Just announced moving Caribbean Princess to British Isles for 2016s

[KruzeKrazy!]

S.S.Oceanlover -

 

Yes, the photos show some wear and tear but as all ships have to deal with the pervasive effects of salt water we certainly wouldn't think those examples were enough to ruin our cruise. To us, some wear is to be expected and actually ks part of the fun of an ocean-going experience. :thumbup:

[Mackenzie1]

S.S.Oceanlover -

 

Yes, the photos show some wear and tear but as all ships have to deal with the pervasive effects of salt water we certainly wouldn't think those examples were enough to ruin our cruise. To us, some wear is to be expected and actually ks part of the fun of an ocean-going experience. :thumbup:

 

The Caribbean Princess was in dry dock last year. The patio furniture is totally new, the railings have been varnished, and the carpeting is new, both in the halls and in the cabins (at least on the Caribe deck.) I have to fess up, though. I took a short, four-day cruise on the Caribbean Princess to Turks & Caicos this February to find out if it was as bad as everyone was saying before making a final decision to take a 16-day Norwegian cruise on the ship this summer. I laughed when I walked out to the balcony, thinking it would be awful, and found it in great shape. Even if it hadn't been, though, it wouldn't have changed my plans to take the Norwegian cruise because Princess had the best itinerary, and I'm an itinerary before ship type of person.

Edited March 15, 2015 by Mackenzie1

[KruzeKrazy!]

Great to hear! Thanks!

[Wehwalt]

I think that the OP was open to being persuaded or she would not have posted. No doubt given the warm welcome she received here, she will undoubtedly book.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

S.S.Oceanlover -

 

Yes, the photos show some wear and tear but as all ships have to deal with the pervasive effects of salt water we certainly wouldn't think those examples were enough to ruin our cruise. To us, some wear is to be expected and actually ks part of the fun of an ocean-going experience. :thumbup:

 

I guess it didn't ruin my cruise either because i booked on the same ship again.

 

It shows neglect. Of course salt plays a major part on the ship outside aesthetics but I've never been on a ship where it was that bad.

 

There were literally parts of railings that were down to to the bare wood. It's just part of the price of cheap cruising these days I guess.

 

The light in the cabin didn't get like that from salt though.;)

 

My only cruise that I would say was ruined was my cruise on the Noro Princess in 2011. One bad cruise out of 29 isn't bad.:)

 

Bill

Edited March 15, 2015 by S.S.Oceanlover
spelling

[KruzeKrazy!]

One out of 29 -- most would take those odds on just about anything! :thumbup:

[S.S.Oceanlover]

The Caribbean Princess was in dry dock last year. The patio furniture is totally new, the railings have been varnished, and the carpeting is new, both in the halls and in the cabins (at least on the Caribe deck.) I have to fess up, though. I took a short, four-day cruise on the Caribbean Princess to Turks & Caicos this February to find out if it was as bad as everyone was saying before making a final decision to take a 16-day Norwegian cruise on the ship this summer. I laughed when I walked out to the balcony, thinking it would be awful, and found it in great shape. Even if it hadn't been, though, it wouldn't have changed my plans to take the Norwegian cruise because Princess had the best itinerary, and I'm an itinerary before ship type of person.

 

Well then you really didn't do the 4 day cruise before making up your mind, as you later say you were going anyway.:D

 

Bill

[Mackenzie1]

Well then you really didn't do the 4 day cruise before making up your mind, as you later say you were going anyway.:D

 

Bill

 

Very true, especially since I already have my plane tickets, LOL!

[robinlynn]

I think that the OP was open to being persuaded or she would not have posted. No doubt given the warm welcome she received here, she will undoubtedly book.

 

You actuallly have that right! Very perceptive. I must admit I was disappointed at first, which I think would be expected, when I read that they were switching to a considerably older ship on a line I have never used before.

But after all of these mostly positive reviews, even with some negative observations, this cruise is EXACTLY the itinerary I want. Even my beloved Celebrity has a very poor comparative cruise for this part of the world.

So I will be taking a leap of faith and booking this Caribbean Princess and I am sure we will have a wonderful time when the exact dates open up for 2016.

Hopefully I will hear from some of you down the road on the Roll Calls for this trip.

Robin

[KruzeKrazy!]

robinlynn -

 

Good on ya! After all, the only way to ensure never having a negative moment on a cruise is to never take a cruise -- and where's the fun in that?!!!? ;)

[joanne2]

You actuallly have that right! Very perceptive. I must admit I was disappointed at first, which I think would be expected, when I read that they were switching to a considerably older ship on a line I have never used before.

But after all of these mostly positive reviews, even with some negative observations, this cruise is EXACTLY the itinerary I want. Even my beloved Celebrity has a very poor comparative cruise for this part of the world.

So I will be taking a leap of faith and booking this Caribbean Princess and I am sure we will have a wonderful time when the exact dates open up for 2016.

Hopefully I will hear from some of you down the road on the Roll Calls for this trip.

Robin

 

We're Celebrity cruises who have taken 2 TA's on the Eclipse and 1 on the Millennium. We're doing a TA on the Caribbean Princess this April because of the ports in Ireland and Scotland. Will report back with a comparison. I have no qualms about the "old" CB but then we prefer the "old" Millennium to the newer Eclipse.

[Luvmyrotti]

Good luck OP! Go into it with an open mind and enjoy the ship and itinerary. We did a TA with the British Isles a few years ago on the Grand and loved both the ship and the itinerary, which was fantastic!

[Mackenzie1]

If it's within your means, you may want to consider booking a mini-suite or above on the Caribbean Princess because those cabins have tubs with showers. The showers in the regular cabins are hardly big enough to turn around in. It's too late for me to make the switch now, but I would if I could.

