9 Nights Eastern Caribbean with St. Thomas Cruise

Princess did NOT disappoint!

Ship was pretty fresh, Crew were attentive and for a TA the weather was perfect. We had to divert to avoid big storm but the Captain did a very good job to stay out of it as long as possible. Our Mini suite for this journey was good especially for the rain and sporty seas that we eventually gathered up. We love sea days so this was a fun itinerary. The exchange of Tenerife for missing Maderia was awesome. The weather held out enough for us to explore the port and the people were very nice. Casablanca was not as expected however. We would have liked to do a bit more shopping in a market setting but were nervous based on pre-cruise discussions and did a tour instead. Unfortunately LaCoruna was missed for passengers even though we docked for servicing. We did have a great view from our starboard balcony in any case. Truely this was a fantastic crossing!

TA cruise

Had an amazing TA voyage. Lots of sea days made for much relaxing and time with friends. Staff was superb. The only disappointment was missing Madieria due to rough seas and weather buttye captain made a good decision. Tenerife was a beautiful stop and the weather was great. I would highly recommend a TA cruise. Just be aware that the weather starting in Ft. Lauderdale in March is much different than the weather in South Hampton UK in March. Lots of sunny days crossing with aome wind and a few rough seas. Plenty of time to get your sunning in. The staff is incredible when it comes to making sure you enjoy every meal. The only negative I had was we neve R were able to some of the fun activities that theybplanned during second seating like silent disco, match game and a few more. That is my only complaint. First world problem.

Wonderful crossing, despite some unexpected events

We LOVE Sky! We sailed her inaugural TA to Ft Lauderdale in 2019, and were delighted with things we remembered fondly and with things that were greatly improved. The most notable of the improvements was the high visibility of ship officers. Not only did many of them, including the Captain, attend our first sea day Cruise Critic meet and greet, there were “walks” by groups of officers through public areas from top to bottom everyday. Officers were approachable, and in the early days of the cruise the Hotel Manager asked for specific feedback on anything. I mentioned overcooked fish in one of my responses and a maitre ‘d from one of the restaurants tracked me down (in the World Market) and asked for more information. He said he had already talked with the Executive Chef and he asked me to let him know how the fish was later. It was great, and I told him that. The Cruise Director changed out during our cruise. The outgoing American had an easy way and was obviously loved by passengers who had been on the ship for the previous cruise. The new man, a Brit, had a very different approach and seemed to be feeling his way. Understandable. But, when I asked him about the astronomy lectures that we had enjoyed every day, he snapped at me - telling me there were only 8 lectures booked, in total, so they would not be daily. I think likely arranged by the departing director, not “his.” I was not impressed. Since the ship will be ported in Southampton this summer, maybe he’s the right guy. The thing I enjoyed the most was having the dining room on deck six aft Cielo open every sea day from 10am-3pm for quiet reading. It was wonderful! And completely unexpected, it was catered with coffee/ tea/ juices and pastries in the morning and sandwiches and desserts were brought in at noon. I went there several times and always got a quiet table by a window. Books to swap were available too. I thought I would miss the library more (its former small nook is just open seating for Crown Grill music), but it was actually very small and books disappeared quickly. I think the combination of the dining room quiet space, with snacks, and the availability of books there and in the internet center was much better. The unfortunate weather that resulted in two changes to the 3-port itinerary could have been a big disappointment. But it was explained well and handled well. How they had to scramble to rearrange tours and everything! We were actually quite satisfied with the substitution of Tenerife for Funchal. Missing La Coruna was a bigger disappointment because we had booked an expensive private tour. Not only did we miss our chance to walk the last 5km of the Camino to Santiago, the tour company I used only refunded 50% of our fees. No Princess tour did what we wanted to do; I know I would have been protected. But the necessity to slow down and let the stabilizers work better as we approached and crossed the Bay of Biscay was completely understandable. And we got to Southampton on time.