cheezz

We boarded in Houston after a 6 hour delay. They were taking extra time to sanitize the ship and there was a 3-hour delay because of fog in Houston harbor. I know these things can't be helped, so we tried to just roll with it. What WAS extremely irritating was that we were all sitting in a large open room with a water dispenser and 3 vending machines for chips, candy and soda. Period. The trouble was, the crew (at least half a dozen I saw) were walking around with steaming cups of coffee and pastries. I approached two to ask where I could get a cup of coffee. "There is none available for passengers". OK. So why be so insensitive as to walk around the room and torture us?!

We booked through Jennifer at CabinClearanceStore.com. Easy to work with. We had trip insurance through itravelinsured.com but, thankfully, didn't have to use it. The second morning we heard of a man who was getting CPR (don't know what happened to him), but it made me thankful again for getting that insurance.

We had a very nice cabin - nice to have the extra leg room. The balcony (uncovered), was the same as a regular balcony cabin. Please see cabin video here (cabin D322, mini-suite with balcony):
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...89587710320503

Don't bother with requesting robes, though, unless you are a size 6 or smaller. They were quite a joke on a size 12 frame. The beds were comfy, towels were always changed if we requested or not. Two tvs in case someone wanted to watch in the sitting area and another wanted to sleep. The large sofa had a pull-out bed for extra people. The bathroom was also larger than our previous balcony cabin. Nice lotion and soap from the spa. The room had a small refrigerator, the closets TONS of hangars, and two big pillows on each bed.

The food onboard is wonderful. I kept thinking how amazing it is to serve that many people and have the quality stay so consistent! Our favorite part was afternoon tea everyday with little sandwiches, pastry, cookies and scones - the scones were the biggest hit with everyone! Once we even got a plate of goodies and took it back to our cabin. It's a good time to try new food - if you don't like it, just order something else - and dessert at every meal
We selected 'anytime' dining because we don't like to have to eat at a specific time. We never had to wait to sit down. I would do it again, too, because we met so many new people that way.

We took in a few shows and two movies outside around the pool (they provide popcorn). It's nice to grab pizza, hot dogs, soda and popcorn for the movie. Ice cream cones were very nice, too. The crew walks around with warm blankets if you should need them.

Roatan, Honduras, was lovely because we hired a driver for the day (thank you Rolando from TropicalRez) and he took us around the island to places we would not have seen otherwise. We got to connect with locals and spent time at a deserted beach with the clearest, warm water, had a beach massage for $25 and had a wonderful lunch they cooked just for us. Never saw another tourist.

Belize is a tender port, which means we had to take the shuttle boat to get from ship to shore. Quite nice, actually, and I was leery because I get seasick at the drop of a hat. We sat in the very back facing forward (highly recommend!) and were there in no time. We took the ship tour to the Howler Monkey Sanctuary and Belize Zoo. I recommend both. Don't try to compare them to anything we have in the states. Island sites are totally different - laid back, hand-made signs, fluid rules, often muddy ground. I had been to the sanctuary before and we were thrilled to be greeted by the same guide we had 10 years ago, Carolin. The zoo was also larger than expected and quite interesting. Wear closed shoes - besides the fire ants, if it's wet, the ground will be muddy in both these places. I was disappointed in the shortened sanctuary tour, but because of the rain we couldn't see it all. The Chukka tour guides which handled the tour with really, really lovely - Rose and Terice (Therese?). Lunch at the zoo kitchen was also very nice with slow-cooked chicken, rice and beans.

Cozumel was my least favorite. It was the only port where you get the full-on harrassment non-stop. We spent some time in one shop with the owner actually sitting aside and not bugging us, but when we thanked him and left without buying, he following us down the street yelling "cheapskates! go back to your own country". It was like going to Tijuana with cleaner shops. Next time I will stay on the ship.

Disembarkation went smoothly and we were able to have a nice breakfast before getting off. Gift shops were all closed up, though.

Pictures here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=6c3453ed85

jacketwatch

Thank you for the pics. We cruise to those ports and GC in the spring.

Eschew

Nice pictures! My son was on the same cruise prior to yours and the fog delayed the ship getting back to port. They managed to disembark around 1:30 pm. Obviously, they had to change their flights and stayed over night in Houston. That pretty well explained your delay in boarding.

They had really foul weather, missed port and cancelled excursions. Looking at your pictures, looks like you have great weather!

By the way, we were on the same cruise immediately after yours. Curious question ... was there any talk of norovirus on your cruise? Did they remove the salt and pepper shakers from the table and served you everything at the buffet?

We got an email prior to departure that there will be delays for boarding as thy have to extra clean the ship for norovirus. When we board, the staff was serving everyone at the buffet. You are not even allow to touch a ladle or a tong or any utensils for that matter. They even close off the beverage station and hand you your ice cubes or water etc.

cheezz

They might have felt it was important but this was definitely overkill!! We were not allowed to touch anything...like you said, even salt and pepper were in little packets and we had to say how many we wanted. There were as many staff in the buffet serving us as there were passengers! Everyone kept bumping into each other and there was no room to walk, or any clear idea as to how to actually get OUT of the buffet area - I kept walking around in circles. It used to be you could pop up to the buffet anytime for a cup of coffee. Forget it now. You had to wait in the buffet line, sanitize your hands, go through the entire line to get out the other side where you sit down THEN wait for a crew member to come ask you what you want to drink. PAIN!

I cruise again in September...sure hope they lighten up by then.

Eschew

After 5 days of assist service, the bread basket, salt and pepper shaker mysterious re-appeared! I asked the captain waiter and the reply was as long as there is passengers who might potentially have norovirus, there is no self service. After 48 hours of no new reported case, the "extra assist" is off. So we have the full self-service back for the rest of the last 2 days.

Here is the kicker, on the cruise immediate after ours, the one just finishing now, 181 passengers got sick as reported by the CDC. I guess if they would have kept the "extra assist", they probably would be okay?

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/out...n_princess.htm

PeterBertrand

I can understand your frustration at not having salt and pepper at the table, but imagine how much more frustrated you would have been if you had fallen ill with the norovirus.

I was very pleased when I heard about the extra precautions they were taking, because that has always been one of my minor worries, getting sick on a cruise. We always have a fantastic time and have never once fallen ill, but seeing the cruise companies taking these threats so seriously, doing extra disinfection, and trying to reduce contact transfer is reassuring.

We are not going to slow down our lust for cruises, but I will definitely watch what the cruise lines are doing to prevent outbreaks. It sounds like the Caribbean Princess crew was doing the right things.

Happy to hear you had a great cruise, even with the annoying delays.

cheezz

Funny enough, the paper this morning talked about the latest Princess cruise returning to port early, skipping Belize, because over 160 passengers and 11 crew members contracted norovirus. Whether or not you are on a ship, this is the time of year for flu. I know several people either suffering with it now, or just getting over it. Even with all the extreme measures the ship took, it didn't stop it. The alcohol based hand sanitizer they use does almost nothing to stop the virus - the common cold, but not the stomach flu. They also admit that diagnosis is mostly based on symptoms - diahhrea and vomiting. That can also be caused by seasickness, gluttony with all that available rich food, and excitement from the trip. It takes a day or more to begin showing symptoms, and testing isn't conclusive for 48-72 hours after it's contracted. How did all that happen so fast on the Princess?! One little medical facility was able to test over 171 people, determine norovirus, and get back to shore in under a week?!

The media causes undue concern and panic. Don't stop cruising...just use common sense

Eschew

cheezz, I am with you on that. Media sensationalism is nothing new. You just have to be careful, regardless of where you are.