Overall, this was a great cruise. We had fun. We won some trivia. We sang Christmas carols. The decorations were beautiful.
The ship was AMAZING! Princess Cays was WELL WORTH the trip!
The Dolphin excursion made my daughter's year!!!
We know and accept that there are going to be some issues and hiccups every cruise. It's not going to stop us from cruising!
Cruising is our favorite way to vacation!
Embarkation
3 out of 5
To be fair, the terminal was under construction, but I feel a lot of the mess we had to trudge through and go really far around could have been handled much better. Hopefully, they've taken their down-time to finish it all up.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The food is always great on cruises. I have ZERO complaints there.
I do feel that some of the mealtime crowd craziness was handled badly... it was as if they were dealing with it all for the first time - and I just don't see how that is possible. This couldn't have been the first crazy busy cruise for this entire crew.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Pools were great. My daughter loved the slide. I do wish someone would've said something to the older teen screaming bloody murder EVERY. TIME. he went down the slide. After 10 times, it got really annoying. After 20, I wanted to go smack him. After 30, we left.
The ropes course looked like fun, but my daughter never could get someone to hook her up.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Did not like where they had the comedy shows on this ship. Big boat. Christmas crowd. Tiny little venue for the comedy shows. We've attended comedy shows on every cruise we've been on, and this is the first where they stuffed us all into a tiny little bar like sardines... being forced to turn people away.
This was our first Christmas cruise, and I admit I had big hopes, but it felt like they just halfway planned extra Christmas activities. It was hard not to be disappointed.
Better planning is needed.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
This being our first time on this particular ship, I have no idea what all changed with the re-christening, but the ship certainly seemed cleaner, newer, and more high tech than any other we've been on.
Really loved the upgrades! It was so much fun to see our names and itinerary info on the TV every time we turned it on. It gave the whole trip a very personalized feel.
Ship tip
The earlier you arrive for meals, the better... especially on a crowded cruise.
This would have been our best stop easily... if transport had been handled just a little better.
We did the dolphin swim excursion, which was mostly great, but they rushed us out at the end, saying our transportation was waiting. It wasn't. We waited 2 hours on the stupid bus. If there had been more to do where we were, it might have been OK, but there was nothing.
Ended up spending most of our time in port waiting.
Not our favorite port. We prefer ports with small markets close to the ship, that actually sell souvenirs... Not junk you can buy at any flea market for about a tenth of the price they were charging.
We walked a long way into town, pretty much for nothing - as the shops there were pretty much the same.
One bright spot: I can now say I've been to a Starbucks in the Caribbean.
BEST PORT EVER! This was our first time to Princess Cays, and it WILL NOT be our last! We will actively seek out cruises with it as a destination from now on, because we enjoyed it so much!
The beach is stunning! The atmosphere is so laid back and fun! I could spend a month there, and totally not get tired of it!
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