Caribbean Princess Review - March 14th western caribbean

[pcsunlover]

After suffering through sub-zero wind chill and snow for a while, we decided to fly out to Fort Lauderdale 2 days early for our cruise just in case there were weather delays. Lucky us – no delays and it was actually in the mid 40’s when we left. Virtually a heat wave, haha! As usual we stayed at the Embassy Suites on 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale. The cab from the airport to the hotel was a little over $10. Room was clean and comfortable so we were happy campers. Friday morning we took a short walk to Total Wine and bought a few bottles to carry on the ship. Enjoyed a little pool time at the hotel and then dinner at Outback Steakhouse which was also within walking distance.

 

Saturday morning, March 14th, the official day of the cruise – yay!! :) We had the free breakfast offered by the hotel, went back to our room to collect our bags, and came back to the lobby around 11am. The lobby was jammed with people waiting to take shuttles to the port. Nope, nope, nope, not us! We have learned our lesson, taking the shuttles takes too much time. We walked out the hotel door and asked the doorman where we could get a taxi. He directed us to stand across the driveway to wait. In less than a minute a taxi pulled up and we were off! The taxi was $7 plus tip, much cheaper than the $14 plus tip it would have cost to take one of the shuttles. From the time we closed our hotel room door until we entered the cruise terminal to get our cruise cards it was less than 15 minutes! We had a short wait in the Platinum/Elite area and then boarded the Caribbean Princess just before noon. We commented on what a great start we had so far to our vacation. Oops!

 

Although our anniversary was a little over a month away, we opted to celebrate it on the ship. When we reached our Caribe deck balcony, there was a Happy Anniversary sign on the door and a couple of balloons. Nice welcome from Princess. Then we opened the door to the cabin to find – twin beds! Haha! I told my husband it felt like a bedroom scene from a 50’s sitcom and that if we sat on one of the beds together we’d have to keep at least one foot on the floor at all times. ;) When my husband lay down on his bed, it was so uncomfortable and had such a big dip in it that he kept rolling to the side. Our cabin steward Marcos choose that moment to introduce himself. A quick request for a queen configuration and a nice mattress pad fixed everything.

 

We were just on the ship in early December for a 4 day cruise so we didn’t really need to do much exploring. We headed up to the Horizon Court for a quick lunch and then enjoyed the top deck for a while until the muster drill and sailaway party. Later, neither of us felt like going to the dining room – we had Anytime Dining – so we grabbed a couple of burgers and ate them while we waited for the MUTS movie to start. A pretty uneventful, relaxing evening.

 

We love to sunbathe, so Sunday morning we headed up to the Horizon Court for a quick breakfast before we grabbed a couple chairs by the Calypso pool. Here is where Princess tries their best to make things flow smoothly without much success. The buffet area is way too cramped and small. People were bumping into each other and some seemed to be unable to read the “entrance” and “exit’ signs. The ship was sold out and the only time we really seemed to notice it was in the buffet area. I really enjoyed the layout of the buffet area on the Royal Princess much more. Sunday was the first formal night and we had reservations for the Crown Grill. We had high expectations, but I must say were pretty disappointed. The service was good, but very slow. Our dinner began at 5:30 and we barely made it out before 8pm. I ordered filet mignon medium well and my husband ordered a rib-eye cooked medium. Both steaks came extremely well done and dry. It was so disappointing. But, we didn’t complain or ask for the steaks to be recooked because we didn’t want to miss any of the evening activities. Oh well, maybe we’ll have better luck on our next cruise, although I doubt if I can get my husband to pay the cover charge again for a meal like that.

