Caribbean Princess Review 5+ Stars

[Deadhead Jed]

Well, thank goodness.

 

We are taking our first-ever cruise in 20 days on the Caribbean Princess to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Before we booked, I read a few scary reviews about burned-out staff, poor food, and ship conditions that were less than favorable. Our travel agent (a family member) promised that this wasn't going to be the case, so I bit the bullet.

 

Your review settled my stomach a little. We are very much looking forward to it. Thanks for your good words about the ship!

[Colo Cruiser]

Well, thank goodness.

 

We are taking our first-ever cruise in 20 days on the Caribbean Princess to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Before we booked, I read a few scary reviews about burned-out staff, poor food, and ship conditions that were less than favorable. Our travel agent (a family member) promised that this wasn't going to be the case, so I bit the bullet.

 

Your review settled my stomach a little. We are very much looking forward to it. Thanks for your good words about the ship!

 

Take the negative reviews with a grain of salt.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

[BratDet]

posting the review. We will be on the 8/9 CB cruise (also for the 5th time on CB) for Western Carib. For those of you doing Eastern, the three times we went, we got off the ship, went right and had a wonderful relaxing beach walk around to the tip. A little rocky at some spots, but doable. We took our snorkel stuff once, but the water was too rough to make it worth while. One year, when my adult kids were at Margaritaville, we visited them for a while AFTER our walk...so it was enjoyable....but in general, it is a stop for the sake of a stop...

 

Bernadette

[todd-r]

Never heard of the Pearl DR.

 

My guess is OP intended to say the Palm Dining Room.

[Sanibel*Gal]

DH & I were on the same cruise for a B2B beginning on June 28th to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary & my Birthday. This cruise was wonderful - much better then the one we did in May for 4 days & the crew agreed.;)

 

Someone asked about Crooners & Dwight Blake is the entertainer - Don't miss this guy, he is fabulous. On the nights he was in Explorers lounge the entertainer was David Juneau in Crooners - unfortunately, we never heard him. The duo "Rockin Paradise" was so, so... but we really enjoyed "Passion" and the "Los Brilliantes Mariachi Trio". Illusionist Landon Swank was also on board in the Princess Theater for his show "Reality Bent".

 

We did try the Crab Shack in Café Caribe - I loved it but a little too much work for DH with all that crab cracking and shrimp peeling.:p

 

First week we did the dining room for dinner & one nite at Crown Grill and 2nd week we went mostly to the buffet or Café Caribe - just to change it up a little.

 

This was a great cruise - we found that the crew & staff to be top notch & they really took good care of us.

 

Though we have done the Eastern/Western itinerary many times we did our homework and found beaches we have never been to on a couple of islands. Grand Turk is really crowded with two ships so if you get there at noon, like we did, take your time to get off the ship. It was hard to find a lounge and Margaritaville pool was over-flowing.

 

There were a few issues around the pools on board with kids jumping/diving and throwing footballs back & forth. Lots of chair hogs on sea days but pool staff did remove some towels.

 

Oh & P.S. - I agree with the first poster - I give this cruise a 5 Star Review!:D

Edited July 14, 2014 by Sanibel*Gal

[immsters]

Thanks so much for the reviews. We leave on Aug. 9th and I am thrilled to think we will have an awesome time on the CB as usual. This will be our 3rd trip on her.

Lisa

[minniem]

I was so glad to read your positive review. Our cruise is a long way off, February, and it is only our second on Princess. We loved the Ruby but we are limited to 5 days and only the Caribbean Princess is doing 5 days next February. The negative reviews had me worried. Your review was so positive I am no longer worried. Now I can't wait to go and experience her for myself.

[RSWBADGER]

Thanks for the informative review, 1st time on the Caribbean Princess, looking forward to be cruising again. :)

[beach spring]

We also enjoyed this same CB cruise.

Some random comments:

DH wished there were both sides open in Horizon Court for breakfast for greater length of serving time. Our meals were hit and miss, so not quite a kudo on that.

Kinda resented that Carnival ship blocking "our" view while on the beach at Grand Turk. Much better when she left :p

Beach entry at Grand Turk just way too treacherous, with the numerous and big rocks, then holes to fall over/into. But the water was nice.

Found a wonderfully serene beach at Emerald Beach at the Best Western Resort on St. Thomas. If you want a lazy day, go there, just minutes from the ship, open-air taxi at $4pp one way. Restaurant pretty good. Clean, quiet (except for the airplanes). Became a bit busier later in the afternoon.

Enjoyed Dwight Blake in Crooners, and absolutely thrilled to the bonus of Hector, a head waiter, who sang two nights in the Dining Room. If you haven't heard Hector, they check him out on YouTube. Wonderful!

Our cabin steward, Angelo, has been with Princess for 20 years, so he took great pride in our room's condition. Very pleasant man, so kudos to him.

Shore Excursions desk very efficient as were my experiences with Passenger Services.

We had an evening flight home, so used EZ Air. Worth every penny to not have to lug a big suitcase around all day.

On Princess Cays, we reserved a locker for $9 for the day but decided afterwards that it had not been necessary. Felt very secure there.

OTOH, disembarking for PCays was unnecessarily slow, and the looooong line for a tender to return to ship was ridiculously long, about 3:00pm. :( Princess needs to provide better and more shady locations for passengers to wait in line, and add some benches. Much too hot and humid, esp. for older and tired children, of which there were many.

San Juan: highly recommend using the HOHO free trolley to do the circuit first, then get off during next go-round at places you have seen that you want to check out further. Tip: took us right up to the actual entrance of Old Fort Morro, no walking up that long concrete walkway.

One trolley stop before the one for the ship is a large CVS. I sorta remember they sold some liquor but can't promise that.

Overall, we had a great time; the above are just some memories that linger.

[PathfinderEss]

Great review, thanks for writing and posting it.

[Colo Cruiser]

We have Hectors CD, he is excellent!

 

Love Emerald beach, its a nice walk from CB too.

Edited July 15, 2014 by Colo Cruiser