to those who have been on Caribbean Princess and a RCCL voyager class ship

[Kerry&LuAnn]

Our previous two cruises have been on RCCL's Voyager of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas. Last week we sailed on the Caribbean Princess and thought the food and the entertainment were superior! We will definitely book a cruise with Princess again. Although the ship was filled to capacity, we NEVER felt crowded. We had the Anytime Dining plan and loved it because it gave us great flexibility as to when we wanted to dine. We never had to wait for a table. Sometimes we chose to dine alone, and other times we chose to dine with a group and met some wonderful people. We also made several visits to the Horizon Court and Cafe Caribe buffets at all hours of the day and enjoyed the food and service there as well.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

we've cruised the Explorer of the Seas and the CB. While we liked them both, I'd pick CB in a heartbeat.

The CB sounds like it would be perfect for you.:)

 

I have a website all about the caribbean Princess. The link is in my signature.

 

Bill

[Kerry&LuAnn]

Oceanlover, your Caribbean Princess website is great. A few weeks ago I began my research there when planning our trip (which we just took March 4-11) and the information was very helpful.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Oceanlover, your Caribbean Princess website is great. A few weeks ago I began my research there when planning our trip (which we just took March 4-11) and the information was very helpful.

 

Thank you very much. Glad you enjoyed your cruise and my info could help you with your planning. Now I need to get on the ball and post some new reviews.

 

Bill

[momofmeg]

Just thought I would let you know we booked Caribbean Princess-we are going in Sept.-prime hurricane saeson-but I just could not pass up that balcony price! Heck we cruised between Jeanne and Frances 2 years ago and had a great cruise-I am sure we will again.

 

We had also looked at Costa Magica-a Nov. date that was almost as good and we also considered Celebrity Century for a 5 day-we did the Zenith last month and loved it-liked the coziness of a smaller ship-but I felt when we could get a balcony for around the same price per day as the oceanview on the Century that I would go for a balcony!

 

I am one of these people who loves cruising experiences to be differant and I really love going on differant lines-I am sure we may do one of the other ships sometime later but our next cruise will be the Carribbean Princess!

[Kerry&LuAnn]

We have sailed twice on Royal Caribbean's mega ships, and recently returned from a cruise on the Caribbean Princess. We thought the food and entertainment were far superior on the Princess.

[momofmeg]

I am considering a fall cruise on Caribbean Princess-great price for a balcony! My problem is I did not care for RCCL Mariner of the Seas at all. There were too Many People, it was too crowded, and the food was the pits. I have read on these boards that the mega ships- no matter the line-the food is just not as good as they are feeding masses of people-any thoughts?

 

 

I am bumping this up-this same question came up on "Ask a Cruise Question" section of cruisecritic. I told that Op I would bump this up for them over there.

[emdia43]

I'm really looking forward to the dining options on CB this summer. I almost never want to get dressed up to the nines to sit, and wait,and eat gourmet food. Apart from a filet mignon ,I prefer plainer food. Do NOT like lobster,shrimp,so it's kinda wasted on me and it's just not what I want to do on my vacation,so on my 3 RCCL cruises I ended up eating at Windjammer more often than not. Sometimes it was very good (Indian curries in the Jade area come to mind) but it was often quite mediocre too and I did feel I was paying a lot of money for cafeteria food. The boys that I cruise with would be happy if I let them eat Pizza/burgers/hot dogs all week,but maybe this year they will have more selection too without having to do the shirt and tie routine.:)

[basher83]

I have yet to try Princess (will be on Sapphire this Saturday) but thought I'd just give my opinion on Voyager class ships. I don't have anything to compare it to-- but here it is. My DH and I have been on Explorer and Voyager and loved them both. Perhaps we were cruising when it wasn't too crowded- but we hardly noticed crowds. We have always had wonderful dining room staff. Only on one cruise did our room steward leave something to be desired. Our other 2 room stewards were great. Service from everyone on the ship was outstanding. We loved getting to know our wait staff with traditional dining, and we loved the array of "things" to do. We actually still keep in touch with an assistant waiter we had from the Phillipines via e-mail.

