All Aboard the Caribbean Princess

We walk down to the lobby to get breakfast but the prices are out of this world!  $30 for the breakfast buffet, and $26 for the continental breakfast – ouch.  We both agree to head out and see if we can find a dinner somewhere.  No problem there is one right across the street, Lindys.  Now this is more our style.  Food was good, and hit the spot. 

We don’t have a whole lot of time but again we want to take advantage of being in New York so we head towards 5^th Avenue and then Rockefeller Square.  We are both surprised at how small the square is.  There is no ice there now but a lovely outdoor café but again we both figured it would be bigger than it is. 

We walk towards Broadway and they have an outdoor market happening and the street is closed off for pedestrians.  It is really nice, and I actually end up buying a few scarves 3 for $20! 

Back at the hotel and we pack up our stuff and stick on the luggage tags for Princess and head out.  Our car is waiting for us.  Again we booked with Carmel Car Service, for $38 they take us to the pier.  Plus we had a $3 coupon so it worked out to $35.  The driver was great and pointed out some of the sights as we passed.

Red Hook Pier parking

the Red Hook Pier.  The building on the left is the check/in.  the curved awning in middle is the pick up location for people with car services or friends picking up.  The middle two awnings are for taxis and shuttles.  The far right is for buses.

When we arrive at Brooklyn Pier the traffic is very heavy and we inch forward to the drop off area.  The pier is very nice but there are a lot of people here trying to get on too.  We arrived around 12:45 and we had a quick line to get thru security.  Then there was quite a long queue for those boarding but the Preferred check in was rather quick and after about 10 minutes in line we were given our cards and directed to board right away.

Those that are not preferred were given a boarding number and had to wait for their number to be called.

In all the boarding process was very efficient and thorough and all the staff we had to deal with were very helpful and friendly.

This is our 40^th Princess cruise, wow how time flies.

We are in an inside cabin this trip, C725 and that is okay since this is an extra trip and it is a back to back and all we could justify.

After boarding we drop off our bags – gee I love that we can access our cabins right away not like some other lines.  We head to the International Café and grab a tea and latte and a small bite to eat from the International Café.  We recognize a few people and we are shocked when they remember us. 

We are excited to see Douw the Head Waiter on board.  In fact he and Delmarie are the reasons we booked this trip so we could see them.  Douw is in the Island Dining room right now answering questions about passengers, dining arrangements.  We have a quick catch up and then we are off to explore the ship.

We have never been on the Caribbean but it is very much like the Emerald with a few minor differences.  For instance Sabatinis is on the Promenade Deck here and there is no Adagio but they do have a Café Caribe.

The muster drill is scheduled for 4:15 and it is currently 4 pm and we still don’t have our bags.  I am sure they will arrive soon. 

Wow just had a knock at the door and flowers were delivered!  No card so not sure who they are from.  Will have to scout out who they are from but no matter who they are much appreciated. 

I should add that as we wandered around we ran into Conrad a waiter we have sailed with three other times, he is also from South Africa.  Then we saw Jose from Mexico a waiter we sailed with on the Star.  Jay the Art Director is also on board, a fellow Canadian from Ottawa who we have sailed with numerous times.  When we dropped into Sabatinis we saw a waiter there that recognized us from the Emerald last January.  This is why we consider being on a ship coming home, cause we get to see our Princess Family! 

There are a lot of new cruisers on board, as we walk the hallways we see very few elite door tags, and a lot of blue ones. 

We are both tickled to be back on board and spend the next 14 days on board the beautiful Caribbean Princess.

Movies Under The Stars for this voyage are:

Dirty Dancing, The Princess Bride, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Top Gun, The Internship, Iron Man 3, Now You See Me, Oblivion, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Great Gatsby.

Production Shows:  Welcome Aboard Show, Piano Man, Born to Be Wild, Do You Wanna Dance.  Comedian Steve White, Tribute Act Horizon, Comedy Magic with John Ferrentino.

Production show times tonight are 7:00 pm and 8:30 pm.  Muster is at 4:15 and sail away is scheduled for 5:00 pm.

Ship’s Officers:  Captain Giorgio Pomata, Staff Captain Gavin Pears, Chief Engineer Andrew Carney, Hotel General Manager Adam Gorst, Cruise Director Neil Roberts, Senior Doctor Christine Visage, Food & Beverage Director Michael Glass, Customer Services Director Dana Ionescu, Executive Housekeeper Liliana Antonesei, Executive Chef Antonio Cereda, Maitre d’Hotel Mario Propato.