Caribbean Princess is all decked out and has places to go

For some time, Princess Cruises has longed to take a bigger role in the Caribbean. Traditionally, the “Love Boat” line sailed primarily from the nation’s West Coast.

Now, with the advent of its newest and biggest ship, the Caribbean Princess, the line is making its move. Princess has assigned the 113,000-ton vessel to year-round Caribbean cruises out of Port Everglades and has stocked it with amenities and services designed especially for passengers cruising this region.

Among them are movies on an open deck, a special stage show keyed to Caribbean music and a new dining area offering Caribbean specialties — all innovations that should give the line an edge in luring guests to its Caribbean-cruising ships. (Princess also has stationed another ship, the Golden Princess, for year-round Caribbean sailings, and in the winter months it will have a total of eight ships cruising this storied sea.)

An instant hit was its new outdoor movie program, called Movies Under the Stars. Weather permitting, as it usually does, the Caribbean Princess shows movies twice nightly on a 300-square-foot LED screen on the pool deck.

It’s the informality of the showings that seems to charm passengers. They sit or lie on chaise lounges facing the screen and snack on free popcorn or munch on candy like Sour Jacks and Twizzlers that are offered for $1.95.

Admission is by ticket (free, but limited by the number of chaises available).

Princess says reaction has been so positive to on-deck movies that it will install similar programs on all its ships.

Also created especially for the Caribbean Princess, a new stage show leans heavily on Caribbean music. The Caribbean Caliente revue features songs made famous by such Latin artists as Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias and Gloria Estefan as well as works of the late Bob Marley.

The new Caribbean-themed dining area, called Cafe Caribe, features such specialties as grilled Caribbean rock lobster, jerk chicken and Guiana pepperpots. It’s a blend of buffet and tablecloth service, with live music nightly.

Caribbean food, of course, is hardly the only option on board. One highlight was the Sterling Steakhouse, an attractive alternative restaurant for which a charge of $15 per person is assessed. Diners have a choice of six steaks or a prime rib. Both the food and service were excellent.

Oddly, most of the decor of the steak house, including a pair of saddles at the door, is Southwestern. The reason: On Princess’ earlier ships, this space featured Southwest dining, and there wasn’t enough time for the shipyard to change the decor (except for the murals) on this ship.

The other alternative restaurant, Sabatini’s Trattoria, also features superior food and service, but in a much different style. Diners are served a sample of every dish, including appetizers, pizza courses and Italian entrees.

For those who want a really exclusive dining treat, the Caribbean Princess offers the Ultimate Balcony Dinner, another industry first. For $50 per person, passengers can dine on their own balcony, served by their own private waiter. The four-course lobster meal includes cocktails, fresh flowers and champagne.

None of these special dining venues, however, denigrates the regular dining rooms, whose food, I thought, was a cut above the cruise ship norm. Passengers can take the evening meal any time in the Coral and Island rooms, though there was often a wait during the most popular dining hours, 7 to 8 p.m. The Palm dining room operates in the traditional cruise ship manner, with assigned first and second seatings at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. The Horizon Court buffet restaurant on the Lido deck is open 24 hours.

In another new twist, Princess has taken what was a secondary lounge on its earlier ships and made it into a multipurpose room called Fusion.

It is used for culinary demonstrations, bingo, a makeover show and a TV-style reality show called “Princess Idol.” A surprise for me was the modest cost of drinks — another factor that should help it solidify a niche in the Caribbean. Domestic beers cost $3.25, imported ones $3.50, about the same as on other cruise ships. But mixed drinks are considerably lower; one made with Johnnie Walker black whiskey, for example, is priced at $4.25, compared to $5.50 on Carnival and Royal Caribbean ships.

One of the most pleasant areas on board is the sports complex at the bow of Deck 17. Under a large canvas roof guests can play paddle tennis in a screened-in court, test their athletic skills at pingpong tables or their mental acumen at a king-sized chess set, or watch the action in the spa swimming pool a deck below.

Though this ship can carry 3,100 passengers, it did not feel crowded. “Where are all the people?” wondered first-time cruisers Bonnie and Doug Sawle of Camrose, Canada, who had expected to encounter queues on board.

For the Sawles, the cruise more than met their expectations. “We were impressed with little touches, like the way the staff greet you in hallways,” said Bonnie. They were less happy, however, with various ship surcharges — for soft drinks and dining in alternative restaurants, for example.

Far more pleased were clients of the Lotus Spa, the first such to be created and managed by the cruise line (others are franchised). Not only were some of the treatments innovative, but their costs in many cases were lower than on other ships.

Spa users can relax on heated chaise lounges in the thermal suite at no extra charge, and the spa pool, which has an adjustable current flow against which guests can swim, is open to all passengers.

The line also offers online reservations of spa treatments, another new procedure for the industry. Once passengers have booked their cruise, they can choose and reserve spa treatments on the Internet, along with shore excursions.

Internet reservations may be a boon for passengers, but the ship’s Internet service was not. More than a few passengers were upset by aggravatingly slow service, especially since they were paying 35 cents a minute for it

As on other recent Princess ships, the Caribbean Princess has three special areas for children (Pelicans for ages 3-6, Privateers for ages 7-12 and Off Limits for teens). The disco, which hangs suspended over the stern, is reached by escalator and pulses into the wee hours with hot music and static-electricity discharges inside glass cylinders.

The ship also has three main show lounges, 12 lounges/bars, four duty-free shops, a casino, wedding chapel (Princess captains can marry guests at sea), card room, cigar bar, a nine-hole putting course and golf simulator.