Is Caribbean Princess that bad recently?

[aaerobear]

We two also took the TA from San Juan to Southampton and NEVER saw any public restrooms out of order. The food was, as usual, up to the best standards and the crew was outstanding.

 

Avoiding icebergs was actually an awesome addition to the cruise as it was just after all the hullabaloo about the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. Kinda of gave you a little nostalgic feeling.

[jrzebird]

We two also took the TA from San Juan to Southampton and NEVER saw any public restrooms out of order. The food was, as usual, up to the best standards and the crew was outstanding.

 

Avoiding icebergs was actually an awesome addition to the cruise as it was just after all the hullabaloo about the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. Kinda of gave you a little nostalgic feeling.

 

We need a 'like' button here. I am laughing so hard. Thanks for that.

 

Maureen

[simok99]

Hi

Been following this board and the reviews on various Princess ships and find it remarkable the number of poor reviews of the Caribbean princess recently, over a period of time there are lots of 4* or 5 * but recently a spate of 1* reviews?

 

I know that all the reviews are from the same cruise "around Britain" which was delayed by mechanical problems and missed 2 ports of call. Liverpool & Edinburgh.

 

I know how frustrating it is to miss ports of call, but sometimes it is unavoidable, and just one of those things. I also agree $75 OBC as compensation is pretty poor, but does this justify the slating on the reviews of the actual ship?

 

Strangely every one of these posters make the point that Liverpool was their main port of call for them? believe me Liverpool has little to offer!

 

Maybe i am cynical? but may it just be that there are a group passengers that have sort allegiance and are stressing the point to Princess that they were disappointed? in an effort to gain a better compensation deal?

 

I would be interested in hearing the views of recent travellers of the Caribbean Princess who weren't on this ill fated itinery.

 

Many thanks

LIVERPOOL HAS NOTHING TO OFFER!!!!! YOU PLANK!!!

http://www.visitliverpool.com/

[simok99]

Hi

Been following this board and the reviews on various Princess ships and find it remarkable the number of poor reviews of the Caribbean princess recently, over a period of time there are lots of 4* or 5 * but recently a spate of 1* reviews?

 

I know that all the reviews are from the same cruise "around Britain" which was delayed by mechanical problems and missed 2 ports of call. Liverpool & Edinburgh.

 

I know how frustrating it is to miss ports of call, but sometimes it is unavoidable, and just one of those things. I also agree $75 OBC as compensation is pretty poor, but does this justify the slating on the reviews of the actual ship?

 

Strangely every one of these posters make the point that Liverpool was their main port of call for them? believe me Liverpool has little to offer!

 

Maybe i am cynical? but may it just be that there are a group passengers that have sort allegiance and are stressing the point to Princess that they were disappointed? in an effort to gain a better compensation deal?

 

I would be interested in hearing the views of recent travellers of the Caribbean Princess who weren't on this ill fated itinery.

 

Many thanks

 

HAHA!!! wind up merchant livesin Hampshire mmmmm Southampton by any chance...the city that has London to offer!!!!

[wineglass]

We were on that June 7th cruise aboard Caribbean Princess. Yes, the ship had some issues, especially the 24 hr delay in departing Southampton, and yes, there were more than several closed/inop restrooms during the 2 wks, but overall the ship was fine. The delay was made worse by the lack of communication from the bridge. Everyone was speculating if we would leave port or not. A little more ongoing information would have eased people's worries. The crew was excellent. we had nothing but positive interaction with the crew, both directly as room steward, waiters, and just those you met about the ship. The food was just fine. in 12 days, the four of us had 65 different dishes without any repeats. The itinerary was just a little too hectic with a port almost every day. actually, the missed ports gave a little respite. We were unhappy to miss Liverpool, but high seas & little boats are a no-no. I read many suggesting we should have missed St Peter Port instead, but that was a beautiful, pleasant little village that I still think back on. The weather, while there were no rough seas, was a minus as it was mostly windy & cold, but Hey! we were in the North Sea in early June. We were lucky not to be strapped to our bunks. The excursions were all pretty high-priced, but this is Europe in an economic crisis, not the caribbean. Charging $16 for a suttle to Le Harve, when the town was completely shut down was a bit much though. They could have at least told us. Luckily, we found out another ship was in port with a free shuttle into town. As to repositioning Cruises, we were on Sea Princess last fall, 30 days San Francisco to Sidney and it was our best cruise ever. Did not want to get off even after 30 days! If you want to cruise, you've got to roll with whatever comes and enjoy yourself!

