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Name: Wade Koch
Email: wade@kochnet.com
Age: 33
Occupation: Program Manager
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Princess-Sun
SailingDate: 18 April 98
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector: 85
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 89
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 85
FoodMidnightBuffets: 89
CabinSteward: 99
ShoreExcVariety: 95
FoodVariety: 99
DeckService: 85
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland: 90
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 85
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 95
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 95
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino:
AirSeaProgram: 99
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 99
EmbarkDisembark: 85
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 89
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 05 Sep 1998
Time: 20:55:10
Remote Name: 207.224.147.135
Remote User:
Comments
Well, where do we begin. First of all we should tell you this
cruise was the best vacationing experience of our lives.
Embarkation was a breeze. The
facilities were not overcrowded and the staff was very courteous.
It was nice not having to handle our luggage since Princess had
it taken directly to our
stateroom once our plane landed. Getting settled was a snap and
the sail-away party was nice. As corny as it may sound, the
playing of the 'Love Boat'
theme, when we sailed out, really set the mood. The Sun Princess
is a gorgeous ship and well taken care of. Our stateroom was
immaculate and our
stateroom steward did an outstanding job throughout the entire
voyage. He was like a ghost except when we needed something and
then he was never
far away. Out of pure luck, we happened to be assigned a handicap
stateroom. The extra space was wonderful! The amount of food was
unfathomable.
We never went hungry with gourmet dining to fast food available
24 hours a day. Everything was delicious and most of all free!
The only drawback to
dining on the cruise was the sodas weren't free. What's up with
that? For those of you planning to lose weight on the cruise, do
it before hand! Our
dinner mates were on their 7th cruise, which also happened to be
their 25th anniversary and my wife was celebrating her 31st
birthday. We had a table
for 4 and our waiters, Antonio and Pedro were outstanding. It
must have been the three desserts they brought us every night.
After the first night at
dinner, Antonio and Pedro knew exactly what wine, coffee and
desserts we liked and brought them every night without being
asked. Now that’s service!
As far as value goes; we easily ate two thirds of the cost of the
entire trip in fine dinning while cruising with Princess. The
ports of call were magical. Our
first destination was Princess' own private island, Princess
Cays, in the Bahamas (on the southern tip of Eleuthera island).
It was a full day of fun on
'Gilligans Island', snorkeling, swimming, and walking along the
beach. Oh yeah, did I mention the endless tropical drinks and
steel drum band? What a
great way to introduce 1st time cruisers to the Caribbean. Way to
go Princess! We sailed for Ocho Rios, Jamaica that evening and
woke up in port. We
had heard rumors that a lot of people didn't like Ocho Rios
because of the pushy vendors there. Many older people we talked
to on the ship would not
disembark at all. However, we carefully hired a cab for the day
at $25 a person and dove in head first. Our cab driver Leroy, had
an air conditioned
Caprice Classic that took us through fern gully, to see the
famous 'Blue Mountains' (awesome coffee by-the-way), Celebrity
houses, gorgeous Botanical
Gardens and Dunns River Falls. At the falls, Leroy waited for us
and told us to take our time (we weren't too worried since we
hadn't paid him yet). We
chose not to hike up the falls, bad mistake. We're definitely
going to next time. The only draw back to Dunns River Falls is
having to exit the park through
a maze of vendors. Some caution was realized here but overall not
a bad experience. If you've ever been to a farmers market or a
flea market, this is
similar. Although the local vendors were pushy, a firm no sent
them away with no further hassle. They will barter though! Leroy
took us back to the ship
safe and sound. Jamaica was a great experience. Get off the boat
in Ocho Rios! The next morning we woke up in Grand Cayman. Here
we did a glass
bottom boat trip to look at the coral, went to 'Hell' (a town
called hell), visited the Tortuga Rum factory and walked around
town, a very relaxing day. On to
Cozumel. Cozumel was the last port before sailing back to Florida
but by far the best! We chose to visit Tulum on the mainland. A
bumpy 45-minute boat
ride to LaPlaya Del Carmen and a 45-minute bus ride brought us to
some gorgeous Mayan ruins nestled right on the coast of the
Yucatan Peninsula.
Breathtaking! The trip back to Ft Lauderdale was too fast,
probably because we didn't want our dream to end. Formal nights
on the ship were wonderful.
The champagne waterfall took over 700 glasses and 100 bottles of
champagne. The entertainment on the Sun Princess was great. The
plays and lounge
acts were enjoyable. We took the liberty of watching a few
first-run movies while we sailed and took advantage of the deck
party as well. There was
always a hot tub available anytime we wanted one and the plethora
of poolside waiters kept our whistles wet. O.K. It's been nothing
but good comments
so far, so where's the bad stuff right? Well, this was our first
cruise. We had nothing to compare it too. We read every comment
from 'Cruise Opinion' we
could to prepare and they just didn't do it justice. However, we
did talk to several people on the cruise that had cruised
anywhere from 2 to 14 times and
everyone agreed it would be hard to top Princess. So, we'll let
you make your own decision. One word of warning; once you cruise,
you can't stop! Thank
you Princess.
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