Just off Caribbean Princess

[RNRcruisers]

Hi All, just off 10 days on the Caribbean Princess Monday. Some good and some bad but overall a great cruise. This was our 5th Princess cruise, 17th cruise total.

 

DH and I were sailing in a group of 8 with a couple who had never cruised before and another who had never been on Princess. This was my first sailing as Platinum. The only perk I noticed was our group got to avoid the lines when boarding. I knew I would have priority boarding but had assumed my group wouldn't be able to board with me so I was staying with them, but while in the line a worker noticed my medallion and pulled me out, along with my whole travel group. We walked right on. My friends were very impressed 😄

 

The ship seemed in good shape, there was constant cleaning and painting going on. We have been on the Star, Crown, Golden and our last was Regal. I would say this layout was my least favorite of these. The Atrium was smaller than Regal, the Terrace pool and deck were smaller than Crown. We missed Alfredo's. I don't spend time in the casino but it is near the Atrium and the smell of smoke was terrible. However, I liked the full promenade deck and the lounges much better than on Regal. The negatives would not keep me from sailing again but these areas were disappointing for us. We were in an inside and had booked a guarantee, our room ended up having large bulkheads with bunks. They were very annoying and I will make sure to avoid that in the future. Also, as has been said here, there are motion sensor lights. I didn't mind the small ones on each side of the bed but the large overhead one in the closet was way too bright. And it was the only light for the closet so I didn't want to have the sensor blocked to stay off. It would also turn off too quickly when I was doing something in the closet. Not the best design. But I really love the Princess stateroom layouts with closet and bathroom separate from the room.

 

The ship was full and felt it. We spent some sea days at the Sanctuary which was much nicer than the crowded pool decks. Even the promenade deck was busier than I have ever seen on a ship. Probably because of this (and maybe the abundance of drink packages?), the wait service for drinks over the whole ship tended to be slow. Never really a problem though, I usually just walked up to a bar and had a drink within a few minutes. 

 

Overall we found the food very good. We had several breakfasts in the MDR and the rest in the buffet, lunches in the buffet and dinners with our group in the MDR. Yes the buffet is repetitive but I don't mind that. Lots of salad and fresh fruit. The evening menus had less to choose from compared to the Regal last year and fewer choices that appealed to me. A lot more seafood than I remember and I am not a huge seafood eater. I often chose the pasta dish. But I am a very picky eater so what doesn't appeal to me may to others. The Love Boat Dream is the new version reported here - not good in my opinion. I would not get again. Honestly, they really should change the name, it is nothing like the original. Our group seemed happy with their meals, and none of us went hungry!

 

Dine my way did not work well for us. I really wanted our newbie friends to experience the traditional dining and we tried, but half the time could not get the same table and some nights our service was very slow. Granted, we were a larger group but always ordered quickly. I really wish Princess would bring back TD for those who want it. I know I will get some push back here but the lack of TD really has me re-thinking whether Princess is still my line of choice.

 

Disembark was the usual zoo, not generally a happy way to end a lovely, relaxing cruise. I know they all do the luggage collection the same way (at least all the lines I have been on) but it really seems like someone would come up with a better method.

 

Overall, a great cruise and nice ship. Let me know if you have any questions I might be able to answer.

 

 

 

[coo359a2]

17 minutes ago, RNRcruisers said:

Hi All, just off 10 days on the Caribbean Princess Monday. Some good and some bad but overall a great cruise. This was our 5th Princess cruise, 17th cruise total.

 

DH and I were sailing in a group of 8 with a couple who had never cruised before and another who had never been on Princess. This was my first sailing as Platinum. The only perk I noticed was our group got to avoid the lines when boarding. I knew I would have priority boarding but had assumed my group wouldn't be able to board with me so I was staying with them, but while in the line a worker noticed my medallion and pulled me out, along with my whole travel group. We walked right on. My friends were very impressed 😄

 

The ship seemed in good shape, there was constant cleaning and painting going on. We have been on the Star, Crown, Golden and our last was Regal. I would say this layout was my least favorite of these. The Atrium was smaller than Regal, the Terrace pool and deck were smaller than Crown. We missed Alfredo's. I don't spend time in the casino but it is near the Atrium and the smell of smoke was terrible. However, I liked the full promenade deck and the lounges much better than on Regal. The negatives would not keep me from sailing again but these areas were disappointing for us. We were in an inside and had booked a guarantee, our room ended up having large bulkheads with bunks. They were very annoying and I will make sure to avoid that in the future. Also, as has been said here, there are motion sensor lights. I didn't mind the small ones on each side of the bed but the large overhead one in the closet was way too bright. And it was the only light for the closet so I didn't want to have the sensor blocked to stay off. It would also turn off too quickly when I was doing something in the closet. Not the best design. But I really love the Princess stateroom layouts with closet and bathroom separate from the room.

