Sea Princess Cruises Reviews

Thursday 9th Feb 2012

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Cruise Reviews

Princess Cruises

Sea Princess

Thoroughly Enjoyable Cruise

Thoroughly enjoyable cruise

Reviewed By: Smith, Horbury on 18th Mar 2010
Cruise Line: Princess Cruises	Times cruised before: 3-5
Cruise Ship: Sea Princess	Sailed: February, 2010
Destination: Caribbean	Age: 46-55
Cabin: Balcony

We sailed on the Sea Princess on 20 Feb from Barbados. As said before, there was a separate check in desk for Princess at the airport, and that was the last we saw of our cases until they arrived on the ship shortly after we did. The cabin was absolutely fine, with plenty of storage & hangers, balcony smallish but served its purposes, cabin steward spot on and brought us extra beach towels & bathrobes (so we could get out on the balcony first thing every morning without getting dressed to watch the ship dock, the sunrise, the other ships already there, the islands when we were sailing in etc!). Had breakfast on the balcony a few times. You don't have to pay extra for this, but we did give them couple of dollars each time. We also did anytime dining for the first time, and it suited us perfectly. There are 4 formal nights, and we went into restaurant for these on large tables. Struck lucky with all our companions, kept forgetting people's names - never talked to so many different folk before. Maybe it was because most were British and so no language barriers. We did arrange one trip for the whale watching in Samana through Princess, (good trip, scruffy island). Don't know about this island, but every other one where we got off the ship, we just went to the local tourist information or straight to a taxi and much, much cheaper than any ship tours and reputable firms, as they had to satisfy security & lots of checks before being allowed to dockside. In Antigua for example, we had a tour of the island which lasted nearly 5 hours for only $25. In Tortola, get on the Kittie taxi if you can (her name's in big spelling on the door, and tourist info said she was the best) and she was. Really informative and only $20 for all the way round the island and beaches & rum factory. Lovely lady. Other than eating in restaurant, we did eat mainly in the Horizon Buffet in the evening as we ate very late & lots of choice of food, all hot. Waiter there called Cyril latched on the first time that we had bottle of wine in evening, and he looked out for us (and asked where we were those nights when we didn't turn up!). Gave him a tip at the end, and envelopes for this on reception desk. We also ate in the Sterling Steakhouse, which is just part of the Horizon cordoned off in an evening. Didn't go in formal wear, as you sit on the same seats that people have sat on during day in their sunbathing clothes/suntan lotion. Decent steaks though. Entertainment not the best, but we'd seen comments from previous reviews. Some liked it, others didn't, but we enjoyed a drink and watching others. Alan & Alana are just so sweet (!!) and Gabrielle & Jumari in Wheelhouse Bar superb. Sea days - some folk are crazy about reserving beds, but up to very late morning there were still beds together, deck attendants were ticketing and taking off towels left unattended on these days, but they'd also help you put together a couple of sun beds if you asked them. Tons of space at all other times. We sat at back near Seaview Bar, and there's a dip pool and wooden seating area in shade round this. You can get free glasses of iced water from any of the bars, by the way. Just have to mention that we did fly with Thomas Cook from Manchester, and fortunately took some snacks to keep us going on the way out, as had to wait 3 hours for food and further 5 hours for the next (fine for some I'm sure). On the way back, they also forgot to load the breakfasts on the plane, but we weren't hungry at that time of the morning. Hard seats, all drinks free, so get what you want, you pay extra for snacks. Flight nearly 2 hours shorter on way back. Trust you've gathered from the above that we had a good time. Yes! The ship is a bit dated & others have got better entertainment, bigger cabins etc, so we're carrying on cruising & enjoying all the different cruise lines. However, we were sad to leave the ship. We decide on the itinerary first, and then if it turns out that Sea Princess is the ship, then we'll happily sail on her again.
Quality of Food
Ate four times on anytime in the lower dining room, and rest of time in Horizon.
Entertainment
There were a couple of comedians, one doing some 'magic' who was better than the other. However, I'd heard most all the jokes before. Enjoyed listening to Alan & Alana during the quiz & couple in Wheelhouse Bar. Not impressed with the cruise directors though.
Shore Excursions
Favourites were in Tortola, Grenada, Antigua. Hated the coral see sub in Montego Bay, as the staff on the boat hassled you to buy their 'home made' jewellery & forced foot massages on you (for payment!) No coral or fish seen due to weather. Hubby had couple of golf excursions, he liked white witch in Jamaica the best.
Staff
Loved Cyril in Horizon. Know all about his family & his wife! All staff really good.
Children's Facilities	n/a

