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Note - this page contains multiple reviews.
Name: Richard Berry
Email: re-berry@msn.com
Age: 60
Occupation: Retired
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Sea
SailingDate: Feb 26, 2000
Itinerary: Western Carribbean
Cabin: C442
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector: 98
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService: 95
CruiseStaff: 98
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService: 98
CabinQuietness: 95
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 98
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 95
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff: 90
PrivateIsland: 95
GoodForFamilies: 95
LoungeService: 90
TenderService: 95
GoodForSeniors: 95
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess: 90
ExerciseFacilities: 95
EntertShowLounge: 98
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 98
Casino:
AirSeaProgram: 70
MedicalFacilities: 90
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 95
DiscoNightclubs: 95
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 26 Mar 2000
Time: 12:47:47
Remote Name: 1cust43.tnt3.redmond.wa.da.uu.net
Remote User:
Comments
Our cruise to the Western Carribbean was great The ship, weather, food, and experience were all
outstanding.
The following comments are a cryptic summary of our experiences:
Ship: The Sea Princess is a beautiful, well maintained ship. We had previously cruised on Holland
America's Veendam and found them very comparable in quality. We had been concerned that the SP's
larger size could be a problem with crowding, but did not find that to be true.
Cabin: We had a cabin with a veranda. The cabin was small, but very adequate. Because our cruising
group included the two adjoining cabins, we were able to enlarge the veranda to include all three cabins.
Do NOT miss the luxury of breakfast on the veranda in your white bathrobe supplied by Princess.
Food: We had a table at the first seating that included our party of six. We very much enjoyed our
waiters Felix and Allan. They made our dining experience very pleasant. The food in the dining room
was very good and included a good variety of options. I found the fish better than the beef. The fresh
fruit was always excellent and the desserts were great.
The food on the Lido deck and other options was OK. The Lido was very crowded at peak times and
seemed disorganized. I think Princess has made a good decision to abandon the Midnight buffet
concept.
Entertainment: The variety and quality of entertainment was more than I expected. On our previous
cruise the entertainment was not very good. This time the entertainment was great. Because we had
early dinner seating we started the entertainment at 8:30 and found this good timing.
Excursions: Our group did a variety of excursions and found most were worthwhile. At Ocho Rios I had a
memorable experience on the kayak/Dunn River Falls trip. Our kayak was defective, filled with water and
sank. My kayak partner and I had to be rescued. I was not impressed with the people running this tour.
(We got a refund from Princess.) On Grand Cayman, my wife and I snorkled with the stingrays. That was
a blast. The best excursion was the snorkeling trip on Cozumel. We went on a catamaran to a reef and
then to a private beach. Even though there were not a lot of tropical fish, the trip was great.
Air/Sea Program: We were VERY unhappy that Princess expected us to fly from Seattle on the day of
the cruise instead of arriving the day before as Holland America does. They expected us to arrive at Ft.
Lauderdale at 6PM, one hour before the ship sailed. Only after making a major fuss about this with our
travel agent did we get this changed. Princess did not cooperate and I would NEVER let them arrange
for air travel again.
Overall: We will definitely cruise with Princess again. Their formula (with the previously noted exception)
for cruising meets our expectations very well. We liked almost every aspect of the cruise.
Name: RON WARFEL
Email: rwarf@uswest.net
Age: 45
Occupation: SALES
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Sea
SailingDate: 4-1-00
Itinerary: western carribean
Cabin: B314/JJ
FoodDiningRoom: 98
CruiseDirector: 95
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService: 95
CruiseStaff: 98
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 95
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 95
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 95
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService: 90
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 90
PrivateIsland: 95
GoodForFamilies: 98
LoungeService: 95
TenderService: 95
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 85
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 95
EntertShowLounge: 95
OverallPortsofCall: 95
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 100
Casino: 95
AirSeaProgram: 95
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 98
DiscoNightclubs: 95
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 85
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 09 Apr 2000
Time: 23:53:07
Remote Name: amdialup89.phnx.uswest.net
Remote User:
Comments
This was our first cruise, and hopefully it won't be our last. Princess did just about everything right.
