Caribbean Princess, what to expect

[Kitty Ellas Mom]

I'm on a Canada / New England 10 day on Caribbean Princess in 1.5 weeks.  Obviously I did a lot of research before finalizing my booking, but someone on my roll call just posted that they read the recent reviews and they weren't favorable, so I unwisely read them.  Now I'm worried about things like AC being broken and propulsion issues (but I know in Canada it might be more of an issue if heating didn't work).  I've been on CC long enough to know that a lot of ship reviews are negative, so I take it with a grain of salt, but I'd like to know what people who've cruised recently on the CP think.  This is my 1st cruise so I don't have another ship to compare it to.  What positives and negatives should I expect, now?  I am mostly just looking fwd to a break from my responsibilities at home (I'm traveling solo) so it would be hard for the ship to seriously displease me, although inadequate climate control would be a problem.  

[memoak]

Frankly I would chill and enjoy.  Guiding is the best life on any ship. You will not be stuck in the middle of the ocean 

[Torfamm]

We were just on the Caribbean Princess for 16 nights and had no issues. 

[tml1230]

we disembarked in Quebec City after boarding in FLL and visiting many ports on east coast and Canada.

Like you, were were a little concerned after reading some of the reviews.

Our trip was excellent to outstanding! Wonderful crew , spotlessly clean ship and well maintained, and some of the best food ever! 

Yea, she is showing her age, but so am I!

have a safe cruise!

[Kitty Ellas Mom]

I forgot to mention that people complained about having to line up for just about everything. But I expected that anyway.  

[RNRcruisers]

We were on her in February and it was fine. It was a full ship and at times felt crowded but I don't really remember being in lines, so not sure where they experienced that. Temps were fine, plumbing working, no obvious wear that I saw. Go and enjoy!

 

[Mud_Shark]

We will be sailing on CB in a few months.  Any word on Steamers and Planks re-opening (or maybe they are open, but they were not on our first post COVID cruise on CB)?  I know it was never terribly popular, but we liked it for a change of pace dinner at least once a week.  It was nice to order one meal from Planks and one from Steamers and then share each between us.

[PammyMouse]

I'm on in December, and I noticed the other day that Steamers and Planks were no longer on the Princess' website deck plans.  It doesn't look promising.  

 

PM

[PMGS247]

The CB has always been a magnet for negative reviews.  As you instinct is already telling you, it's easy to get an unrealistically negative set of expectations purely by reading cruise critic.  There's always a risk of something negative happening on a cruise, and maybe your odds are slightly higher on a ship like the CB given her age, but those with negative experiences tend to be louder than the vast majority who have a positive one.  I wouldn't sweat it.

 

I will say it seems like AC issues tend to repeat in a particular section of the ship.  It's been too long for me to recall that level of detail but to whatever degree you do read more about it, pay attention to where it's occurring and see if that aligns with the location of your stateroom. I've sailed twice on her and am booked to go again at the end of October.  Always Dolphin Mini Suites.  Never had a problem.

[PMGS247]

Just now, PammyMouse said:

I'm on in December, and I noticed the other day that Steamers and Planks were no longer on the Princess' website deck plans.  It doesn't look promising.  

 

PM

I thought I had read an account stating that they were opening back up, dinner only, and only one of the two each night, either planks or steamers.

[PammyMouse]

2 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

I thought I had read an account stating that they were opening back up, dinner only, and only one of the two each night, either planks or steamers.

Maybe someone onboard or soon to be can comment?  I was curious as I will have the premier package and started looking into it.  It didn't seem encouraging. PM

[avonlady6390]

I was on her in April and everything in cabin worked just fine.  There were some lines in morning for specialty coffee but wasn't too bad.  I would think they would have to open up planks and steamers for plus and Premier passengers otherwise I believe the only other venue would be vines to use the casual dining choices.

[WisCruiser2]

Unless it's really a serious issue it seems like most complaints in the Reviews are what we refer to as "first-world problems." 

