooms soon after we boarded the ship.
Our room was on the Aloha deck and had a balony. We were very impressed with our accommodations.
The room was very tastefully decorated and had a decent amount of space. Our one complaint with the
room was that it shook a little when our neighbors closed their doors. Also, we heard vibrations when the
ship was moving. All in all, we enjoyed our balcony and relaxing in the room.
The dining room was very comfortable. It felt more like a restaurant than a large banquet hall. The
waitstaff was friendly and attentive. We felt that while the food was good, it could have been better. The
food on Celebrity was much better, but the food on the Ocean Princess beat Carnival's.
The Horizon Court was very nice. It's buffet style and you can eat there anytime of day. We were very
impressed with the pizzaria. You can get gourmet style pizza anytime of the day. There is also a grill by
the pool which we did not try.
The entertainment was very good. There are two show lounges so you usually had a choice of two acts
everynight.
The fitness facilities were very impressive. There were a good number of machines and weights. The
spa and beauty salon was also wonderful. I had a facial and was very impressed with the staff.
The pool area was very spacious and nice. There was plenty of room for everyone.
We recommend booking your shore excursions ahead of time because the good ones sold out quickly.
Overall, we enjoyed the ports although we were not particularly impressed with Trinidad. We really
enjoyed the catamaran snorkel tour in Barbados and the jeep tour in Antigua. The kayak tour in ST
Thomas was also really relaxing.
The staff on the Ocean Princess was wonderful. Everyone was very friendly and helpful- more so than
on our Carnival cruise.
Overall, we highly recommend cruising the Ocean Princess. We would definitely do it again.
Name: Kim R
Email: apostrophltd@yahoo.com
Age: 45
Occupation: Consultant
NumberOfCruises: 4
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Ocean
SailingDate: 3/25/00
Itinerary: Curacao, Isla Margarita, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, S
Cabin: 333,331
FoodDiningRoom: 50
CruiseDirector: 80
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService: 80
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 98
FoodLidoDeck: 80
DiningRoomService: 50
CabinQuietness: 80
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 80
ShoreExcVariety: 80
FoodVariety: 50
DeckService: 10
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon: 0
CasinoStaff: 0
PrivateIsland: 0
GoodForFamilies: 80
LoungeService: 90
TenderService: 98
GoodForSeniors: 100
BeautySalonStaff: 0
EntertainmentLounges: 0
WheelchairAccess: 20
ExerciseFacilities: 50
EntertShowLounge: 0
OverallPortsofCall: 80
BeautySalon: 0
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino: 0
AirSeaProgram: 0
MedicalFacilities: 0
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 75
DiscoNightclubs: 0
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 99
ShopsOnBoard: 30
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 75
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 03 Apr 2000
Time: 12:33:02
Remote Name: usi-isdn-dynamic-247.usinternet.com
Remote User:
Comments
We just got back yesterday from our cruise on the Ocean Princess and since I loved reading all the
reviews, I thought I would submit our POV as well. We travel with three cabins and three generations -
my husband and I, my two kids aged 10 and 13 and my 78 year old Mom. This is our fourth cruise - the
others were on Royal Caribbean (1) and Celebrity(2). We decided to try Princess because we wanted a
room with a balcony and Princess had the most. Our conclusion is that what we gave up to get the
balcony is just not worth it and we won't do Princess again. Here is why...
Boarding - the ship sailed from San Juan. On previous trips, we boarded at the terminal in Old San Juan
so you could drop off your hand baggage and walk over to explore. The Princess ship was docked in
some sleazy industrial area where we had to take a cab over to Old San Juan. Also, the place where you
boarded was hot and not air conditioned. Well organized, though and it didn't take long to register, etc.
Ports - We LOVED the ports on this cruise EXCEPT Isla Margarita. We did the walking tour of Curacao
in the morning - fascinating - and went to the seaquarium beach in the afternoon. My 13 year old son
enjoyed the topless sunbathers (UGH). St Vincent is a magnificent island and well worth a tour. We
swam at Young Island beach in the afternoon with the idle rich. St. Kitts was our favorite. We shopped in
the morning and swam at Turtle Beach in the afternoon. Avoid this beach unless you like spending time
crammed in with your fellow cruise passengers - it was a sea of Princess Beach towels. Try Frigate Bay
instead - it was empty - or better yet go to Nevis (we couldn't because the shore excursions were sold
out and the ferry doesn't run on Thursday). St Thomas is best done via rental car - there is a Budget
office right across the street from the cruise pier and a car was $60/day. The cabs are a total rip off.