About the only thing that went wrong was a two-hour rain delay in Dallas, and I can't blame that on the
people at Princess. Overall, I'd say that cruising is like any other really good vaction, except your in a
different place every day and somebody else has planned a thousand things to do if you want to do
them. We had an inside cabin on the Baja deck, and we found it to a very good choice for us. We were
able to go into one of the mini-suits on our deck and it was wonderful, but it would have increased the
cost of our trip by about $300.00 a day. As we only spent about an hour a day in our room awake, to us
that wasn't worth the difference.
Our cabin had plenty of storage space for all of our clothes, we packed
way to much stuff, and our suitcases stowed under the bed just fine. When we first saw our cabin, we
both thought it was very small, and it was, but it was never a problem. The shower is really small, and
the toilets make a lot of noise, but both worked-out just fine. In fact, I loved the shower because you
could contoll the water temperature exactly the the temp you wanted, and the water was always hot
instantly. Our cabin was always kept in perfect shape by our room steward, Boni. He was the best, better
than anyone in any nice hotel I've ever stayed in. As far as the ports of call, our first stop was at
Princess Cays. It is Princess's own little piece of paradise, and everybody who went there had a great
time. They served a great lunch of burgers, ribs,sausage, tons of fresh fruit and the bar was cranking
out the drinks. All in all, it was a super way to start the cruise.
After a day at sea, we next stopped in
Ochos Rios, Jamaica. The joke goning into port was that are 53,000 people in the city and 51,000 of
them are cab drivers, that may not be to far off. But I'd read on this site about how people were
mis-treated by pushy vendors, and I certainly did not see that. We walked about half a mile into the main
shopping center in town, and while every cab driver asked to take us somewhere, none of them were
doing anything wrong. We shopped for about an hour then walked back to the ship, changed clothes
and then went back to the pier and hired a cab to take to Dunns River Falls. The fare was $22.00
roundtrip, and the cab driver dropped us off and told us he'd be back at 2:30. We went into the falls and
figured we'd never see him again, but when we left, he was there waiting for us. Wonderful. And the very
small part of Jamaica we saw was beautiful. Watches and coffee were the two best buys there, and the
people in the stores, mostly Indian, were mostly very nice to us.
Our next stop was supposed to be
Geogetown, Grand Caymas, but rough sea in the port put us about fifteen miles down the coast at
another smaller port called Spots Bay. There were two Carnival ships in port at the same time, and it got
to be quite a fiasco trying to shuttle 7500 people into town and to their tours. But I only heard of one tour
being cancelled, due to high seas, and everything went pretty much okay. We only got to see a small
portion of Georgetown, and I wasn't very impressed with what I saw. It was also very expensive. Tee
shirts that cost $7.50 in Jamaica were $24.95 in Caymas. There were some good buys on cosmetics and
higher ticket items if that's of intrest to you. After shopping, went on a tour to Stingray City, and it was
really great. They take you out about five miles in the ocean to this huge sandbar where the water is
only about waist deep, and you get to get in the water with these wonderful animals. Some people kind
of freaked out, but if you follow some simple instuctions, you should have a great time. The last stop on
our trip was the one we most looked forward to, Cozumel, one of our favorite places.
Having had been
there before, we knew what we wanted to do, and where to go. We bought a really nice Tanzanite stone
and had it mounted in a great setting for my wife. I figure we save about half what it would have cost of
at home, and that's almost what we spent on the cruise. While in Cozumel, we went on one of the ships
tours, the Atlantis submarine, and I think we were both a little disappointed in the tour. It was an overcast
day, and there just wasn't much light at 100 feet below sea level. After the tour, we went into town and
had lunch at La Chosa's. It was great, and there were a lot of cruisers there eating and having a great
time. After lunch we shopped in town a little bit then went back to the ship and took a well deserved nap.
