Princess Cays, Bahamas
- Amaris Scipione
- Nov 17, 2025
- 6 min read
Today we are visiting Princess Cays in the Bahamas, and the morning starts with breakfast. We go to the eatery which is only one deck below us on the other side of the ship. The place is packed, and I remember something from the video I watched on the stateroom television. The Americana Diner is located further back and also has a breakfast buffet. We find a seat by the window and then take turns getting food. The Diner is less crowded than the alternative, but the place is still packed.
We’ve received so many pieces of paper with important information. I read through so many details for my job, and I just don’t want to read when I’m on vacation. Today is one of those days I regret not reading because I had no clue where to go. I know we need a water taxi ticket, but where to get one? We decide to go to the gangway to see if we can get them there. Wrong. We’re sent to Deck 7 midship. Also wrong. I ask an officer who tells us Deck 8 which I can see from where we are. I see a huge line and apparently visibly display my frustration for another line. The officer hands us some tickets which are Priority Boarding tickets, and we can skip the line! It sometimes helps having a child with you! We then go back to Deck 4 to disembark but realize I don’t know the towel situation. I find another officer. Can we get towels near the exit? No. They’re on Deck 17. Are there towels on the island? Also, no. I stay with my son on Deck 4 while my husband climbs to Deck 17 for towels. Sometimes a husband training for the Georgia Death Race comes in handy. It was a bunch of running around, but we’re finally on our way. We’re one of the last people to board and it takes about 15 minutes to move to the island. The ride is enjoyable with beautiful blue water surrounding us and views of the Bahamas and our ship.
We arrive to Princess Cays and nearly immediately spot the children’s area. I’m surprised they have this and it’s nice. There is a decent sized playground in one part and large toys in another part. They even have a row of kid-sized chairs which are really colorful and cute. I stay here with my son while my husband looks for chairs.
Eventually we find my husband who has found three chairs and one umbrella. I ask him if these were just open to take. He says yes. I’m skeptical because there was a charge in the app for an umbrella, but he’s completely unpacked us with towels anchored with bands. We look like we belong here. I go off with my son to the beach and we walk around. When I come back, my husband whispers to me, “I think these are supposed to be reserved seats.” This is based on a conversation he overheard from people nearby. I look for signs that say reserved or really any indication that we shouldn’t be here and there was nothing. I shrug and we decide we’ll stay until someone kicks us out. No one came to kick us out.
The beach with the clamshells and umbrellas is a nice little cove with soft sand. Our chairs are closest to the beach and really in a great location.
There is another cove next to ours which also has some umbrellas but has loungers without umbrellas as well. This cove has much courser sand, and it feels like walking on a bed of tiny daggers. I apparently am more sensitive to rocky sand than others. Each step is painful for me, but literally no one else seems bothered by it at all. This cove is for snorkeling, and we see several floating bodies with tubes sticking out of the water.
The next area over has very big rocks and you cannot swim here. Beautiful cabana beds line the little rocky cliff. It feels more private over here and less crowded.
Further still are these little beach houses. These houses are even more private and appear to come with servers for getting drinks. The important thing to know is that there is a bar by these little beach houses and the line at this bar is significantly shorter than the main bar. The food buffet also has a very long line. (It took me about 30 minutes to get through it.)
Private Islands are my favorite stop on a cruise. The water is a beautiful blue color and crystal clear. You can see fish swim. The first cove has white soft sand and is lovely. This island is much smaller than others. The advantage is that you don’t have to walk far, but the disadvantage is that it feels crowded. I also really don’t like waiting in lines. The food line, the bar line, and the get-back-to-ship line were too long. In general, I like the food Princess offers, but the food on the island was subpar. It would have been better to wait and eat back on the ship. We didn’t buy a drink package and I’m glad we didn’t because each drink would have meant another wait. We filled our water bottles before we got off the ship and that was an excellent move.
We arrive back to ship and go for a snack. Brian gets tacos. I get a slice of pizza. My son gets ice cream. All were delicious.
We’re still in our swimsuits from the beach so it’s an easy transition to the pool. We make our way to the back of the ship to the AFT pool. This is the best place to watch the sunset. I dip my toes into the pool, and it feels cold so hot tub for me! There are two hot tubs next to the pool. We watch the sunset as we pull away from the Bahamas. The area clears out when the sun sets and we go back and forth from the pool. I swear the pool got warmer when the sun went down which makes no sense, but maybe the heat is turned on at this time? It’s a magical way to end the day. I float on my back by myself in this pool with views of our ship and the lingering orange from the sun. It’s beautiful and a day to be thankful for.
We’ve had two days on Sun Princess and we have opinions. The decor and upkeep of this ship are very good. Each space has appealing design and there are some unique aspects of this ship that are really cool. There is a domed area with tiered seats and a little pool. This is great for colder days. There are also a couple parts with rounded glass which create a cool look. But, as a whole, the ship doesn’t flow well and I don’t think the designers really thought about the movement of people. Also, I think they really missed the mark on some beautiful views. As I mentioned, I’m lying on my back looking up at the ship. We’re on Deck 8. Deck 9 is the buffet. Most decks 10 and above are stateroom-only decks until you get up to 17. I’m looking at 7 decks of lost opportunity. The AFT has my favorite view. The Wake of the ship churns out water and creates this beautiful streak of ocean. On many ships, the staterooms on the back of a ship are equipped with balconies that overlook this. On this ship, there are a handful of cabins that have this balcony. The majority of the space on decks 10-16 on both sides of the ship utilize this prime real estate for a stairwell. Decks and decks of stairs on both sides. It makes me think of Cleveland and how a long stretch of our lakefront is for a private airport. Such a lost opportunity.
Earlier I mentioned the flow of people. Once we’re showered and ready, we head to dinner. Our cabin is on deck 10 and dinner is on deck 6. We move to deck 6 and walk down the hallways of cabins until we get almost near the end. A stateroom attendant asks us if we’re headed to dinner. We say yes and he informs us we can’t go this way. We must go up to Deck 7 and squeeze through the narrow space sandwiched between jewelry and watch shops to get to dinner. Once we exit the bottleneck, we can go back downstairs to get to the dining room. I understand they designed the ship to maximize sales in the shops. I still don’t like it. I told my husband I’m not buying anything out of protest.
Dinner tonight was spinach and artichoke dip with chicken cordon blue. Dessert was my favorite option. It’s the signature Princess dessert which is a heart-shaped mousse sitting on top of a sugar cookie. They had it on our last cruise and I remembered how much I liked it.
There are shows and entertainment, but we’re exhausted and go to bed early. It’s been a lovely day.
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