 

We went to a trivia game called One Hit Wonders. We opted to just keep our little team of 2 and ended up winning first place. A nice bottle of champagne that we used to make mimosa’s in our room in the mornings. It helped that my husband was a DJ at his college radio station in the early 80’s! We stayed in Club Fusion to watch the Marriage Match Game which is always good for some laughs. We were both pretty tired after being in the sun all day so we decided to go to the cabin and relax. We had a big day planned in Grand Cayman the next morning – a private tour with Captain Marvin’s to visit Stingray City and 2 snorkeling stops. It was lights out for us by 11:30. Around 3:30am we were awakened by the sound of vacuuming and people with walkie talkies walking up and down past our cabin. I mentioned to my husband that I felt sorry for whomever was having problems because that sound most likely meant that someone’s cabin was flooded. We flipped on our cabin lights to find out that we were flooded too! :eek: The water started in front of our balcony door and flooded the cabin almost to the hallway where the closet and bathroom are. Yuck! Luckily we are very neat and had tidied up the cabin before bed so there was nothing on the floor where the water was. Our suitcases were on the floor in the closet so my husband put them on the shelf above and stepped out into the hallway to let the cleaning crew know that our cabin was also flooded. The people in the cabin next to us had a real mess. They kept their suitcases under the bed, so their things were soaked. I know people on this site say to do that for extra room, but I would NEVER put my suitcases under the bed just for this reason. You can be as careful as possible, but if someone in a cabin down the hall isn’t, flooding can happen. We had to get dressed and leave our cabin so they could start the process of extracting the water from our cabin. So at 4am we found our selves wandering around the ship. We hoped to find a couple of lounge chairs to snooze in for awhile, but they were wet and stacked. Not a good start to a busy day. We went back to the cabin several hours later and got our things together for our excursion. The carpeting was soaked and we were told that they would have fans on it while we were gone. None of the cleaning crew was wearing hazmat suits or any special clothing so that made me feel a little better. Because the ship was sold out, there was no where to move us or the other 2 or 3 cabins affected.

 

After our excursion we came back onboard around 3pm. The cabin chairs had been moved out onto the balcony. There was a large, very noisy industrial type fan on the floor in front of the desk and we were asked to leave our balcony door open. People were periodically coming in and out of the cabin to check on the carpet and move the fan around. We had a message on our phone from someone in passenger services. Although we didn’t ask for it, we were offered what we felt was a reasonable OBC for our troubles. By Tuesday evening the carpet was virtually dry so we moved the chairs back into the cabin and asked for the fan to be removed. We did not notice any adverse smells so that was a big plus. We felt that everyone involved was very professional and apologetic for any inconvenience we experienced. Not a great night and day or two, but it was what it was and so we made the best of it.

 

The rest of the cruise was pretty uneventful. We enjoyed the Maya Key Resort Princess excursion in Roatan and went to Nachi Cocom in Cozumel on Wednesday. Wednesday was the second formal night. I have no idea why they didn’t wait to have it on Thursday which was a sea day, but they didn’t. We decided to skip it so we ate in the Horizon Court and watched Interstellar on MUTS. We skipped Princess Cay on Friday because we have been there done that 6 or 7 times already and had a pretty boring day by the pool. I sure wish they would have had some music or a movie playing for those of us who didn’t get off the ship. We were also pretty disappointed with the last night of the cruise. We noticed that the service dipped dramatically. The wait staff in the Horizon Court didn’t seem to care if you had drinks or not so we went and got our own at breakfast. The Horizon Court, Café Caribe and the pizza and burger areas were completely shut down by 11pm. I guess they decided our cruise was over and it was time for bed!

 

On Saturday we had an 8:30am time to meet in Explorers Lounge to leave the ship. The young lady who was “manning” that station was very rude to passengers. It was almost 9am and we were still sitting there. She was not making any announcements to let everyone know what the hold up was, so people were getting antsy and kept going up to her to ask questions. She could have alleviated their frustration and hers if she would have made a little announcement that Customs was backed up. We were finally told we could go, but there was no one directing us where to go from there! Several people new to Princess looked confused so we told them to take the stairs or elevators down to the 6th floor. Then we make it off the ship, find our luggage (those people are great – very organized) and head to Customs and see that they have 5 non-US windows open and only 1 US window. It was organized, but we were a little worried about how long it would take to clear. We finally made it to the airport after 10:30 just in time to start boarding for our 11:20 flight. So much for coming back new after a stressful end to an otherwise great week!

 

A short recap:

 

The ship was very clean, although worn in some areas. Some of the lounge chairs by the pool have seen better days.

 

Our bed was very worn and uncomfortable but was helped immensely by a foam mattress topper. Princess really needs to update their bedding!!

