Caribbean Princess March 30-April 6: Another Perspective

[Rinderoo]

Reviews are funny, because what one person notices might go totally unseen by another. I was on this cruise with hubby and two older teens (18 & 16) and was dreading it. Only booked Caribbean Princess because I had air to FLL and couldn't find another cruise that would work with the budget I allocated. (Original trip was cancelled due to a family emergency, that resolved with a death thus making a cruise possible.) A previous Princess experience had me bored beyond tears as there was nothing on that ship for me to do, and I was really hoping that things would be different on this trip.

 

Anyways... as I prattle on here, I have to say that I really enjoyed this cruise! We had two inside staterooms on Aloha 12 and while I was not fond of living in a cave for a week it worked pretty well for us. The closet and layout of the room helps alleviate clutter. Even when i book balcony staterooms we don't spend a lot of time in the room, and I can't complain about my value for the $$ with these inside rooms. (Basically I got two inside staterooms for less than the price of one balcony for four.)

 

We did Anytime Dining and arrived right around 7pm every evening and had minimal wait times for our table of four (nothing more than 7 minutes on Formal night--we clocked it.) I never went to the buffet for lunch but instead did the MDR around 12:10pm and again we were seated promptly. Hubby and son up every morning and had breakfast in the Horizon Court. On the last night we had a nice quiet meal in Cafe Caribe.

 

I noticed many tables for two in the dining room for those who care about this.

 

Since it was Spring Break there were a lot of families and kids on board. I didn't notice any badly behaving teenagers which was a nice surprise from other spring break cruises.

 

Weather was mostly good except for Force 8 Gale winds as we were sailing towards Curacao. I would have liked to have been lower in the ship and had to take motion sickness medicine that night. The weather can't be controlled.

 

Never saw slobs in any of the dining rooms at dinner; The wardrobe police must have been issuing citations. I was one of those slobs in comfortable attire after dinner every night: we always change out of our dressy clothes after dinner and don't care what others think.

 

Entertainment was pretty good. They have a new production ensemble and the female singer Iris was amazing. I also liked the clean comedy of Troy Thirdgill. Family enjoyed Hawley Magic too. Couldn't get a seat in the area where Bert Stratton was located.

 

Did not go to Sabatinis or Crown Grill; just did the Chef's Table.

 

Coffee was passable in the MDR and Horizon area although we did buy two coffee cards. I did prefer what was available in the IC to the dining room version but I did order coffee in the dining rooms just to see what I'd get.

 

Great service in the dining rooms, and I thought the food was wonderful. Several favorites including the Peach Bellini Soup and I also loved, loved, loved the ice cream, which was made on the ship. So many yummy things and yes, I took photos of all the menus and our meals. Even the lobster was good and not salty and rubbery like most cruise ship lobster. (Of course it wasn't fresh Maine lobster--but it was quite good.)

 

Our stateroom attendent Ruel was friendly and took care of everything including laundry that we sent out. Once we told him about the sleeping arrangements with kids down the hall he delivered important things to our room instead of to them. We gave him additional cash the night before we left.

 

Did the Chef's Table on the Curacao night and loved it. Chef Antonio Ceredo has been with Princess for 30 years, and seemed to be a very likeable guy. Many servers said that he was a good manager and the kitchen seemed to be a pretty happy group while we were in there. Ironically I did not smell any food and it was spotless at 7pm. It was slow in the kitchen because it was Curacao but it meant we could chat a bit more with the crew too. I asked a lot of questions on board and found a lot of long-term crew who said that the ship was well run. They say they work hard but were treated well. If they weren't treated well I don't think they'd hang around. The stateroom guy next to our area had been with Princess for 20 years. It tells me a lot about a company when they are able to keep so many people year after year.

 

Also did all of the wine tastings--Daisy the Sommelier is clearly passionate about her duties and I enjoyed her presentations. Unfortunately during the last session on Thursday I thought she was treated poorly by the attendees (this was the "Elite" freebie) and much of the room had their own conversations going on while she was speaking and I thought it was quite inconsiderate to those of us who wanted to be there to enjoy the experience. She handled it professionally and just pressed on with her spiel.

 

Loved Ahdnan (Nan) and El in Vines. Sushi and other snacks in Vines was quite good. One slightly grumpy barrista in the IC who instructed me how I should order coffee. Fine by me... I'll order it his way. (I don't go to froo-froo coffee places and can't rattle things off fast--I am rather fond of Speedway gas station coffee and my Keurig.) I liked how they rotated the treats every day, and I especially enjoyed the little cheese plates that they made up (or would make up for you if you asked.)

