Caribbean Princess Feb 27-March 6th Review

[DavidsNana]

I am Elite, my late husband and I had 37 cruises total of which 25 were on Princess before he passed away 3 years ago.  This was my first cruise since he passed and my adult son accompanied me.  We met in Ft. Lauderdale, he flying from Memphis and me from San Diego.  Luckily, we had decent weather and got there without any hitches other than me having a 45 minute delay on my flight from San Diego to Dallas.

 

We stayed the night before the cruise at the Embassy Suites on 17th using my Hilton points but we paid $26 to upgrade the room to a premium suite.  Yes the hotel is old but we found our room clean and the beds comfortable.  The staff were all great.  Unlike others who have reported long lines at breakfast, we did not encounter that.  There was a short line for made to order omelets but that was all.

 

We were going to take a taxi to the port but there was a shuttle van just outside the hotel who was charging $8 a person so we just took that.  We were in boarding group A and arrived at the terminal at around 10:30 and walked right in.  No one asked for proof of our boarding group.  We were promptly checked in showing our passports, written proof of negative covid test and our vax cards.  We were directed to the Elite lounge where there were water, coffee, juice and pastries.  We boarded at 11:15 and went directly to our cabin to drop our luggage.  The room was ready and the mini bar set up was in place.  Shortly after, the room steward came and introduced himself.  We were in mini suite D530 and everything was comfortable and in good condition.

 

We had lunch in the Coral Dining Room as I like the embarkation menu and the service was good.  Very few people in there having lunch.  It was reported that we only had a little over 1400 passengers onboard.  The break down has been given in @waynetor's review "Caribbean P Jan 9 to Mar 13 live review/updates".

 

My son does not like to eat in the MDR so embarkation lunch was the only time we ate there.  We ate in Crown Grille one night and in Sabatini's one night.  Both meals were great with great service.  The only minor complaint that we had was that the burrata and tomato appetizer in Sabatini's lacked flavor except for the tomatoes, which were great.  The service in Sabatini's was a little better than Crown Grille but no complaints with either.  We ate dinner in the buffet several nights and found that there was plenty of variety and everything was well stocked and most items were good to very good.  The crew serving the food were efficient and friendly and would give you as much or as little as you requested.  We also ate the pizza at Slice and my son had the chicken street tacos at the grill which he really liked.  They were a little too spicy for me.

 

We had the drink package and had no issues with getting what we wanted except the last day in Club Fusion during bingo when there were quite a few people and only 2 servers so it took quite awhile to get ones drinks.

 

We had no trouble with our medallions and really liked the features.  We both would give them an A+.  As far as the app, we both had problems getting everything to load once onboard the ship.  I had done everything on the app at home for both of us and with the assistance of many experts here I actually had very little problems even though I am a very new smartphone user.  I have an iPhone SE.  We downloaded the app to my son's phone in the hotel the night before the cruise and it loaded and all the info was there.  But when we got onboard, we were having trouble accessing everything.  We finally went down to the internet cafe and the expert there "fixed" it and we were connected.  But then later, things were not working again especially the WiFi.  So we just kept checking and about halfway through the 2nd day everything began to work just fine and we were able to use all the onboard functions as well as the WiFi.  Once it was working, I was very impressed with the speed and reliability.  I was able to send and receive text messages and check and send email and even send pictures in text messages. I used the tracking feature once to find out where my son was and it worked perfectly.  I will say that the crew seemed to have trouble when they were delivering drinks or food somewhere that was crowded as it seemed to be difficult to find the person with the picture they had.  I felt sorry for them searching around.

 

We did not go to the production shows.  I usually enjoy them but my son does not like them and this cruise was about getting back to cruising and spending time with my son.  We did go to the two shows by the comedian and he was good.  We also went to the magician show and he was good but not great.  We are not trivia players but listened in to some of them.  Played in the casino a little, we are not big players, but lost!  There was no smoking during our sailing and it was very much appreciated as we are not smokers.

