8 Day Eastern Caribbean - Crown Princess

[Georgiagambler]

I just returned from my wonderful relaxing cruise. Sad that I found out that V/P is changing to Carnival since I have enjoyed both my of Princess cruises. This trip was courtesy of the voucher I picked up at V/P last November. My voucher was for ocean view but I paid $200 per person to upgrade to Balcony. It was very well worth it. Even though it wasn't as big as the mini suite I had on my last cruise, it was still great to have the balcony.

It was hard to get a good picture couldn't find a good angle but here is my best attempt

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/131a0f1324d3b79e88873c4ed668747a.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/7dbafaa821be1f8e1caa7a3021f06fdb.jpg

Liquor made it with no issue

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/c8befa380d3a9eb357f4166d84c89a41.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/326207de93e0778e427be402fdc2ebc3.jpg

We left out of FT Lauderdale around 7:30pm Saturday. Weather was overcast. Did a quick walkthrough in the casino. Not a big selection but a few games I like Gold Pays, 88 Fortunes. Unfortunately no pics of slots or wins for me on this trip. I probably lost around $280 for total of the cruise. Limited gambling for us as we have Vegas coming up soon.

Day 2 was day at sea, the weather was still overcast and yucky. The boat was really rocking. This is probably first time I ever felt sea sick during a cruise. We went to see comedy show and disco show both were entertaining.

Day 3 was another day at sea but thank God the weather improved and the ocean was much smoother. Again just basically relaxed and watched a couple shows.

Day 4 we arrived in Antigua (yay finally on land). View from my balcony

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/3bf402eb62036e46089614e6bb794c00.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/0965be98dd9e880c451beba3acceceb4.jpg

We ended up taking and island tour with some other people, visited national park and then they dropped us off at the beach

Some of the beautiful views

Not sure if you can see the house because it blends in but far right in the first pic is Eric Claptons house

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/85b6fafc6a8705ea3868d35a2ee7a17c.jpg

Not Eric Claptons house :-)

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/5881ce4cf76e23daa91bcd2922efc418.jpg

Random old cannon pic

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/5e1335991063eef9dc49aafe225aaa97.jpg

More beautiful views

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/34fbf4e5b1ba0f4e8fb21f11b8df9a9b.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/6c8f52f9ae8b21450baabfb5afa64200.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/bd1b9d1aa362cf32f86a058d997cc8a6.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/400741f7487c7d86e6dcea9b161d2768.jpg

We stopped at the dockyard and then finally made it to the beach. I think there are 365 beaches in Antigua, we went to Valley Church beach on the Southern Side of the Island. Next time I will skip the tour and just find a beach. Since this was our first time to Antigua though that is why we did it. Cost was $30 per person plus $8 for the national Park and dockyard. Interesting part for me is that we did not pay the driver until after he picked us back up from the beach. I guess that's a good way to make sure you have a ride back to the ship.

Day 5 we arrived in St. Kitts. This was my first time here too but we opted to skip the tour and go straight to the beach. We picked Frigate Bay because it was only 5 miles from the cruise port$10 each roundtrip. The sand was Hot as hell but nice to just hang at the beach again. Took these as we were leaving

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/cec2bf004b60346259b9faa258ab0a1f.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/adbcb46f1ea493392df7d7561a7ea8c4.jpg


Day 6 - St Thomas. I came here on my last cruise and fell in love with Magen's Bay beach so of course went straight there. It's about 20-25 mins from cruise port. $8 each way plus $5 for the beach. No cost for the beaches on the other islands. Another wonderful day at the beach.

Day 7 - Grand Turks. Another new port for me but no tours. Beach was walking distance from the boat. Water was colder here than all other ports but kind of good because we were good and sun burned by then

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/514cda8370c49caa074163d5928dbfe9.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/f8172ba609d8a91990b928640286b112.jpg

Day 8 was another full day at sea. My last ocean pic from my balcony

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/282cd027cbe3367fe803cffe8ace3f29.jpg

Got back early Sunday morning and straight to the Airport

I didn't take any food pics we pretty much ate at the buffet or grabbed burgers/ hot dogs by the pool. I think we only ate at one speciality restaurant. Paid $8 per day for the non alcoholic drink package. Ordered plenty of cokes, juices, virgin daiquiris and piña coladas and took back to the room to add our own liquor

We had a wonderful relaxing trip only bad weather on first day and the rest was amazing. Then I had to come back to the real world over 600 emails at work plus Thunderstorms and tornado warnings. Sunburn starting to peel. Yes I brought sunblock with me but I kept jumping in the water as soon as I applied it instead of waiting 15 minutes like the instructions say. And boo - no one cleaning my room and cooking for me everyday at home - dang it! Worse part, no ocean view from my house.

