Caribbean Princess - Poor Recent Reviews

[sheeper370]

I was considering booking the Caribbean Princess in the near future but have been dismayed by the recent poor reviews.

 

Having never sailed Princess before can anyone please reassure me that the ship is not as bad as reported?

[Pia1913]

I was considering booking the Caribbean Princess in the near future but have been dismayed by the recent poor reviews.

 

Having never sailed Princess before can anyone please reassure me that the ship is not as bad as reported?

 

We spent 19 days on the CB; June 19th to July 8th. If you can, read my LIVE and that will give you a day to day idea. We found no problems. I will try to locate it and give you the link.

 

Here you go:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1655510

[Griller]

I was considering booking the Caribbean Princess in the near future but have been dismayed by the recent poor reviews.

 

Having never sailed Princess before can anyone please reassure me that the ship is not as bad as reported?

 

Having just got off the Cribbean P. I wouldn't say it was bad - but it is big and somewhat impersonal - and if there is something wrong its hard or nigh impossible to get it fixed during your cruise. Like our cabin Ac was.

 

The food was fine, the main dining room service was good, if you timed it right there was no problem with the Anytime Dining - like any ship.

 

But its big and crowded if anything like at full capacity.

 

I would cruise on it again if the itinerary and cost was right but its not as good for me as the smaller ships.

 

Of course if you are a big extra tipper early on to the MaitreD' , waiters and housekeeping etc you may find everything is totally wonderful for you. Works on most ships.

[highheel girl]

Can you be more specific about poor reviews? :confused:

We have sailed many times on the CB.

It was excellent. :)

[RickEk]

Can you be more specific about poor reviews? :confused:

We have sailed many times on the CB.

It was excellent. :)

 

 

Try this link...

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=303

 

it seems that the most recent poor reviews were for the British Isles cruises... that being said, we're booked on her for the upcoming New Year's cruise. Having sailed on her a couple of times in the past, we're looking forward to a great cruise.

[Pam in CA]

I was considering booking the Caribbean Princess in the near future but have been dismayed by the recent poor reviews.

 

Having never sailed Princess before can anyone please reassure me that the ship is not as bad as reported?

Keep in mind when reading reviews, particularly negative reviews, is that people often set unreasonable or high expectations and when writing reviews, make sure that the things they didn't like or didn't meet their expectations are known to all.

 

I personally think that a ship that has no covered pool area is not the best ship for a British Isles or cold weather cruise because if the weather isn't warm or less than stellar, people tend to crowd the inside spaces. The Caribbean was built for the Caribbean, i.e., warm weather cruises.

[RickEk]

Keep in mind when reading reviews, particularly negative reviews, is that people often set unreasonable or high expectations and when writing reviews, make sure that the things they didn't like or didn't meet their expectations are known to all.

 

I personally think that a ship that has no covered pool area is not the best ship for a British Isles or cold weather cruise because if the weather isn't warm or less than stellar, people tend to crowd the inside spaces. The Caribbean was built for the Caribbean, i.e., warm weather cruises.

 

I agree... when the Caribbean Princess was launched, Princess made a big deal of saying that she was a ship that was purpose-built for sailing the Caribbean. My friend did the British Isles/Western European cruise on the Golden Princess a few years back and had a great time. The covered pool certainly helped...

[karatemom2]

We really love Princess and have never had a bad cruise with Princess. However, I would rate the Caribbean Princess as my least favorite ship. Our experience on the Canada/New England cruise last summer was less than stellar as far as the CB was concerned. It was a great itinerary and the food and service were good (not up to many of our other Princes cruises), but the thing that really made it a less enjoyable shipboard experience was the extreme overcrowding. There were just too many people on that ship on a packed summer cruise and it created long lines and overcrowded venues with never enough seating. It just felt like we were fighting for space everywhere we turned in the lounges, theaters, dining rooms, buffet. And the mix of passengers was the rudest I have ever encountered. As Pam said, it is more conducive to a warm weather cruise where people can really spread out outside. The British Isles and Canada/New England are itineraries that due to cooler weather drive people indoors which likely makes the crowding feel even worse. Honestly I would likely not choose the CB again unless it was just a price or itinerary I couldn's pass up. There are so many other Princess ships that I like much more.

[SAC69]

I'm sailing on the CB over Christmas and starting to mind prep myself for a crowded ship with lots of kids. Luckily I will have my OS suite to escape to.:D

[sheeper370]

Keep in mind when reading reviews, particularly negative reviews, is that people often set unreasonable or high expectations and when writing reviews, make sure that the things they didn't like or didn't meet their expectations are known to all.

 

I personally think that a ship that has no covered pool area is not the best ship for a British Isles or cold weather cruise because if the weather isn't warm or less than stellar, people tend to crowd the inside spaces. The Caribbean was built for the Caribbean, i.e., warm weather cruises.

 

Thank you Pam for your advice. I take "on board" (he he) your comments regarding the lack of a covered swimming pool. I can't believe that a company like Princess would overlook the need for a covered swimming pool in a vessel deployed in Northern climes.