 

We thought they handled our flooding situation as best as they could and felt the compensation was fair.

 

We thought the food was good with the exception of our meal in the Crown Grill.

 

The entertainment was also good. A funny comedian – Troy Thirdgill and a really humorous magician – Alex Ramon. There was also a really great young guitarist playing at Crooners several nights. But, I wish this ship had the capability to show some of the events we missed on the tv’s in the cabin like on the Royal and Regal Princess.

 

We feel that the layout of the Princess Theater is poor as you have to walk through the smoky casino to get to the upper level on Deck 7.

 

Internet service was spotty, but at least we had it this time. On our cruise in December we had an aft cabin with zero service.

 

There overall service was excellent until the last full day. Then everyone in the buffet and pool area seemed to really become disinterested in making sure we were served (with the exception of our cabin steward who was excellent).

 

Passenger mix was great. For the most part everyone was polite, although I still can’t understand how some people can leave the bathroom without washing their hands!!:eek:

 

Formal nights were Sunday and Wednesday.

 

MUTS night movies were: The Hundred-Foot Journey, The Imitation Game, Elsa and Fred, Interstellar, The Theory of Everything, and Get On Up.

 

MUTS daytime concerts: James Taylor, Beyonce, Pink, The Killers, Mumford and Sons, and Take That.

 

MUTS daytime movies: Mrs. Doubtfire, The Proposal, The Italian Job, The Princess Bride

 

This was our 8th Princess cruise. Everything considered, we had a great time and I would give it a 4 or maybe 4.5 out of 5 stars.

 

IF you have any questions, feel free to ask!

:)

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. :)

 

Was it sewage or just water that flooded? :(

Did they say where it came from?

[caribill]

Thanks for the report.

 

Did you find out the source of the water that flooded your cabin?

 

Also, anytime you have a problem getting a good Internet signal (such as on your previous cruise), propping the cabin door to the hall open a little usually results in a good signal.

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting your review. We enjoyed our cruises on the CB last year. It's great that you can give it such a high rating after the flood. A lot of people can't make lemonade.

[pcsunlover]

Thanks for the review. :)

 

Was it sewage or just water that flooded? :(

Did they say where it came from?

 

We were told that someone was "over zealous" about flushing their toilet a few cabins down the hall from us. Then we heard that it was a leak in a pipe. I was really worried about sewage, but there was no smell at all in our room or any of the other cabins or hallway. We were lucky. Water splashed up when we walked on our carpet, but it wasn't "deep" so to speak. The cabin next door had about an inch of water in some areas. They had to completely replace the carpeting in that cabin.

[pcsunlover]

A few more things I forgot in the review -

 

- washcloths were plentiful

 

- there were brand new blankets for MUTS at night

 

- around the pool at various times throughout the cruise were: water volleyball, golf chipping into the pool, hairy chest competition, ice carving demonstration, bar wars, and wet wild and wacky pool games.

 

There was also a St. Patrick's Day party in Explorer's and a Disco Deck party at one of the pools.

 

- Indoor movies in Explorer's Lounge or Princess Theater included Birdman and Boyhood

[Knickearth]

thank you so much. We are doing the transatlantic end of April on this ship and I keep reading so many negative things about Caribbean Prin. We just recently got off the Royal, and I fell in love with that ship, and that made me doubly concerned about going on an older ship.

 

Only thing that affects our trip now is that we generally love to eat at Crown Grill, and may have to reconsider. Unlike you, I would have sent back the food if delivered differently from what I order.

 

thanks again.

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

When we were on the ship our deck (Caribe) had a flood close by also but it was raw sewerage. We had to avoid walking down our hallway for 2 or 3 days to give it a chance to dissipate the smell was so bad. I felt sorry for the people in nearby cabins. They definitely have some plumbing problems to address during dry dock.

[pcsunlover]

thank you so much. We are doing the transatlantic end of April on this ship and I keep reading so many negative things about Caribbean Prin. We just recently got off the Royal, and I fell in love with that ship, and that made me doubly concerned about going on an older ship.

 

Only thing that affects our trip now is that we generally love to eat at Crown Grill, and may have to reconsider. Unlike you, I would have sent back the food if delivered differently from what I order.

