Caribbean Princess Circle Caribbean - A Quick Review

[lola2013]

Hi Susan

 

Am I right in assuming you are Suseq.. on Instagram? If so, thanks for all the likes and sorry that we never got to meet on the ship. We always plan to do lots of different stuff but then end up not doing anything hence why we never got to the CC meets. Glad you had a good time too. It’s my first day back at work today and I’m already counting down the hours until I can go home! Three hours left. I’ll hopefully post some photos on this thread at the weekend once I’ve gone through them.

 

Yes, I'm Suseq...I posted just a few pictures from the trip on Instagram and also on ShipMate. I'll be staring at those a lot today as it is cold, rainy and dreary in Chicago. Remind me...why did we leave the beautiful, sunny Caribbean and our lovely home away from home?

Susan

[tawlaw1526]

Brandee, thank you so much for the carpet update and review. It’s always wonderful to read everyone’s reviews. THANK YOU! This has been a wonderful thread because so many people replying were on the same cruise. So much fun to read! Everyone who caught colds.....GET WELL SOON!

[Thrak]

Loved this cruise and meeting some of the folks here from CC. One thing I noticed was that a lot of people didn't seem to realize that Planks and Steamers are open for breakfast at no charge. People crammed into the main buffet and there was a bit of an issue with tables but if you went further and continued on into Planks and Steamers (one blends into the other) there were different offerings and there were always tables available. We were pleased with those venues for breakfast and lunch.

[Anthillers]

Just got off the Caribbean Princess yesterday after the 14 night Circle Caribbean. Had a fabulous time. Personally it was one of our best cruises. Loved being on a 14 night Caribbean cruise which didn’t return to Fort Lauderdale half way through. Would definitely do a similar itinerary again.

 

 

 

Food was very good and a lot of menu selections in the MDR which I hadn’t seen before. We had traditional late sitting dining (although disappointingly at 7.45 rather than 8.15 which is our preference). Our wait staff were great and generally all staff were very good. All pretty cheery. The only ones who weren’t were those checking people on and off the ship in ports. This always seems to be the case though.

 

 

 

Good mix of passengers; younger, older and lots of nationalities. Around 1000 Platinum and 500 Elite.

 

 

 

Ship in good condition. We even had new carpet in our Caribe balcony stateroom. There was some shaking when they let go of the lines which tended to make the PES lounge each night less enjoyable. Not something I would condemn the ship for though. As someone else mentioned on another thread, we managed to make up time after having to return to Aruba for a medical emergency which lost about 3 or so hours so she can operate at higher speeds if needed. Passenger had to be taken off the ship at sea and was transferred to a local tug. People stood all along the Promenade watching. A little disrespectful. I even spotted someone taking photos :o

 

 

 

 

 

Tried Planks which was good. New buffet layout was also much better. Food selections were sometimes limited there though but definitely liked the lunchtime sandwich selection. There was even a new Belgian beer in the dining room which was my nightly treat. 10.6% alcohol ;p but it did cost $11 before gratuity :o

 

 

 

There were two disappointing things; the first was the Sanctuary where service was not as attentive as on the Royal and Regal. It seemed to be a much bigger area and was a lot noisier. The second was the scheduling of entertainment with the theatre shows at 6.30 and 8.15. This was the first time we had had shows scheduled like this and it did make seeing the shows more difficult. We are usually getting ready at 6.30 and we’re at dinner at 8.15. We are used to 8ish and 10ish shows usually attending the later one after we have eaten. Overall we didn’t think much of the Cruise Director (Steve Campbell). He never seemed to be out and about that much.

 

 

 

Would be happy to sail the Caribbean Princess again.

 

 

 

Fully endorse Geoff’s comment as we also just finished this Cruise. The positives are certainly the new concept for the old Horizon area, a vast improvement both food and seating areas.

The staff are outstanding never had a complaint , ok only one , when I asked for a flat white at the Coffee bar , thought I was an Australian.

Other positive if you take the time is to talk to people from other nationalities, really interesting, makes the Cruise at times.

Tried the Sanctuary on a Port day, very good service as it is not crowded.

Good itenary, no problems getting on and off at ports although I have to say Princess do

a great job at helping people with disabilities to enjoy port stops.

We are second sitting people therefore timing of theatre shows was a big disappointment as was the quality, also spoke to Steve Campbell, enough said.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Nhsaltshaker]

Sorry to hear the internet isn't working. I'm on next week and was hoping to get my airlines boarding pass as well as stay in touch with my elderly mother.

 

Was the whole ship off the internet? Just the cabins?

 

Thanks so much for everyone's reviews, very helpful!

[Thrak]

We had a weird charge but it was so small we didn't bother to have it corrected. We had the beverage package and, once, at Coffee and Cones, they charged us the $0.38 gratuity on a latte. They didn't charge for the coffee itself, just the 15% gratuity on the coffee. I don't know how they managed to do that but it wasn't worth hassling about.

 

The only real negative about the cruise was the large crowd at the passenger services desk the next-to-last day who were all removing the gratuities. I just don't get it. If you can afford to cruise then surely you can afford to give the crew their well deserved gratuities.

[Thrak]

Sorry to hear the internet isn't working. I'm on next week and was hoping to get my airlines boarding pass as well as stay in touch with my elderly mother.

 

Was the whole ship off the internet? Just the cabins?

 

Thanks so much for everyone's reviews, very helpful!

