Caribbean princess 2.0 - it’s still a good value cruise ship

 I am on a 12 day southern Caribbean cruise on the old but still sailing Caribbean Princess ship. It was refurbished in the last 2 years so the hull appears freshly painted, lots of furnishings and carpets replaced. It still caters to an older demographic and mostly Americans and some Canadians. 

I sailed on her 4 years ago and the things that were good still are and the bad stuff still not fixed.

The food is very good all around the ship.

Service of the cabins and in the dining room good. 

The ship and public places clean. 

My outside cabin is clean, comfortable and the plumbing and air conditioning works

The tv still has movies with newer releases for free

Now for the stuff that hasn’t gotten better

- the internet is slow to download emails 

- I still had to get help to log on  to the internet as it’s not intuitive and instructions useless

- staff are polite but only the room steward is customer focused. Most act as though it is not a place they want to be

- entertainment is still the worst at sea of all the cruise lines. The acts are re hashes meaning a magician, production shows that are repeated on all their ships and has been vocalists 

- game shows have not been updated since I last cruised with Princess 4 years ago

- to get thru dinner is at minimum 1.5 hours 

So why did I come… excellent ports, cheap price for a solo

Just lower your expectations and you can have a good time.

Hope this helps 

Marcia

Go port is still my go shuttle to cruise port when flying into Orlando airport

 While I was disappointed when they contacted me that they no longer pick up at the airport hotels. Note you have to take the hotel shuttle back to the airport gate A 3/4. They are still the best value high volume shuttle to the Cape Canaveral cruise port. They start the shuttles at 10 am to 2 pm and it takes about 45 to a hour to get parked at your cruise terminal and off load your bags. It depends on how many cruise ships are in port as they stop at all ships for each bus.

They have a well tuned approach at the airport. You check in at the desk, they give you a number and you board the buses in batches of numbers. The only put 26 numbers per bus because of all of the luggage.

It costs 29.99 usd per person one way.

Tip 

Get there between 9am and 9:15 if you want a 10 am bus. Because the ships came in late due to weather their first bus was delayed and I left at 10:25 am

I will always use them in Orlando as they are half the price of the cruise shuttle (Princess) and much more timely.

Hope this helps 

Marcia

Comfort suites Orlando international airport- pre cruise hotel was good

 I am constantly searching for a good pre cruise hotel in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale at a reasonable price with breakfast and free airport shuttle. Comfort suites Orlando airport fits the criteria. I called for the shuttle at 11:30 am and they were at the designated gate within 10 minutes. When I got to the hotel Carmen gave me my room right away even though check in is 4 pm. She also recommended the Latin restaurant across the street for lunch. It was excellent. It was crowded with mostly latinos. The staff was helpful in helping me make choices. The food is served cafeteria style. The portions are huge. I had enough for lunch and dinner it cost me 10 dollars with a pop.  Down the street within a10 minutes walk are several fast food places and 7 eleven. There are lights, crosswalks so don’t let the busy street discourage you.

At the hotel the room is huge, with a king size bed and sofa area, mini fridge and microwave. It was very clean and the bed comfortable. My only issue was how loud the air conditioner is when it starts up. If you keep it at 72 f, it is quiet.

The breakfast was ok but the eggs are inedible. The pastries, waffles and fruit and yogurt were fine as was the juice. 

They offer a shuttle to the cruise port for $35 pp, but it is $30 for Go port back at the airport.  Go port no longer picks up at hotels.

Tips

Pre book the shuttle for the next day to the airport and make sure you give yourselves plenty of time as they pick up at another hotel

I would stay at this hotel again

Hope this helps 

Marcia