 

The ship was full and felt it. We spent some sea days at the Sanctuary which was much nicer than the crowded pool decks. Even the promenade deck was busier than I have ever seen on a ship. Probably because of this (and maybe the abundance of drink packages?), the wait service for drinks over the whole ship tended to be slow. Never really a problem though, I usually just walked up to a bar and had a drink within a few minutes. 

 

Overall we found the food very good. We had several breakfasts in the MDR and the rest in the buffet, lunches in the buffet and dinners with our group in the MDR. Yes the buffet is repetitive but I don't mind that. Lots of salad and fresh fruit. The evening menus had less to choose from compared to the Regal last year and fewer choices that appealed to me. A lot more seafood than I remember and I am not a huge seafood eater. I often chose the pasta dish. But I am a very picky eater so what doesn't appeal to me may to others. The Love Boat Dream is the new version reported here - not good in my opinion. I would not get again. Honestly, they really should change the name, it is nothing like the original. Our group seemed happy with their meals, and none of us went hungry!

 

Dine my way did not work well for us. I really wanted our newbie friends to experience the traditional dining and we tried, but half the time could not get the same table and some nights our service was very slow. Granted, we were a larger group but always ordered quickly. I really wish Princess would bring back TD for those who want it. I know I will get some push back here but the lack of TD really has me re-thinking whether Princess is still my line of choice.

 

Disembark was the usual zoo, not generally a happy way to end a lovely, relaxing cruise. I know they all do the luggage collection the same way (at least all the lines I have been on) but it really seems like someone would come up with a better method.

 

Overall, a great cruise and nice ship. Let me know if you have any questions I might be able to answer.

 

 

 

You should have seen the disembarkation back in the days before they started with the colored luggage tags. Big congestion around all the open areas and people lined up at the exits.  

[Ace_Caliente]

Did you ever try the pizza from Slice? If so, does it compare at all to Alfredo's/Gigi's restaurant pizza for you? I know in the summer on the Regal we really enjoyed the Alfredo's pizza, but the pizza by the pool wasn't really for us.

[Paula_MacFan]

1 hour ago, RNRcruisers said:

Disembark was the usual zoo, not generally a happy way to end a lovely, relaxing cruise. I know they all do the luggage collection the same way (at least all the lines I have been on) but it really seems like someone would come up with a better method.

 

Overall, a great cruise and nice ship. 

 

Sounds like you had a great trip overall with your friends! 

 

In 20 years of cruising we only put our luggage out the night before the first time. Since then we've always done express walk off. I realize not everyone is capable of handling their own luggage, but for those that can it's the way to go!

[DrSch]

What were the costs for the Sanctuary?  How full was it?

[a.madruga]

thanks glad you and group had a good cruise will be on her april 1

[RNRcruisers]

1 hour ago, Ace_Caliente said:

Did you ever try the pizza from Slice? If so, does it compare at all to Alfredo's/Gigi's restaurant pizza for you? I know in the summer on the Regal we really enjoyed the Alfredo's pizza, but the pizza by the pool wasn't really for us.

 

I had a bite of DH's pizza from the Slice. It was good but not as good as Alfredo's. I also prefer the restaurant atmosphere.

 

[RNRcruisers]

1 hour ago, Paula_MacFan said:

Sounds like you had a great trip overall with your friends! 

 

In 20 years of cruising we only put our luggage out the night before the first time. Since then we've always done express walk off. I realize not everyone is capable of handling their own luggage, but for those that can it's the way to go!

 

We have done that and are easily able but some in our group didn't want to. I agree it is easier.

[RNRcruisers]

49 minutes ago, DrSch said:

What were the costs for the Sanctuary?  How full was it?

