January 5, 2013 3:03pm, off the coast of Princess Cats

Yes, I stole that from Overboard.  If you don’t know the movie well enough to know from where I stole it, watch it again before asking.

It was a great day. Perfect weather greeted us when we arrived in the Bahamas. We were taken by tender to the island since it is such a small island and it doesn’t have a pier. The tenders, unlike those in most other locations, are actually ran by Princess using their lifeboats to shuttle folks two and from the island. I assume they use this tendering time as their testing time for the lifeboats as well; it would would make sense to do so.  With the tenders being run by the crude line, the safety standards are much closer to what it actually should be for the safety of the passengers for which they have care. It made us feel much better anyway.

We rented a clamshell and two beach chairs for $29 total.  Lunch was provided by the cruise line. We didn’t buy any souvenirs or drinks, so for $29 we enjoyed an entire day on a basically private island. The rocks come up to the shore in some spots, but on the one end where they still have chairs, you can walk out into the ocean for several yards without rocks on flat sand.

So far on this trip, we have seen much less “riff raff” than we normally see on cruises. We have traveled on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Princess, with the latter being this trip.  A friend told me that his experience was the same, with less riff raff on the Princess cruise than on the others. I have to believe it is true, even thought it is early into the cruise.

When thinking of the reasons, I think that part of it is that Princess seems to have a much older clientele. The average age on this cruise has to be around 55 or so.  I have seen one baby and perhaps three children under the age of 10.  I have seen very few kids between ten and twenty. There have been about five hundred who are probably between 50 – 75, if not more.

Another reason for the less riff raff  is that this curse line makes people follow this rules. At dinner, for instance, you are not supposed to wear shorts in the dining room. On th  last few cruises we had been on on Carnival, people wore just about anything to the dining room and no seemed to care. I care. I didn’t pay this much money to see Bubba and Louise dress in their finest NFL attire or their jorts. If you do not want to dress up for dinner, go to the casual restaurant.

Also, the price of this cure was about the same as others, but the amenities are better. The ship seems to be in much better condition, the ship’s staff always greet you with w happy face and are more than willing to help you. We wanted another blanket last night and it was delivered promptly without any grief. Our room was clean when we embarked, which meant that we were not trapped at the pool or bar with hundreds of annoying passengers for hours. Our luggage was delivered promptly, and the room layout is better. I just like everything better.

Last time we cruised in August, we were mistaken for a passenger with a folio number very close to our own. Apparently Mr. Jerk had caused a ruckus on board (go figure), but instead of someone getting his number correct, they instead cut my husband from from alcohol. We had purchased a total of 5 drinks the whole cruise, and we had not even been anywhere other than dinner.  When the cruise line figured out the mistake, after we were humiliated and wasted and hour of our cruise talking to Guest Services and Security, we got not so much as an official apology of anything. The staff also called on the last day demanding that we move our bags out of the hallway. Funny, they were in our room, right beside my foot as I spoke to the rude staff member on the phone. We had taken six previous cruises with them. That one will more than likely be our last with them. Their loss.

Today, like yesterday, has been a beautiful day.  The cruise so far has been very good. On  other minor point that is small but important to people trying to relax is that they do not make a million announcements for whatever party is going on that evening. It is so nice. I highly recommended it. It truly was a hell of a day to be in the Bahamas.

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