 

Shore excursions that we did were:  Princess Cays we did the Stingray Encounter.  I was disappointed that we were not going to Grand Cayman as scheduled as I really like Stingray City but it was not to be.  So we decided to do this at Princess Cays.  It was very well done even though the water was not as deep as Stingray City.  But the guides were just fantastic so I would recommend the excursion.  They gave many facts about stingrays that I had not learned at Stingray City in the past and they were very enthusiastic.  Ocho Rios we did the Buggy Drive & Cooking Lesson at Yaaman Adventure Park with Local Chef.  We had a very good time.  It consisted of a tractor pulled Jitney ride through the park gardens with a very funny guide stopping along the way and explaining the history and plants.  We ended up at the great house which had a beautiful view of the sea where we had a cooking lesson and did some assisting of putting together the meal which we then ate for lunch.  After that, we were taken on the Jitney back to where we were given helmets for the dune buggy ride.  My son took it easy for me through the really muddy river so we did not get too dirty.  I would recommend if you plan on doing this excursion, that you take old clothes and shoes to either not worry about getting muddy or can throw away after the buggy drive.  At the end of the tour, we were taken to the town area and stopped at a local shopping center for about 30 min but there was no pressure to buy anything and most did not. I will give a warning about this excursion.  After the cooking lesson, the Jitney ride to the place for the dune buggies, was very fast, downhill over rocks and uneven ground.  We had to hold on to keep from falling off the wooden seats.  It would not be at all appropriate for someone with any kind of back, hip or other joint problems.   In Cozumel, we booked an independent excursion, The Original Cozumel Bar Hop.  We were the only two on this tour that were from the ship.  The other 5 were staying on the island.  My son and I are not big drinkers but decided to take this tour as we had been to Coz may times and had never seen the "wild" side.  It was enjoyable and we saw some beautiful beaches over there.  Yes, we could have hired a taxi instead to take us over there.

 

In summary, we had a great time, good food, excellent service on a great ship.  As far as mask wearing, it was mandatory from the day we boarded until 1 Mar when the policy changed to strongly recommended with still mandatory in certain areas.  After 1 Mar, it was a mix of people wearing them and people not.  I don't know what the average percentage was as I'm not good at that kind of thing.  My son and I mostly still wore our masks.  Masks and sanitizing were strictly enforced in both Ocho Rios and Coz.

Edited March 9, 2022 by DavidsNana

[In Toronto]

Thank you so much for this review.  We will be sailing on this ship in April, although not to the Caribbean.  
 

[DavidsNana]

18 hours ago, In Toronto said:

Thank you so much for this review.  We will be sailing on this ship in April, although not to the Caribbean.  
 

I hope you have as great a time as we did and as much success with the Medallion Class app as we did.  It was fun trying out all the features.  However, I did find that I do like the paper daily Patter rather than the Journey View for activities.

[Coral]

Thanks for your review.

 

Sorry about your loss. Glad your son went with you.

[azbirdmom]

Thank you for your review!  Sounds like it was a great way to reconnect with your son and cruising.  We will be onboard in May so I've been quite interested in reading reports about the Caribbean Princess.

[DavidsNana]

You are welcome.   This is the first time that I have done a review.  i always figure that others are better at it than I would be but this time, I had so much help with the app from others here and kept up with all you guys reviews and live reports that I wanted to pay it forward as best as I could.  I hope you have as great a time in May as we did.

[GonzoWCS]

Thanks for this review

 

Cheers

[cruisingpeople]

Thanks for your review. Sorry for your loss.

 

A couple of questions. What was the Princess required time frame for your negative covid test results? Since you came in a day early from San Diego, did you (obviously) have enough time to get tested at home?

I know just before sailing was halted, Princess implemented no access to cabins until 1:00. Was there full access to everyone like it used to be or just those with Elite status?