 

It was $20 for a half day. The Panama Canal day it was $60 for the full day, no half days. It seemed pretty full during the week but we added a day partway through the cruise so wasn't full at that time. 

[RNRcruisers]

2 hours ago, coo359a2 said:

You should have seen the disembarkation back in the days before they started with the colored luggage tags. Big congestion around all the open areas and people lined up at the exits.  

 

Of course ships weren't as big back then either. Our first cruise was in 1990 and honestly I don't remember how we did the luggage back then. Maybe if they handed out more colors it would be better?

[coo359a2]

1 hour ago, RNRcruisers said:

 

Of course ships weren't as big back then either. Our first cruise was in 1990 and honestly I don't remember how we did the luggage back then. Maybe if they handed out more colors it would be better?

I only go back to 2004 so most all current ships except the Royal class had people standing in the open areas and crowding around  where the disembarking doors were located..  Announcements were made telling you when it was time to exit but everyone was already crowding around.  Then Princess went to a "silent" disembarkation announcement only made in the lounge where you were to meet based on your luggage tag color and time.  

[pmallen]

This is the second reference I've seen lately to smoke from the casino. We're on the Emerald right now, and there is no smoking allowed in the casino. There is a smoking lounge, Speakeasy, just off the casino, but the smoke doesn't dlseem to escape much.

 

Interesting that there would be such a major policy difference between ships.

[cr8tiv1]

5 minutes ago, pmallen said:

This is the second reference I've seen lately to smoke from the casino. We're on the Emerald right now, and there is no smoking allowed in the casino. There is a smoking lounge, Speakeasy, just off the casino, but the smoke doesn't dlseem to escape much.

 

Interesting that there would be such a major policy difference between ships.

 

This is the first I've read that a Princess Ship (Emerald) has no smoking in the casino.  Will this be a change moving forward?  I hope so.

[nini]

7 minutes ago, pmallen said:

This is the second reference I've seen lately to smoke from the casino. We're on the Emerald right now, and there is no smoking allowed in the casino. There is a smoking lounge, Speakeasy, just off the casino, but the smoke doesn't dlseem to escape much.

 

Interesting that there would be such a major policy difference between ships.

 

Well, THIS is a first!!! Are yo sure that it was no smoking just for one night? We were on the Emerald in May and there WAS smoking!

This would be fabulous if things are moving forward on this issue.

[cr8tiv1]

25 minutes ago, nini said:

 

Well, THIS is a first!!! Are yo sure that it was no smoking just for one night? We were on the Emerald in May and there WAS smoking!

This would be fabulous if things are moving forward on this issue.

 

Just checked with a friend who is doing a b2b on the Emerald.  She said there is smell of smoke in the casino when she walks through.  Not contradicting poster...But after 2 weeks, lingering smoke smell should have dissipated if there was no smoking on the Emerald.

[mellon1]

10 hours ago, RNRcruisers said:

Hi All, just off 10 days on the Caribbean Princess Monday. Some good and some bad but overall a great cruise. This was our 5th Princess cruise, 17th cruise total.

 

DH and I were sailing in a group of 8 with a couple who had never cruised before and another who had never been on Princess. This was my first sailing as Platinum. The only perk I noticed was our group got to avoid the lines when boarding. I knew I would have priority boarding but had assumed my group wouldn't be able to board with me so I was staying with them, but while in the line a worker noticed my medallion and pulled me out, along with my whole travel group. We walked right on. My friends were very impressed 😄

 

The ship seemed in good shape, there was constant cleaning and painting going on. We have been on the Star, Crown, Golden and our last was Regal. I would say this layout was my least favorite of these. The Atrium was smaller than Regal, the Terrace pool and deck were smaller than Crown. We missed Alfredo's. I don't spend time in the casino but it is near the Atrium and the smell of smoke was terrible. However, I liked the full promenade deck and the lounges much better than on Regal. The negatives would not keep me from sailing again but these areas were disappointing for us. We were in an inside and had booked a guarantee, our room ended up having large bulkheads with bunks. They were very annoying and I will make sure to avoid that in the future. Also, as has been said here, there are motion sensor lights. I didn't mind the small ones on each side of the bed but the large overhead one in the closet was way too bright. And it was the only light for the closet so I didn't want to have the sensor blocked to stay off. It would also turn off too quickly when I was doing something in the closet. Not the best design. But I really love the Princess stateroom layouts with closet and bathroom separate from the room.