Don't miss Coki Beach for snorkeling. Maghan's Bay is everything they say and more.
Isla Margarita - is a total waste. The beaches and town are a hour cab ride from the pier each way and
they charge by the person so it would have cost us $300 for a swim! In addition, the ship pulled in at
11AM and the shops close down for a siesta from 1-3 so you cannot shop on this island. If the residents
don't care enough to give up the nap for the revenue from a cruise ship, I am not sure why the ship
stops here anyhow. Aruba is close and better.
Accomodations-Nice, comfortable, balcony rooms have a bit less space bathrooms minicule, just enough
room to store your stuff. CNN via satellite on TV a nice touch if you are a news junkie. Larry King on the
day at sea is a bit strange, though. Balcony had two chairs and a little table. Too bad they don't have
non smoking rooms - our neighbors chain smoked on their deck which gassed us when we went out.
Food Dining Room- Pretty bad. Really. We like to stick with fish on cruises since you are, after all at sea,
but they NEVER served a local fish. Jeeze. They served SALMON twice - that is a COLD water FRESH
water fish. They also served one of those farm raised fish (Tiliapa or soemthing like that) which I thought
was totally silly. Hmmm. Even Royal did a good job with local fish(Celebrity is in a totally different league
- awesome). The poultry dishes seemed to always have some fruity sauce which we hate. The salads
were usually huge hunks of iceberg lettuce that had to be cut with knives to eat. I had to send back my
lobster on the fanciest night because my serving was rotten. Our waiter was kind of annoying - always
trying to tell us what to order (never got this on the other two lines) and always trying to push a wine on
us - kinda felt like shopping in St Thomas. If my kids ordered soup rather than appetizer, it came after
our appetizer so we all sat and waited for each other - they never figured that one out. The desserts
were uninpired - I stuck with cheese. The Baked Alaska on the last night was totally out of character and
silly. Would be OK on Royal, but this is staid British Princess.
Food - Horizon Buffet - this is where we ate most breakfasts and lunches. The crowd in the dining room
was too old and crotchety and seemed to be very annoyed by my very well behaved kids to we avoided
that place. The buffet place was just fine. Nice mix of cold salads, fruits etc for the adults and hot stuff
for the kids. We heard raves from folks about the pizza place and the outdoor grill smelled great, but we
didn't try them.
Clintele - Old Old Old. Oldest of any of the cruises we have taken. VERY few kids, despite this being
spring break week in part of the country. My daughter did love the kids program (she is 10) and went
every day. The teen program sounded fun to me, but my son never stopped in (had too much fun with
mom and dad - NOT!)
At Sea - as bad as you have read about here - the chair reserving problem is a biggy - we went up to
the deck at 9AM - there were 7 people sitting around the deck, but EVERY SINGLE CHAIR HAD A
TOWEL ON IT AS A RESERVATION! (Princess gives each person one beach towel a day in case you
haven't heard and they charge you $20 if you don't turn it back into your room steward at the end of the
day so you can't just throw somebody's towel away - this makes the attendants totally powerless to
eliminate reserving). Well, we just took the chairs anyway, but then people got really hissy and nasty.
This is annoying enough in itself to avoid this line.
Air/Sea - Not so hot here, either. My 78 year old Mom did not have her tickets 48 hours before
departure so they had to fedex her another set. Also, we paid extra to be able choose our flights, but by
the time Princess go around to booking the flights, everything was sold out so we had to go in a round
about way. We have since heard that Princess is notoriously bad about this. If you want your tickets and
flight choices, go on another line. We went down a day early and stayed at the El San Juan Hotel,
booked through Princess at top dollar. We chose to do this so Princess would take care of our pile of
luggage. Hotel has great common areas - you expect Humphry Bogart to walk in at any moment. Rooms
kind of tired. Close to airport and cruise terminal. Nice beach, great pool, eat at the Mexican restaurant
on the roof with great views of San Juan, and don't miss the breakfast buffet - expensive but worth it.