Good news is I have Vegas in 2 weeks so I will be ok :-) No ocean view in Vegas but at least someone else to cook and clean for a couple days. Oh yeah - and they have more slot machines





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dvandentop]

Wow cruise looks great thanks for all the pics and write-up.

I did get a mailer for the vp cruise giveaway through may. But prob never be able to take advantage of it.

[zeus]

GG, it sounds like you had a wonderful time. The pics look fantastic! Great job on saving the BR for Vegas. Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Elf70]

Beautiful pictures. So glad you had good weather and a relaxing trip. Thanks for the write up. Good luck in Vegas!

[foamy]

Nice pictures and glad you enjoyed it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[goldengreeke]

Great Pictures and GREAT report! Sounds like you had a fabulous trip. :)

[Nhcris]

Gorgeous pictures and wonderful write up! Relaxing on the beach is the best way to spend an island day, but Antigua is one place that is really worth seeing with all of those beautiful views. I had to laugh at the rum runners so nice and neat :) And you were much smarter than I was in the casino :culpability:

I am also bummed that Grazie has switched to Carnival. The good news is, it didn't tempt me to go to Vegas this spring. The bad news is, I will really miss Princess although I have one left to take in November.

[Stephiede11]

It looks like you two had a great time. Glad the weather got better. Thanks for sharing.

[Georgiagambler]

Wow cruise looks great thanks for all the pics and write-up.

I did get a mailer for the vp cruise giveaway through may. But prob never be able to take advantage of it.

Thanks Derek I will actually be in Vegas during the time period to pick up the Carnival offer but I'm not sure if I would use it so I kept my original offer. I have $375 FP plus $75 food or if I take the cruise offer it is only $175 Freeplay, no food and inside cabin for the cruise. I haven't had time to see if it's worth it yet. If it was still Princess I would not hesitate but not sure what the Carnival experience would be.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Georgiagambler]

GG, it sounds like you had a wonderful time. The pics look fantastic! Great job on saving the BR for Vegas. Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Thanks Zeus I really did have a great trip and much needed break. Sorry I could not come up with any eye candy pics for you I guess I was too busy taking pics of the ocean and I didn't really see any eye candy. The hardest days to stay away from casino were the full days at sea but good thing is I had very limited cash and I was saving it for the taxis. I also knew I am going to Vegas very soon so I didn't feel like I was missing out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Laurie]

Love the pictures!! Glad you had a great getaway and Thanks for the report!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Georgiagambler]

Beautiful pictures. So glad you had good weather and a relaxing trip. Thanks for the write up. Good luck in Vegas!

Thanks elf it's always hard to come back from vacation but helps when you already have the next trip planned


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Georgiagambler]

Nice pictures and glad you enjoyed it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks foamy - had a wonderful time


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Georgiagambler]

Great Pictures and GREAT report! Sounds like you had a fabulous trip. :)

Thanks GG I think I'm going to print some of my pics and frame them. Maybe put them in the window so I can still see the ocean when I look out :-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Georgiagambler]

Gorgeous pictures and wonderful write up! Relaxing on the beach is the best way to spend an island day, but Antigua is one place that is really worth seeing with all of those beautiful views. I had to laugh at the rum runners so nice and neat :) And you were much smarter than I was in the casino :culpability:

I am also bummed that Grazie has switched to Carnival. The good news is, it didn't tempt me to go to Vegas this spring. The bad news is, I will really miss Princess although I have one left to take in November.

Thanks NHCris I still have to go back and finish reading your cruise trip report. If I could afford to take 2 weeks off work I would have taken the same itinerary that you did. The only reason I exercised control in the casino was limited budget and upcoming trip. There were a couple of big wins like 10k and 11k but I didn't witness them.

I'm sad about the Carnival change but maybe it will be ok.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Georgiagambler]

It looks like you two had a great time. Glad the weather got better. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Steph I was nervous about the weather on the first day but glad it got better and stayed that way. I just kept thinking I am enjoying swimming in the ocean and it's March. Can't beat it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Luckylinda123]

Beautiful pictures thanks for posting

[clemi]

Wonderful pics, sounds like you had a fabulous cruise!

[Georgiagambler]

Beautiful pictures thanks for posting

Thanks Linda - hope you are getting excited about your upcoming birthday celebration!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Georgiagambler]

Wonderful pics, sounds like you had a fabulous cruise!