Despite the fact that the ice skating rink is small, they put on a wonderful show which was very entertaining. We never tried the rock climbing wall-- not really our thing-- but many do enjoy it. When it came to food--- we thought it was great. Food is so subjective and can vary from one person to the next. Everybdoy we've had at our tables had no complaints. The only dish I ordered that I wasn't too fond of was Chicken Marsala on Italian night. No problem though- I just sent it back and got something different. Desserts were always wonderful- especially the flourless chocolate cake!

Again, I don't have anything to compare it to. DH and I wanted another cruise and found an itinerary and price that was appealing w/ Princess. We're really excited to board Sapphire on Saturday. We always go into our vacations with an open mind because we're on vacation to relax. Nothing seems to ruffle my feathers. I really haven't found anything to complain with RCI-- and I'm sure I won't find anything to complain about with Princess simply because I'm on vacation! :)

[Host Caroline]

Went on Mariner and then Carib P and although I must admit I am partial to Princess (16 with them), I have sailed RCI a lot as well (9) and I much prefer CB to Voyager-Class.. that being said I'm not a fan of huge ships and am delighted that RCI is moving a smaller ship to Norfolk. Freedom for example will be way way bigger than I like.

I like Princess food/dining options better and not impressed that much with Royal Promenade. Also the ice skating etc. IMHO only appeals to families but has no "value added appeal" to me... just personal opinion as I said.

[momofmeg]

Went on Mariner and then Carib P and although I must admit I am partial to Princess (16 with them), I have sailed RCI a lot as well (9) and I much prefer CB to Voyager-Class.. that being said I'm not a fan of huge ships and am delighted that RCI is moving a smaller ship to Norfolk. Freedom for example will be way way bigger than I like.

I like Princess food/dining options better and not impressed that much with Royal Promenade. Also the ice skating etc. IMHO only appeals to families but has no "value added appeal" to me... just personal opinion as I said.

 

I agree! Did you see the Freedomof the Seas on Headline News this morning? WAY too big to me! Wwhich was my fear about booking CP after doing Mariner.

 

As far as service on the Mariner, our reg. waiters and the one we had in chops were great, so was our room stewardess (she was a woman not a man)-but twice we ate lunchin the main dinningroom. I wanted a simple salad with chicken or schrimp (all that was on the menu there) and I was told this was not on the menu.

 

Now at dinner my reg. waiter went out of his way to get what I wanted-several times he got me just a simple cobb salad and one night (I have diabetes) he got me the sugar free chocolate mouse that had been on the menu the night before-just because he knew I loved it.

 

So anyway I was not talking about service on Mariner of the Seas being bad except for when I had differant waiters at breakfast and lunch-I was referring to the congestion everywhere. As I said our cruise had 3600 people-so it was a full sold out cruise.

[momofmeg]

Went on Mariner and then Carib P and although I must admit I am partial to Princess (16 with them), I have sailed RCI a lot as well (9) and I much prefer CB to Voyager-Class.. that being said I'm not a fan of huge ships and am delighted that RCI is moving a smaller ship to Norfolk. Freedom for example will be way way bigger than I like.

I like Princess food/dining options better and not impressed that much with Royal Promenade. Also the ice skating etc. IMHO only appeals to families but has no "value added appeal" to me... just personal opinion as I said.

 

I agree! Did you see the Freedomof the Seas on Headline News this morning? WAY too big to me! Wwhich was my fear about booking CP after doing Mariner.

 

As far as service on the Mariner, our reg. waiters and the one we had in chops were great, so was our room stewardess (she was a woman not a man)-but twice we ate lunch in the main dinningroom. I wanted a simple salad without chicken or schrimp (all that was on the menu there) and I was told this was not on the menu.

 

Now at dinner my reg. waiter went out of his way to get what I wanted-several times he got me just a simple cobb salad and one night (I have diabetes) he got me the sugar free chocolate mouse that had been on the menu the night before-just because he knew I loved it.

 

So anyway I was not talking about service on Mariner of the Seas being bad except for when I had differant waiters at breakfast and lunch-I was referring to the congestion everywhere. As I said our cruise had 3600 people-so it was a full sold out cruise.

