By Sarah Pruzansky, Cruise & Travel Writer | April 09, 2019 ( Comments)
Caribbean Princess, the ship where the entertainment is lively and hilarious, the delicious food options are endless, and the employees are as nice as our ocean and island views.
It was March 9th of 2019, just a month ago, and my coworker Megan and I were excited to jump aboard the Caribbean Princess cruise ship as we pulled up to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, FL. This was not only my first cruise, but also my first time out of the country.
Clumsily fiddling for my passport book and scanning my Medallion information as I boarded the ship, we were brought into the awe-inspiring, exciting and bustling Piazza of the ship. Live steelpan drums were playing as we sat down, sipped some water and contemplated the trip to come.
Not only would we later stand at the Top of the Mountain in St. Thomas overlooking the beautiful Magens Bay Beach, but we'd also take a bus tour through both the Dutch and French sides of St. Maarten - St-Martin, soak up the sunshine at the Princess Cays, meet the kind and hilarious Caribbean Princess Cruise Director Matt, and eat copious amounts of guacamole, potatoes and pastries on the daily.
As someone who loves travelling to Florida's amusement parks, going on mini weekend getaways to homey Airbnbs, and staying in cabins in the beautiful mountains scattered about the USA, going on a seven day Caribbean cruise was a totally new experience for me.
I thought I'd share a bit about our adventures aboard the Caribbean Princess ship in case you may be looking to book your own Princess cruise and are wondering what to expect. And without further ado, here's my seven day Caribbean Princess cruise travel diary:
(L) Balcony stateroom aboard Caribbean Princess, (R) World Fresh Marketplace (c) Princess CruisesCaribbean Princess Cruise Review - Day 1
Saturday - March 9th
Once we boarded the ship and enjoyed the tropical sounds of the steelpan drums in the Piazza, we gathered our carry-on and headed to our balcony stateroom. As we arrived to our door, our steward Gerwin kindly introduced himself and showed us into our room to give us a tour and make sure that everything was according to our expectations.
The cabin was much more spacious than we were originally anticipating, with plenty of room to walk around, more than enough closet and storage space, and a balcony for two. As we walked in, we were also surprised to see our luggage had already arrived to our closet.
Once the greetings and tour ceased, we plopped down onto the luxuriously comfortable beds with a satisfaction that we'd be sleeping well on this trip. Leafing through the pamphlets Gerwin had left for us detailing information about our cruise, our bellies grumbled and we decided to start exploring and grab a bite to eat at the World Fresh Marketplace, the ship's main buffet.
With a variety of food stations labeled by different world destinations, vegetables, soups and more, we had to be picky if we weren't going to fill up too much (it'd be impossible to try everything in one sitting!). I settled on a bowl of green pea soup and bread and a cup of English breakfast tea. We sat down, delighted in our food, and couldn't stop glancing out the window, noticing the amazing view of the ocean the Marketplace offered.
We also noticed that right outside of the buffet on the Lido deck was one of the ship's pools, the Calypso Reef and Pool. Post muster-station safety demonstration, we decided to start working on our tans and fully soak in the beginning of our vacation. Shortly after, we went outside, grabbed a couple of pool towels, put down our stuff on two shaded pool chairs and hopped into the communal jacuzzi. Queue the socializing with strangers (Megan is much more extroverted than me, saving me from the anxiety of coming up with small talk).
Cutting the conversation short was the sound of applause and the voice of “Stay With Me” echoing around us. We turned around and saw the big LED screen displayed over the pool area as Sam Smith walked onto the on-screen stage and sung his soul out. While a wonderful concert, I was slightly disappointed that the “Sam Smith concert” advertised in our Caribbean Princess itinerary wasn't actually Sam Smith on the ship. That would have been wild.
After relaxing in the whirlpools of the hot tub (minus our fears of the children holding ice cream cones that joined us), we headed back to our room to organize our stuff and get ready for dinner.
Deciding to change things up from the buffet lunch we had that day, we headed over to one of the waited, anytime dining restaurants on the ship - the Island Dining Room, decorated in maps, artwork, and cozy lighting. We were brought to our table, had our chairs pulled out for us and our napkins laid onto our laps - a change of pace from the serve-yourself dining I was expecting for the entirety of the cruise. Chowing down on shockingly amazing bread and butter, perfectly portioned meals, and indulgent desserts, we laughed and talked in excitement about our upcoming destinations.
While most would likely spend their first night on the ship out and about, enjoying the events onboard, we were fairly wiped out from our first day of travel so we simply went back to our room to shower and call it a night.
While Megan dozed off in bed, I stepped out onto the balcony and flickered on the light, watched the dark water below me moving through the night, and just breathed in the fresh sea breeze. Opening up Facebook Messenger (which we were able to access through MedallionNet - the ship's WiFi), I made some video calls back home, at peace that I'd be able to stay in touch even out on the ocean. After reading a couple of chapters of the books that I brought with me and staring out at the moon just a little bit longer, I shut off the lights and crawled into my plush bed, letting my eyes drift off into a slumber.
Caribbean cruise blog to be continued...
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