[simok99]

http://www.wirralcam.org/waterfront2.shtml

 

Liverpool web cam with lots of stuff.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire/content/webcams/webcam_southampton_webcam.shtml

 

Southampton web cam with ????????? you tell me!!:D

[Twinkstarr]

If you want to cruise, you've got to roll with whatever comes and enjoy yourself!

 

Bravo! :D

[planitohio]

three days ago. This was our 8th cruise - our first on Princess. Have looked forward to this trip and sailing Princess for a very long time.

 

My impression - there is good and bad. The ship (as I understand) sailed full and that seemed obvious. I thought the food, overall, was very good. I ate at 6:30 in the dining room and otherwise in a dining room, IC and had the grill and pizza once. Also did two of the pub lunches that were very good. I thought the food was better than RC - not as good as Celebrity.

 

I thought the staff - overall - was very good. There were a few things I did not like:

-This was not a good ship for a fjord itinerary. We were blessed with beautiful weather. However, it's not good weather for being out on an open deck or balcony (for any length of time). It was impossible to find quiet, well lit indoor spaces to read or study. I was not the only one constantly moving or having this issue. Skywalkers was the main possibility and it was usually full or parts of it were reserved for functions. The other spaces were used for Art (auctions or display), bridge, bingo, loud things. If you could find a space at Skywalkers - there was rarely a bartender and no water or tea available nearby. Only two elevators run to this floor (or our dinner floor) - so the elevator waits were typically long and moving around with beverages was cumbersome.

 

- I was excited to see three banks of elevators - however - see above - we waited longer for elevators on this ship than I can recall having waited on other ships. The layout was also choppy. You had to go up and over and back down at various times and places. The only time we experienced this before was on our one previous Carnival cruise. We found it confusing and even after 12 days were still turned around frequently.

 

- The spa staff was often in elevator lobbies and around the ship selling services.

 

- The gym wood floor was filled with chairs for "seminars" - limiting work out space at various times. However, as a plus - the fitness instructors did show up for fitness classes which is not the case on all ships. Some fitness classes were consistently held at strange times - like 5:00.

 

- The shows - we really enjoy the production shows. The singers & sound were just off and we couldn't figure it out. Because of our dinner time, we went to the 8:15 shows. We typically had to arrive by 7:50 to get a seat. We missed a few shows as we could not get there early enough. I just was not overly impressed with most of the shows. Too much audience participation which just doesn't work for me in that large of a venue. Bar attendants were rare in the theater.

 

- Personally, I'm not a fan of all the bingo, art auctions and related announcements. I really enjoy movies but did not find too many worth watching on this particular voyage.

 

- There was a book club scheduled through the ship. When they met - they moved numerous times trying to find a quiet place to meet. They eventually gave up.

 

- One thing I did miss on this ship was a dining room lunch on port days. There were at least four days (12 day sailing) that we would have eaten in the dining room for lunch if it had been an option.

 

- Two of our ports had us docking considerably out of town. The ship ran shuttles for $8/each. The weather was not necessarily good. You could buy the tickets ahead. They filled the buses one at a time and you had to stand in line and wait while those who did not buy tickets - purchased them then. Really not advantage to planning ahead and the lines were long. Same on the return trip. As there is nothing to see at a port container dock - just increase our fare if you need to so we can quickly load on buses and move around. I really tire of standing in line - for the shuttle, the show, the long lines to get a number for the tenders, etc.

 

I did like the system they had for checking us in and out of the ship. The handheld devices allowed the staff person to move around, the cruise line to increase how many people were used and that was very nice.

 

- I did not like that the library books were locked up and only available certain hours. Apparently (according to the staff person) Princess has a high incidence of theft of library books. It would have to be considerable to warrant so much staff time. On other ships I have sailed on I have enjoyed the library a lot -used it often and found it a quiet place to read. This one was too much in the middle of everything and was also the internet cafe. That is just a personal preference.

 

- We were traveling with 8 people in four balcony rooms. Our intent was to have one big open balcony. We did not realize that it's a partial wall that swings. The balcony wall on each side of us - swung into our space - which would not then allow enough space for our two chairs on the balcony. One of the doors also did not work properly - so it would bang all night long when in windy sections. You could jimmy it with paper as others had obviously done - but then you had to undo it to open it again. It wasn't quite the balcony experience we were anticipating.

 

- The Patter was pretty good. I like the RC format better where the back page has all the relevant info, is perforated and easy to fold and carry around. These also arrived very late which made planning with our friends difficult.

 

- A staff member ran an interdenominational church service on our Sunday on board. He did an excellent job and it was well attended.