[Rick&Jeannie]

@Kitty Ellas Mom...I *think* I shared this with you at some point in the past (perhaps on the roll call).  We were on the Caribbean P just this past February for a partial Panama Canal transit.  It was our first time on this ship.  We had no issues at all.  Enjoyed being on the ship and had a great time.  Yes, it is an older ship and as such (if you're looking for them) there will be signs of that age.  Paint doesn't cover up everything!

Don't let the negative reviews taint your expectations!  You *know* you're always going to find where somebody is complaining about something.  That's just the nature of a forum like this.  It's just like TV news or newspapers...bad news "sells".  Just look at it this way... "Any day on a ship is better than a day at home!" 😀

[puggymom]

I’m on board currently. 
 

Entertainment is outstanding but get to theatre early. The shows are all wonderful but standing room only. The bands and other musicians are terrific. Cruise director and team are doing a great job. 
 

Planks and Steamers are open. We have Plus and tried both. Steamers was better than Planks and if you have them included it’s worth trying both. 
 

Enjoyed Crown Grill enough we went 2x. 
 

MDR has been mostly very good. A couple of misses. 
 

Crew is fantastic as always. 
 

AC is working fine on Deck 11 Aft. I haven’t noticed issues anywhere else. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

@puggymom Thanks for the report!  We'll be on board in just over a week.

[Mud_Shark]

Thanks for the update.  Sounds great to hear Steamers/Planks are back up and running.

[gilboman]

14 hours ago, Kitty Ellas Mom said:

I'm on a Canada / New England 10 day on Caribbean Princess in 1.5 weeks.  Obviously I did a lot of research before finalizing my booking, but someone on my roll call just posted that they read the recent reviews and they weren't favorable, so I unwisely read them.  Now I'm worried about things like AC being broken and propulsion issues (but I know in Canada it might be more of an issue if heating didn't work).  I've been on CC long enough to know that a lot of ship reviews are negative, so I take it with a grain of salt, but I'd like to know what people who've cruised recently on the CP think.  This is my 1st cruise so I don't have another ship to compare it to.  What positives and negatives should I expect, now?  I am mostly just looking fwd to a break from my responsibilities at home (I'm traveling solo) so it would be hard for the ship to seriously displease me, although inadequate climate control would be a problem.  

I'm on the 10 day New England Cruise right now and everything has been more than fine, ship is in very good condition (didn't notice any maintenance issues other than drip in the rear of the buffet area they had roped off).

 

food has been good, service is a not as good as what i've had on HAL last 3 cruises or when i last sailed on princess prepandemic (eg my steward forgets my extra towel and never really see him and when i do, there's no hi mr x/y ....not a big deal at all, just an observation).  Dining room service was okay but then one evening i had a great server and he asked that i can just go back to him everyday and the host/hostess was great and starting second day, they see me and tell me to just walk to "my table"

 

entertainment has been better than i remembered when i last sailed on princess, they have a lot of performers and i'm pretty impressed (for princess), they even had a bunch of drones as part of the show last night accompanying the dancers/singers! 

 

today for lunch in buffet, they had grilled tuna steaks, baked whole salmon, red snapper, peeled shrimps, cold mussels etc.. food ingredient quality is decent (Though i think not as good as prepandemic but that's all the lines)

 

overall, while HAL is still our preferred line, this princess cruise exceeded our expectations. the tv seems bigger than 42" in our room with lots of new on demand movies as expected and it never feels crowded as expected.  

 

AC has been working great except on first embarkation day where the room was a bit warm (i like it cold!) but since then, it's been fine..i like my temp around 20 celicus usually and i'm very comfortable in the room. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by gilboman

[BamaVol]

I can find you an unfavorable review of any ship in the fleet. That doesn’t mean you will encounter any of the issues mentioned. It is a small minority that does. Our 10 days on CB in March was nothing but pleasant. 
 

On the Sapphire right now and there is nothing I would complain about although I’m sure some would be able to find fault. 