 

I had absolutely nothing to fuss or complain about on this cruise except that one of the clothes dryers in the laundry room did not work and I couldn't get in touch with Guest Services to report it, so I just put a sign on it so no one else lost money. We did buy the passes for the relaxation rooms but ended up terribly sunburned in Aruba despite SPF 50, so we didn't get much use out of it.

 

Thought the ship was in good shape and clean, but of course when you stand around somewhere long enough you're going to notice that the carpet needs replacing, or something needs paint. But I travel quite a bit and I notice these things. On the sea days they were scraping varnish on the railings of the Promenade.

 

Saw several MUTS; the cookies were very good and a nice touch.

Never visited the pools as I consider them cesspools for germs. :eek:

Deck chairs were very full but if you didn't want to sit by a pool you could find some.

Bought two passes for the relaxation room and used them a couple of times. unfortunately we were sunburned badly in Aruba and the idea of steam and more heat was not attractive (unfortunately neither is my peeling skin right now.)

 

Really liked the International Cafe and Piazza area. Since we had inside rooms we spent a lot of time down there. Met some interesting people too while we were sitting around.

 

Didn't care about Princess Cays but I got off the ship anyways. Made the kids do the Banana Boat ride and they had no idea what they were getting into. Hubby met them after it was done and said they had a look of terror on their faces. (Actually as he told me the story about them getting off the thing I was hysterical but its not nice to laugh at your teenagers.) After that banana boat ride we got back on the ship and had pizza. Loved that pizza so much that I made myself quit eating it on Day 2. It was so easy to just run upstairs and get it and I figured that two nice meals per day were enough and that i didn't need to snack on pizza.

 

Based on this cruise I will sail Princess again.

[RickEk]

:)

Reviews are funny, because what one person notices might go totally unseen by another. I was on this cruise with hubby and two older teens (18 & 16) and was dreading it. Only booked Caribbean Princess because I had air to FLL and couldn't find another cruise that would work with the budget I allocated. (Original trip was cancelled due to a family emergency, that resolved with a death thus making a cruise possible.) A previous Princess experience had me bored beyond tears as there was nothing on that ship for me to do, and I was really hoping that things would be different on this trip.

 

Anyways... as I prattle on here, I have to say that I really enjoyed this cruise! We had two inside staterooms on Aloha 12 and while I was not fond of living in a cave for a week it worked pretty well for us. The closet and layout of the room helps alleviate clutter. Even when i book balcony staterooms we don't spend a lot of time in the room, and I can't complain about my value for the $$ with these inside rooms. (Basically I got two inside staterooms for less than the price of one balcony for four.)

 

We did Anytime Dining and arrived right around 7pm every evening and had minimal wait times for our table of four (nothing more than 7 minutes on Formal night--we clocked it.) I never went to the buffet for lunch but instead did the MDR around 12:10pm and again we were seated promptly. Hubby and son up every morning and had breakfast in the Horizon Court. On the last night we had a nice quiet meal in Cafe Caribe.

 

I noticed many tables for two in the dining room for those who care about this.

 

Since it was Spring Break there were a lot of families and kids on board. I didn't notice any badly behaving teenagers which was a nice surprise from other spring break cruises.

 

Weather was mostly good except for Force 8 Gale winds as we were sailing towards Curacao. I would have liked to have been lower in the ship and had to take motion sickness medicine that night. The weather can't be controlled.

 

Never saw slobs in any of the dining rooms at dinner; The wardrobe police must have been issuing citations. I was one of those slobs in comfortable attire after dinner every night: we always change out of our dressy clothes after dinner and don't care what others think.

 

Entertainment was pretty good. They have a new production ensemble and the female singer Iris was amazing. I also liked the clean comedy of Troy Thirdgill. Family enjoyed Hawley Magic too. Couldn't get a seat in the area where Bert Stratton was located.

 

Did not go to Sabatinis or Crown Grill; just did the Chef's Table.

 

Coffee was passable in the MDR and Horizon area although we did buy two coffee cards. I did prefer what was available in the IC to the dining room version but I did order coffee in the dining rooms just to see what I'd get.

 

Great service in the dining rooms, and I thought the food was wonderful. Several favorites including the Peach Bellini Soup and I also loved, loved, loved the ice cream, which was made on the ship. So many yummy things and yes, I took photos of all the menus and our meals. Even the lobster was good and not salty and rubbery like most cruise ship lobster. (Of course it wasn't fresh Maine lobster--but it was quite good.)

 

Our stateroom attendent Ruel was friendly and took care of everything including laundry that we sent out. Once we told him about the sleeping arrangements with kids down the hall he delivered important things to our room instead of to them. We gave him additional cash the night before we left.

