Caribbean Princess starting on July 27

[Liz_B]

10 hours ago, CruiseVA said:

We were able to get our free drinks thru the App. I wouldn't try it in a crowded area, they find you by the little face pic they have of you. We saw the server wandering around and flagged them down. 

Won't use it again like CineGraphic said, easier to order face to face.

It was fun to see the progression of order placed/ drink being made/ drink being delivered...but I agree that ftf is easier. I think the wait was similar for the actual drink to be made and delivered...maybe 5 minutes from ordering in the app or from a server to drink actually arriving.

[CruiseVA]

Patter

[1emerald1]

So how do you all like the CD Alex?  Just curious because I believe he will be on the Sky next year when I sail her.

[CineGraphic]

Something’s up....medical crew called to engine control room and we’ve slowed down to 9 knots

[CruiseVA]

What, what, what? We're Investigating an emergency, stay tuned. From the captain? *****?

[CineGraphic]

19 minutes ago, 1emerald1 said:

So how do you all like the CD Alex?  Just curious because I believe he will be on the Sky next year when I sail her.

 

We like him, he’s has a sharp wit. He’s only on the Caribbean for this sailing. Yes, he’s headed to the Sky. He worked for X previously.

[CruiseVA]

I appreciate the openess.

 

[1emerald1]

35 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

We like him, he’s has a sharp wit. He’s only on the Caribbean for this sailing. Yes, he’s headed to the Sky. He worked for X previously.

Thanks for the feedback, good to know.

[Fiwells]

3 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

There are so many Elite and Platinum on board, they had to move the lounge from Skywalkers to the Fusion Lounge.

So are they still doing the pre dinner drinks and snacks for Plats and Elites? Not had any notification about this....

[CineGraphic]

21 minutes ago, Fiwells said:

So are they still doing the pre dinner drinks and snacks for Plats and Elites? Not had any notification about this....

Yes, the drinks and snacks are the same as usual....we didn’t receive any notices about the lounge either. We just stumbled upon it’s new/temporary location.

[rdsqrl]

Fiwells, if there's a Platinum/Elite/Suite cocktail hour, it's a hidden mystery to me -- no invitation or notice in my cabin.  Nor did I get the little menu of canapes last night for formal night.  Not sure if my stewardess or the CC host(ess) is at fault.  

 

During 2nd seating dinner, we in the Palm Dining Room could hear quite clearly the sudden silence as the hum/vibration of "the engines" stopped (really, I have no idea what generates the usual hum/vibration).  We did seem to very gradually slow down, and the captain made several announcements, using his words to say virtually nothing except that the "matter" (his word) was in the Engine Control Room.  My table (I have awesome tablemates, by the way) spent most of dinner jokingly coming up with more and more dire scenarios.  The captain finally announced that The Matter was dealt with, we very obviously sped up to regular cruising speed, and as we left, our waiter confided that the a/ c and some of the cooking power was out in the galley.   Interesting....

 

But on to more mundane matters:  Ocean Medallion is a humongous waste of resources.  It takes forever for my cabin door to unlock -- and it never does unless I take the medallion out and hold it up to the screen, so I have no idea what you people who claim it opens from 10 feet down the hall are doing.  Plus I got a naughty letter about not attending the muster drill even though I was clearly there and checked in by a scowling security boy with an ipad and a 'tude.   

 

But on to the positives:  the ship is in good shape inside for her age, and it's kind of fun to be back on a ship with the moving walkway up to Skywalker's -- one forgets how cheesy that is!  I do miss Adagio, and the public rooms can be a tad overheated in the piazza area, especially the too-tiny Crooner's.  Food was dire the first night but much better the past two nights.  World Food Market is a matter of indifference to me -- the salad bar remains the same as the old Horizon Court, and that's all I care about.  The new furniture and wait staff uniforms are definitely more modern looking and less 80s chic, so that's a plus.   Water in the pool is deliciously warm and there have been an embarrassingly large selection of open chairs.  I have no idea where everyone is, but I can tell you one thing -- they go to bed very early. For the past two nights, the ship has been a ghost town after 11pm.   Even Skywalker's last night was dead.  Very few kids (which makes the main pool quite pleasant).   

 

Dining times were pushed up 15 minutes, so "late" seating is at 7.15pm, which is certainly late -- for lunch.  For dinner, not so much.  In fact, it's absurd on a summer itinerary, where it's still broad daylight until 8pm and where we're forced to miss sailaways to be showering/dressing.  My comments on the post-cruise survey will be scathing; I am not pleased with Princess turning into a cruise line that caters to the Del Boca Vista crowd.  

 

I'll check back in as I have more snarky comments to contribute!  And if we end up stranded at sea, I'll definitely check back in to request airlifts of Cabernet and Tanqueray!

[1stCruiser]

I found it strange that the Captain made the announcement without any explanation of what the « matter » was... And when all was settled, there was still no explanation. It was a bit odd. Also, when he first announced that there was a « matter », it sounded like « murder » because of his accent! A few people were freaking out around us!! Our waiter told us the issue or « matter » had been a small fire in the engine room.

[CruiseVA]

LOL- I heard "Murder" as well, and,thought it was part of some strange game that was being played.  TIP - let the Cruise Director talk to the passengers, take a tip from John Heald, aka - the Carnival power outage disaster from years ago.

[Pansy2801]

3 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

Yes, the drinks and snacks are the same as usual....we didn’t receive any notices about the lounge either. We just stumbled upon it’s new/temporary location.

This is the invitation I received. 

[Fiwells]

6 hours ago, Pansy2801 said:

This is the invitation I received. 

Definitely didn't get that. Only got the info about internet packages, so they knew we are Plats status....

