Carribean Princess Review Jan 29 to Feb 5th

[trudzie]

WOW! After reading the original posting, I would not have believed we were on the exact same cruise. We just got back from being on the Caribbean Princess 1/29 to 2/5 cruise. We thought it was excellent! We thought the service by everyone we encountered was terrific! Most servers went out of their way to talk with us. And when they saw us on other days, they made a point of saying hi and asking how we were enjoying the cruise.

 

This was our sixth cruise so we couldn't help comparing it to our 2003 RCCL Grandeur of the Seas which had 2000+ passengers. We never felt like we were on a ship with 3000+ passengers. We never waited to get into the "anytime" dining rooms (Coral and Palm) and we usually got there about 7:00 - 7:30pm, the 3 nights we ate there. Having always had "tradional" dining on our previous cruises, we found we grew to really like the "anytime" dining as it no longer mattered if you were running a little late (or early) in getting dressed. No last minute stress trying to get down to the tradional seating. Plus we were able to eat at times that allowed us to go to MUTS on the 2 nights we wanted to see the movies. And we met more people as we were always willing to "share" tables in the main dining rooms. I did find the Palm dining room to be less crowded as we had read on these boards. I think because it is in the back of the ship, it doesn't get as many people as the Coral restaurant which was midship.

 

The seas were fairly rough for much of the trip, and the day we missed Princess Cays, we felt the Captain made the right decision. You could see the seas were beginning to get rougher and Captain Nash did make it clear there was another storm front that was coming into the area which would have made our return on tenders even more difficult. We sat at the MUTS pool until well after 2pm that day, and the pool was not covered in ropes at least until that point. We left then as sure enough it was clouding over as the front came in.

 

MUTS was GREAT! For the evening shows, they had the blankets all set up on the chairs, they came around with candy (for purchase), popcorn (free) and then appetizers(also free)! They kept coming with hot spring rolls, fried cheese, fried scallops and other things that we had to keep saying no to, as we had the candy and popcorn first! It was amazing. Only complaint we had was the choice to have an 10:30 caribbean party at the neighboring Neptune pool with the Caribbean Experience band. Because we were watching Bourne Supremacy, the dialog often got drowned out by the music of the band which was at the next pool. We would not have booked the movie for that night had we known about the party. But other than that, everything else we saw on MUTS was able to be heard quite well. It's a terrific addition.

 

We saw a lot of chair saving going on also. Some people just think they are more special than others, I guess. We were sitting at the pool from about 9AM and saw all these empty chairs being saved. About 11AM, a woman showed up and asked if anyone had been in the seats. We said not since we had gotten there at 9am. So she removes the towel and claims it. About 11:15am, about 5 of the chair savers show up and are upset that one of "their" chairs had been stolen. The guy says "I was out here at 7am saving these chairs, how dare you remove my towel?" Somehow hogging 7 or 8 chairs for over 4 hours where noone could use them didn't seem to bother him. Then this same group, plunks down a book and take off again for other events on the ship, still leaving the chairs empty. Princess has a policy that is stated in the daily Patter that as a courtesy to other passengers, they kindly request no reservation of Deck chairs. If you don't mind not being right at the pool, you really could get chairs anywhere other than the very first row by the pool. We found the jacuzzis well used, but unlike a Carnival Pride cruise I went on, people DID get out of them after 30 minutes or so. Although they did have Adult only jacuzzi's, we thought it was crazy having kids be able to use the other jacuzzis. There would be 5 or 6 small kids (ages 2 -7) in the other jacuzzis while their parents said nothing to them. They would be in there for long periods of time because they thought the pool was too cold, too deep, I don't know? I always thought jacuzzis were bad for small children. Jacuzzi's were only warm not hot and there didn't appear to be anyway to make it hotter. Maybe this is done because so many parents do let their children use them? Anyway, we got our fair share use of them which we never did on Carnival (which we won't be doing again).