Edited March 16, 2015 by Mackenzie1

[Azspeed]

If it's within your means, you may want to consider booking a mini-suite or above on the Caribbean Princess because those cabins have tubs with showers. The showers in the regular cabins are hardly big enough to turn around in. It's too late for me to make the switch now, but I would if I could.

 

Interesting you would suggest what I hope to do, but guessing I'll get shut out. Here's something I never knew about.

Looking to book the Caribbean Princess August of 2016 for a "Grand Adventure" doing the Fjords, Iceland, and British Isles. Princess informed me the itinerary would release around 3/19/15. Now after doing some internet research I see UK agencies booking the trip as of a week ago. (leaves from the UK) Doesn't seem fair to me - any thoughts from anyone?

[KruzeKrazy!]

Probably a case of fishing where the fish are -- sell where the majority of the market is.

 

That said, I understand the feeling of why not open it to everyone at the same time and take bookings from whomever books.

 

But maybe they experience many more cancellations from international bookers so want to capture as many secure early bookings as possible in hopes of yielding up the prices over time rather than the reverse.

[caribill]

Interesting you would suggest what I hope to do, but guessing I'll get shut out. Here's something I never knew about.

Looking to book the Caribbean Princess August of 2016 for a "Grand Adventure" doing the Fjords, Iceland, and British Isles. Princess informed me the itinerary would release around 3/19/15. Now after doing some internet research I see UK agencies booking the trip as of a week ago. (leaves from the UK) Doesn't seem fair to me - any thoughts from anyone?

 

Are they actually booking it or just taking requests they will submit on March 19?

 

The Grand Adventure goes all the way to NYC. It is 29 days.

24-Aug-16

 

Iceland, Norway & British Isles Grand Adventure

LONDON (SOUTHAMPTON), Guernsey (St Peter Port), Cork (Cobh - for Blarney Castle), Dublin, Liverpool, Belfast, Glasgow (Greenock), Inverness/Loch Ness (Invergordon), Edinburgh (South Queensferry), Paris/Normandy (Le Havre), London (Southampton), Rotterdam (for Amsterdam), Bergen, Flaam/Sognefjord, Shetland Islands (Lerwick), Akureyri, Isafjordur, Reykjavik, Boston, NEW YORK

Edited March 17, 2015 by caribill

[Mackenzie1]

Interesting you would suggest what I hope to do, but guessing I'll get shut out. Here's something I never knew about.

Looking to book the Caribbean Princess August of 2016 for a "Grand Adventure" doing the Fjords, Iceland, and British Isles. Princess informed me the itinerary would release around 3/19/15. Now after doing some internet research I see UK agencies booking the trip as of a week ago. (leaves from the UK) Doesn't seem fair to me - any thoughts from anyone?

 

You may want to call Princess and ask about the status is of the Grand Adventure cruise. Our roll call for this summer's Norwegian cruise had a long discussion about how we would like to take the Rauma Railway excursion in Andalsnes, Norway, but week after week went by, and Princess did not post any such excursion on their website. We were not able to book the excursion independently because of the timing our ship will be in port that day. Luckily, a British passenger called their TA and was told that Princess was offering a Rauma Railway excursion, but it just was not showing up on the Princess website. A number of us booked the excursion through our TA's directly, but to this day, you would never know that this excursion was being offered because it's never been posted on the Princess website.

[Azspeed]

You may want to call Princess and ask about the status is of the Grand Adventure cruise. Our roll call for this summer's Norwegian cruise had a long discussion about how we would like to take the Rauma Railway excursion in Andalsnes, Norway, but week after week went by, and Princess did not post any such excursion on their website. We were not able to book the excursion independently because of the timing our ship will be in port that day. Luckily, a British passenger called their TA and was told that Princess was offering a Rauma Railway excursion, but it just was not showing up on the Princess website. A number of us booked the excursion through our TA's directly, but to this day, you would never know that this excursion was being offered because it's never been posted on the Princess website.

 

Good to know...thanks for the info.

[jsmac3]

We've been on both (and will be on the Royal again in October) and they are very different but that is not to say the Caribbean Princess is bad. It didn't seem tired when we sailed a year and a half ago. In fact we loved it for the British Isles cruise because it has window suites (unlike the Royal) that cost basically the same as a mini-suite but are much larger and entitle you to all the full suite perks. It was a fantastic cabin since the BI cruise is very port intensive and the weather can be dicey.

 

I noticed the window suites are on Deck 6 near the crown grill and other public areas. How is the noise level there?

[Colo Cruiser]

I noticed the window suites are on Deck 6 near the crown grill and other public areas. How is the noise level there?

 

Its very quiet. the short hallway where the WS's are located has heavy FS doors at both ends and they are usually closed.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[capriccio]

We've been on both (and will be on the Royal again in October) and they are very different but that is not to say the Caribbean Princess is bad. It didn't seem tired when we sailed a year and a half ago. In fact we loved it for the British Isles cruise because it has window suites (unlike the Royal) that cost basically the same as a mini-suite but are much larger and entitle you to all the full suite perks. It was a fantastic cabin since the BI cruise is very port intensive and the weather can be dicey.

 

I noticed the window suites are on Deck 6 near the crown grill and other public areas. How is the noise level there?

 

No noise at all - there are doors (kept closed) on both ends of the short hall (as Colo Cruiser wrote right before me :-). It was a wonderful location (and that's a comment coming from someone who always books aft cabins).

Edited March 19, 2015 by capriccio

[jsmac3]

Thanks to both of you for this tip . . . I just booked one of these cabins on the Caribbean Princess for May 20, 2016. We normally book a mini-suite but used the balcony very little on our last Mediterranean cruise.

 

This is a real find.