 

Coral dining room has not been a good experience so far for us. We (a group of 4) have managed to book a time each night but that's where the positive experience ends  Extremely slow service by the two different waiters. Last night even though we were seated by 7.30, by the time the 'murder' was announced we still hadnt got our mains. By 8.30, when all they could offer was a salad, I left my table and escaped up to Market Place where there was plenty of hot food and choice. I really do hope service improves.

 

On a positive note I took part in The Voice/karaoke competition last night and have qualified for the final, so get to sing in the Princess theatre with the band 🙂 theres are some really good singers in the final, so I dont expect any prizes, but if any of you fancy an hour or so of passenger entertainment, it would be lovely to see you at 2.30pm on 7th August ☺️☺️ I'm hoping to sing Patsy Cline's Crazy and Nancy Sinatra's These Boots. Xx

 

[CineGraphic]

We just saw something we’ve never seen on a ship before. While sitting by the terrace pool, a butterfly flew up over the railing and seemed to be attracted to a lady’s colorful cover-up. How the butterfly made it all the way out here is unknown to me, we were all quite surprised 

[CineGraphic]

Guest Services told me this morning that anyone who didn’t get a Elite Lounge schedule can pick them up from the Captain’s Circle rep. 

[villauk]

9 hours ago, CruiseVA said:

LOL- I heard "Murder" as well, and,thought it was part of some strange game that was being played.  TIP - let the Cruise Director talk to the passengers, take a tip from John Heald, aka - the Carnival power outage disaster from years ago.

 

 

Yes, many of us heard ‘murder’ 🤣. Our waiter informed us that it was a motor issue, as he held up a bread knife to his chest laughing at the miscommunication 😆. They did put the show back 15mins to 9.30pm because of the issues. 

 

Tracy,

We are hoping to come to the final to see you if we can get a seat. Again, last night, it was packed in the theatre with pax standing all up the stairs for the second performance. Personally, we felt the magician wasn’t that great - mainly due to the lack of the flow between his tricks. He didn’t appear too confident - as though he was relatively new to this game 🤔.

 

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the slot pull later this afternoon 👍.

 

 

[villauk]

11 hours ago, rdsqrl said:

there have been an embarrassingly large selection of open chairs. 

 

 

We have also commented that we’ve never seen so many empty beds scattered in various places around the ship. We find this refreshing as on most, if not all, of our previous sailings, it’s been impossible to find a couple of empty loungers together on sea days (unless you’re down to reserve at the crack of dawn).

[Jeter02]

Didn't you guys know?!?! You signed up for a murder mystery cruise!!! My guess is, it's the colonel in the explorers lounge, with the custard donut. 🍩 Hahaha 😂. I can attest that the captain currently onboard the CB does in fact have a thick accent, making it very difficult to understand him.

[Ombud]

Bravo is repeating today at 1:30

 

If you love classical music and want to listen to it onboard, pick another ship. There's only 2 strings & no wind. I was advised to watch it on my TV. Strange 

 

Also can't find Dixie 

Edited July 30, 2019 by Ombud

[1stCruiser]

I have never posted in a live thread but with the unlimited internet, I thought it was time to pay it forward for all those who have helped me in the past! Here are some overall observations after the first few days:

 

Embarkation was a breeze for us. I understand people have different experiences so I guess it depends on several factors such as the time you arrive, how many people are there, the experience of the person checking you in, etc. 

 

Dining room has been a bit chaotic. The girl at the Coral reception is a bit of a twit. Not sure if she even understands English. Had to repeat 5 times that we had a reservation and she kept wanting to give us a pager. Thank goodness we ended up at a good table our second night so we asked for a permanent reservation there. After getting the Maitre D’s blessing, we are set for the rest of the cruise! The wait staff is great. I had a feeling our waiter was very experienced and turns out he has been with Princess for 20 years.  

 

We tried to see the show Bravo on Sunday but did not feel like standing. I have never seen the Princess theatre so packed! However, the Explorer’s lounge has some great shows. The guitarist (and vocalist) Jumari is amazing. So is the group Static. 

 

I have not used Ocean Now to order drinks, except to get my free one which I did directly at the bar. Seemed a bit silly to have to order online with the bartender standing there waiting for me to press « send ». Oh well...it was free. 😉

 

Speaking of drinks, gone is the martini menu at Crooners. I have been slowly working my way through the 75 martinis, but alas, that has come to an end... I’m not sure if it’s only on CB. Oh well, I don’t really like CB’s Crooners anyways, not like the Ruby or the Royal...much too small. 

 

We had toilet issues yesterday morning - just stopped flushing. Not the best thing in the morning! When we got back on-board, all was in working order, along with a plate of chocolate strawberries and a note apologizing for the inconvenience. I thought that was a nice touch. 

 

Overall, the « Ocean » experience is something I could do without. I like the use of the medallion instead of the cruise card, but must we have all those bright blue screens with our picture popping up every time we walk by? Just my opinion...

 

As others have mentioned, I did not get the Platinum/Elite lounge schedule either.  Not a big deal but was wondering if they had done away with it. 

 

Off to enjoy my day at sea...😁

 

 

[CineGraphic]

Here’s the breakdown for this sailing.

 

Blue: 868

Gold: 371

Ruby: 377

Platinum: 815

Elite: 556

[Jeter02]

Was on a few weeks ago. Yes, they still have the Platinum and Elite longer nightly up in Skywalker's. I personally don't find the captain circle onboard the CB to be that great, personally.

[Jeter02]

2 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

Here’s the breakdown for this sailing.

 

Blue: 868

Gold: 371

Ruby: 377

Platinum: 815

Elite: 556

Funny how when you change length and itinerary, the numbers change greatly. During most of those caribbean sailings this summer it was mainly filled with around 2,800 blue / first timer guests.