 

The last two days there was no connectivity at all. Not just Internet access but even the intranet access so that Princess@Sea didn't function.

[BRANDEE]

Sorry to hear the internet isn't working. I'm on next week and was hoping to get my airlines boarding pass as well as stay in touch with my elderly mother.

 

Was the whole ship off the internet? Just the cabins?

 

Thanks so much for everyone's reviews, very helpful!

 

 

Hi Nhsaltshaker,

 

Regarding the internet....it was sporatic, but we were able to connect during the two week cruise. We have an i phone and was able to text/facetime in the cabin..to others with an i phone. From day to day..hour to hour..the ability to connect changed. We only reached out once during the beginning of the second week and was ale to connect.

 

The last day, there was no internet until dinner time and this made it very difficult to print boarding passes. We went back to internet cafe at 11pm. and was able to print boarding passes in five minutes. Earlier, at 9:30 pm, there were at least 15+ trying to get boarding passes..the computers just were spinning.

 

Brandee

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for your review very nice.

Tony

[canadarocks]

Can you please tell me which were the formal nights? Was the first one on the 1st sea day or the 2nd?

[Geoffa30]

Can you please tell me which were the formal nights? Was the first one on the 1st sea day or the 2nd?

 

They were first sea day, the middle sea day and the penultimate sea day.

[canadarocks]

They were first sea day, the middle sea day and the penultimate sea day.

 

Thank you! :)

[curlybelle2]

Loved this cruise and meeting some of the folks here from CC. One thing I noticed was that a lot of people didn't seem to realize that Planks and Steamers are open for breakfast at no charge. People crammed into the main buffet and there was a bit of an issue with tables but if you went further and continued on into Planks and Steamers (one blends into the other) there were different offerings and there were always tables available. We were pleased with those venues for breakfast and lunch.

 

We were on the CB in Feb and I had no idea that Planks and Steamers offered breakfast! Thanks for the information we will check it out next time we're on the CB.

 

Kaye

[catsdinner]

Loved this ship and cruise also.

Regarding free laundry - even though the note said it would take three days, we always put ours out when we went for dinner and got it back the next night so one day turnaround. One time we put it out in the morning and got it back the next night also. They probably put out that notice in case they fall behind and stop complaints before they start.

We had some of the best service from the crew that we have ever had on a cruise. The Marketplace staff couldn't have been better. They would be there asking for our drink order as we were sitting. We always headed to the back also to Planks or Steamers. They would even pick up our omelet order for us. They also picked up the dirty plates as we were putting the last fork full in our mouths. We would joke about it saying we better not stop chewing for a few seconds or we would lose our plates.

 

We spent three sea days at the Sanctuary and had no problems with service. They were continually asking if we wanted more water. We only had lunch there one day and the tea service in the afternoon was excellent.

 

We didn't like the showtime either as they were set for early and late seating people and we are anytime but we managed to work around it. We enjoyed all the shows we saw. Bravo is excellent. All the comedians were very funny but I guess entertainment is subjective. I didn't think Steve was all that bad a Cruise Director. All of the cruise director staff were quite approachable.

 

We didn't meet many from the Roll Call as we were B2B and forgot the date and time for the Meet and Greet. We did meet a few people when we went on the catamaran trip in Martinique. Sorry we missed the rest of you.

 

All in all this was a wonderful cruise.

 

Sarah

[Nhsaltshaker]

Hi Nhsaltshaker,

 

Regarding the internet....it was sporatic, but we were able to connect during the two week cruise. We have an i phone and was able to text/facetime in the cabin..to others with an i phone. From day to day..hour to hour..the ability to connect changed. We only reached out once during the beginning of the second week and was ale to connect.

 

The last day, there was no internet until dinner time and this made it very difficult to print boarding passes. We went back to internet cafe at 11pm. and was able to print boarding passes in five minutes. Earlier, at 9:30 pm, there were at least 15+ trying to get boarding passes..the computers just were spinning.

 

Brandee

 

Thanks Brandee! Shall I assume the internet package is the one where you pay by the minute and not the 'new' way (Medallion) where you pay by the day?

[Geoffa30]

Thanks Brandee! Shall I assume the internet package is the one where you pay by the minute and not the 'new' way (Medallion) where you pay by the day?

 

Still pay for internet by the minute :(

[monakayk]

Loved this cruise and meeting some of the folks here from CC. One thing I noticed was that a lot of people didn't seem to realize that Planks and Steamers are open for breakfast at no charge. People crammed into the main buffet and there was a bit of an issue with tables but if you went further and continued on into Planks and Steamers (one blends into the other) there were different offerings and there were always tables available. We were pleased with those venues for breakfast and lunch.

What was offered there at breakfast ?

[compozer]

They are in a corner of the buffet on the Caribbean Princess so you just go through the buffet line.

[denamo]

Thanks to everyone for the posts on the Caribbean Princess. We will be boarding on her Wednesday of next week. Your comments and experiences were helpful.

 

Will be interesting to see if show times are changed and if the internet is still on minutes rather than days. Our last Princess cruise was on the Regal and that internet rocks! Definitely spoiled with that.

 

Thanks again all for your reviews!

[tawlaw1526]

Denamo, I hope you have a great cruise. I hope you can report back after your cruise to let us know about the show times and internet. I will be boarding Caribbean Princess in 3 weeks. BON VOYAGE!!!!