 

As far as drinking, (actually seating), in the different venues, Club Fusion, Wheelhouse, Crooners, Casino Bar, was there the normal seating like it used to be or did they space everyone out ? Were people allowed to sit at the bar itself?

Final question. On tenders for Princess Cays, did they fill them up or limit the amount of passengers for each trip??

 

TIA

Joe

[nbsjcruiser]

Thanks for the review. Glad you were able to get back to cruising again.

[Luckiestmanonearth]

13 hours ago, DavidsNana said:

You are welcome.   This is the first time that I have done a review.  i always figure that others are better at it than I would be but this time, I had so much help with the app from others here and kept up with all you guys reviews and live reports that I wanted to pay it forward as best as I could.  I hope you have as great a time in May as we did.

Your review was great and glad you and your son had a great time

 

We did the Eastern Itinerary on this ship in January and it was marvelous, especially since we only bad 1136 passengers (36% full).  We’ll likely never see that again but was glorious while it lasted

[Drews_Cruise]

Sounds like a wonderful trip.  Thanks for sharing a great review.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

Sounds like you never tied the ice cream on Lido Deck. If you did you would have mentioned the sugar goo. Nothing like ice cream at all. Every time we go on the Caribbean princess it is always the same. really bad. Sure wish they stopped making it on board and just buy the good soft serve in cartons.

[DavidsNana]

16 hours ago, cruisingpeople said:

Thanks for your review. Sorry for your loss.

 

A couple of questions. What was the Princess required time frame for your negative covid test results? Since you came in a day early from San Diego, did you (obviously) have enough time to get tested at home?

I know just before sailing was halted, Princess implemented no access to cabins until 1:00. Was there full access to everyone like it used to be or just those with Elite status?

 

As far as drinking, (actually seating), in the different venues, Club Fusion, Wheelhouse, Crooners, Casino Bar, was there the normal seating like it used to be or did they space everyone out ? Were people allowed to sit at the bar itself?

Final question. On tenders for Princess Cays, did they fill them up or limit the amount of passengers for each trip??

 

TIA

Joe

The time frame for our negative test was under the old terms  in that it had to be within 2 days of sailing.  Yes, both my son and I had enough time to get the test and results.  He is in rural TN and used a clinic in his town.  I am in San Diego and used CVS.  Made my appt. 14 days prior for a rapid antigen test. I completed a form  online that asked for my insurance info.  My  primary is Medicare.  I went at my time and date, there was no charge and I had my results in a little less than 2 hours.

 

As far as cabin access when we got onboard, I don't know if it was only for elite.  We boarded directly from the elite waiting area so the crew when we boarded obviously knew we were elite.  However, when walking around the ship after we dropped our stuff, it seemed like there were more people in the cabin hallways than just elite.

 

The bars and other venues were laid out exactly like they were pre-covid.  No chairs were blocked and people were free to sit where they wanted to.  And yes there were people sitting at all the bars indoors and outside.

 

The only tender port that we had was Princess Cays and the ship did not use the ships life boats as we have experienced in the past.  There were large double decker boats operated by Bahamians and yes these did fill up both directions.  No social distancing.

 

Hope that answers your questions.  Anything else, just ask. 

[DavidsNana]

2 hours ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

Sounds like you never tied the ice cream on Lido Deck. If you did you would have mentioned the sugar goo. Nothing like ice cream at all. Every time we go on the Caribbean princess it is always the same. really bad. Sure wish they stopped making it on board and just buy the good soft serve in cartons.

Actually, I did eat the soft serve ice cream on Lido.  I am an ice cream lover and love it any time I can get it but I try to avoid it at home.  I actually enjoyed the ice cream swirl cones even though I eat the better stuff at home!  My son stuck with the extra cost ice cream sandwiches!  I guess I just have no taste!  LOL

[cruisingpeople]

5 hours ago, DavidsNana said:

.Hope that answers your questions.  Anything else, just ask. 

 

Yes it does. Thank You.