Does Caribbean Princess feel crowded?

[Tatka]

We have couple of cruises under the belt and having experienced different sizes we decided that our ship size range should be 50 - 90K tons and less than 2000 pax.

 

However today we had to cancel our August cruise on NCL Spirit and book something at reasonable price... plus we had only 1 week to deal with in July. The best possible option was CP. We have seen her and her sisters many times (from Zuiderdam, Century etc) and kind of liked them. :) But after our Carnival Liberty cruise we don't know if we will be happy with the crowds...

 

So my question... How is it?

 

Also as this will be our first Princess cruise we would be happy to get any helpful info from you experienced cruisers.

 

Thank you

[chrysalis]

Welcome to Princess......as an experienced CruiseCritic user you will know that there will be a ton of reviews and "live from...." threads here. I think there is a couple of the front page about the Caribbean Princess. Also, near the top of the front page, you will find the Sticky "Princess FAQs". That thread should answer most of the questions you may have.

[mushroom]

There's no denying the ship is BIG, but crowded..no. I went fully prepared to feel overwhelmed by all the people. This ship carries more people than the entire population of my home town. However, not once did I feel "crowded". There are so many places to tuck yourself away. We did the Eastern, and were able to simply walk off the ship at both St. Thomas and St. Maartin. The only tender port was Princess Cays, and even that went smoothly. You'll love the ship and all that it offers. Have fun planning your wonderful cruise.

[katisdale]

We were on the CB in May 2005. The ship was full. The only time we felt crowded was during debarkation. We had personal choice dining (6 in our group) and never waited to be seated in the dining room. We always found a place to sit around the pools but not necessarily in the front row. We attended the shows we wished to see but if you do not arrive early you may be toward to back of the room. This was not a problem for us as the sight lines were good. We had an obstructed view stateroom. It was fine but we agree with everyone that the showers are very small. We enjoyed our cruise but do prefer longer cruises and going to places other than the caribbean. Have a great time.

[stoneharborlady]

Never felt the CB to be crowded, except in the Princess Theater. Standing room only. Seating was always to be had in Horizon Court, and never had a wait for the dining room. And that was July. Have fun! Karen

[Tatka]

Thank you.. :D

 

I understand about the shows... you can run in this problem even on smaller ships.

 

I was really shocked when we had to stand 2 hours in line to just get on Carnival Liberty though... And buffets...:mad: lines were HUGE.

 

We like Princess's option to have personal choice dining as we prefer to dine alone. I see.. there are two personal choice restaurants, are they the same?

 

I also read somewhere about seafood buffet .. is it once per cruise, or is it special section in the regular buffet?

[leenie29]

Thank you.. :D

 

I understand about the shows... you can run in this problem even on smaller ships.

 

I was really shocked when we had to stand 2 hours in line to just get on Carnival Liberty though... And buffets...:mad: lines were HUGE.

 

We like Princess's option to have personal choice dining as we prefer to dine alone. I see.. there are two personal choice restaurants, are they the same?

 

I also read somewhere about seafood buffet .. is it once per cruise, or is it special section in the regular buffet?

 

The CB has three seafood buffets. One is on Sailaway Night and the other two are the formal nights in the main dining rooms. The seafood buffets are in the Cafe Caribe (the other side of the Horizon Court) and are wonderful. We did all three seafood buffets on our 1/28/06 CB sailing and loved them. And no you don't have to get dressed up in Cafe Caribe :-)!

 

Eileen

[Pam in CA]

We were on the CB over New Years, 2004/5, and expected to feel crowded with all the people. With a holiday cruise, it was as full as a ship can be. We were pleasantly surprised to not feel overwhelmed by crowds, particularly since several of the days were not "ideal" and most people were indoors. We never had a problem finding a table in the buffet for breakfast or lunch.

 

That's said with the caveat that we didn't go to breakfast or lunch at "prime" times (breakfast for us was usually at about 9AM, lunch at 1:30PM or so) nor did we even attempt to find a lounger around the pool. We did PC dining and had a reservation for the same table at the same time every night. There were crowds waiting to be seated when we arrived so it's possible they felt more crowded than we did. I do think that if you choose traditional dining, you're less likely to experience crowds.

[tadajulia]

We like Princess's option to have personal choice dining as we prefer to dine alone. I see.. there are two personal choice restaurants, are they the same?

 

 

Yes, both personal choice dining rooms have exactly the same menu. Yummy food!

[GloriaF]

I have a different opinion - it is possible to avoid the crowds on CB, but it is crowded IMO.

 

Loungers are so close together that you have to crawl on/off them from the foot - we only went to the pool once and that was more than enough; luckily we had an aft balcony that was quite pleasant for sea days.

