Is it true that Caribbean Princess sucks for Canada/New England?

[Pythian]

Lots of posts here, but I’ll add my 2 cents. I am sorta jaded in that I love Princess, but I like the smaller ships (Royal through the Coral size). We’ve sailed the Caribbean Princess 3 times, and although I really like the ship and crew, the crowds are “plenty” and space seems at a premium.

 

We sailed out of NY last Fall (Oct, ‘09) and were really looking forward to the trip. Interesting cruise, to say the least. Encountered hurricane force 10 (80 mph) winds Saturday night (first night out) that lasted throughout all day Sunday and into the early morning Monday hours. Ship took some damage, but the Captian did a great job sailing through it. Could not port at Newport and we all got a whopping $4 credited to our on-board account due to the missed port. (ok, most understood this was not Princesses fault, but the $4 credit was sort of silly) Never got to really use any of the outside decks (except our balcony which was out of the wind on the Aft) due to high winds and damage from the storm. A few other days had very high winds (force 8+) and the crew locked all the outside doors for safety. The days they were open, it was really cold with 20 knot winds adding to the chill-factor. Bar Harbor was beautiful (till about 4 pm when the clouds came back) and was our best stop, which surprised me since it was also a tender port. Very nice and worth the trip! Princess did a nice job of doing the Tender support too.

 

The ship is much improved from last we sailed (having undergone drydock). Vines wine-bar was very nice as was the coffee and pastry areas, All located on

level 5 now, and making this a real level (with a larger internet café too – that unfortunately did not get much use due to the hurricane). It was also spotlessly clean and looked really nice. Our room was nice and we slept like rocks, so the whining of some on the beds sure didn’t affect us, as we thought ours was great.

 

Ship took the wind well, and to tell the truth, for about two days, we could have sworn there were only about 500 people on the ship…. Despite the wind (and lack of outdoor facilities on the ship due to frigid weather and wind), the ship’s crew and Captian were GREAT. After the storm, for the next 5 days….. it was pretty crowded, since the outside was ‘off-limits’ (had some damage mid-ship due to the storm) and all the sea-sick folk had recovered their sea-legs. Yikes! VERY Crowded inside!. Crew was still one of the best ever, and did all they could to make sure everyone was happy.

 

Will we take another NE cruise? Ok, probably not (maybe take the train on the circuit around the Great Lakes next??? hummmmm… that would be fun!), but I do like the bragging rights of the 80 MPH (70 knots plus force 10!) winds and neither I nor my DH were the least sea-sick – a testament to the ship and the Captain and Crew!. Will we sail the Caribbean Princess again… you bet….. but in the Caribbean…….. you know?

 

Dan

[caribill]

We sailed out of NY last Fall (Oct, ‘09) and were really looking forward to the trip. Interesting cruise, to say the least. Encountered hurricane force 10 (80 mph) winds Saturday night (first night out) that lasted throughout all day Sunday and into the early morning Monday hours. Ship took some damage, but the Captian did a great job sailing through it. Could not port at Newport and we all got a whopping $4 credited to our on-board account due to the missed port. (ok, most understood this was not Princesses fault, but the $4 credit was sort of silly) Never got to really use any of the outside decks (except our balcony which was out of the wind on the Aft) due to high winds and damage from the storm. A few other days had very high winds (force 8+) and the crew locked all the outside doors for safety. The days they were open, it was really cold with 20 knot winds adding to the chill-factor. Bar Harbor was beautiful (till about 4 pm when the clouds came back) and was our best stop, which surprised me since it was also a tender port. Very nice and worth the trip! Princess did a nice job of doing the Tender support too.

 

Will we take another NE cruise? Ok, probably not (maybe take the train on the circuit around the Great Lakes next??? hummmmm… that would be fun!), but I do like the bragging rights of the 80 MPH (70 knots plus force 10!) winds and neither I nor my DH were the least sea-sick – a testament to the ship and the Captain and Crew!. Will we sail the Caribbean Princess again… you bet….. but in the Caribbean…….. you know?

 

 

We did the Crown late last September NYC to Quebec City and had great weather all the way except for a rainy day in Halifax. Just shows how weather can make or break a cruise through no fault of Princess.

 

By the way, the $4 credit was a refund of port charges for the missed port, not an attempt at compensating you for missing it.

[Pythian]

By the way, the $4 credit was a refund of port charges for the missed port, not an attempt at compensating you for missing it.

 

Yes, I know. I just thought they might as well keep the $4. I'm sure they lose a lot of money when missing a port... and there was no way we were going to visit downtown with 80 MPH winds anyway. But, I suppose policy is policy.

 

Dan

[zacc]

This past Jan we did a cruise on the CB out of San Juan, Great weather but the ship always seemed crowded even with people out at the pools. We felt the interior of the ship was poorly disigned, not very spacious, and alas, crowded. Another concern is the weather, If ou go much past the first week in Sept it is going to cool to downright cold on the water. I have lived in New England all my life and grew up in a coastal town near Boston.

Find another ship. There are many to choose from

 

Sue

 

All three of our Canada/New England cruises were the third week of Sept. Didn't need more than a light jacket on any of them....guess we were just lucky

[Cruising Jedi]

:eek:So after reading all the opinions I was ready to look elsewhere but then, I decided to say what the heck. (The price was just too good)

 

I booked.

 

I'll update eventually and add my opinion to the others! I'll definitely report back my experience. But I'll be determined to have fun no matter what.

 

So off to the East Coast on the crowded Caribbean Princess!

 

Thanks for your thoughts everyone!

[DonnaK]

:eek:So after reading all the opinions I was ready to look elsewhere but then, I decided to say what the heck. (The price was just too good)

 

I booked.

 

I'll update eventually and add my opinion to the others! I'll definitely report back my experience. But I'll be determined to have fun no matter what.

 

So off to the East Coast on the crowded Caribbean Princess!

 

Thanks for your thoughts everyone!

 

You wont be sorry you booked. You said that you are determined to have fun, and you are already prepared for the crowded buffet and theater so you can compensate for that by getting there early, etc. No worries - it's a cruise with great ports at a good price!