The last day of our trip was at sea, which gives you a chance to take it easy for a while, you need it. We
found out that a cruise is a vacation where you can take it easy and basicly do nothing but veg out, or
you can be busy from sun-up till way after mid-night.
Either way, I don't see how a person can't want to
go again. As for food on the ship, there's just not a way for anyone to even get hungry. There are all
kinds of dining options. We chose not to go to the formal nights in the main dining room. Instead, we
went to Lago's pizzaria, and had some really good pizza, then went to see a movie. The rest of the
nights we ate in the dining room and always had good food. We ate breakfast everyday in the Horizon
court buffet up on the Lido deck. We found the food there to fresh and there was always a great variety
of what to eat. You name it, it was probably there for breakfast, and plenty of it. I guess that our only
complaint with Princess is that soft drinks aren't included with meals in the dining rooms. I can see that
with all the kids on board, why soft drinks aren't free at the bars, but they should be included at the
dinning rooms. Overall, the guys at Princess take better care of you than most of us are used to be
taken care of, and they do it with a smile.
Name: Bette and Del Gray
Email: grayson@oanet.com
Age: 46
Occupation: adult educator
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Sea
SailingDate: March 25, 2000
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
Cabin: C412
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 80
CabinComfort: 98
FoodRoomService: 90
CruiseStaff: 98
CabinAmenities: 98
FoodLidoDeck:
DiningRoomService: 98
CabinQuietness: 98
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 98
ShoreExcVariety: 98
FoodVariety: 98
DeckService: 90
ShoreExcValue: 98
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff: 80
PrivateIsland: 98
GoodForFamilies: 90
LoungeService:
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 80
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 70
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram: 95
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 98
EmbarkDisembark: 98
DiscoNightclubs: 85
DeckSpace: 98
Stabilization: 98
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 98
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 10 Apr 2000
Time: 22:50:34
Remote Name: dialin-207-153-26-174.edm.oa.net
Remote User:
Comments
This was our first cruise and it was the best holiday we've ever had. From the very beginning of our air
journey to our return home, everything was organized and coordinated so that all we had to do was
enjoy!
Our plane connections from Edmonton to Fort Lauderdale were excellent, with only one stop in
Minneapolis. We stayed at the Marriott North in Fort Lauderdale overnight, and had time to have a
leisurely supper and breakfast there before boarding the bus to go to the Princess terminal at Port
Everglades. The embarking process went quickly and smoothly - less than an hour between start and
finish. Once on the ship, there were several staff available to help people find their cabins.
Our cabin was in the middle of the ship on Caribe deck, so was very close to the elevators (which we
never used) and to the laundromat (which we did use). We had a balcony which was quite small - room
for two chairs and a table - but it was nice to be able to have the fresh air and the view. We later visited
several other types of cabins and decided that if we had to save money, we could compromise on a
room with a window but that the inside cabins were quite dark. But we certainly enjoyed the balcony that
we had. The cabin had lots of closet space and all three suitcases fit easily under the bed (which was a
queen composed of two twins pushed together). The cabin also had a tv and a bar frig, plus a small
safe. The bathroom was very tiny but serviceable. Our room steward was very kind and helpful without
being obviously underfoot - he just miraculously was around whenever you needed him. My husband
had arranged via the Internet to rent a tuxedo for the formal nights, and it was delivered within 10
minutes of us arriving in our rooms. Five minutes later a bottle of champagne was delivered courtesy of
our travel agent, so we were off to a good start.