Onboard Activities
Plenty of noise upfront with the big screen & varied daytime activities, but not for us. although hubby went to golf clinic.
Cabins
Big enough for us, plenty of space for us to pass round bed. Not happy with the fact that smoking cabins are everywhere on ship, and we did have to put up with smoke drifting over from next door on our balcony.
Overall Rating

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Opinion: Disagree Comment by JONES, WALLSEND (22 Mar 10 20:26) about this REVIEW

We were on the same cruise starting in Montego Bay and I would say that we were disappointed with Sea Princess, to say it had been in for refurbishment last October I cannot think what a sorry state she was in before. We had been overbooked in our balcony cabin and three days before departure we were asked to down grade to an E cabin to be honest we were given a huge refund back into our account the next day so for the price we paid we had good value. However had I paid the original fares I would have been more than disappointed, The service in the restaurant was faultless our waiters Pablo and Ricardo were brilliant and gave excellent service at all times. The horizon buffet was also good, but the whole trip just lacked sparkle. The entertainment was poor except for the violinist Gregg Scott, I expected first class shows from Princess. The cruise felt like a holiday camp at sea with sun lounges jammed together on the decks, wide screen TV showing football and yes the occasional movies and other concerts. We did participate in the daily day time quizzes because for us there was little else to do in the way of entertainment . We did not go on a cruise to buy diamonds or have art thrown down our throat. Too much selling on board. We did enjoy the wale watching in Sammana wonderful, but our trip in St Maartin ws very poor with five ships ion port it meant 18000 extra people in port and the roads cannot take that amount of traffic. Our flight out from Doncaster with Thomson was brilliant we had booked premier cabin and it was faultless and great to have suitcases straight to your cabin the pick them back up at home on return. The return flight was dreadful with no entertainment service, dinner being served some four hours into the flight and unfriendly unhelpful cabin crew. It will be a long time if ever before I book with Princess again.

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Comment by Smith, Horbury (23 Mar 10 14:29) about a COMMENT by JONES (22 Mar 10 20:26)

I know the entertainment wasn't very good, especially when you've seen superb shows on other ships, but we'd read the reviews before we went and knew what to expect. The vista lounge did look very dated, was like an old show lounge.I don't think the 'comedians'would survive on the circuit at home. We also stayed to the back of the ship as the front was too noisy with the TV and the endless scrap for sunbeds it seemed. I also forgot to mention St Maartin's in my review, but we did enjoy our day there, but went under our own steam, by walking down into town which only took 5 minutes, and then started shopping. Some people seem to like their diamonds though, otherwise why would there be so many shops?! We also went to a bar at the far end of the gorgeous beach, absolutely beautiful sands. There were also 6 ships in dock that day - there was one little one tucked behind the Oasis (probably not that small, but it looked it!). It was hectic with traffic on the roads. Wish cabin crew would treat you with respect, we thought ours with Thomas Cook not the best either, and were actually wishing we'd flwon with Thomson!

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Comment by phillips, acrefair (25 Mar 10 00:24) about a COMMENT by Smith (23 Mar 10 14:29)

its really sad that we are all so understandig ...ie poor entertainment,...no sunbeds,..holiday camp at sea etc.....We all pay alot of money to go on holiday...and princess is not a cheap holday. Hope princess have taken heed and buck their ideas up

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