 

The ship was full and felt it. We spent some sea days at the Sanctuary which was much nicer than the crowded pool decks. Even the promenade deck was busier than I have ever seen on a ship. Probably because of this (and maybe the abundance of drink packages?), the wait service for drinks over the whole ship tended to be slow. Never really a problem though, I usually just walked up to a bar and had a drink within a few minutes. 

 

Overall we found the food very good. We had several breakfasts in the MDR and the rest in the buffet, lunches in the buffet and dinners with our group in the MDR. Yes the buffet is repetitive but I don't mind that. Lots of salad and fresh fruit. The evening menus had less to choose from compared to the Regal last year and fewer choices that appealed to me. A lot more seafood than I remember and I am not a huge seafood eater. I often chose the pasta dish. But I am a very picky eater so what doesn't appeal to me may to others. The Love Boat Dream is the new version reported here - not good in my opinion. I would not get again. Honestly, they really should change the name, it is nothing like the original. Our group seemed happy with their meals, and none of us went hungry!

 

Dine my way did not work well for us. I really wanted our newbie friends to experience the traditional dining and we tried, but half the time could not get the same table and some nights our service was very slow. Granted, we were a larger group but always ordered quickly. I really wish Princess would bring back TD for those who want it. I know I will get some push back here but the lack of TD really has me re-thinking whether Princess is still my line of choice.

 

Disembark was the usual zoo, not generally a happy way to end a lovely, relaxing cruise. I know they all do the luggage collection the same way (at least all the lines I have been on) but it really seems like someone would come up with a better method.

 

Overall, a great cruise and nice ship. Let me know if you have any questions I might be able to answer.

 

 

 

Thanks for your review.  We are doing the Caribbean Princess in 2024 and were on it before.  Some things I have heard:  One that there is smoking by the crew on deck 7 aft at all hours of the night?  Is that true still?  Also, are they still having a problem with toilets not working?  Thanks so much.

[seeyouinthesun]

21 hours ago, RNRcruisers said:

Hi All, just off 10 days on the Caribbean Princess Monday. Some good and some bad but overall a great cruise. This was our 5th Princess cruise, 17th cruise total.

 

DH and I were sailing in a group of 8 with a couple who had never cruised before and another who had never been on Princess. This was my first sailing as Platinum. The only perk I noticed was our group got to avoid the lines when boarding. I knew I would have priority boarding but had assumed my group wouldn't be able to board with me so I was staying with them, but while in the line a worker noticed my medallion and pulled me out, along with my whole travel group. We walked right on. My friends were very impressed 😄

 

The ship seemed in good shape, there was constant cleaning and painting going on. We have been on the Star, Crown, Golden and our last was Regal. I would say this layout was my least favorite of these. The Atrium was smaller than Regal, the Terrace pool and deck were smaller than Crown. We missed Alfredo's. I don't spend time in the casino but it is near the Atrium and the smell of smoke was terrible. However, I liked the full promenade deck and the lounges much better than on Regal. The negatives would not keep me from sailing again but these areas were disappointing for us. We were in an inside and had booked a guarantee, our room ended up having large bulkheads with bunks. They were very annoying and I will make sure to avoid that in the future. Also, as has been said here, there are motion sensor lights. I didn't mind the small ones on each side of the bed but the large overhead one in the closet was way too bright. And it was the only light for the closet so I didn't want to have the sensor blocked to stay off. It would also turn off too quickly when I was doing something in the closet. Not the best design. But I really love the Princess stateroom layouts with closet and bathroom separate from the room.

 

The ship was full and felt it. We spent some sea days at the Sanctuary which was much nicer than the crowded pool decks. Even the promenade deck was busier than I have ever seen on a ship. Probably because of this (and maybe the abundance of drink packages?), the wait service for drinks over the whole ship tended to be slow. Never really a problem though, I usually just walked up to a bar and had a drink within a few minutes. 