[momofmeg]

I am just adding to previous post. the lunch waiter had the gall to tell me if I wanted more sald choices I should eat up in the windjammer!

 

The whole reason I had chose the dinningroom was this was a sea day and there was a long wait in line at the windjammer. I had already realized I had better choices in salads there.

 

Who knows maybe if I had slipped the jerk a tip I would have gotten a plain cobb salad but after being treated that way there was no way he was getting anything from me!

[madelinerose]

We haven't sailed on either...our second cruise is on the Crown Princess in September, however....

 

We are well beyond our mid-thirties and food is always important to us but I totally agree that if you want great food, you're going to be highly disappointed on any mass market cruise line. I expect possibly good to very good food and nothing more....3 to 3.5 star at the most. ;)

 

What is funny to me-is lots of those who love the voyager class-say they don't cruise for food-if they want great food-they go to an upscale restuarant at home-that that is not important to them on vacation.Ofcourse these people for the most are mid thirties with teen and pre-teen children-so I can see why they like the voyager class ships and feel the way they do. In our case though, we are middle aged and our one daughter is a grown woman now-so our needs are differant.

[emdia43]

If I were to get up in the morning and really could smell the coffee, I would think the coffee fairy had been....... so when I cruise (or eat out almost anywhere nice) I am very pleased that someone else has prepared a meal for me...

I prefer plainer foods and I think with each cruise I am going to get more and more into the casual dining cruises.

I just looked at the First night menu for CB and honestly there's not much on it that appeals to me other than the salads and desserts. I may be missing some taste buds or something but unless it's steak or a really nice Italian meal I don't really want to dress up,sit,wait, and eat it over 2 hours. I could be sitting by the pool. For lots of people that is the high point of the cruise,to be waited on and pampered and taste unusual foods though

Depends what you like...............

[momofmeg]

If I were to get up in the morning and really could smell the coffee, I would think the coffee fairy had been....... so when I cruise (or eat out almost anywhere nice) I am very pleased that someone else has prepared a meal for me...

I prefer plainer foods and I think with each cruise I am going to get more and more into the casual dining cruises.

I just looked at the First night menu for CB and honestly there's not much on it that appeals to me other than the salads and desserts. I may be missing some taste buds or something but unless it's steak or a really nice Italian meal I don't really want to dress up,sit,wait, and eat it over 2 hours. I could be sitting by the pool. For lots of people that is the high point of the cruise,to be waited on and pampered and taste unusual foods though

Depends what you like...............

 

so are you saying the first night menu is best on voyager clas ships? I don't get you.

 

One thing also, I have only taken one other Princess cruise, the original Pacific Princess, that ship has two of the best italian chefs I have ever seen. We have a great privately owned Italian restuarant here where I live, which is pretty much a special occasion restaurant for us as we never get out of there for less then $150 and that is if we do not drink anything alocholic other then the "complientary" glass of wine they give us. Let me tell you-the food at this restuarant was not as good as the italian food we had on the Pacific Princess!

 

If Caribbean Princess is HALF as good as that ship I will be more then happy! Mariner of the Seas's food outside of Chops and Provinos,was horrible. I actually prefered the simple buffet food up in the windjammer (think S&S Cafeteria) to that stuff they served in the main dinningroom.

[momofmeg]

I agree! Did you see the Freedomof the Seas on Headline News this morning? WAY too big to me! Wwhich was my fear about booking CP after doing Mariner.

 

As far as service on the Mariner, our reg. waiters and the one we had in chops were great, so was our room stewardess (she was a woman not a man)-but twice we ate lunchin the main dinningroom. I wanted a simple salad with chicken or schrimp (all that was on the menu there) and I was told this was not on the menu.

 

Now at dinner my reg. waiter went out of his way to get what I wanted-several times he got me just a simple cobb salad and one night (I have diabetes) he got me the sugar free chocolate mouse that had been on the menu the night before-just because he knew I loved it.

 

So anyway I was not talking about service on Mariner of the Seas being bad except for when I had differant waiters at breakfast and lunch-I was referring to the congestion everywhere. As I said our cruise had 3600 people-so it was a full sold out cruise.