 

Anyway, we thought the food for a 3000 passenger ship to be quite good, even excellent. The chocolate croissants up at Caribe are terrific! Don't listen to the negative comments. The cruise is what you make of it. And as with everything in life, you will always find some find the glass half empty while others find it half full. We had such a good time, we will be sailing Princess again. Please feel free to ask any questions (trudzie@aol.com)

[TorontoTL]

Trudzie, I was on the same cruise and my experience, that I have post above, was very similar to yours. I thought it was a fantastic cruise and would go on the CB again in a heartbeat. I'm sure it is possible to have a bad experience on any cruise and with so many people, everyone onboard will have a different cruise experience.

[trudzie]

Hi TorontoTL. I was the woman with the brace on (broken foot). I tell you having a brace got me more attention, I'm thinking of keeping it for future cruises. Maybe even rent it out. It was just amazing the "extra" attention it got me. Only thing it didn't help was getting a seat by the pool!

[TorontoTL]

Hi Trudzie, I saw you around the ship. I'm really glad you had a good time despite your injury, how did you hurt yourself? I'll have to get myself a cast/brace for my next cruise too, maybe it'll help getting those little extras....;)

[trepid]

We were on the Jan. 22 sailing and I found the ship rocked continualy from the time we got on till we got off. One of the first nights we were up in Horizons court and my brother in laws napkin was just shaking away. We seemed to always be leaving late so as a result full steam ahead 21... knots almost top speed. We sailed the Navigator of the seas previously and nothing was felt, my wife commented that she wished for some motion. She certainly some got this time.

I will probably go on Princess again, just not the Caribean Princess. The food was fine, entertainment varied, the staff not friendly will go back to traditional dinning we missed the interaction we had with Maria and Joseph on our last cruise. Staff at the excursion rude and arrogant. We enjoyed oursleves and made the best some discouraging moments. We shared good times with family and friends and met a lot of nice people.

[ajdegumbia]

I will be sailing the CP at Xmas. I know lots of people and kids but it's something my folks and us want to do. One question after reading the above posts. Does the CP have the retractable roof over at least 1 of the pools. I know we were on the Coral last October and they had the retractable roof. Can someone please confirm.

 

Thank you.

[TorontoTL]

The Coral and all the Grand class ships have the retractable roof pool, but the Caribbean Princess does not. It has the movie screen in the area of the pool which would normally be the one with the retractable roof.

[dbmiller1956]

I must say that I am very confused about my trip. This will be cruise #9 for my husband and I, on 4 different lines. I have found that you either love this ship or hate it. I am the type of person that makes what they can of what they have, but I must say this is the first time I have been hesitant to cruise.

 

Is there anything that I should be prepared for that no one has mentioned or is it a case of a few bad apples that find fault with anything? I notice that no one has mentioned the casino. This is something that dh and I enjoy....what about it?

 

Thanks for any suggestions!

[KAJOKG]

We lived on a barrier island in Florida for 15 years (moved 2 yrs ago). The ocean and the winds and tides controlling the sea is a wonderous thing to behold. I would never, never question a ship's captain about a decision to cancel a stop or alter a route. Things can look perfectly calm, but in reality the tides are not "behaving." So, I cannot say anything about the OP's complaints abouts service aboard...won't experience that until next week. But I do know enough to not ever question the person in charge, i.e., Captain, when it comes to altering a schedule due to the seas. What looks perfectly okay to the novice, may in fact be a risky venture.

[garda]

Hi! I totally agree with you about the service. They seemed confused, no enthusiam and not very friendly! Very disorganized. We too were a little embarrassed since we convinced 22 people to join us. Service was horrible, entertainment- nothing to do after 11:00 p.m. The food was great in the dining room and the specialty restaurants, but the buffet was nothing great. Dining - a little piece of advise to large groups ( over 6) --DO NOT CHOOSE ANYTIME DINING. We called the concierge to reserve at around noon on the day of embarkment and we were told that 7:00-7:30 was impossible. The only time that was available was 6:00 or 8:30 ( doesn't that sound like Traditional). This was noon?????But the most ridiculous was waiting in line for ONE HOUR to reserve Sabatini....After spending thousands of dollars ---we would like to start our vacation immediately.