 

Overall we found the food very good. We had several breakfasts in the MDR and the rest in the buffet, lunches in the buffet and dinners with our group in the MDR. Yes the buffet is repetitive but I don't mind that. Lots of salad and fresh fruit. The evening menus had less to choose from compared to the Regal last year and fewer choices that appealed to me. A lot more seafood than I remember and I am not a huge seafood eater. I often chose the pasta dish. But I am a very picky eater so what doesn't appeal to me may to others. The Love Boat Dream is the new version reported here - not good in my opinion. I would not get again. Honestly, they really should change the name, it is nothing like the original. Our group seemed happy with their meals, and none of us went hungry!

 

Dine my way did not work well for us. I really wanted our newbie friends to experience the traditional dining and we tried, but half the time could not get the same table and some nights our service was very slow. Granted, we were a larger group but always ordered quickly. I really wish Princess would bring back TD for those who want it. I know I will get some push back here but the lack of TD really has me re-thinking whether Princess is still my line of choice.

 

Disembark was the usual zoo, not generally a happy way to end a lovely, relaxing cruise. I know they all do the luggage collection the same way (at least all the lines I have been on) but it really seems like someone would come up with a better method.

 

Overall, a great cruise and nice ship. Let me know if you have any questions I might be able to answer.

 

 

 

Thanks for the update. I’ll be on her April 1st. 

[Tyskie]

Just off the Enchanted Princess and the smoke in the casino was overwhelming!  Even though there was supposedly a non-smoking area (all open) casino crew was not enforcing.

 

Additionally, there were passengers there just to smoke!!!

 

Princess did away with non-smoking nights - they should just do away with SMOKING in the casino permanently like other cruiselines.

[RNRcruisers]

13 hours ago, mellon1 said:

Thanks for your review.  We are doing the Caribbean Princess in 2024 and were on it before.  Some things I have heard:  One that there is smoking by the crew on deck 7 aft at all hours of the night?  Is that true still?  Also, are they still having a problem with toilets not working?  Thanks so much.

 

I think there was smoking allowed on Deck 7 but I never really noticed it and we were out there every day. I think it wasn't being used much.

 

We did not have any toilet problems, either in our stateroom or public restrooms and I didn't hear of any issues.

 

[RNRcruisers]

1 hour ago, Tyskie said:

Just off the Enchanted Princess and the smoke in the casino was overwhelming!  Even though there was supposedly a non-smoking area (all open) casino crew was not enforcing.

 

Additionally, there were passengers there just to smoke!!!

 

Princess did away with non-smoking nights - they should just do away with SMOKING in the casino permanently like other cruiselines.

 

Agree, there are other areas where smoking is allowed, not needed in the casino. I don't know where the casino is on Enchanted but on Caribbean it is right off the piazza and that whole area smelled noticeably of smoke. Not pleasant.

[SargassoPirate]

17 hours ago, pmallen said:

This is the second reference I've seen lately to smoke from the casino. We're on the Emerald right now, and there is no smoking allowed in the casino. There is a smoking lounge, Speakeasy, just off the casino, but the smoke doesn't dlseem to escape much.

 

Interesting that there would be such a major policy difference between ships.

 I was on the Caribbean Princess for 20 nights in January and the smoke from the Smoking Lounge (Casino) drifted right out into the Atrium and into the back of the theater.  

 

Crooners bar may as well been a Smoking Lounge as well since it's right outside.

[mellon1]

10 minutes ago, RNRcruisers said:

 

I think there was smoking allowed on Deck 7 but I never really noticed it and we were out there every day. I think it wasn't being used much.

 

We did not have any toilet problems, either in our stateroom or public restrooms and I didn't hear of any issues.

 

That's good news!  Thanks.

[RNRcruisers]

8 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

 I was on the Caribbean Princess for 20 nights in January and the smoke from the Smoking Lounge (Casino) drifted right out into the Atrium and into the back of the theater.  

 

Crooners bar may as well been a Smoking Lounge as well since it's right outside.

 

Yes the smell was also bad in Crooners.

 

[u2harmony]

I will be on this ship in 2 months - thanks for this review. Very helpful. 

 

Can you tell me what time you debarked? I booked an early flight and wondered what time you were able to get off the ship and get your luggage? 

 

Thank you. 🙂

[birdiebill]

We were on this cruise also.  We had a suite so were able to disembark in the earliest luggage tag color group.  We were given an estimated time of 8:15.  Our color was called between 8:00 and 8:15.  Passengers who were able to walk off with their own luggage were able to disembark much earlier.