 

- I loved the storage and layout of the room. I found this the best of any ship I have been on. The room was very quiet. The mattress and pillows are probably the worst I have ever experienced.

 

We boarded expecting to just love Princess. We left less than impressed. We would consider it again, but would approach with more caution and information. We chose this cruise because of the itinerary and so many telling us how we would love the ship. In retrospect, I should have researched the ship a bit more to make sure it would work for the area where it was being used.

[caribill]

-This was not a good ship for a fjord itinerary. Especially since it is too big to always dock close to town.

 

- Two of our ports had us docking considerably out of town. The ship ran shuttles for $8/each. The weather was not necessarily good. You could buy the tickets ahead. They filled the buses one at a time and you had to stand in line and wait while those who did not buy tickets - purchased them then. Really not advantage to planning ahead and the lines were long. Same on the return trip. As there is nothing to see at a port container dock - just increase our fare if you need to so we can quickly load on buses and move around. I really tire of standing in line - for the shuttle, the show, the long lines to get a number for the tenders, etc. I agree. If the ship must dock far from town, passengers should not have to pay extra to actually get to the city the cruise is supposed to get to. This would be like having to pay for tendering to land when a ship has to drop anchor instead of docking.

 

- One thing I did miss on this ship was a dining room lunch on port days. There were at least four days (12 day sailing) that we would have eaten in the dining room for lunch if it had been an option. On our last RCCL cruise the dining room was also closed on port days.

 

 

- I did not like that the library books were locked up and only available certain hours. Apparently (according to the staff person) Princess has a high incidence of theft of library books. It would have to be considerable to warrant so much staff time. On other ships I have sailed on I have enjoyed the library a lot -used it often and found it a quiet place to read. This one was too much in the middle of everything and was also the internet cafe. That is just a personal preference. On both Carnival and RCCL we also found the books locked up most of the time.

 

 

Thanks for your honest report.

[StillPooh]

Interesting that this ship is encountering such serious mechanical issues again, so soon after the March fiasco. Perhaps it's time for dry dock.

[caribill]

Interesting that this ship is encountering such serious mechanical issues again, so soon after the March fiasco. Perhaps it's time for dry dock.

 

It's just like your own automobile.

 

The next day after an overhaul something could break.

[DeloreanGirl]

LIVERPOOL HAS NOTHING TO OFFER!!!!! YOU PLANK!!!

http://www.visitliverpool.com/

 

This made me laugh. :D

[13cruise84]

I was on the Caribbean Princess in May from NYC to Southhampton and had a wonderful time. The employees were friendly and everything ran beautifully. No complaints.

[liverpoollad]

planitohio.

 

Thank you for your up to date thoughts on the CB. I am on the CB shortly, & I must admit I worry whether I will enjoy this cruise, thankfully I got a good deal so it will be wait & see.

 

simok99.

 

We shouldn't get too uptight, cruisefamilyuk was obviously a wind up merchant. I too think he is from the Southampton area & that is why he hasn't replied.

 

Cheers

[drtravel47]

I sailed CB twice, a southern carib in 2010 and the NY/FLL repositioning last Oct. I liked the ship and itinerary, i"m doing the repositioning on Oct 31. No, it's not Celebrity (especially in their choice of displayed art-Celebrity is clearly classier), but it's a fine ship with a pleasant staff. I work as a part time TA and recommend the ship regularly. In fact, I have friends and family in 4 cabins in October.

 

As for missing a port, it is disappointing, especially if it's a special place. Last we, the captain decided not to leave NY due to a freak Oct 29 snowstorm. We missed San Juan, which was disappointing, but would have sailed in 20 knot seas had the captain not been prudent. I'll take the overnight in Brooklyn over seasickness, thank you.

[PunkiC]

We have done two cruises on the Caribbean this spring and summer and it was fine. I did see and report one non-funcional toilet.

 

Other than that there were no problems with the ship.

 

It did upset me that the tour desk operator lied to us and told us that the only way to leave the port in Zeebrugge was via their $8.00 each way shuttle, when there was in fact a free port shuttle and a tram into town for two Euros. You may argue that she just didn't know, but I will argue that she should have known--that's her job.

 

Since I had specifically asked about alternative methods of transportation and was given bad information, I complained and they refunded our $32 (4x8).

 

Other than that, it was pretty much the same as any other Princess cruise.

 

Great pizza, as always. :)

[CarrotMiku]

Ack. I'd heard about CB's issues in March, but didn't realize there are still some ongoing issues. I'm about to embark on CB this upcoming Monday, too. Ah, well. Gotta go with the flow...