We were booked on the early dinner seating at a table for four by a window, and made great friends with
our tablemates who were also on their first cruise and who were also celebrating an anniversary. We felt
very fortunate to have these wonderful tablemates who became friends. It was fun to compare stories
every night about our various daily excursions. The food, of course, was awesome, and our table waiters
were gracious and helpful. The head waiter was also very friendly and professional. We usually ate
breakfast in the Horizon Court buffet, but had breakfast and lunch once in the formal dining room where
the food was a little bit better than in the buffet. My husband had a hamburger from the deck grill once
and said it was fabulous. We never did get around to having a pizza, but heard that they were good.
The evening entertainment was the only thing about the cruise that was a little bit lacking. The shows
emphasized a lot of costumes and dancing which wasn't exactly to our taste. The comedian one night
was excellent, and we enjoyed dancing in Rocky's disco a couple of nights. The tropical deck party was
fun, with an incredible fruit buffet. The first formal night involved the Captain's cocktail party before
supper, and it was very glamorous with everyone quite dressed up. Another night the head waiter made
a champagne waterfall in the atrium of 634 glasses, so that was fun to watch and then everybody
celebrated and danced with some of the serving staff afterward.
We took two cameras and had one loaded with daytime film and one for evening, so were pleased with
our photos. Speaking of photos, Princess takes pictures of you everywhere, so we had fun previewing
all the photos on display and deciding which ones to buy. It was an easy way to have a formal photo
done, since at home we never seem to get around to going to a studio.
We enjoyed our shore excursions, and appreciated the variety offered. We had booked all of our
excursions before hand, and the tickets were in our room when we arrived. We subsequently changed
our mind about our Mexican tour, and it was no problem at all to have it changed. We climbed Dunn's
River Falls in Ochos Rios, and were treated to powerful rum drinks on the catamaran ride back. In
Grand Cayman we took the Stingray City snorkel tour which was well worth the money. In Cozumel, we
did the four hour tour which included the San Gervaisis ruins and a one and a half hour stop at Playa
del Sol on the beach. Then we spent some time in Carlos n' Charlie's in Cozumel, which is definitely a
unique and lively experience! We had sunny skies and calm seas for all seven days of our cruise, and
even the Captain said we were an exceptionally lucky crew! We went on the ship tours of the galley and
the bridge, and both of those were worth the time. The library on board had a wonderful variety of
books, so you don't have to take a book with you.
Disembarking was just as smooth as embarkation, even though as Canadians we had to be present for
a 6:00 a.m. Customs check in the Vista Lounge. Our bus took us directly to the airport, where I was in
shock to be back in the real world of less-than-gracious clerks and retail staff, after having become used
to the smiles and charm of the Princess staff. Now that we're home again, we often go to the Princess
website to check out the live Bridge cam and live Atrium cam sites to see what we're missing. And we're
saving up so we can go cruising again!
Name: Jim McQueen
Email: SEAWARDII@aol.com
Age: 47
Occupation: Master Production Scheduler
NumberOfCruises: 18
TravelAgent: Yes
Ship: Princess-Sea
SailingDate: April 1,2000
Itinerary: Western Caribbean: Jamaica, Cozumel, Grand Cayman
Cabin: C720 Category BD
FoodDiningRoom: 93
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 93
FoodRoomService: 90
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 92
FoodLidoDeck: 93
DiningRoomService: 98
CabinQuietness: 96
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 95
FoodVariety: 97
DeckService: 98
ShoreExcValue: 95
GoodForHoneymoon: 89
CasinoStaff: 90
PrivateIsland: 96
GoodForFamilies: 90
LoungeService: 92
TenderService: 99
GoodForSeniors: 89
BeautySalonStaff: 91
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess: 95
ExerciseFacilities: 90
EntertShowLounge: 99
OverallPortsofCall: 94
BeautySalon: 92
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 92
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 99
EmbarkDisembark: 99
DiscoNightclubs: 95
DeckSpace: 93
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 96
OverallCruiseValue: 97
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 11 Apr 2000
Time: 16:15:51