 

The buffet can be crowded if you go at peak times, and it is best to either go early or late. Still, there are more tables and chairs in the same seating space in the buffet area, so it is an obstacle course walking through. Some of the selections on the buffet were quite good, including the seafood buffets and sushi one afternoon.

 

The shows in the theatre require a minimum 30 minute wait in order to have a good seat.

 

I know this is a popular ship and my reply will be most unpopular.

[sammiedawg]

The ship does not have as favorable a passenger space ratio as other ships we have sailed. Having said that, the crowds are not intolerable. They had a very full activity and entertainment schedule to keep people dispersed, no problems getting a table for dinner as many people eat in the casual Cafe caribe. On sea days, the pool areas were somewhat crowded, if you wanted a particular sunny or shady location it might be occupied.

[Tatka]

Thank you for honest opinions.. Keep them coming... :D

 

I understand that in our situation we didn't have a choice... Not many ships not named Carnival are sailing in Caribbeans during the summer. Thank you for the tips how to beat the crowds.

 

It's not nice to say :o :o :o , but on Liberty I was very happy when we were sailing through the rough seas and quite a few folks couldn't make to the breakfest buffet so we didn't have to wait forever.

 

Another question.. is there a late night party by the pool? (I loved those on Celebrity and missed on Carnival)

[Wileyd577]

I would have to say I felt more crowded on the Caribbean Princess than I did on the Golden or the Grand. I prefer not to have the added deck of rooms that have been put on the Caribbean and the new Crown. Did it spoil my cruise? No. I did notice it during the evening meal/show times and at embarkation. I had to see what MUTS was all about. Now I have seen. IM going on the Star next. IM sold on Princess but the added cabins put a little squeeze on my slice of heaven........Everyone has their favorites........

 

DT

[Kerry&LuAnn]

You mentioned the seafood buffet in Cafe Caribe on the first night.... is that only in the Horizon Cafe / Cafe Caribe, or is dinner also served in the regular dining rooms?

[Cathy p]

:) These boards sure helped us and we are really looking forward to our trip on the CB July 8th. Hope you can join us and if so join our roll call.

 

Happy cruising whatever you decide.

 

Cathy p

[stoneharborlady]

Yes, there is still a late night Caribbean pool party. Dont remember which night it was. Karen

[stoneharborlady]

You mentioned the seafood buffet in Cafe Caribe on the first night.... is that only in the Horizon Cafe / Cafe Caribe, or is dinner also served in the regular dining rooms?

 

Dinner is also served in the dining rooms, but it isnt a seafood buffet, that is only in Caribe Cafe. (not to be missed, do both!! ) Karen

[leenie29]

You mentioned the seafood buffet in Cafe Caribe on the first night.... is that only in the Horizon Cafe / Cafe Caribe, or is dinner also served in the regular dining rooms?

 

Dinner is also in the 3 main restaurants. Cafe Caribe is opened at night for dinner as an alternative dining option. Horizon Court was opened for breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack. If alot of people are eating in Cafe Caribe then they open up the Horizon Court seating (but not for dinner) for overflow seating.

 

Eileen

[mrlarry]

We were on the CB twice, both in Sept. Loved the ship, staff, etc..... crowds

were not that much of a problem....it was the rude people. For whatever reason, maybe the less expensive fares, the people were brutal.

[GottaLuvCruising]

I recently returned from my first Princess cruise, on the Caribbean Princess. Overall we enjoyed it very much. But we do prefer smaller ships.

 

That preference is due, in large part, to the "crowd" issues on the Caribbean Princess. You must arrive early for shows and I have not found that experience in any of my 15 other cruises. Tables can be very hard to find in the Horizon Court - that was very frustrating. The issue could be resolved if attendents asked guests if they would be willing to share (many people just don't want to ask). Lounge chairs in the vicinity of the movie screen are hard to find and the deck attendants don't do enough to eliminate chaise-saving. Bert Stratton's performances should be permanently moved from the atrium area to a larger lounge.

 

Those are the significant areas where we had problems with crowds. But I'd still gladly go on the Caribbean Princess again.

[Jeffjas]

We just got off the 2/19-2/26/06 sailing of Star Princess after cruising Caribbean last year. While we had a great time on both, wethought Star seemed significantly less crowded in certain areas. The biggest was finding deck chairs. On CB, there were literally times a chair couldn't be found except on the uppermost, windy decks way out of the way. On Star, no matter what time of day we were out, there were chairs to be found in good spots. The bottom line was people didn't feel the need to reserve on Star the way they did on CB. The shows were the same idea. On CB, give yourself an hour. Star was fifteen minutes. However, because of the extra people, CB had some advantages. Cafe Caribe one, also the poolside pizza and burgers were open late, instead of closing at 6 pm as they did on Star. CB was a very nice ship. It was just going on Star pointed out some of the differences when you take 500 people away.