[SargassoPirate]

I find it very easy to avoid lines, for the most part.  I'm an early riser so I have some coffee on the promenade or an aft area to watch the sunrise, have HC or MDR breakfast as soon as they open, have lunch either venue on the later side - 30 minutes before the cutoff time - and skip the MDR dinner madness for a week dram and nibbles in the P&E lounge.

 

No fretting over making reservations weeks in advance in the wonky app.

 

The key is to break away from the herd and the herd mentality.  

[cr8tiv1]

Recently off the CB.  On sea days, LOTS of people milling around with no place to go.  But you would find that on any ship.  Just where do you expect 3000 to 5000 passengers to go?

 

Air Conditioning in the MDR was downright cold.  Needed a sweater/wrap every meal.  There were hit and miss cabins that had AC issues.  

 

Only one elevator that needed a repair.  That's better than most ships.

 

Food can vary by passengers.  I thought it was good for me.  Rarely visited the Buffet.  Love the Crown Grill.  The new menu in Sabatini's is better than the old.  

 

Tendering is a huge problem.  But is the same for every ship.  

 

Bottom Line:  I did not see any major issues on the CB.  With packed ships across the fleet, you are going to run into issues with any Princess ship you choose to cruise on.

[memoak]

18 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

I find it very easy to avoid lines, for the most part.  I'm an early riser so I have some coffee on the promenade or an aft area to watch the sunrise, have HC or MDR breakfast as soon as they open, have lunch either venue on the later side - 30 minutes before the cutoff time - and skip the MDR dinner madness for a week dram and nibbles in the P&E lounge.

 

No fretting over making reservations weeks in advance in the wonky app.

 

The key is to break away from the herd and the herd mentality.  

Sorry but nibbles at 5:30 is not going to get me through till 1am. 

[Sun Queen II]

4 hours ago, puggymom said:

I’m on board currently. 
 

Entertainment is outstanding but get to theatre early. The shows are all wonderful but standing room only. The bands and other musicians are terrific. Cruise director and team are doing a great job. 
 

Planks and Steamers are open. We have Plus and tried both. Steamers was better than Planks and if you have them included it’s worth trying both. 
 

Enjoyed Crown Grill enough we went 2x. 
 

MDR has been mostly very good. A couple of misses. 
 

Crew is fantastic as always. 
 

AC is working fine on Deck 11 Aft. I haven’t noticed issues anywhere else. 

Do you happen to have the menus for Steamers and Planks that you could share here!?  Thanks so much for the update!

[gilboman]

32 minutes ago, memoak said:

Sorry but nibbles at 5:30 is not going to get me through till 1am. 

Breakfast buffet is 5am-1130am, lunch is 1130am-3pm.  3-5 is snacks, 5-10pm is dinner buffet. And you have international cafe that's 24/7

 

I never had to wait for MDR yet, usually goto dinner around 730-8pm since I visit buffer around 530pm lol and then stop by dinner buffet after MDR or goto international cafe after show . And there's always slices and salty dog with no waits other than like around 3-5pm on a port day when people come back and lunch buffet is fine 

[Kitty Ellas Mom]

40 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Recently off the CB.  On sea days, LOTS of people milling around with no place to go.  But you would find that on any ship.  Just where do you expect 3000 to 5000 passengers to go?

 

Air Conditioning in the MDR was downright cold.  Needed a sweater/wrap every meal.  There were hit and miss cabins that had AC issues.  

 

Only one elevator that needed a repair.  That's better than most ships.

 

Food can vary by passengers.  I thought it was good for me.  Rarely visited the Buffet.  Love the Crown Grill.  The new menu in Sabatini's is better than the old.  

 

Tendering is a huge problem.  But is the same for every ship.  

 

Bottom Line:  I did not see any major issues on the CB.  With packed ships across the fleet, you are going to run into issues with any Princess ship you choose to cruise on.

Re: tendering, I was wondering about that.  We only have one tender port, but it is my first ever port, and I have a 10 am excursion.  This is Newport, RI.  I am thinking to be out there waiting to tender an hour or more before the excursion time.  Is an hour enough?  I am able bodied and can handle whatever the tender situation is.