[CruiseFever]

I must say that I am very confused about my trip. This will be cruise #9 for my husband and I, on 4 different lines. I have found that you either love this ship or hate it. I am the type of person that makes what they can of what they have, but I must say this is the first time I have been hesitant to cruise.

 

Is there anything that I should be prepared for that no one has mentioned or is it a case of a few bad apples that find fault with anything? I notice that no one has mentioned the casino. This is something that dh and I enjoy....what about it?

 

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

It would be really easy for me to answer yes to that question about this or any other ship that we have sailed as we have never had a bad cruise.

 

Sometimes I wonder what's up with the thinking of some of these people. It's like they set themselves up for failure.

 

How anyone could not have a great time on a cruise is just beyond me.

 

I totally understand and respect those who prefer smaller ships, larger ships, ships that have fewer passengers, more crew, painted hulls, Italian officers or any of a number of other personal preference factors. Whatever their likes or dislikes they're there to have a great cruise and for the most part they do.

 

On our two sailings of this ship I have indeed seen these people who have ruined their own cruise..and I think that's what it boils down to. It wasn't the ship itself, they dont reconfigure the deck plans, cabin setup and dining arrangements from week to week just to play with us.

 

I think these people just dont pay attention then are surprised when things dont go as they believe they should have in their little bubble of a world that has little to do with reality.

 

This would be a good time to say that I am not talking about anyone here, present company excluded, or something along those lines but I am. To expect to walk into a dining room with 20+ people anywhere, land or sea, and just sit down and dine as though they were a party of 2 is either following some very bad advice or just not paying attention.

 

Truly, traditional fixed seating is the way to go for a group of that size for the minimum amount of delay.

 

If some TA advised differently then they are stupid and should be fired. If the passengers themselves chose this option or if they booked late and could not get traditional then they should not have expected to be seated together in any reasonable amount of time at all.

 

The dining room is just not set up to do that.

 

I wonder if their group was equally as disappointed when the 20 of them met on deck at 10AM and couldn't find 20 lounge chairs together or a way to make it through the buffet in one little complete choo-choo train line

 

"Is there anything that I should be prepared for that no one has mentioned or is it a case of a few bad apples that find fault with anything?"

 

You'll be fine..just stay away from the apples ;)

[spongerob]

I must say that I am very confused about my trip. This will be cruise #9 for my husband and I, on 4 different lines. I have found that you either love this ship or hate it. I am the type of person that makes what they can of what they have, but I must say this is the first time I have been hesitant to cruise.

 

Is there anything that I should be prepared for that no one has mentioned or is it a case of a few bad apples that find fault with anything? I notice that no one has mentioned the casino. This is something that dh and I enjoy....what about it?

 

Actually, I loved the ship itself, it was some of the compromises that were made in the management of the vessel's services that would make me hesitant to return to Caribbean Princess. I really like the profile of the ship, and the extra deck gives it stature. In fact, I honestly believe that the physical layout of the ship makes it seem much larger than its 113,000 GRT. Visually, it compares favorably to the largest RCI vessels.

 

Having had some previous experience with Princess ships, I was surprised to find that the standards of service in many departments were short of the levels that I had become accustomed to. The reason for this is that the crew complement is the same as other Grand-class ships, yet the total passenger load is increased by 20%. The only added crew, as I later found out from the maitre d' on Grand Princess, are in the galley area.

 

The overall impression to me was that our cruise aboard Caribbean Princess just didn't feel like a Princess cruise. It's not the fault of the ship. That impression was created by the management decisions made on how to staff, maintain, and market this vessel. None of it was enough to "ruin" a cruise, it was more like ordering a Bud and getting Bud Light. Princess versus Princess-Lite.