Thanks Clemi it really was fabulous!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jen Jen]

Your cruise looked relaxing and fun. Good luck in Vegas!

[Curlyd]

Georgiagambler when we were in Antigua our private tour guide was Lawrence of Antigua. We saw pretty much what you did. He told us that Antigua has 366 beaches and if you come back during a leap year they will show you the last one on February 29th. :)

Thanks for the beautiful pics, it brings back wonderful memories. Now I need to go and look at our pics to relive the dream.

Oh and isn't that view atop the hill (where you see Eric Clapton's house) just fantastic! So beautiful, pictures don't do it justice.

[Georgiagambler]

Love the pictures!! Glad you had a great getaway and Thanks for the report!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Laurie!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Georgiagambler]

Your cruise looked relaxing and fun. Good luck in Vegas!

Thanks Jen Jen! Very relaxing and fun


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Georgiagambler]

Georgiagambler when we were in Antigua our private tour guide was Lawrence of Antigua. We saw pretty much what you did. He told us that Antigua has 366 beaches and if you come back during a leap year they will show you the last one on February 29th. :)

Thanks for the beautiful pics, it brings back wonderful memories. Now I need to go and look at our pics to relive the dream.

Oh and isn't that view atop the hill (where you see Eric Clapton's house) just fantastic! So beautiful, pictures don't do it justice.

Thanks Curly, yes those views were breathe taking. Every time I come back from Caribbean cruise I start dreaming about what it would be like to have a house with those ocean views to wake up to every day. My biggest concern would be hurricane season. I guess I could live on the islands most of the year and just go to Vegas during hurricane weather haha. Now I just need to win the lottery so I can make that happen :-). St. Thomas (Magen's Bay) still my favorite beach but I can't complain about the beach in Antigua because it was wonderful too. Really loved all the beaches. My least favorite was probably Grand Turk because the water was coldest but it was also the northern most island and there were lots of rocks but good thing we brought water shoes. The best part about the cool water in Grand Turk is that it was soothing the sunburn that started in St. Kitts. Our driver was "Glenn Miller", I guess that made us the band.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Stephiede11]

Georgiagambler, I sent you a pm last night. Not sure if you got it. Lately they haven't been going through for some reason.

[Mary9915]

Thanks for your trip report GG. It looks like you had a great time. I am so impressed with your discipline at the casino. I don't know if I could have done the same!

[Marilyn]

Great TR. I really enjoyed all the pictures. So relaxing! I do agree, the best part of a vacation for me is not having to do all the domestic stuff.

Have a great Vegas trip.

[Georgiagambler]

Thanks for your trip report GG. It looks like you had a great time. I am so impressed with your discipline at the casino. I don't know if I could have done the same!

Thanks Mary! I'm sure you could resist knowing Vegas was only 2 weeks away :-). The hard days were just the days at sea.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Georgiagambler]

Great TR. I really enjoyed all the pictures. So relaxing! I do agree, the best part of a vacation for me is not having to do all the domestic stuff.

Have a great Vegas trip.

Thanks Marilyn - more motivation to win big in Vegas so I can plan more vacations!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BorgataLady]

Great photos and a wonderful cruise. Such a nice getaway and still have Vegas to look forward too. Same as you I also fell in love with Magen's Beach in St. Thomas while on a cruise. Our driver suggested other nice beaches as well but they were farther and we wanted to stay as close to the ship as possible especially since my at the time 2 1/2 yr old was back on the ship at Camp Carnival. Magen's Beach was just wonderful!

[Georgiagambler]

Great photos and a wonderful cruise. Such a nice getaway and still have Vegas to look forward too. Same as you I also fell in love with Magen's Beach in St. Thomas while on a cruise. Our driver suggested other nice beaches as well but they were farther and we wanted to stay as close to the ship as possible especially since my at the time 2 1/2 yr old was back on the ship at Camp Carnival. Magen's Beach was just wonderful!

Thanks BorgataLady! I can't wait to go back again


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Slot Frenzy]

Welcome back GG -- looks like you a great time. Thanks for posting your beautiful pics!

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[hytail]

Great write up!

Really like those plastic wine flasks. A real good way to bring aboard quality wine without having to pay ship board prices.

Very nice stateroom by the way.

[Georgiagambler]

Welcome back GG -- looks like you a great time. Thanks for posting your beautiful pics!

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Thanks Slot Frenzy - it was great!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Georgiagambler]

Great write up!

Really like those plastic wine flasks. A real good way to bring aboard quality wine without having to pay ship board prices.

Very nice stateroom by the way.

