Princess Cays, Bahamas

Day Two: Princess Cays

This is about all we saw of Princess Cays.

We’re not big fans of cruise-company-owned “private islands” in the Caribbean. Past experiences have taught us that most of the time these excursions just end up being boring beaches with over-priced drinks and cheap trinket souvenirs for sale. We’d rather stay on-board the boat and take advantage of the peace and quite while the rest of the passengers burn their feet in the sand! And take advantage we did…the ship was deserted and we had the whole pool to ourselves.

Besides, Princess Cays isn’t really a “private island”. It’s a really a 40-acre strip of land on the southwestern coast of Eleuthera.

But don’t get me wrong! If a half-mile of beach, live music, barbecues, and hair-braiding is your thing, I’m sure it’s an awesome place to visit.

Disappointing Ship Layout

The layout and navigation of the Emerald Princess ship is a little disappointing. One of the favorite parts of cruising on a new ship for me is the exploring of the nooks and crannies and taking a long walk around the entire boat. The Emerald Princess has a pretty goofy layout. You’d think on a boat, you could just walk in a circle (or an oval, whatever).

Not on the Emerald Princess.

If you’re starboard, you can get to some places, and if you’re port side you can get to others, but you can’t just just walk the perimeter to get to either, which makes for a lot of back-an-forth if you forget which part of the labyrinth you entered.

And for whatever reason, half the paths around the ship are blocked by bolted or locked gates. Very frustrating.