Short review Caribbean Princess

[philv]

We sailed on the Caribbean Princess last week, eastern Caribbean itinerary with stops at Princess Cay, San Juan, and St. Thomas. We have sailed on the CB many times and really enjoy this ship. Especially the promenade and Skywalkers. Boarding was a snap, walked on about 12:30. Sailing was full with lots of people everywhere. Medallion app was clumsy, especially dinning reservations, but we don’t do much with it anyway. Our first night dining in the Island dinning room was terrible. Even with reservations we waited in long line and service was slow. Second night in Palm dining room was much better. Princess Cay was great beach day as always. We enjoyed it. San Juan was great, docked at pier 4 in old San Juan and took terrific walk along bay out to harbor entrance and stairs up to El Morro then back to ship through cobbler stone streets of Old San Juan. On St Thomas we went to Magen’s Bay and had terrific beach day. Crowded around restaurant but not bad down the beach where we set up. Overall food in MDR’s was not as good as on previous sailings. We don’t do much entertainment stuff and spent most of our ship board time on our Caribe balcony, the promenade, or fitness center. Disembarkation was quick, we walked off at 7:15 and were at our gate at 8:30. Thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and I’m daydreaming already about our next one. 😎

 

 

Edited March 27 by philv

[LidoLiz]

Great photos!

Love those old-timey Promenade deck strolls, especially when it’s quiet.

 

[Ellipooh]

Caribe balcony with three chairs? Including a lounger??

Please provide step-by-step instructions on how you accomplished that...

[philv]

54 minutes ago, Ellipooh said:

Caribe balcony with three chairs? Including a lounger??

Please provide step-by-step instructions on how you accomplished that...

There were three of us traveling together. From previous experience I knew three chairs would fit on Caribe balcony. When I met our cabin steward on embarkation day I asked about getting a third chair. He said I have to ask my supervisor. Second day I asked him about the chair. He said would not fit. Third day I positioned existing chairs and showed cabin steward that a third one would fit. We went to lunch and when I came back voilà, there was the lounger. I tipped steward because I know it’s a lot of extra work for him. 
 

Our travel companion was in an inside cabin just across the hall from us. At embarkation we went to guess services and they programmed her medallion giving her access to our cabin so she could use balcony when we were not there. We spent many happy hours on at sea days sitting on balcony together reading. It really enhanced our cruise experience. Thank you Princess! 😎

[wandb]

Philv,

Thank you so much for the review. We leave this Sunday, and can't wait!  Love your pictures. We are also on Caribe Deck. 
Did y'all see any of the evening shows? If so I'd love your opinion on what was good, what was not. 
 

Also, someone posted that the pier we leave from is on the app. I can't find it. Do you know where on the app I'd find that info?

 

Thanks!

[JimmyVWine]

With all the reviews now coming in for Sun Princess, most of which comment about how undeniably beautiful the ship is, I can't help but deny the undeniable.  Sorry, not sorry.  THIS is what a beautiful ship looks like.  The Royal Class and Sphere Class ships have features that necessitated exterior design modifications.  I get it.  But let's stop kidding ourselves.  The Grand Class/Gem Class ships are much easier on the eyes.

 

Thanks for the short review and the awesome photos!

 

[seeyouinthesun]

She is my favorite ship and I will sail on her till they tow it to the scrapyard.

 

On my last sailing in January I noticed the MDR was very understaffed. I was at a solo table and felt really bad that I was making so much extra work. I only went twice to try and make their lives a little better.  

 

Hopefully it will get better but it’s still a beautiful ship and I don’t cruise for the food anyway. There’s plenty to eat and I look forward to my next cruise in January. 

[Ellipooh]

3 hours ago, seeyouinthesun said:

 

On my last sailing in January I noticed the MDR was very understaffed. I was at a solo table and felt really bad that I was making so much extra work. I only went twice to try and make their lives a little better.  

Can you tell my why you feel that traveling solo means more work for the MDR staff? I’m also solo but that never occurred to me. I really prefer MDR to the chaos of the Buffet. 

[seeyouinthesun]

22 minutes ago, Ellipooh said:

Can you tell my why you feel that traveling solo means more work for the MDR staff? I’m also solo but that never occurred to me. I really prefer MDR to the chaos of the Buffet. 

It’s more efficient if you have tables with more people. If you have a bunch of solo tables it takes longer. At least that’s what my daughter says. She’s a server at Disney. 

[oceanlover1031]

We will be sailing on this ship and the same deck but interior room for this one.  Can you please tell me if the cabins have USB ports anywhere, lamps etc?  I am trying to plan for everything I need to bring.  Thank you so much!  And I loved your photos...I can not wait to set sail.

[jmelnick]

No USB ports this past October.

[nasa1974]

1 hour ago, jmelnick said:

No USB ports this past October.

I was on the Crown this past October and they added a European power outlet and a USB port in every cabin. They were installed in the desk. There was no prior notice before the cruise. I had a letter in my cabin giving me which day it was going to be installed.  It might still happen for the Caribbean.

@oceanlover1031 Welcome to cruise critic and have a great cruise. I will be on the Caribbean in two weeks.

 

@philv Thanks for the report and great pictures. Looking forward to San Juan. 

 

Edited April 12 by nasa1974

[akeasley]

2 hours ago, oceanlover1031 said:

We will be sailing on this ship and the same deck but interior room for this one.  Can you please tell me if the cabins have USB ports anywhere, lamps etc?  I am trying to plan for everything I need to bring.  Thank you so much!  And I loved your photos...I can not wait to set sail.

I was just in an interior a few weeks ago on the Caribbean and the only plug in the main living area is at the desk.