Thanks Hytail they let you bring 1 bottle of wine per adult with no issue. The plastic flasks were for the Jack Daniels and rum :-)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bluesfan]

Wow - sounds like you have a nice relaxing time! The pictures were awesome - looks like a great place to visit. I love crusing - no cooking or cleaning to be done - and always food around!
Thanks for the write up - and best of luck in Vegas!

[DK528]

Wow what gorgeous photos. Glad you had a great trip GG!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Georgiagambler]

Wow - sounds like you have a nice relaxing time! The pictures were awesome - looks like a great place to visit. I love crusing - no cooking or cleaning to be done - and always food around!
Thanks for the write up - and best of luck in Vegas!

Thanks bluesfan good luck to you too! Hope we are able to meet up to say hello


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Georgiagambler]

Wow what gorgeous photos. Glad you had a great trip GG!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Dina - I wish I was still at the beach now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bluesfan]

Thanks bluesfan good luck to you too! Hope we are able to meet up to say hello


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Me too! Vegas in T minus 6 days for me!!!

[Hoofy7]

I'll be using the Carnival cruise voucher from Grazie in February. I'm sure it won't be as nice as the 12 day I used the last one on, on Princess though. Carnival does however have a lot more activities for children! I take my 2 youngest with me and the Royal Princess cruise was very geriatric. Lol

[TwoArmedBandito]

I'll be using the Carnival cruise voucher from Grazie in February. I'm sure it won't be as nice as the 12 day I used the last one on, on Princess though. Carnival does however have a lot more activities for children! I take my 2 youngest with me and the Royal Princess cruise was very geriatric. Lol
But which line has the better casino?!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Hoofy7]

But which line has the better casino?!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Well 3vees posted photos of the Carnival cruise lines casino and in my opinion the slot selection on Carnival was far superior to Princess! I only found maybe 6 machines I liked to play on Princess. I'll let you know once I take the cruise in February and will do another cruise report on Carnival.

[TwoArmedBandito]

Well 3vees posted photos of the Carnival cruise lines casino and in my opinion the slot selection on Carnival was far superior to Princess! I only found maybe 6 machines I liked to play on Princess. I'll let you know once I take the cruise in February and will do another cruise report on Carnival.
Thanks! And welcome to this forum!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Hoofy7]

I want to 2nd OP's remarks in Antigua. I absolutely loved the island. It was my favorite that I visited. I took a catamaran snorkeling with beach stop, that included grilled lobster lunch at each port. Antigua was beautiful and the water was so blue and warm. My 2nd favorite was Barbados. Great waves for surfing if you like that. I visited St. Thomas, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados and St Maarten. I think that's it. lol Carnival cruise is a shorter one as we are going during my kids week off of school for mid winter break and it only stops at Montego Bay Jamaica, Grand Cayman Islands, and Cozumel Mexico. Taking it out of New Orleans port so I get to spend a little time on the Mighty Mississippi....Itinerary is definitely not as good as my last one. I'm hoping to pick up a 15 day Princess the end of October on an offer but that's pending finances. If I'm able to go to Vegas to get it, I'm booking a 15 day out of NY as it will save me airfare. It has an amazing itinerary.

[Curlyd]

I want to 2nd OP's remarks in Antigua. I absolutely loved the island. It was my favorite that I visited. I took a catamaran snorkeling with beach stop, that included grilled lobster lunch at each port. Antigua was beautiful and the water was so blue and warm. My 2nd favorite was Barbados. Great waves for surfing if you like that. I visited St. Thomas, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados and St Maarten. I think that's it. lol Carnival cruise is a shorter one as we are going during my kids week off of school for mid winter break and it only stops at Montego Bay Jamaica, Grand Cayman Islands, and Cozumel Mexico. Taking it out of New Orleans port so I get to spend a little time on the Mighty Mississippi....Itinerary is definitely not as good as my last one. I'm hoping to pick up a 15 day Princess the end of October on an offer but that's pending finances. If I'm able to go to Vegas to get it, I'm booking a 15 day out of NY as it will save me airfare. It has an amazing itinerary.

Antigua the land of 365 beaches and if you go there on Feb. 29th (leap year) they will show you beach #366. Yes we loved the island too. Like you Hoofy7 when we cruised we took 10 - 11 day cruises and they were port intensive. We loved the Southern Caribbean.

[Georgiagambler]

I'm not sure about picking up a cruise voucher yet. I'm concerned that poor islands have sustained so much damage due to the recent hurricanes that it may be a while before I will return for a visit although I really enjoyed it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk