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Name: Rod Hoots
Email: rhoots@erols.com
Age: 68
Occupation: Retired
NumberOfCruises: 27
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Sun
SailingDate: 31 Jan 98 (7 days)
Itinerary: Princess Cay, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel
FoodDiningRoom: 80
CruiseDirector: 100
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService: 80
CruiseStaff: 100
CabinAmenities: 70
FoodLidoDeck: 70
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 98
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 80
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 90
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 60
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors: 85
BeautySalonStaff: 20
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 95
EntertShowLounge: 90
OverallPortsofCall: 70
BeautySalon: 80
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino: 50
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 100
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 95
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 85
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 19 Feb 1998
Time: 18:26:44
Remote Name: 207.172.40.15
Remote User:
Comments
This was the 27th cruise for my wife and I and third on Princess line. We took the cruise
because it was a good bargain
and a pleasant way to break up the winter. The Sun Princess is a beautiful ship and
scrupulously maintained. The art
dealers on board give a free tour of the 2 1/2 million worth of art work throughout the
ship and it is very impressive. We
drove to Port Everglades (Ft Lauderdale), dropped our luggage right at the ship and parked
across the street in the
clean and spacious multi level garage. Parking is $7 per day and when leaving you can pay
by credit card. The boarding
system was the best of any cruise we've been on - every cruise line should copy it. Our
cabin was A503, Category BB, on
Aloha Deck. The cabin was rather small but had a balcony. It was in a good location and
there was no activity on the deck
above to wake us in the morning. The cabin steward was excellent We looked at the next
level of cabin, Category AC,
which was almost twice as big and had a bathtub instead of a shower - a very nice cabin.
However, the discounted price
which attracted us to this cruise did not extend to that category. The Cruise Director,
Keith Cox, and his staff were
superior - really kept things going with lots of laughs. We would rate the food about 8 on
a scale of 10, in our experience.
Our Portugese dining room steward was excellent, as was his Romanian assistant. Quite a
few of the dining room crew
were from former Eastern Bloc countries and they were all good. We were very dissatisfied
with the dining room itself. The
ceiling was low, it was too crowded, and lack of soundproofing made the noise level too
high to enjoy conversation.
Toward the end of a meal it was hot and stuffy. Alternative dining was limited and the
quality ranged from good to
mediocre. My wife was very irritated because one of the beauticians cancelled an
appointment without notification and
then lied to her about it - the hair styling, when furnished, was poor. We did not
understand the Bingo payoff system - on
our last cruise (12 days) the jackpot built up to $12,000 - on this ship (7 days) it was
only $2,000 although the price of
cards was the same. In the past the ships themselves ran Bingo and profits went to a
seaman's fund - on this ship the
casino had control and I think they made an exorbitant profit. The same thing applied to
the slot machines - payoffs were
so poor that most people just quit playing. From what we have seen for the past few years
it seems that gambling on
cruise ships has been taken over by outside interests and is run solely for profit rather
than for the entertainment of the
passengers. Except for snorkeling and scuba diving, the shore excursions were rather
limited. There were excursions
scheduled for Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, Crand Cayman was scratched
because it was too rough
to go ashore. We received absolutely no compensation for missing Grand Cayman - on a
previous cruise on another line
we received a free shore excursion at another port - pretty cheap, Princess! We had been
to Jamaica before and just
tried to walk along the road near the ship. Soon gave up because of the constant
harrassment by locals. The general
opinion of everyone we talked to was that Jamica isn't worth docking at because of the
filth and general attitude of the
people. If the cruise companies would boycott it for a while maybe the authorities would
clean it up. It was our first visit to
Cozumel and we found it delightful with friendly people and a general feeling of well
being.
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