 

thanks again.

 

I was on the Royal this time last year. If you keep an open mind that you aren't going to be comparing apples to apples with the two ships, I'm sure you'll have a great time. When we were on the Royal, there were many things we missed about the Grand class ships. This time, we found ourselves missing quite a few things from the new ships. The perfect ship would be a combination of the two styles I guess.

 

Many people rave about the Crown Grill. We weren't impressed with our steaks, but the rest of the meal was good. The only reason we didn't send them back was because we had already been there for almost 2 hours and we wanted to see some of the shows. We weren't very hungry any more that point. In our case, we didn't feel it was worth $50. We had better steaks at Outback Steakhouse the night before the cruise.

[pcsunlover]

We had a great time, but I think it was mainly because we were happy together, the weather was great, as was the entertainment. This was our 4th time on this ship but only because it happened to be sailing the itineraries we were interested in, not because we like the ship so much. I know given a choice we would choose a different ship in the future.

[Mom33]

Thanks for your review! :) Sorry to hear about the flooding. We weren't impressed with the Crown Grill on our week either. It was the first time in all our cruises that the Crown Grill didn't live up to expectations.

[JustinPlusLauren]

Thanks so much for posting your review! We were on board the week before you. I'm so sorry that your cabin got flooded! You have a great attitude about it and I'm glad they compensated you a bit.

[zahav1]

Thank you for the review and comments, negatives and positives. We were on the same floor, near your cabin and saw and heard the vacuuming and fans.

 

Agree that passing through that casino on the 7th floor to get to the Princess Theater is a bad situation, that smoke smell made me ill for a few minutes. A few times we used the 6th floor.

 

The food was great on this cruise and we had late seating dinner at the Palm. We enjoy the slower pace to dinner, it's a great change to the everyday's rushing through meals.

[Cayoooga]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.....we totally enjoyed this cruise. We did lots of dancing at night in different venues. We were selected to participate with ten other people to enjoy the Chef Table on the Monday evening. Grand Cayman was fun riding the "sporty waves" on jet skis with Fat Fish Adventures. Roatan, again enjoyed an excursion with Roatan Bay Island Adventure, we have spent many days on the island and Moody the owner is fantastic. We also had a great day at Nachi Cocom, fantastic food and drinks.

[metairiegal]

Hi! We were on the same cruise and had a fantastic trip.

 

We played One Hit Wonder trivia, too. It was hard! We watched when your husband got up to answer in the bonus round (not sure if that is what they called it) when he had to get up on stage. I wondered how he knew all the songs! A DJ in the 80's - that explains it! :D We tied for 1st place in the Mardi Gras trivia and the lady who won the bonus round (by hitting the assistant cruise director first!) was kind and gave us the champagne. Dh and I each won the Morning Show prize on several days.

 

We were on the Plaza deck in P309. It has a window and was the best cabin! Very quiet and a great location.

 

We really had a great time. I was worried because of some negative comments I had read here about the Caribbean Princess being worn out looking, but I didn't find that at all. And, there were plenty of washcloths! Even loads of frozen ones that they gave to passengers to cool off with when coming back from ports.

 

The only negative was that there were gnats or some kind of flying bugs throughout the ship. We had a couple in our cabin, saw them in the buffet area, in Skywalkers around the food for the Platinum/Elite gathering, AND had one that landed on our table in the MDR!!

[pcsunlover]

Hi! We were on the same cruise and had a fantastic trip.

 

We played One Hit Wonder trivia, too. It was hard! We watched when your husband got up to answer in the bonus round (not sure if that is what they called it) when he had to get up on stage. I wondered how he knew all the songs! A DJ in the 80's - that explains it! :D

 

Yes, he was a DJ twice a week for an hour in the morning for his college radio station so that helped. I did much better figuring out the song titles from the puzzle portion, he handled most of the name the band questions, and we worked together to answer the rest of them. I was shocked that he actually went up there for the "lightening" round. He hates being the center of attention. I think those Seawitch beers helped! :rolleyes:

[MustangGT]

We were also on this sailing - our second on the CB. It was a great cruise but I came down with a cold the day after embarking. Must have been that last kiss from my darling 3 year old Granddaughter:D

We spent most of our time in the Sanctuary, there didn't seem to be much going on that caught our interest. We did have dinner in the Crown Grill on Embarkation night and our steaks were great. Sorry you didn't have the same luck.