 

As for the casino - this is one area where the influence of Carnival is most apparent. The effects have not been positive. I didn't believe that the notoriously tight ship's casinos could be tightened even more, but Carnival has done it.

[KAJOKG]

It would be really easy for me to answer yes to that question about this or any other ship that we have sailed as we have never had a bad cruise.

 

Sometimes I wonder what's up with the thinking of some of these people. It's like they set themselves up for failure.

 

How anyone could not have a great time on a cruise is just beyond me. .

 

"Is there anything that I should be prepared for that no one has mentioned or is it a case of a few bad apples that find fault with anything?"

 

You'll be fine..just stay away from the apples ;)

Well said, Chris. We have traveled world wide and learned very early that when you travel, you must "go with the flow." It's a shame that one or two bad experiences can ruin one's entire cruise. So, if you can't get into the dining room, go to the Horizon Court, or have a pizza, or order room service. There are many alternatives when on a cruise.

[dbmiller1956]

Thanks so much for the answers to my concerns. Like I said in my posts, dh and I have always found that a cruise is what you make of it and I plan on making this one just as good as the others. As for the comment about, "If the dining room is full, go to the HC, or..etc."...I am with that one.

I feel much better after hearing the comments, especially the ones about Princess being purchased by Carnival and the fact that this may have caused some of the changes. Some of my best cruises were spent aboard a Carnival ship..... so " à la vie!"

[joan24]

Trudzie and Toronto TL,

I was on the !/29 CP cruise and agree with you. I was concerned prior to sailing about all the negative reviews. I was pleasantly surprised. The ship was great and we encountered NO service problems as hard as this is to believe with the number of crew on the ship. We ate in The Palm Dining Room every night and had the same waiter and never had to wait for our reservation. We had a great room steward. We thought Nick Nash was charming and added a little humor to a cruise with rough seas. If anyone had any idea what the weather in S. Florida was like the week of the cruise, you could have predicted rough seas and I really don't think that Captain Nash had any real alternative as to where we sailed. I guess that what makes the world go round, different views by different people.

Joan

[garda]

It would be really easy for me to answer yes to that question about this or any other ship that we have sailed as we have never had a bad cruise.

 

Sometimes I wonder what's up with the thinking of some of these people. It's like they set themselves up for failure.

 

How anyone could not have a great time on a cruise is just beyond me.

 

I totally understand and respect those who prefer smaller ships, larger ships, ships that have fewer passengers, more crew, painted hulls, Italian officers or any of a number of other personal preference factors. Whatever their likes or dislikes they're there to have a great cruise and for the most part they do.

 

On our two sailings of this ship I have indeed seen these people who have ruined their own cruise..and I think that's what it boils down to. It wasn't the ship itself, they dont reconfigure the deck plans, cabin setup and dining arrangements from week to week just to play with us.

 

I think these people just dont pay attention then are surprised when things dont go as they believe they should have in their little bubble of a world that has little to do with reality.

 

This would be a good time to say that I am not talking about anyone here, present company excluded, or something along those lines but I am. To expect to walk into a dining room with 20+ people anywhere, land or sea, and just sit down and dine as though they were a party of 2 is either following some very bad advice or just not paying attention.

 

Truly, traditional fixed seating is the way to go for a group of that size for the minimum amount of delay.

 

If some TA advised differently then they are stupid and should be fired. If the passengers themselves chose this option or if they booked late and could not get traditional then they should not have expected to be seated together in any reasonable amount of time at all.

 

The dining room is just not set up to do that.

 

I wonder if their group was equally as disappointed when the 20 of them met on deck at 10AM and couldn't find 20 lounge chairs together or a way to make it through the buffet in one little complete choo-choo train line

 

"Is there anything that I should be prepared for that no one has mentioned or is it a case of a few bad apples that find fault with anything?"

