We were hesitant to sail in a pandemic and not thrilled with the idea of masking up everywhere outside your stateroom. But we’ve been living with this damn virus for better than 2 years. And it’s time to start living our lives again. We only met one person who tried to export his limited medical degree knowledge (that he received from Bubba Medical College), about the worthless-ness of masking up. Regardless, 99.9998% of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and greatly appreciated how hard the crew is working to keep everyone safe. Those crew members need their jobs. They want to work to provide for their families around the world. They serve you well. Most of us honored their efforts by doing what WE CAN DO to help everyone sail safely.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We elected to take the telemedicine COVID antigen test on Friday for our Sunday embarkation. These kits were ordered through Princess Cruises and were shipped to our home about a week before leaving. Traveling from Michigan on Friday meant testing once in our motel room in Ft Lauderdale. Unfortunately, one of the members we were to cruise with tested positive multiple times and did not board with us. (They were given a 100% credit or refund). The rest of us continued with our cruise.
Wife and I rented a car from Avis, which had a drop off right outside the port and complimentary shuttle back to the cruise terminal. On embarkation day, I simply dropped them off at the terminal with the luggage and returned the car. By the time I was shuttled back, they were aboard. Embarkation took less time than I took to write this.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
We reserved a table for 5 for each evening at 6:00 pm under the “Dine my way” medallion app and it worked flawlessly. We had the same table each night (meaning the same waiters) and completely enjoyed their service. One of our table mates had dietary restrictions, so each night NATHAN (the restaurant manager) would pay a visit to ensure everything was as expected. Plus, an advance view of the next evening’s menus was presented so the meal could be made with the restrictions. #1-There was nothing on the menu that was desired, that couldn’t be adapted; and #2-There was always a surprise. One night, escargot was made special for me. They brought one out for everyone else too. Problem was, My sister and I were the only ones that like it. So I ended up eating nearly everyone else’s too! (Couldn’t send it back!). Then, they brought a 2nd one out, just for me! I ended up eating 25-30 of them, but was in heaven. Great service, awesome food. Oh yeah, one other thing, Nathan ‘arranged’ a thick cut of meat rare prime rib for me. It was over an inch thick and I literally cut it with just my fork…wonderful!
Crown Grill
5 out of 5
Great as always and a special treat. Well worth the additional cost to experience.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Excellent Entertainment
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Can’t say enough. We sailed with nearly one crew member per passenger. Everyone was pleasant, happy to be aboard working, and willing to go the little extra steps to make sure everyone was healthy and happy.
Princess set up an isolation deck (deck-9) for those who might turn up symptomatic. If you ended up on deck 9, you were restricted to your cabin. I had heard that some individuals actually ended up with balconies and other upgrades if they were quartered there.
My mom accidentally broke her finger when the stateroom door closed on it. The medical staff treated the injury, followed up with her, and sent fresh flowers.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
As a new ship, you would expect it to be spotless. It was. Absolutely beautiful.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Balcony on Caribe deck. The only thing that we didn’t care for was the ship’s tenders and lifeboats seemed to be mounted differently on this ship and that precludes you from looking down into the passing sea.
Ship tip
The ship doesn’t have an outside promenade deck. I think that if the ship were full with passengers, available deck space around the pool decks would be crammed. Though the ship is beautiful, it seems to be tailored more so as to keep passengers inside the ship. I preferred the Grand or Ruby class ship design.
I want to add that we stayed at the Rodeway Inn on Federal Way, in Hollywood. The aged motel was well run, beautifully decorated and renovated, and extremely reasonably priced. A great value for your money. We will stay here next year when we cruise again.
I mentioned earlier that we rented a car. We rented from Avis and picked up at the airport. They conveniently had a port drop off and complimentary shuttle to the terminal. Excellent and will use again.
Without a ship tour, you cannot leave the immediate dock area. There are a handful of local vendors selling their wares in the area but if you don’t take a tour, enjoy the ship.
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