Caribbean Princess review 4/19/14-4/26/14

[~Christie~]

Hey all!

 

This is my first review so please bare with me! LOL

 

My hubby and I just got back Saturday from 7 days on the CB. This was our first cruise on Princess and our third cruise total (sailed Carnival 2x).

 

I will start with embarkation:

We found the port was easy enough to get to driving in from Alexandria, LA. It took us about 4 1/2 hours to get there. Parking was nice but I have to say I missed the covered parking that you get in NOLA. Getting into the terminal was nice and easy. We arrived to there about 11:15 am or so. Not that long of a line for check-in and it was painless and quick. Stood in line for check-in about 20 minutes maybe if that. Longest part was waiting to board the ship b/c it was not ready to board yet at that point.

 

We finally got to board the ship and went straight to our cabin to drop off the carry-on. We had L244 (interior) and were pleasantly surprised. We had an interior on our first cruise on CCL Fantasy and did not care for it too much but made due. The reason we chose L244 was location, location, location! LOL. We figured that for the price we could just go out on the Lido deck when we wanted a "balcony". Anyway, the room was small but the layout suited us well. I LOVED the closet!!!!! The bathroom was very small and only one person at a time could fit in it - lol. Shower, well, let's just say TINY. But, I had read enough reviews and knew that and I was prepared. (tip: hang a shoe organizer on the inside of the door to the bathroom that would hold your shampoo/conditoner, bodywash - etc.) All you have to do while in the shower is reach your arm out and it is there - lol.

 

Once we checked out the room we went to the front of the ship on the lido which comes out on the top of the bridge. That was the most beautiful place to go and look out onto the water. Bonus for us on the Lido!

 

Then of course we went straight for the food. We went to the coral dining room and I asked about lunch and they said that the only place open was horizon court.... I was little disappointed, but that is where we went. It was busy, but not horrible. We got our "hot" plates which were VERY hot (also a first for us) and went through the buffet. Then off to explore the ship while we waited for the safety drill. Safety drill went off without a hitch and before we knew it we were hanging out with our roll-call friend from CC at the outrigger bar!

[~Christie~]

Now, I will break down the rest of my review in sections.

 

Food:

I thought the food was very good. I do wish there would have been more of a selection for the buffet, but what they did have was good. Breakfast was good but pretty much the same ole each morning in the buffet. We did not eat breakfast in the dining room so I can't comment on that. I missed the omlete station that CCL has....

 

Lunch, again we mostly at the buffet or pizza & burgers. Their burgers & pizza were wonderful! Lunch buffet was pretty good as well. Again, we did not each lunch in dining rooms so no comments on that.

 

We did Traditional dining at 8:15pm in Palm dining room and I thought the food there was either hit or miss. Some nights it was outstanding and others good but not what I expected.

 

I have to say I think Carnival may have them beat on some of the meals (not all). I like how CCL has more selections for the buffet and I sure did miss the Chocolate molten cake.....But the lobster was delicious on princess!

[~Christie~]

Entertainment:

 

Ok, so this was not a favorite of mine.....

 

The shows were entertaining, but one was enough for us.... I think the dancers & singers did a nice job, but little to over the top for us.

 

Magician was GREAT! loved him!

 

Only ONE comedian the ENTIRE cruise and he only had 1 night of performance..... LOVED HIM!!!! But wish he would have had a few more shows.

 

The Culinary show was hilarious and we really enjoyed it! no complaints there.

 

The sea days really did not have much that we were interested in excepted the "men's sexiest leg contest" that was pretty funny.

 

I know that Princess is not known for the partiers and that is great, but they really need to have more varities of activities for the younger crowd that does cruise on them. The ship basically shut down around 11pm unless you went to skywalker's. Trivia got little old after awhile and there really was not much else to do during the day for the younger crowd.

 

Movie's under stars was wonderful! loved it!

 

Music:

Berte was AWESOME!!!!!! By far the best piano player I have ever heard! It was very personable and made you feel like his family. CB has a jem with him there!!!!

 

there were other bands that were very good, but you basically had to choose which one you wanted to hear more b/c they seemed to play all at the same time.

 

Overall again, I think Carnival has a leg up on entertainment as well in our opinions with more to do for all ages.

[~Christie~]

Service:

 

The service on the ship was wonderful! Our cabin steward Alfonso was GREAT!!!!! he made sure our room was perfect everyday and went above and beyond for us!

 

Our dining staff: Randy & Dennis.... All I can say is AWESOME!!!!!! If you are lucky enough to get these two gentlemen you are in for a real treat! They made dinner wonderful every night! My hubby and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on the cruise and we were serenaded by beautiful music and singing from these two along with a couple other waiters two nights in a row! Truly wonderful guys!