Next year we plan two cruises. Our spring break cruise will definately be Celebrity in the Caribbean
again and after this experience, our family reunion cruise to Alaska will be Holland America. Princess is
off our list!
Name: Kathryn Dailey
Email: kdailey@mindspring.com
Age: 42
Occupation: Homemaker
NumberOfCruises: 4
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Ocean
SailingDate: 04/01/00
Itinerary: Southern Carribbean Adventurer
Cabin: B534-stateroom w/balcony
FoodDiningRoom: 88
CruiseDirector: 85
CabinComfort: 89
FoodRoomService: 80
CruiseStaff: 88
CabinAmenities: 89
FoodLidoDeck: 70
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 95
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 90
ShoreExcVariety: 79
FoodVariety: 85
DeckService: 80
ShoreExcValue: 85
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 90
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 90
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 79
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 65
OverallPortsofCall: 87
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 80
CruiseActivities: 80
Casino: 79
AirSeaProgram: 90
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 80
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 79
ShopsOnBoard:
SpaceRatio: 89
OverallCruiseValue: 89
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 12 Apr 2000
Time: 09:03:42
Remote Name: user-33qt25f.dialup.mindspring.com
Remote User:
Comments
We have just returned from a cruise on the Ocean Princess. It was our second cruise with Princess. We
have also had one cruise with Carnival (never again) and one cruise on the Celebrity Galaxy (great
cruise).
The Ocean Princess is a beautiful ship, but is showing a surprising amount of wear and tear for a ship
that is less than two months old. Much of the wood had lost its varnish and the carpet had many visible
stains. We had previously sailed on the Dawn Princess and this ship is laid out exactly the same.
We chose a Princess air/sea package. We did pay the extra $35 air deviation fee for the ability to
choose our airline. We have had several bad experiences with American Airlines in the Caribbean in the
past and wanted to avoid them. We chose a non-stop Delta flight from Atlanta to San Juan. Paying the
air deviation fee allows you to not only choose your airlines, but also to choose which flights and seats
you want.
Embarkation was very easy. The wait at the airport for a Princess shuttle seemed a little long at about
35 minutes, but we were on the ship by 1:30 in the afternoon. The check-in lines were almost
non-existent. We were greeted by multiple staff people and directed toward our cabin. We asked if there
were any upgrades available and were told that there were not. We had 2195 passengers on board.
We had an outside stateroom with a balcony. The room was on the small side, and didn't have adequate
storage space. It was impossible for two people to be up and moving around in the room at the same
time. The room was very clean. The bathroom was small, but adequate. The balcony was small, but had
a very usable small table and chairs where we enjoyed continental breakfast (all that was available by
room service) each day. There is a refrigerator in each cabin which makes it easy to purchase your own
soft drinks and such while in port. We were never bothered by noise from cabins around us. Our cabin
steward was very polite and our cabin was always clean on our return. The beds were comfortable. We
did have to keep the air conditioner all the way on colder to have the cabin remain a comfortable
temperature. There were times that we would have preferred to have the room slightly cooler, but we
were never too hot.
The servers for the deck bars were very aggressive at selling the drinks. At times, they were even
annoying. On the first afternoon, in a fifteen minute period, we were approached by four different
servers and one of them even came by twice. The pool area was full on our sea day, but seemed to
have an adequate number of deck chairs. The pools were a comfortable temperature. The hot tubs
were often too hot to enjoy and one or more of them was closed most of the time.
We had second seating, as requested, for dinner. The food was great, but not excellent. There was a
fish offering every night, but not a shellfish. We did have lobster tails one night, but no crab legs. The
jumbo shrimp in the shrimp appetizer were actually medium shrimp at best. The portions of all the food
were much smaller than on Celebrity. Of course, you could always order another entrée if needed. It was
quite a coincidence when we had the same waiter on the Ocean Princess that we had last year on the
Dawn. We enjoyed him on the first cruise and continued to enjoy him on this cruise. Service was efficient
and friendly, but lacked the polish of the Celebrity Galaxy. There are no wine stewards or bar servers in
the dining room. Our assistant waiter was new to cruise ships and worked very hard, but didn't know a
lot about wine and bar drinks. We had to write the name of the drinks down on the paper for him. There
were some difficult passengers at the table next to us. They demanded constant attention and special
food and service. They refused to follow the ship's dress code for dinner and wore sweatpants and a
sweatshirt for most of the dinner meals.