I totally agree with service dropping off at the end. We got loungers for MUTS on the last night and waited for them to put the covers on the loungers and pass out the blankets. Finally, about 10 minutes before the movie started, I was able to find a Deck Attendant and asked about the covers and blankets. He stated they don't do that on the last night. Really???

[pcsunlover]

We were also on this sailing - our second on the CB. It was a great cruise but I came down with a cold the day after embarking. Must have been that last kiss from my darling 3 year old Granddaughter:D

We spent most of our time in the Sanctuary, there didn't seem to be much going on that caught our interest. We did have dinner in the Crown Grill on Embarkation night and our steaks were great. Sorry you didn't have the same luck.

I totally agree with service dropping off at the end. We got loungers for MUTS on the last night and waited for them to put the covers on the loungers and pass out the blankets. Finally, about 10 minutes before the movie started, I was able to find a Deck Attendant and asked about the covers and blankets. He stated they don't do that on the last night. Really???

 

We noticed that as we walked by MUTS on our way to grab a nighttime snack from one of the buffets (that ended up being closed) and wondered why there were no covers or blankets on the loungers. The service was lacking on the last night, but boy they sure won't cut the daily gratuity for that last night will they?:rolleyes: Still, we had a great cruise in spite some of these little (and big) annoyances.

[BRANDEE]

We were also on this sailing. We did a b2b starting March 7th. The turnaround day (Mar 14th) had over 1200 passengers staying on. I was very impressed how smoothly things went. A new CD , John Chandler-Burns, came on board with some of his own staff and a new group of singers and dancers also joined the first week. After a slow start, I felt the entertainment and activities were pretty good.

 

Captain John Foster was very visible around the ship and loved to tell jokes at the Captains Cocktail Party. He also had the patience of a saint. We were late sailing away three times the week of the 14th, due to passengers who "forgot" the time change.

 

The Caribbean Princess is in need of some plumbing repair. During the two weeks, so many public toilets and sinks were out of order. The ladies room outside the Palm DR had one working toilet and no sinks working..not a good way to keep noro virus away.

 

We found the Caribbean Princess to be a little worn but she is still a great ship with a lot of places to go and find an activity to join or just sit and relax in the ocean breeze. There were enough pools for the sold out sailings. Even with her plumbing problems we prefer her to the new Royal.

 

Regarding her plumbing problems..We were next to the Caribe cabin that had the overflowing toilet. When we woke up to vacuums in the next room, I got up and stepped into one inch of water. The only dry place was in front of the bathroom/closet. Luckily, we don't put our luggage under the bed and usually keep things off the floor so you don't trip. BTW it was clean water not sewage..TG.

 

With no rooms left available for such emergencies (hotels leave 5%) we roamed the ship from 4:30am until 7:30am. When we returned we had no curtains and drapes..no bed skirt and ten pool towels on the floor so we could walk. Passenger service encouraged us to leave the ship so they could fix the room while we were on shore (excursion desk would not refund our tour..Passenger service said they could not help with refund). So we got off at 10am

 

When we returned to our room at 4pm there was one fan trying to dry the rug that was now wet door to door. And it smelled!! The room next to us had a new rug put in at 10 am. (They had so much water it flowed into the hall). Up until now I was fine..things happen..but why not change our rug

too. Ready for the answer I got...we don't have any more blue rug to match the drapes and bed skirt!

 

After some discussion, (proud to say I never raised my voice..just kept saying..You got to be kidding me, how can we sleep in this room) We had a new gold and brown rug installed by 6:30pm. 14 hours out of my room..unacceptable. Not happy with the handling of this situation..

 

In the end, we really enjoyed our two weeks on the Caribbean Princess. We played a lot of trivia and met a lot of people, enjoyed MUTS, loved the heated terrace pool, found a bar on deck 17, enjoyed the magician, comedian and bands in Explorers and Wheelhouse and the DJ at the pool.

