Date with a Princess – Part One

Well I am back from my jaunt on Caribbean Princess and here to tell you all about it.

Firstly I have to say I was very impressed with the organisation getting us all on the ship at South Queens ferry near Edinburgh. The ship could not dock so it was a tender to transfer but very quick and easy.  For anyone who has not been there it is a lovely port of call with cobbled streets and quaint shops, café and eateries.  The sun was shining and the world and his dog were out enjoying it.

Excuse the Gents Toilet sign in the background!!!

Once we boarded we went to the cabin. We were in a BE grade Balcony Cabin. It was not the largest cabin I have had but it was perfectly functional. Two beds in our case as I was sharing with a colleague but easily changed to a double too.  The Dressing area is typical of many Princess and P&O Ships with a walk in area just through the door with an open sided wardrobe next to the bathroom.

The bathroom was roomy enough as was the shower.  Near the Balcony doors there was a dressing table and a mini bar at the other side.

The balcony was large enough for 2 chairs and a table and was certainly an adequate size.

My only issue with the rooms really was the plug sockets.  It’s a bit of a niggle really. There were 2 plug sockets next to the dressing table. They were round pin so an adaptor would be required for a UK plug. The problem was they were about an inch apart above one another so you could not plug two things in at once. Not good for Phone chargers Princess! Most Couple have one each…

I got round this as I traced the wire from the lamp behind the bed and plugged my phone in there but it was not great having to pull the bed and out to use the socket… But needs must.

The ship itself was a good layout and once you got to grips with which decks go all the way through and which set of lifts went to deck 18 you were fine.  The Atrium was suitably impressive as with all Princess Ships and I loved the Café area at the bottom and the seats were you could sit back and people watch. The staff were very attentive and you certainly didn’t need to go queue if you wanted a coffee.

There were a good selection of bars, Crooners if you wanted to listen to the dulcet tones of the Piano and resident singers. Explorers provides a larger venue with a stage for more intimate shows and entertainment as well as doubling as the indoor Cinema. The wheelhouse bar is a quieter more traditional bar for those who just want to sit and chat over a drink or two and Fusion bar was the venue for lots of entertainment from quizzes to line dancing.  The theatre was obviously the main event for the large production shows and finally for the night owls amongst you Skywalkers in its space age like pod is the night club venue.

There is also the Princess First – Moves under the stars where the sun loungers are clad with mattresses and head rests and you get blankets and popcorn whilst you watch the movie on deck.

This is just a taster of this great ship and over my next couple of blogs I will be bringing you the behind the scenes tour and the low down on the food and drink.

So I will leave you with a couple of quirky facts that you may not know about Princess.

Firstly the lifts are designed to help those who are sight impaired. The Lift dings once if it is going up and twice if it is going down.

Secondly the carpets in the corridors to the cabins are blue but on the port side they have a red part (or port wine stains) so you know which side of the ship you are on.

If you have any specific questions for me please ask and I will try to answer them for you.