Princess 2nd trip

[boatsandtrains614]

Major Holland America traveler but took a Royal Princess  when it first was new and found a number of small problems---so went back to Holland America. Looking at Feb 2.  14 day Caribbean on the Princess- deal is good and goes to a few places we haven't been to.  

Would appreciate anything about the ship. People and food are important to us. Where it goes is.

secondary and usually go for 10 days. 14 days seem long. Assigned dinned times seem funny.

Any comments I would appreciate. We are a retired couple whom also o river cruises .  Thank you

[LeeW]

Hmm.  Our first cruise was on Caribbean Princess 2nd sailing.  Got invited to Vicki's wedding but that was on the first cruise so we missed it.  Got hooked on cruising, primarily because of the crew... around 45 cruises now, mostly with Princess.  Have been on that ship four times now and never been disappointed (well they did quit offering steak medallions as part of the Always Available menu on all Princess ships).

 

Main dining room and buffet are fine.  Grill next to pool is about the best at sea (certainly fries are).  Buffet is open from early in the morning until late at night and often has some of the same food that is in the main dining room.  Royal/Regal have the best buffet setup of Princess cruises, but  balconies are smaller than other ships and you can't walk all the way around the promenade.  You will find Caribbean Princess has a lot of public areas to enjoy.

 

Not fond of the Curtis Stone food choices but the Norman Love Chocolate Journeys desserts are spectacular.

 

We use Anytime dining and are seldom even able to get a reservation (RCI does a better job at this).  We still eat with the same waiters and at the same table each night.  But this is our choice.  Anytime is really designed for you to show up when you are hungry.  Dining room may be full between 6 and 7:30 but earlier or later are usually easy to get in.  

 

Entertainment is fine for us.  We may or may not go to the shows.

 

If you are a CCL stockholder you get OBC on Carnival, HA or Princess.  And Princess lets you stack all kinds of OBC.  Military OBC is same as the stockholder.

[skynight]

On 3/21/2019 at 10:39 AM, boatsandtrains614 said:

Major Holland America traveler but took a Royal Princess  when it first was new and found a number of small problems---so went back to Holland America. Looking at Feb 2.  14 day Caribbean on the Princess- deal is good and goes to a few places we haven't been to.  

Would appreciate anything about the ship. People and food are important to us. Where it goes is.

secondary and usually go for 10 days. 14 days seem long. Assigned dinned times seem funny.

Any comments I would appreciate. We are a retired couple whom also o river cruises .  Thank you

14 day Circle the Caribbean on the Caribbean Princess? We did this in 2018 b2b with a 10 day Panama Canal. For us this is not too long. There is enough mixture of sea and port days to be interesting. You can try the specialty restaurants, Crown Grill and Sabatini's or the Crab Shack which is held a few times during the cruise. There are also some specialty dining experiences, Chef's Table and Balcony Dining.

For us food and service was good, it's very subjective so difficult to comment.

Princess has three traditional dining times, same table, same waiter. On the Caribbean Princess believe the early times are 5:00 & 5:15 with the late time being 7:15. There is also Anytime Dining.

DR's are open for breakfast and dinner every day and lunch on sea days. There is tea every afternoon in one of the DR's, no charge.

We enjoyed the buffet area open 5am until 11pm never closes, International Cafe open 24/7, and the pool side pizza and grill, all no charge. 

The dining times fit the evening activities, but you will not be able to see or do everything especially if you dine later.

There are many evening choices including theater shows, entertainers in Explorer's Lounge, activities in Explorer's Lounge and Club Fusion, Live music in Explorer's, Club Fusion, Wheelhouse Bar, Crooner's and a late night DJ in Skywalker's.

You should find more activity on the Caribbean Princess than on HAL. Princess is more lively in the evening. There will be lots and lots of trivia on both sea and port days. 

We find service is good on Princess.

One comment about the theater. For mid evening production shows arrive around 45 minutes to an hour early. They fill up. Late evening shows are not as crowded, but still fill. Explorer's Lounge is small and fills quickly.

The design of the Caribbean Princess is entirely different than the Royal Princess. We like it better.

Having been on many Princess cruises we felt the ship was well run.

Notice the Feb 2nd cruise stops at Bonaire. Highly recommend Bonaire Cruisers where you can reserve a golf cart to explore the island on your own. You have to reserve in advance on line. http://www.bonairecruisers.com/about-us/

[boatsandtrains614]

Thank you so much for taking the time and making everything a lot clearer for some of our concerns, Probably will book in the next few days. The deal is really good and now we can go in with clearer expectations.

The Royal Princess first lunch ran out of fresh fish( unfair) but made us look negatively at other parts such as elevators really slow, couldn't fine our wine bottle, etc.

We do enjoy food and eat at some specialty places. Last question.  What age group would you expect on a cruise this time of the year/ My wife usually spend time gambling and I go to most shows....

I will owe you a drink when we meet.

[skynight]

3 minutes ago, boatsandtrains614 said:

Thank you so much for taking the time and making everything a lot clearer for some of our concerns, Probably will book in the next few days. The deal is really good and now we can go in with clearer expectations.

The Royal Princess first lunch ran out of fresh fish( unfair) but made us look negatively at other parts such as elevators really slow, couldn't fine our wine bottle, etc.

We do enjoy food and eat at some specialty places. Last question.  What age group would you expect on a cruise this time of the year/ My wife usually spend time gambling and I go to most shows....

I will owe you a drink when we meet.

Age, active 60's.

Do expect elevator delays, especially during heavy periods. Forward and aft elevators are usually not as busy as the mid ship ones.

The casino will be open for sure when at sea ready for your donations. Some casino slots are smoking. Table games are non-smoking.

Active? check out the Zumba on sea days and some port days in Club Fusion. No charge. Very well attended.

You will also find trivia very well attended. There will be at least 2 sessions per day on sea days and on port days there will also be trivia for those that remain on board. There are also special trivia games in the evening.

Wine, you can carry on board 1 x 750ml bottle per person for use in your cabin. If you bring the bottle to a public area you will be charged a $15 corkage fee. But, many just pour a glass and carry that around. You can bring on extra bottles. These will be subject to a $15/bottle corkage when boarding and can be used anywhere on the ship. 

[paradiselivin1]

The longer the cruise, the higher the likelihood of older, retired cruisers as they will have the time for 14+ day cruises. People with kids will be able to do a week at that time of year but it would be hard for the two week cruise.