 

You'll be fine..just stay away from the apples ;)

 

 

Hi!

 

I'm sorry, but I was just replying to the original message and giving my opinion on the service on our cruise. Having said that.........we all had a GREAT TIME.....because like you said, how can one not have a great time on a cruise. I understand that the dining arrangements did not meet our expectations but this is only due to the fact that PRINCESS assured us that that Anytime Dining would be no problem. But, hey we managed and made the most of it!!! At that point, we were on vacation, and che sara---sara!!

 

I believe this board is the very best is finding information for those who are interested. It has been very helpful to me. Sharing our experiences is also extremely helpful. Whether good or bad . It seems to me, that when an opinion is voiced in the negative, everyone jumps on it. Really, I just want to be as helpful as you all have been to me and the only way I can do this is by being honest.

 

Thanks and I hope you don't think I'm the bad apple!!!

[trudzie]

Since I'm still enjoying my cruise afterglow and thinking about doing another Caribbean cruise same time next year, does anyone know are the seas always rough this time of year? or was this just a bad week for choppy waters?

[bdjam]

MUTS was GREAT! For the evening shows, they had the blankets all set up on the chairs, they came around with candy (for purchase), popcorn (free) and then appetizers(also free)! They kept coming with hot spring rolls, fried cheese, fried scallops and other things that we had to keep saying no to, as we had the candy and popcorn first! It was amazing. Only complaint we had was the choice to have an 10:30 caribbean party at the neighboring Neptune pool with the Caribbean Experience band. Because we were watching Bourne Supremacy, the dialog often got drowned out by the music of the band which was at the next pool. We would not have booked the movie for that night had we known about the party. But other than that, everything else we saw on MUTS was able to be heard quite well. It's a terrific addition.

Heaven forbid that MUTS be interrupted by a traditional cruise event… :rolleyes:

[WendyG]

it amazes me how we all cruise on the same ship the same week and have SUCH different opinions!

I always have af abulous time on my cruises, and this one was no exception.

I did find one waiter in the Coral diningr oom that was absolutely miserable, hated Princess, hated his job, hated RCI when he worked there...so guess what? I didn't sit at his table again!

I was not happy about missing Princess Cays, that's my beach volleyball day, but to blame the captain? Or thinking because we were a little late he decided to "make up" the lashing of the waves which made tendering unsafe? Pardon me, but if you were on that ship you KNOW how rocky it was most of the week!

My only disappointment was Island night....they skipped the lip sync contest! That's my favorite part! Other than that, I had a great time! (could winning $500 in the casino the last night have anything to do with that?) :)

 

Soemone asked about the seas this time of year, I'd say yes, they will be rough during our "winter" months. I was on the CB is July and the water was like glass,

Spring or summer is your best bet!

[TorontoTL]

Wendy, and others, did you see the hula hoop contest, I was the one who won the mens contest at the Island party. How embarassing! :D

[Rustynail]

We were on the 1/22/05 sailing of the Caribbean Princess and loved the expereince. My wife was a little unsettled at times with the rocking of the ship however one cannot control gale force winds of 50 knots plus. For that we have to blame mother nature.

 

Dan

[internetdj]

I would very much like to hear more about your recommendations for excursions on Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas. Thanks!

 