The food on the lido deck was fair to good. The desserts tended to be the same most days and were not
very good. After having an early breakfast one morning, we returned to the ship at 11 a.m. for an early
lunch, only to discover that they did not open a lunch line until 11:30 or 12 (we had difficulty pinning
down the exact time from any or the Horizon Court staff). Food was available on the lido deck in the
Horizon Court 24 hours a day, but tended to stay the same all day. The food choices that you had at 12
noon tended to be the same choices at 5 p.m. with the exception of a sandwich bar or pizza added on
some days. The lido deck also had a grill. The food there was pretty good for fast food type food. We
didn't try the pizza restaurant. We did not pay the $3.75 for the ice cream available on the pool deck.
We tried one show on the ship. The entertainment was very weak. After one bad experience, we didn't
go back to a show. The casino staff was very friendly, but the casino was not a busy place. The pace
seemed slow with no one winning at anything. We went back there several times, but didn't stay long.
After second sitting dinner was over, the ship was much quieter than I had expected.
We found Ocean Princess, like Dawn Princess, to not be a very stable ship. Even in calm water with no
whitecaps, the boat rolls from side to side almost anytime that it is not docked. Sometimes it is worse
than others, but the movement is always noticeable. We heard many other passengers complaining
about this. We wondered if it because of the ship's design with the top of the ship much wider than the
base.
The ports were varied and interesting. Our first stop was Trinidad. It was like Jamaica in many ways. The
vendors and taxi drivers were almost too aggressive to make walking around in town bearable. We took
a ship tour to the monastery. The tour was a seemed a little too long. It was an interesting trip, but not a
great trip. The overview of the island was good, but the tour of the guest house at the monastery was
too long.
Our second stop was Barbados. We have previously visited Barbados, so we opted for a quiet beach
day. We walked around for a short time in the shops at the port and then hired a taxi for a trip to a
nearby beach. We rented chairs and had an enjoyable afternoon. Our taxi drive returned for us as
requested. Barbados is a very friendly and beautiful island.
The next stop was Antigua. Near the port, the taxi drivers and vendors were very aggressively pushing
themselves. Once you were about 2 blocks from the docks, you could enjoy the town. After spending
some time in the shops, we hired a taxi (not difficult) to take us to a beach. Several locals in town had
recommended Millers By The Sea. It was a privately owned facility with food and drinks for sale (at
reasonable prices) and chairs for rent. It would have been a very enjoyable afternoon except for the
constant interruption by vendors selling various items. We took a walk down the beach and found the
ruins of a deserted old fort on the bluff of a hill.
We had read all types of bad reviews about Martinique and were extremely skeptical. We found the
people of the island very friendly. Most people spoke at least some English. We took a ferry over to the
beach in the hotel area. It cost only $6 per person for a round trip. The ride was pleasant and the beach
enjoyable. There were beach chairs for rent and food, drink, and bathrooms available. We took the ferry
back to town and spent some time walking around in the shops.
Our last stop was at St. Thomas. This was an enjoyable trip as always. We shopped in town in the
morning without being too crowded. There were only two cruise ships in port that day and one of them
was small. We took the Leyland Sneed snorkeling tour to St. John and Trunk Bay. The boat ride was
pleasant with interesting narration along the way. We had an hour and half for snorkeling or enjoying
the beach. They provided a small boat to take you to the shore if you didn't want to swim. The Ocean
Princess left St. Thomas at sunset while a recording of Andrea Bocelli singing Time to Say Goodbye
played over the intercom speakers. Almost everyone on the ship was on the deck..
Disembarkation was a breeze. They had the airlines come on board for check-in early that morning.
There were plenty of people on shore with carts to gather your luggage, which was not too difficult to
find, and roll it through customs. They took your luggage directly to a baggage check-in located on the
dock. We boarded a waiting airport shuttle and were on our way.
We enjoyed this cruise with Princess and will probably sail with Princess again in the future. While
everything was not perfect, it was a good value for the price.
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