 

Did the Chef's Table on the Curacao night and loved it. Chef Antonio Ceredo has been with Princess for 30 years, and seemed to be a very likeable guy. Many servers said that he was a good manager and the kitchen seemed to be a pretty happy group while we were in there. Ironically I did not smell any food and it was spotless at 7pm. It was slow in the kitchen because it was Curacao but it meant we could chat a bit more with the crew too. I asked a lot of questions on board and found a lot of long-term crew who said that the ship was well run. They say they work hard but were treated well. If they weren't treated well I don't think they'd hang around. The stateroom guy next to our area had been with Princess for 20 years. It tells me a lot about a company when they are able to keep so many people year after year.

 

Also did all of the wine tastings--Daisy the Sommelier is clearly passionate about her duties and I enjoyed her presentations. Unfortunately during the last session on Thursday I thought she was treated poorly by the attendees (this was the "Elite" freebie) and much of the room had their own conversations going on while she was speaking and I thought it was quite inconsiderate to those of us who wanted to be there to enjoy the experience. She handled it professionally and just pressed on with her spiel.

 

Loved Ahdnan (Nan) and El in Vines. Sushi and other snacks in Vines was quite good. One slightly grumpy barrista in the IC who instructed me how I should order coffee. Fine by me... I'll order it his way. (I don't go to froo-froo coffee places and can't rattle things off fast--I am rather fond of Speedway gas station coffee and my Keurig.) I liked how they rotated the treats every day, and I especially enjoyed the little cheese plates that they made up (or would make up for you if you asked.)

 

I had absolutely nothing to fuss or complain about on this cruise except that one of the clothes dryers in the laundry room did not work and I couldn't get in touch with Guest Services to report it, so I just put a sign on it so no one else lost money. We did buy the passes for the relaxation rooms but ended up terribly sunburned in Aruba despite SPF 50, so we didn't get much use out of it.

 

Thought the ship was in good shape and clean, but of course when you stand around somewhere long enough you're going to notice that the carpet needs replacing, or something needs paint. But I travel quite a bit and I notice these things. On the sea days they were scraping varnish on the railings of the Promenade.

 

Saw several MUTS; the cookies were very good and a nice touch.

Never visited the pools as I consider them cesspools for germs. :eek:

Deck chairs were very full but if you didn't want to sit by a pool you could find some.

Bought two passes for the relaxation room and used them a couple of times. unfortunately we were sunburned badly in Aruba and the idea of steam and more heat was not attractive (unfortunately neither is my peeling skin right now.)

 

Really liked the International Cafe and Piazza area. Since we had inside rooms we spent a lot of time down there. Met some interesting people too while we were sitting around.

 

Didn't care about Princess Cays but I got off the ship anyways. Made the kids do the Banana Boat ride and they had no idea what they were getting into. Hubby met them after it was done and said they had a look of terror on their faces. (Actually as he told me the story about them getting off the thing I was hysterical but its not nice to laugh at your teenagers.) After that banana boat ride we got back on the ship and had pizza. Loved that pizza so much that I made myself quit eating it on Day 2. It was so easy to just run upstairs and get it and I figured that two nice meals per day were enough and that i didn't need to snack on pizza.

 

Based on this cruise I will sail Princess again.

 

Thanks for the review!

[A1A]

Nice review, very well thought out and to the point!

Ken

[TorontoTL]

Your experience on the Caribbean Princess is more typical of our experiences on Princess, especially in terms of the crew. Thanks for the review.:)

[cnd crsr]

Enjoyed your review. Princess staff and crew are always great.

[gzjax]

We sailed 3/23-3/30 and loved the ship. I was very impressed on how long most of the crew have been with princess. It almost always felt like there were not a lot of people on the boat even though they were at capacity.

[r&rlovescruising]

Thanks for the review. Leaving on the 20th and some reviews begin to make you doubt:) I enjoy every cruise and am looking forward to some rest and relaxation. Just one question which dining room did you eat in on Anytime?

[gzjax]

Just thought of one negative. We were in E734 directly above club fusion. We loved the balcony but the noise from club fusion was very loud with the bass. On 2 nights they had private parties until 3:00 AM and another night they had music until 1:30. The other 4 nights we slept well.

[zacc]

Nice balanced review. Glad you enjoyed your return to Princess!!!

[gzjax]

Thanks for the review. Leaving on the 20th and some reviews begin to make you doubt:) I enjoy every cruise and am looking forward to some rest and relaxation. Just one question which dining room did you eat in on Anytime?