[caribill]

I totally agree with service dropping off at the end. We got loungers for MUTS on the last night and waited for them to put the covers on the loungers and pass out the blankets. Finally, about 10 minutes before the movie started, I was able to find a Deck Attendant and asked about the covers and blankets. He stated they don't do that on the last night. Really???

 

Hopefully you mentioned this on the after cruise survey.

[caribill]

We had a great time, but I think it was mainly because we were happy together, the weather was great, as was the entertainment.

 

Best reason for enjoying a cruise.

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

We were also on this sailing. We did a b2b starting March 7th. The turnaround day (Mar 14th) had over 1200 passengers staying on. I was very impressed how smoothly things went. A new CD , John Chandler-Burns, came on board with some of his own staff and a new group of singers and dancers also joined the first week. After a slow start, I felt the entertainment and activities were pretty good.

 

Captain John Foster was very visible around the ship and loved to tell jokes at the Captains Cocktail Party. He also had the patience of a saint. We were late sailing away three times the week of the 14th, due to passengers who "forgot" the time change.

 

The Caribbean Princess is in need of some plumbing repair. During the two weeks, so many public toilets and sinks were out of order. The ladies room outside the Palm DR had one working toilet and no sinks working..not a good way to keep noro virus away.

 

We found the Caribbean Princess to be a little worn but she is still a great ship with a lot of places to go and find an activity to join or just sit and relax in the ocean breeze. There were enough pools for the sold out sailings. Even with her plumbing problems we prefer her to the new Royal.

 

Regarding her plumbing problems..We were next to the Caribe cabin that had the overflowing toilet. When we woke up to vacuums in the next room, I got up and stepped into one inch of water. The only dry place was in front of the bathroom/closet. Luckily, we don't put our luggage under the bed and usually keep things off the floor so you don't trip. BTW it was clean water not sewage..TG.

 

With no rooms left available for such emergencies (hotels leave 5%) we roamed the ship from 4:30am until 7:30am. When we returned we had no curtains and drapes..no bed skirt and ten pool towels on the floor so we could walk. Passenger service encouraged us to leave the ship so they could fix the room while we were on shore (excursion desk would not refund our tour..Passenger service said they could not help with refund). So we got off at 10am

 

When we returned to our room at 4pm there was one fan trying to dry the rug that was now wet door to door. And it smelled!! The room next to us had a new rug put in at 10 am. (They had so much water it flowed into the hall). Up until now I was fine..things happen..but why not change our rug

too. Ready for the answer I got...we don't have any more blue rug to match the drapes and bed skirt!

 

After some discussion, (proud to say I never raised my voice..just kept saying..You got to be kidding me, how can we sleep in this room) We had a new gold and brown rug installed by 6:30pm. 14 hours out of my room..unacceptable. Not happy with the handling of this situation..

 

In the end, we really enjoyed our two weeks on the Caribbean Princess. We played a lot of trivia and met a lot of people, enjoyed MUTS, loved the heated terrace pool, found a bar on deck 17, enjoyed the magician, comedian and bands in Explorers and Wheelhouse and the DJ at the pool.

 

WOW. The plumbing problem on the Caribe deck (somewhere between cabin C602 & C614) that I originally posted about had occurred on our cruise which ended on Feb 21st so it must have happened a second time. It was actually hard to tell where the smell originated since the hall was filled with the stench & we were just trying to walk as fast a possible to pass it.

It appears to be an ongoing plumbing issue that isn't that easily corrected.

No wonder our cabin steward wasn't the happiest one we've ever had. :rolleyes:

[Mackenzie1]

A new CD , John Chandler-Burns, came on board with some of his own staff and a new group of singers and dancers also joined the first week. After a slow start, I felt the entertainment and activities were pretty good.

 

Regarding her plumbing problems..We were next to the Caribe cabin that had the overflowing toilet.

 

 

 

I thought John Chandler-Burns did a great job. I couldn't believe all of the activities. Who thinks these games and activities up? It was so much fun.

