Caribbean Princess 12-19-2021

[MISTER 67]

Just returned today on a very nice Christmas cruise on the Caribbean Princess after sailing on her 3 weeks earlier on Nov.28th. This was our 64th cruise, 22 with Princess and the 10th on the Caribbean Princess but our first ever Christmas cruise.

If anyone has any questions I'll be happy to answer them except about the ports as we very seldom leave the ship anymore as we have been to all the ports in the Caribbean, some as many as 30 times like St. Thomas, St. Maarten and San Juan, at this stage in life, the Ship is our vacation destination.

[PacnGoNow]

2 hours ago, MISTER 67 said:

Just returned today on a very nice Christmas cruise on the Caribbean Princess after sailing on her 3 weeks earlier on Nov.28th. This was our 64th cruise, 22 with Princess and the 10th on the Caribbean Princess but our first ever Christmas cruise.

If anyone has any questions I'll be happy to answer them except about the ports as we very seldom leave the ship anymore as we have been to all the ports in the Caribbean, some as many as 30 times like St. Thomas, St. Maarten and San Juan, at this stage in life, the Ship is our vacation destination.

How full was your ship?  Were all the dining rooms open?  Was there a wait?

Did you get the same table every night

if you wanted to?

 

 Thanks so much for doing this. 
 

[AlanFromFL]

We also just returned from the 12/19 sailing. Per the cruise director Matt, the ship sailed at 40% capacity, and it certainly seemed uncrowded. No problem finding a deck chair near the pool! Coral and Island dining rooms were open, we had the same table and excellent waitstaff each evening as we made a reservation for 6 of 7 nights (one evening at Crown Grill on Xmas Eve).  Debarkation was a breeze, off by 8:30, home by 10:00.  Crew was genuinely appreciative to have guests back on board. A very relaxing week. 

[charles2012]

Thanks for the information! I am sailing her soon and am happy to hear the positive reviews! 
 

Were Steamers or Planks open?

 

I am curious about them both. As this is my first Princess cruise and I would like to try as much of it as I can 🙂 

 

Do you have any other specific recommendations for a first time princess sailer? 

Thanks in advance! 

[PacnGoNow]

14 minutes ago, AlanFromFL said:

We also just returned from the 12/19 sailing. Per the cruise director Matt, the ship sailed at 40% capacity, and it certainly seemed uncrowded. No problem finding a deck chair near the pool! Coral and Island dining rooms were open, we had the same table and excellent waitstaff each evening as we made a reservation for 6 of 7 nights (one evening at Crown Grill on Xmas Eve).  Debarkation was a breeze, off by 8:30, home by 10:00.  Crew was genuinely appreciative to have guests back on board. A very relaxing week. 

Thank you so much for the reply!  Glad to hear you had a great time.

 

[AlanFromFL]

15 minutes ago, charles2012 said:

Thanks for the information! I am sailing her soon and am happy to hear the positive reviews! 
 

Were Steamers or Planks open?

 

I am curious about them both. As this is my first Princess cruise and I would like to try as much of it as I can 🙂 

 

Do you have any other specific recommendations for a first time princess sailer? 

Thanks in advance! 

No, Steamers nor Planks were open. There was no pub lunch offered on this cruise. 

 

 

[geoherb]

Do you have a photo of the Christmas menu? I'd love to see what they offered special for the holiday. It's been a decade since we last sailed on Christmas.

[AlanFromFL]

13 hours ago, geoherb said:

Do you have a photo of the Christmas menu? I'd love to see what they offered special for the holiday. It's been a decade since we last sailed on Christmas.

No photo, but the menu offered on December 25 was the Italian menu...no "traditional" Xmas fare (i.e. turkey, ham, etc). But was very good throughout the cruise, nonetheless.

[MISTER 67]

18 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

How full was your ship?  Were all the dining rooms open?  Was there a wait?

Did you get the same table every night

if you wanted to?

 

 Thanks so much for doing this. 
 

I was told 1,400 were on board. The Island and Coral dining rooms were open, the Palm DR was closed. 

We had the same table every night with the same waiters who were excellent, gave both of them an extra gratuity as we did with our cabin steward.

[MISTER 67]

17 hours ago, charles2012 said:

Thanks for the information! I am sailing her soon and am happy to hear the positive reviews! 
 

Were Steamers or Planks open?

 

I am curious about them both. As this is my first Princess cruise and I would like to try as much of it as I can 🙂 

 

Do you have any other specific recommendations for a first time princess sailer? 

Thanks in advance! 

Both Steamers and Planks were closed but you could still sit in both venues if you didn't want to sit in the World Marketplace.

[PacnGoNow]

Just now, MISTER 67 said:

Both Steamers and Planks were closed but you could still sit in both venues if you didn't want to sit in the World Marketplace.

Thank you for that reply!

[flutprop]

There were ribs offered in the buffet most if not all days.