 

What I meant to say was a simple salad with OUT chicken or schrimp. the main dinningroom did not offer a simple cobb salad at lunch time.

[bstrauss3]

My Mariner cruise was a FULL ship 3600 PAX

 

I read at the Princess site though the CB carries 3100 PAX (2 to a stateroom) so that is on par with the voyager class-so some staterooms could have more people and there be more then 3100 people just like what happened on my Mariner cruise. So that was my concern.

 

One very rough way to look at this is tons/pax. While tonnage isn't exactly related to anything except tonnage, it does tend to very roughly equate into extra public spaces, especially if stateroom size is about the same.

 

MOTS is 138000/3600 vs CB at 116000/3000 - so both work out to about 38 and change. Thus I'd expect them to feel roughly the same.

 

-----Burton

[momofmeg]

One very rough way to look at this is tons/pax. While tonnage isn't exactly related to anything except tonnage, it does tend to very roughly equate into extra public spaces, especially if stateroom size is about the same.

 

MOTS is 138000/3600 vs CB at 116000/3000 - so both work out to about 38 and change. Thus I'd expect them to feel roughly the same.

 

-----Burton

 

Burton I was convinced by those who had done BOTH ships that this was NOT true-except for the lounge that does the Broadway style show. Since you have not done both ships (or have you) how can you say one way or another?

 

Mariner of the Seas problem was although the ship was HUGE-there were 3 very SMALL pools. I guess they expected people to be rock climbing, ice skating and putt-putting, but instead EVERYONE was by the pool.

Also, the food was the pits-outside of the specialty restuarants.

 

So those were my two fears, terrible mass produced food and an over crowded lido/pool area. Those were the 2 things I did not want to see on CP. Read this whole thread and you will see what I am talking about.

[momofmeg]

well guys in spite of fires and lists we still have our Caribbean Princess booked and I am still looking forward to it and hope iit is a better esperience then Mariner of the Seas was for me.

[momofmeg]

I am considering a fall cruise on Caribbean Princess-great price for a balcony! My problem is I did not care for RCCL Mariner of the Seas at all. There were too Many People, it was too crowded, and the food was the pits. I have read on these boards that the mega ships- no matter the line-the food is just not as good as they are feeding masses of people-any thoughts?

 

 

Mr. Superman here is the thread I told you about-I found the info here very helpful and I loved my cruise on the CB-whereas my MOS cruise I did enjoy-but it just did not comape to the CB!

[Kismets_mom]

Wow, emedia 43, you are a person after my own heart. I'm 39, married, woman and while I like the nice dining, after the fourth night, I am so tired of it. I do not like sitting around for 2 hours just to eat. So usually what I do is the buffet on the 5th night to break up the monotony. Now I know for some, that is the main reason to cruise, but it isn't for me. It's nice, but I don't have to have it. I could take it or leave it.

 

We're booked on the CP in September and looking forward to it. I'm happy to read the positive postings about the ship; I was a little worried about the size. I really enjoyed my last cruise with Princess because it had the right balance of elegance without haughtiness, and the crew was fantastic. That's why I booked with Princess again.

[Clarkk W Griswald]

momofmeg, here's my opinion, although it will probably be an unpopular one here.

Having done 2 RCI, one voyager class (Adventure of the Seas), one radiance class, (Serenade of the Seas) and 2 Princess, Grand and CP, I found the edge going to RCI.

 

1. The Princess buffet set up is a disaster, to say the least. Basically, in the Horizon court on Princess, there is 2 ways into the buffet line. Too many people in too little space. On RCI, in the Windjammer, there are many different stations set up, in a larger, more spread out area.

 

2. Chops (RCI) vs Sterlings (Princess). No comparsion in our opinion. The food, service, ambiance in Chops was outstanding. Where we felt Sterlings was just ordinary.

 

3. The ships. All are beautiful. All the balconies we have had were great. However, we felt the CP was harder to navigate than the Adventure. On the CP, it seemed there was alot of "you can't get there from here". In other words, if you take the aft elevators down, to say the anytime dining, you have to get off at deck 6, walk forward to the center elevators, go down a flight and walk back aft again. And we loved the Royal Promanade on RCI.