[blueboro]

We are booked for January 19th and I too posted a thread on recent negative reviews. It does seem those British Isle cruises got some really mixed reviews but when I look at reviews for this past winter in the Caribbean they were mainly very positive. Hopefully the CB has not fallen off that much since 6-8 months ago. But my big concern is the overcrowding when seems to be a constant complaint.

[Griller]

Thank you Pam for your advice. I take "on board" (he he) your comments regarding the lack of a covered swimming pool. I can't believe that a company like Princess would overlook the need for a covered swimming pool in a vessel deployed in Northern climes.

 

Caribbean P. is a very tall somewhat topheavy ship and I doubt they could put the extra weight of a roof safely on her. There is already an extra cabin deck on the ship compared to a straight Grand Class design.

 

The Movies under the Stars is also not too good on Caribbean P. as the location means only a small handful of sunbeds get anything like a head on view, all the other chairs are very much to the side. I didn't try it but maybe it would be better to watch from one deck up on 16?

[RickEk]

Caribbean P. is a very tall somewhat topheavy ship and I doubt they could put the extra weight of a roof safely on her. There is already an extra cabin deck on the ship compared to a straight Grand Class design.

 

The Movies under the Stars is also not too good on Caribbean P. as the location means only a small handful of sunbeds get anything like a head on view, all the other chairs are very much to the side. I didn't try it but maybe it would be better to watch from one deck up on 16?

 

Yes it would... the deck 16 (and 17) chairs are set up in a more theater style...

[DrivesLikeMario]

After two cruises and about 3 weeks on the CB, I have no complaints about the ship (other than the lumpy bed but all of the mattresses were in the process of being replaced when I was last on the ship in May).

 

I found the service to be excellent and the ship to be in great shape, and I notice those things.

[DrivesLikeMario]

We are booked for January 19th and I too posted a thread on recent negative reviews. It does seem those British Isle cruises got some really mixed reviews but when I look at reviews for this past winter in the Caribbean they were mainly very positive. Hopefully the CB has not fallen off that much since 6-8 months ago. But my big concern is the overcrowding when seems to be a constant complaint.

 

I was on the second British Isles cruise and didn't find crowding to be a problem. The HC was busy during certain hours and in certain ports, but you'll find that on ANY ship.

[preschool teacher]

Keep in mind when reading reviews, particularly negative reviews, is that people often set unreasonable or high expectations and when writing reviews, make sure that the things they didn't like or didn't meet their expectations are known to all.

 

I personally think that a ship that has no covered pool area is not the best ship for a British Isles or cold weather cruise because if the weather isn't warm or less than stellar, people tend to crowd the inside spaces. The Caribbean was built for the Caribbean, i.e., warm weather cruises.

 

Well, I'm sailing on her in dec. in the Caribbean, so I'll report then, and hopefully some others before me will report.....

[MDSue]

I sailed her back in April and we had a wonderful cruise. No complaints here.

[frbob]

The ship, the food, embarkation/disembarkation, the crowded venues, the internet service, the beds and pillows...after 50+ cruises on all manner of ships, CP gets my "Worst at Sea" award.

[missymerv]

Just my 2cents worth....Just did BVE on the Caribbean Princess today and all went smoothly. Security to check in to a tour of the ship and lunch. Ship was clean and staff was friendly. It was a spectacular day here in NY and we had a wonderful time. :)

[Carolyn R]

Well...Of all the Princess ships I have sailed on I have sailed most often on the Caribbean Princess (5) and have thoroughly enjoyed every one. I will be on her again to Bermuda in October, my first time in a suite. I expect to enjoy this cruise even more than the last five. LOL!

[CruiseAdict218]

Sailed on her twice and we had wonderful times on her, the only downside are those extra passengers then what we found on the Golden Princess. ;)

[bphman]

We, too, sailed CB for the British Isles and were far from blown away. This was our third and least favorite Princess ship. Food was OK in the MDR and buffet. Pizza was excellent. Service was outstanding in the MDR but the Lido was next to impossible to get a table at breakfast and lunch. Cabin steward was fair and missed a lot of details but that is the luck of the draw. Ship was in fine shape but very crowded. Getting on and off the ship was often delayed for lack of security to man the checkpoints. Princess made a big mistake adding a deck of cabins without increasing the public areas enough to accommodate the increased number of passengers. I felt the same way about the Crown being crowded but we enjoyed it more. Internet was horrible. Mattresses were rock hard. The itinerary made up for the deficiencies of the ship.

[retired1998]

We just got off the British, Iceland, etc. cruise on 9/8. The buffet is very crowded at lunchrime. The service people are all good. We had a big problem with our room (A618). In the 14 days of the cruise, we had to call the plumber 13 times. In the beginning, they would give an excuse why the toilet wouldn't flush. After a while, they didn't bother anymore. We asked for another room but were told the ship was fully booked. As for the outdoor movies, they should have brought them indoors. It was too cold and windy most of the days to stay outside too long.