Remote Name: spider-th083.proxy.aol.com
Remote User:
Comments
Overall, this was the best of our 18 cruises over the past 14 years...embark and disembark was the
smoothest ever ( a massive improvement from the last Princess cruise 2 years prior )......food in the
dining room consistently exceeded our expectations, and the 24 hour Horizon Court keeps getting better
and better, offering alternative dining options almost never offered by the other major cruise lines. Our
particular cruise had several families aboard, but we rarely saw the children due to Princess' excellent
"Fun Zone" and other supervised activities........Princess Cays, the private Bahamian island on
Eleuthera, is far and away the best operation of all the major cruise lines owning these types of
properties; service, food, and activities abounded, and the overall layout was extremely user friendly to
passengers. In the Entertainment area, we experienced a 180 degree turnaround from the Sun
Princess; this sailing, the production shows Rhythms of the City, C'est Manifique, and Glamour were all
excellent and certainly were on a par with Carnival and Royal Caribbean's nightly entertainment....all the
variety acts and performers in the Vista Lounge were extremely good, also. For the first time, we opted
for a balconied stateroom; although compact units at a total of 179 sq feet, we will NEVER go back to a
standard stateroom ever again!!! Just feeling and experiencing the sea air, or the solitude of afternoon
cocktails, was well worth the extra few hundred dollars! Cruise staff, dining room/ pizzeria staff,
entertainers, officers, bar staff, etc. all made for an exciting, action packed, but also relaxing week at
sea. Sea Princess is the best we have sailed on to the Western Caribbean, and after all is said and
done, Princess still gives the most bang for the buck to the Caribbean.........NCL, RCI, Carnival and HAL
sit up and take notice!!! ( This time even the food was as good if not better than Celebrity!!!) Princess
Cruises..........job well done, you are the professionals!!!
Name: Paula Kirchens
Email: nonnie11@flippinweb.com
Age: 58
Occupation: Registered Nurse
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Sea
SailingDate: 04-01-00
Itinerary: Western Carribean
Cabin: c 601
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 99
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService: 89
CruiseStaff: 98
CabinAmenities: 98
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets: 80
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 95
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 85
ShoreExcValue: 95
GoodForHoneymoon: na
CasinoStaff: na
PrivateIsland: 90
GoodForFamilies: 90
LoungeService: 90
TenderService: 95
GoodForSeniors: 92
BeautySalonStaff: na
EntertainmentLounges: 99
WheelchairAccess: na
ExerciseFacilities: na
EntertShowLounge: 99
OverallPortsofCall: 95
BeautySalon: na
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 95
Casino: na
AirSeaProgram: 95
MedicalFacilities: na
ShipCleanliness: 98
EmbarkDisembark: 98
DiscoNightclubs: 92
DeckSpace: 85
Stabilization: 98
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 98
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 13 Apr 2000
Time: 19:24:23
Remote Name: 122849066.southshore.com
Remote User:
Comments
Our cruise was absolutely wonderful. The sea princess is everything that is advertised. It is very clean
and the workers taking care of this difficult and frustrating job are cheerful, friendly and do not seem to
care that in a matter of minutes it could be messy again. The cruise director and his staff are more fun
than a barrel full of monkies. They seem to really enjoy their jobs and most definitedly have the
ppassengers interest at heart.The entertainment by far surpasses our last cruise on RCL. Paula and
David are great. Cabin service is great. All the attendants that we met were cheerful and aimed to
please. Cabin was always clean and welcoming. The food is probably our only disappontment if you
want to call it that. Although, very good it was a step below RCL. Portions were often small and lacked
flavor. Has brown potatoes the size of silver dollars are not a good thing. Service was very good and
professional and business-like. However, our waiter did not have much of a sense of humor and acted
like it was a bother to get what we asked for, so we asked the assistant waiter. This is probably the only
area where I would fault the Sea Princess. However, many of our fellow passengers had great fun with
their waiters. We would most definely sail princess lines again and plan to.
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