 

I know you were not asking me, but my wife and I sailed 3/23-3/30. We had any time dining and never had to wait longer than 4 minutes (the first night) and then never waited longer than 2 minutes again. The second night we had Kiwi in the Island dining room as our waitress. We always asked for her after that and always sat at her table except 2 nights. She was quick, attentive, and motherly. As soon as we sat, she always had our drinks ready for us before we even asked (after the first night, she knew what we wanted). She always tried to feed us more and was disappointed when we said we ate enough.

 

The other 2 nights we sat at any time dining without Kiwi was slow. Friday night we ate at Crown Grill and had excellent service with Marvin, the hostess, and I believe the Maitre D who were very attentive.

 

If you have any time dining, ask for Kiwi in the Island dining room. You will not be disappointed.

[RD64]

Rinderoo

 

I was on the March 9th sailing and had pretty much the same experience.

 

Ruel was my cabin steward as well, and I enjoyed El at Vines too. His assistant that week was Vishale.

 

Children and teens were not a problem despite it being Spring Break, and a Canadian school holiday - there may have been a lot onboard, but not noticeable.

 

I found that overall - all of the staff on the Caribbean Princess were very happy to be working on this ship, and it showed in their attitude to the pasengers - the management of this ship is doing something right.

 

Special Kudos to Jean and Kris -servers in the Island Dining Room - ask for them - you will not be disappointed.

[Rinderoo]

For our Anytime Dining, we went to Coral.

Tried Island once night (where it was always Anytime Dining) and thought it was more noisy.

 

For lunch we went to Coral, as that was what was open.

 

Lots of servers and never had any problems with refilling of the water glasses or the pace of the meal. Never ordered alcohol or wine, nor felt compelled to do so.

 

It really was a great cruise, much to my surprise!

[JustinPlusLauren]

Thanks for the great review! :)

[Jim_in_uk]

Thanks so much for the great review....any chance of posting the menu photos?

[Rinderoo]

Will try to work on menus and photos later this week. The Chef's Table is worthy of its own post, which I will work on too. (Loved the Chef's Table, and there was no shortage of champagne or wine either.)

[Jim_in_uk]

Will try to work on menus and photos later this week. The Chef's Table is worthy of its own post, which I will work on too. (Loved the Chef's Table, and there was no shortage of champagne or wine either.)

 

Will look forward to both those treats! Thank you!

[caribill]

Also did all of the wine tastings--Daisy the Sommelier is clearly passionate about her duties and I enjoyed her presentations. Unfortunately during the last session on Thursday I thought she was treated poorly by the attendees (this was the "Elite" freebie) and much of the room had their own conversations going on while she was speaking and I thought it was quite inconsiderate to those of us who wanted to be there to enjoy the experience.

 

I have experienced this lack of manners at this wine tasting on several Princess cruises.

[58Piano]

We are going on the 20th. Please tell me what is showing on MUTS?

Especially the ones at night. Which nights are showing what?

Is "Lincoln" only showing the the inside theater? Which nights?

I heard they show Stevie Wonder in concert. When is it?

Thanks this will help me plan things.

[memas retired]

Hi...great review...thanks.

 

Question: Did you have a pillowtop mattress in your cabin/s??

 

Cathy

[Rinderoo]

Hi...great review...thanks.

 

Question: Did you have a pillowtop mattress in your cabin/s??

 

Cathy

 

Ah... the Mattress question, and I'll throw in the pillow situation too.

 

Based on the feedback on these boards I requested an egg crate topper. I thought the mattress was fine. Not up to Holland America's standards, but I was OK. It was NOT a pillowtop nor anything similar. In fact there were a lot of towels underneath (I looked. lol)

 

The pillows were awful. I ended up folding my beach towel and sleeping on it rather than the pillowcase. Its likely that the pillows clump due to being laundered. Had I some space in my luggage, or a car in FLL, I would have run off to the store and bought some. ;)

[Colo Cruiser]

Great review.

[r&rlovescruising]

I know you were not asking me, but my wife and I sailed 3/23-3/30. We had any time dining and never had to wait longer than 4 minutes (the first night) and then never waited longer than 2 minutes again. The second night we had Kiwi in the Island dining room as our waitress. We always asked for her after that and always sat at her table except 2 nights. She was quick, attentive, and motherly. As soon as we sat, she always had our drinks ready for us before we even asked (after the first night, she knew what we wanted). She always tried to feed us more and was disappointed when we said we ate enough.

 

The other 2 nights we sat at any time dining without Kiwi was slow. Friday night we ate at Crown Grill and had excellent service with Marvin, the hostess, and I believe the Maitre D who were very attentive.

 

If you have any time dining, ask for Kiwi in the Island dining room. You will not be disappointed.

Thanks! We will definitely take your advice and look forward to a great time!

[Keith1010]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post your review.

 

Keith