Just Back From The Caribbean Princess Iceland Norway T/A

[Woobstr112G]

The below is my review, that I submitted for approval, of our recently completed Iceland Norway Transatlantic cruise. I thought I'd share it here as well. Feel free to ask any and all questions:)

 

DW and I just returned from our Iceland Norway Explorer transatlantic cruise on the Caribbean Princess. It was our 16th overall cruise, 9th in a row on Princess, and our 5th transatlantic. For this journey we had DW's sister and her hubby also sailed with us. Prior to the cruise we had a very active roll call thread where we got to know one another via the cyber world. Our group was named "NICEINGA Cruisers." An active roll call in my opinion is a great way to plan cruise related things and to also get to know your fellow roll call members.

 

For our pre cruise stay, we stayed four nights at the Hilton Doubletree in the Westminster area of London. The Doubletree is a very nice hotel with a super staff who attended to all of our needs. The hotel is a little pricey but well worth the few extra dollars it will cost you. During our four days in London, I mainly walked around and took in the sights while taking a ton of pictures. We also took a day trip to Paris, via the Eurostar train, where we had lunch in the Eiffel Tower, took a cruise on the Seine river, and had a brief stop at the Louvre. I privately booked this excursion and while it was very enjoyable it was definitely a little rushed. The night before we took the long taxi ride to Southampton, we met up with a fellow roll call member for dinner at the Loosebox Bar/Grill. The dinner was very nice and the company was great.

 

The day of embarkation, we made our way to Southampton to the cruise terminal. The entire embarkation process was very smooth and we were onboard in about thirty minutes after arriving. Since we are quite familiar with Princess ships, we had no trouble finding our way to our aft facing PH suite on the Aloha deck. When we arrived, we were immediately met by our cabin Steward "Dijo" who hailed from India. Dijo did a very good job throughout the entire cruise taking care of our cabin and was very attentive to our needs.

 

I must say that I was just a little concerned about all of the negative things I read on the boards about the Caribbean Princess. After sailing, I have just one thing to say. Forget what you hear or read. The CB is a beautiful ship for being 11 years old. Our cabin was nicely appointed. All common areas were in good repair and I always saw various crew members constantly sprucing up various areas. Sure I saw some rust here and there, but you must remember that this 11 year old ship is in the water 24 hours a day 365 days a year. One additional thing about the public areas. They did seem to get somewhat crowded during days of in climate weather. This was very apparent in the Horizon Court as it was, at times, hard to fine a table.

 

As far as the crew goes, they were great. Everyone always had a smile on there face and always, at least to me, greeted when you walked by. The Cruise Director (Paul Chandler Burns) seemed to be very engaged with ensuring that all passengers had a good time. Bar service through out the ship was above average to excellent. The only minor hiccup in this area is the ship ran out of vermouth about three days before the cruise ended. Suffice to say after that Crooners was serving very very very dry martinis.

 

I cannot comment too much on entertainment as I did not attend any of the Production shows. The entertainers in the Piazza played very enjoyable music. Tommy McPhee was the piano player/singer in Crooners. This man is a very good all around entertainer. I spent a great deal time listening to him as I made my way through the 007 collection.

 

For the very subjective area of food, I personally thought that generally all food was very good to excellent. I was very impressed with the food served in the Horizon Court. The variety was good and hot items were served the way I like them. In the main dining room I thought the food was also very good. Our waitstaff along with the head waiter were very good to excellent. I was particularly impressed with our head waiter who came to the table every night to make sure we were enjoying our meal. He also deserve a huge pat on the back as he had escargot for us from our second dinner on throughout the entire cruise. We ate one night in the Crown Grill and also in Sabatinis. I found both experiences to be excellent. I did have an incident in Sabitinis during breakfast. The issued however did not repeat itself on subsequent visits.

 

As far as excursions go, In Bergen I just walked around while taking a ton of pictures. In Lerwick I did not get off the ship. In Akureyri Iceland, we did a ship excursion to Husavik where we did a whale watching excursion. We saw a number of whales but got very wet in the process. In Isafjordur we did the ship based Hesteyri & Glacier Fjord Cruise Glacier Fjord excursion. I really enjoyed the shear beauty of the glaciers. In Reykjavik we did a privately arranged Golden Circle tour. This was my favorite by far. The Gullfoss Waterfall is simply stunning to look at. We missed our stop in St. Johns due to the weather. In Halifax Nova Scotia, I just walked around the Harbor while taking in the sights and taking a ton of pictures.

 

In closing, I'd have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this cruise. DW and I are also booked on next year's sailing which I am eagerly looking forward to. Princess, at least for my continues to provide a great experience for a competitive price. Sure there are some hiccups every now and then but overall it remains my line of choice for the foreseeable future.

 

Bob

Edited September 25, 2015 by Woobstr112G

[sunsetbeachgal]

Very nice review, thanks for sharing!

[cynbar]

Thanks for your review, it's very reassuring. We are booked on the CB for the British Isles cruise next May, and I have to admit I've been a little concerned about some of the reviews. Sounds like we don't have anything to worry about!

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for your review, it's very reassuring. We are booked on the CB for the British Isles cruise next May, and I have to admit I've been a little concerned about some of the reviews. Sounds like we don't have anything to worry about!

 

In my humble opinion, you do not.....:):):)

 

Bob

[jsmac3]

Bob, thank you for taking the time to write this review.

[shredie]

Welcome back. We did that cruise in 2013, on that ship. We also had a great cruise and found nothing seriously wrong with the CB.

[srpilo]

Solid review Bob..

Welcome back, and based on your review truly sorry I couldn't share it with you and Holly ..

 

 

Glad to hear you guys had another great cruise

Pete

[JimmyVWine]

Thanks Bob. We too found the ship to be just fine earlier this year and continue to be mystified by some of the negative reports. Thanks for sharing your observations.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review and pictures Bob and glad you enjoyed it.

[satxdiver]

Very nice review. We will be joining you next September on the TA. We are boarding the CB next Thursday so we will see the condition of the ship and crew. We have sailed on the CB the last three years and found it to be very enjoyable and nothing like the negative reports that have been written.