I just got back from the Jan 29/05 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard the Caribbean Princess I have to say that my friends and I had a different experience than the original poster. For those who don't want to read the long version, it was an amazing cruise. The ship and crew are all great, if you have any doubts about a cruise on the CB, don't worry, you'll have a great time if that is what you want. I was worried about booking on this ship because of a few previous posts about the extra number on PAX on this ship compared with other Grand class ships. I was very pleasantly surprised that I could not tell any difference between the number of PAX on this compared with the Star and Golden. The only differences were that embarkation took at bit longer and the line up appeared to be longer. But despite a very long line and arriving at the peak of embarkation, I was on the ship within 40 mins of arrival to the terminal around 130 pm. The only other difference was that I seldom saw a hot tub that was actually empty. I did not have to wait to get a table for four or six at either the Coral or Palm dining rooms between the hours of 6 and 7 pm without a reservation. In fact the longest I waited was 5 mins when I did have a reservation because everyone else with a reservation was there at the same time as well. Once those ahead of us in line were seated we got our table immediately. I thought that the ship accomadated the extra 500 PAX well with the addition of the Caribe Cafe. The Caribe Cafe is a great addition to the dining options on the ship since it offered different food at dinner and somtimes at lunch as well from the Horizon Court. Another change from older Grand Class ships is the Club Fusion instead of the Vista lounge. With the many plasma screens around the lounge it was easy to see what was happening on stage even though you might not have a clear view of the stage. In the Vista lounges I often found you would not be able to see the stage in certain spots behind a pillar, but with the plasma screens in the Club Fusion showing the action it didn't really matter where you were in the room. One big change from all the other Grand Class ships is the conservatory retractable roof is gone and instead of that you have the MUTS instead at that pool. I felt the MUTS addition was very well done and didn't look out of place whatsoever. The mini put golf was moved and in it's place is more sunning chairs with a view to the ocean and the MUTS screen. We watched the MUTS on two nights and during the day a few times. Each time I marvelled at how great the picture was and how good the sound was. I did not find there was much in the way of sound bleeding to other areas of the ship, however, I did not have a balcony cabin so I cannot comment on sound affecting the balconies below. Certainly it would not be worse than the music from Island night at the Neptune's reef pool though since it wasn't as loud as the music. Because these Grand class ships have so many pools I found it very easy to find a quiet area by either the aft pool or the Lotus Spa pool. It was also very easy to find a sun lounge but not always immediately beside a pool, instead maybe just steps away. I didn't find this to be any different from the other ships I had been on in the past. The additional PAX certainly did not affect the service or food in any of the restaurants. The food was always excellent and the service that I received from all the waiting staff was friendly and efficient even when we missed Princess Cays because of strong wind and waves. The waiters had to work much harder that day than they had anticipated since the PAX did not get to leave the ship for a beach day. Despite this they were still great and provided great service as usual. Missing Princess Cays was very disappointing but we cannot control the weather. From what I could see from the distance they have done a good job repairing what must have been terrible damage to the area. The palm trees even looked good which I didn't expect. I did not think that N. Nash the captain was condiscending in any way in his announcements. I did think the wind was picking up as we left PC and you could see the clouds in the distance as well. I actually agreed with the captains comments in that it is the captain who should decide on whether or not the PAX go to a port and not the decision of the PAX. Who would be responsible if the weather worsened and we couldn't get off the island safely?

 

I would be glad to answer any questions from anyone who might have any. Overall the cruise was amazing and I will continue to cruise with Princess as I have yet to be disappointed with any of my cruises I've taken with them.

[popcorngal]

I just wanted to add that those of you on the 1/22 and 1/29 sailings were not alone in your encounter with very rough seas. We sailed on the Carnival Legend on the 22nd and were coming back toward FLL on the 29th, sailing through the Bahamas. It was some of the roughest seas I have ever encountered. Hard to walk without bouncing off the furniture. That was our day to pack as well, and I never left the cabin all day. The captain said it would calm down around 10pm and it did. Finally, we were able to eat something!:o

[bdjam]

Wendy, and others, did you see the hula hoop contest, I was the one who won the mens contest at the Island party. How embarassing! :D

Rats…I missed it! :D :D

[TorontoTL]

I would very much like to hear more about your recommendations for excursions on Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas. Thanks!

We only did St. Thomas and St. Martin on our cruise. For Sapphire Beach in St. Thomas we simply got off the ship and got a taxi to take us to the beach. It was quite simply. At St. Martin we took the water taxi to Phillipsburg and just walked around town.