If I may ask, which area (or cabin) on the Caribe deck had the plumbing problems? I'll be on a 15-day cruise this summer on the Caribbean Princess on the Caribe deck (mid-aft, port side), and if the cabin is mine or near mine, I would like to be prepared. Thank you in advance for any response.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Mackenzie1

[pcsunlover]

I thought John Chandler-Burns did a great job. I couldn't believe all of the activities. Who thinks these games and activities up? It was so much fun.

If I may ask, which area (or cabin) on the Caribe deck had the plumbing problems? I'll be on a 15-day cruise this summer on the Caribbean Princess on the Caribe deck (mid-aft, port side), and if the cabin is mine or near mine, I would like to be prepared. Thank you in advance for any response.

 

The plumbing problem was on the Caribe deck on the starboard side between cabins 505 and I believe 531.

[pcsunlover]

We were also on this sailing. We did a b2b starting March 7th. The turnaround day (Mar 14th) had over 1200 passengers staying on. I was very impressed how smoothly things went. A new CD , John Chandler-Burns, came on board with some of his own staff and a new group of singers and dancers also joined the first week. After a slow start, I felt the entertainment and activities were pretty good.

 

Captain John Foster was very visible around the ship and loved to tell jokes at the Captains Cocktail Party. He also had the patience of a saint. We were late sailing away three times the week of the 14th, due to passengers who "forgot" the time change.

 

The Caribbean Princess is in need of some plumbing repair. During the two weeks, so many public toilets and sinks were out of order. The ladies room outside the Palm DR had one working toilet and no sinks working..not a good way to keep noro virus away.

 

We found the Caribbean Princess to be a little worn but she is still a great ship with a lot of places to go and find an activity to join or just sit and relax in the ocean breeze. There were enough pools for the sold out sailings. Even with her plumbing problems we prefer her to the new Royal.

 

Regarding her plumbing problems..We were next to the Caribe cabin that had the overflowing toilet. When we woke up to vacuums in the next room, I got up and stepped into one inch of water. The only dry place was in front of the bathroom/closet. Luckily, we don't put our luggage under the bed and usually keep things off the floor so you don't trip. BTW it was clean water not sewage..TG.

 

With no rooms left available for such emergencies (hotels leave 5%) we roamed the ship from 4:30am until 7:30am. When we returned we had no curtains and drapes..no bed skirt and ten pool towels on the floor so we could walk. Passenger service encouraged us to leave the ship so they could fix the room while we were on shore (excursion desk would not refund our tour..Passenger service said they could not help with refund). So we got off at 10am

 

When we returned to our room at 4pm there was one fan trying to dry the rug that was now wet door to door. And it smelled!! The room next to us had a new rug put in at 10 am. (They had so much water it flowed into the hall). Up until now I was fine..things happen..but why not change our rug

too. Ready for the answer I got...we don't have any more blue rug to match the drapes and bed skirt!

 

After some discussion, (proud to say I never raised my voice..just kept saying..You got to be kidding me, how can we sleep in this room) We had a new gold and brown rug installed by 6:30pm. 14 hours out of my room..unacceptable. Not happy with the handling of this situation..

 

In the end, we really enjoyed our two weeks on the Caribbean Princess. We played a lot of trivia and met a lot of people, enjoyed MUTS, loved the heated terrace pool, found a bar on deck 17, enjoyed the magician, comedian and bands in Explorers and Wheelhouse and the DJ at the pool.

 

Hi Brandee. I think you and I may have spoken a few times about the plumbing problem! Especially the first night it happened and we were standing by the elevator bank wondering where we should go at 4 a.m. It sounds like your cabin may have been impacted a little more than ours. At first I was skeptical that they would be able to save the carpet in our room, but by Wednesday it really didn't look any different than when we first boarded and there was no smell that we noticed. I mentioned that our bedskirt had water stains but it was never changed. We had pulled the curtains up as soon as we saw the mess so maybe that saved them from having to be replaced. (We have recently had severe water damage in our house due to a roofing problem so we kind of knew the drill and went into autopilot to start damage control)

 

I loved John Chandler-Burns! He was the best CD that we have had so far. All of the CD staff we interacted with were fun. I have been critical of Princess entertainment in the past, but I have to say that I really enjoyed it on this cruise, although we never did see any of the production shows.