 

Ship:

The ship was BEAUTIFUL! WE LOVED it!!!! it beauty puts CCL to shame honestly.... very elegant!

[~Christie~]

Ports & excursions: All excursions that we took were through Princess.

 

Cozumel:

We did the Tulum & beach break tour. We loved it! I would recommend everyone to do this tour and hope you get Sal for your tour guide. Sal was wonderful and very knowledgeable. The site was gorgeous and the water, well, simply speechless!

 

Roatan:

We had reserved Little French Key, but the night before we were to port in Princess put out a letter asking everyone to be safe and cautious b/c of the recent crimes that have occurred there. So last minute, my hubby decided that we were going to stay with a princess excursion instead of going private. So we booked Tabayana Beach & Gumbalimba Park which was wonderful!!!!!

 

Belize:

We did the zipline & cave tubing and LOVED it! Our guides Edward & Ken were GREAT! Recommended to everyone!

[Little Rascal]

Great review! Thanks for taking the time to write down your thoughts. We are doing a Transatlantic on this ship next year so I was interested in your comments.

[Pam in CA]

I missed the omlete station that CCL has...

Thanks for the review.

 

FYI, every Princess ship I've been on has had an omelet station. It's not obvious with someone standing there making omelets but there's a sign in the buffet and someone taking orders. You can have whatever you want. On the Sapphire last month, they had a new (to me) system where they gave you a number check and when you sat down, staff would get your omelet. No waiting which was nice.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. :)

[~Christie~]

Wish I would have seen the omelet station... :-(

 

I would sail CB again in a heart beat! We loved it! Now we know that when we want nice, elegant, & relaxing go Princess and when we want a family fun time go Carnival.

 

Honestly, we loved our time on the CB. My thoughts are just what we noticed that was different from CCL.

[caribill]

Then of course we went straight for the food. We went to the coral dining room and I asked about lunch and they said that the only place open was horizon court.... I was little disappointed, but that is where we went.

 

The Coral should have been open for lunch until 1:30 PM.

 

Were you there after 1:30?

 

What did the embarkation day Patter back page say about lunch in a dining room?

[~Christie~]

The Coral should have been open for lunch until 1:30 PM.

 

Were you there after 1:30?

 

What did the embarkation day Patter back page say about lunch in a dining room?

 

 

we were on board by 12:30 I believe and went down to the dining room by 1 ish (I think). I will have to check the patter to see what it said. lol

[wrongwaywatson]

Thanks for the review.

 

FYI, every Princess ship I've been on has had an omelet station. It's not obvious with someone standing there making omelets but there's a sign in the buffet and someone taking orders. You can have whatever you want. On the Sapphire last month, they had a new (to me) system where they gave you a number check and when you sat down, staff would get your omelet. No waiting which was nice.

 

 

We were on the CB the week before you, 4/12-4/19 and I had an omelet. The cook was standing near the spot that they carve meat at lunch time. You fill out a piece of paper and they cook it!

 

We loved our cruise, too!

[ar1950]

we were on board by 12:30 I believe and went down to the dining room by 1 ish (I think). I will have to check the patter to see what it said. lol

 

As reported on many other threads, many times the crew tries to "dissuade" you from dining in the dining room on embarkation day. We have gone to the dining room on our last two cruises and on one of the cruises they did point us to the Horizon Court. This was even though we could see people in the dining room. We thanked them for the "suggestion" and walked on into the dining room and had a very nice lunch.

[DeeMr]

The Coral should have been open for lunch until 1:30 PM.

 

Were you there after 1:30?

 

What did the embarkation day Patter back page say about lunch in a dining room?

We ate in the Coral dining roon at 1 pm. Only a handful of people in it. Closes at 1:30pm

[jean s]

We did this cruise in February and really enjoyed it. In fact we are booked for the same cruise next February.

[golfb4cruzing]

I think you have it already. Family and a little more crazy then it's Carnival. Relaxing and refreshing then it's Princess. Welcome aboard.

[BruceMuzz]

Hey all!

 

This is my first review so please bare with me! LOL

 

 

Thanks for the invitation, but if I "bare" with you my wife will kill me.

Your husband probably won't be very happy either

[~Christie~]

Thanks for the invitation, but if I "bare" with you my wife will kill me.

Your husband probably won't be very happy either

 

LMBO! Oops! I did not even catch that mistake! sorry - :o

[~Christie~]

We ate in the Coral dining roon at 1 pm. Only a handful of people in it. Closes at 1:30pm

 

grrrr! that upsets me a little that they would not allow us in. Glad for you though! lol.

[~Christie~]

I think you have it already. Family and a little more crazy then it's Carnival. Relaxing and refreshing then it's Princess. Welcome aboard.

 

thanks! :D