 

4. Princess now stops at Crown Bay in St Thomas instead of Havensight. We hated Crown Bay. Too few shops open and the taxi situation is an unorganized mess. They opened this pier way too early. It's just not ready yet.

 

5. The food. We liked RCI better. Seems to us they had more choices, and better over all quality.

 

OK, now the good things about Princess...

 

1 Anytime dining. Loved it. No rushing around to be at dining room at certain time. We like to dine alone, and never had too wait for a table for two. And for those who like to form the so called "relationships" with their waitstaff and think they need to have traditional dining to do this, were seated in the same section everynight, and had the same waiters anyway, without even asking. Probably, because we requested a table for two every night.

 

2. The pools...Princess has freshwater.....need I say more! Much better than saltwater. And the view from the Princess adult pool in the rear of the ship is breathtaking!!

 

3. The cold seafood buffet on the first night of CP. Awesome. All you can eat lobster claws, king crablegs and shrimp....delicious!

 

So there you go, thats my opinion on the 2. Now I'm ready too be flamed:D

[momofmeg]

momofmeg, here's my opinion, although it will probably be an unpopular one here.

Having done 2 RCI, one voyager class (Adventure of the Seas), one radiance class, (Serenade of the Seas) and 2 Princess, Grand and CP, I found the edge going to RCI.

 

1. The Princess buffet set up is a disaster, to say the least. Basically, in the Horizon court on Princess, there is 2 ways into the buffet line. Too many people in too little space. On RCI, in the Windjammer, there are many different stations set up, in a larger, more spread out area.

 

2. Chops (RCI) vs Sterlings (Princess). No comparsion in our opinion. The food, service, ambiance in Chops was outstanding. Where we felt Sterlings was just ordinary.

 

3. The ships. All are beautiful. All the balconies we have had were great. However, we felt the CP was harder to navigate than the Adventure. On the CP, it seemed there was alot of "you can't get there from here". In other words, if you take the aft elevators down, to say the anytime dining, you have to get off at deck 6, walk forward to the center elevators, go down a flight and walk back aft again. And we loved the Royal Promanade on RCI.

 

4. Princess now stops at Crown Bay in St Thomas instead of Havensight. We hated Crown Bay. Too few shops open and the taxi situation is an unorganized mess. They opened this pier way too early. It's just not ready yet.

 

5. The food. We liked RCI better. Seems to us they had more choices, and better over all quality.

 

OK, now the good things about Princess...

 

1 Anytime dining. Loved it. No rushing around to be at dining room at certain time. We like to dine alone, and never had too wait for a table for two. And for those who like to form the so called "relationships" with their waitstaff and think they need to have traditional dining to do this, were seated in the same section everynight, and had the same waiters anyway, without even asking. Probably, because we requested a table for two every night.

 

2. The pools...Princess has freshwater.....need I say more! Much better than saltwater. And the view from the Princess adult pool in the rear of the ship is breathtaking!!

 

3. The cold seafood buffet on the first night of CP. Awesome. All you can eat lobster claws, king crablegs and shrimp....delicious!

 

So there you go, thats my opinion on the 2. Now I'm ready too be flamed:D

 

 

well I do agree Chops beats Sterling. I had no problem with the CP buffet though-and I had been warned-the show lounge was not big enough which was the only place to felt congested to me on the ship.

 

We had anytime dinning but we already knew to use the dinningroom that was deck 6 AFT- (thanks to these nice guys and gals on cruisecritic) as the midship deck 6 dinningroom is the one most use-because to go to the deck 6 AFt from the centrum area you have to go up to deck 8 and then walk over to the AFT elevators and go down to deck 6 AFT. We solved that problem by going from our room to dinner then after dinner we rode the elevator two floors and walked over to the midship stairs and walked down to the centrum area.

I do not regret doing a voyager class ship- I just know it is not for me- and I have no desire DEFINETLY to go on that Freedom or that even bigger ship that will come out next year.

 

I do hope to cruise a radience class sometime though.

[Clarkk W Griswald]

I do hope to cruise a radience class sometime though.

 

We found the Serenade of the Seas (radience class) to be the best ship we've been on so far.