Does the Caribbean Princess seem crowded?

[DeRon]

I have heard that the Caribben Princess seems very crowded due to another deck of rooms being added. Is this reality?

 

I have been on the Grand and the Star. Does the Caribbean seem more crowded than these?

 

Thanks!

[jennew]

I have also been on the Grand and the Star. The only place I noticed a difference was in the buffet and only during peak times. Finding ANY place to sit was difficult then. Other than that, we did not feel crowded. We really enjoyed the cruise.

[janetz]

We were on the Carribean Princess over Feb vacation week. The ship was at full capacity. To us, the only time it seemed crowded was at the pools and at the buffet as the previous poster said. We chose anytime dinning and never waited to be seated. ;)

[sasa]

We were on it last October, and expected to feel crowded from time to time, but was pleasantly surprised to find that we never did. While having cocktails before dinner in two different lounges, we looked around on a few evenings to discover we were the only people there! Also, short lines for photots on formal nights which I don't remember ever experiencing before.

 

Buffets get busy during peak hours, but we never had a problem finding a table for 2.

[w&gfan]

I've been on the Star, Golden, and Caribbean -- the Caribbean Princess is definitely more crowded. It's noticeable in the horizon court, in the show rooms, in the lounges, in the halls, on the pool deck and in the elevators (expect a long wait for elevators). I guess to me it was more crowded everywhere except in the cabin! Aside from that, the cruise was good and I have no regrets going on the Caribbean Princess. It's a beautiful ship and the service was up to the standards set by Princess. It was just a little more frustrating than any other cruise because of the crowds.

[Toto2Kansas]

Comparing the Caribbean Princess to other Grand Class ships, the only time we felt the extra passenger load was during tender times or boarding and re-boarding. We saw no difference in the buffet area (mainly because there are two fo them, the Horizon Court and Cafe Caribe).

It was actually a pleasent surprise as we really thought we would feel the crowds more than we did.

[Sandytoes]

Only in the elevators does it seem crowded. Port days, dinner time.

Won't notice the amount of people onboard at all.

CB is a great ship.

[the_dylaness]

Haven't been on the Grand (yet!) but I will say that we did feel crowded on the CB at some points. Especially tendering, and at the pool areas and jacuzzis. We didn't actually have any problems with our anytime-dining tables for two and we usually went around 7:30- we walked in within two minutes each night except for one, and we agreed to sit with another couple at a 4-top that night and so didn't have to wait then either.

 

We did not attend any of the shows so I can't speak for that- I will say that as others have mentioned, the buffet can be a little packed (everybody running for that mmm mmm good coffee?!) at times but not too bad. Strangely, the most crowded we ever felt on the ship was in the large bar (can't think of the name, it's where they have the art auctions, trivia, et cetera) trying to play in the "Newlywed Game" one night. The room was entirely full, mostly of wanna-be participants- there must have been at least 100 couples trying to sign up! So that was mass chaos.

 

Otherwise it was a nice ship and we enjoyed our cruise- the balcony definitely helped when we got tired of seeing other people.

[sammiedawg]

Yes, CB is more crowded, its not unbearable but we noted the extra people. Pool areas, main Horizon Court, hallways, disembarkation, tenders. 500 extra people and the same amount of common areas. The extra buffet line Cafe Caribe is nice but its not always open. CB had the best and most entertainment and activities of any ship we've sailed, they try hard to redistribute the crowd to various venues. Its a lovely ship, service food are fine

[Host Caroline]

Even if buffet line in Cafe Caribe is closed you can still sit back there..... Tender time and occ. in Princess Theatre you notice the "extra" people... but overall a great ship and they do a good job of having enough activities etc. to keep the passengers reasonably "spread out".

[cruzinchris]

Sailed on the CB twice and loved it! Also sailed on Star, Golden, and Grand. Not really a noticeable difference in "crowding" on any of these vessels.

 

Times, places when all "grand" class ships seem to have shoulder-to-shoulder traffic:

 

* pools/sundecks on sea days

* disembarkation at ports if you want to get off the ship first thing - especially early tenders to Princess Cays

* end-of-the-day embarkation following ports of call - don't wait until the last minute to return to the ship

* production shows in Princess theatres - get a drink, take a book or the Patter, and arrive early

 

DH and I rarely visit the buffet, so you'll have to take others' word that this dining venue can get crowded.

 

Bon Voyage!

Chris

[taxatty]

The shows were definitely more crowded, especially for featured performers. Other than that, didn't notice much difference.

Les

[kborth]

I thought it was. Just got back and the theatre was crowded, had to get there 30 minutes early for show. Tendering was a mess because of so many people. Also we could not get into anytime dining for 3 nights , couldn't even make a reservation even though we called at 11.30 A.A. as they requested so I missed my birthday dinner. Elevators took forever.

[Katie333]

I didn't find the CB crowded, it's pretty well designed for the crowds IMO. The only difference is that there will be times when everyone wants to do the same thing at once (note examples already provided) so you either adjust your timelines if needed or deal with some extra people. I'm acustomed to arriving early for shows anyway, and we always brought a book and got prime seats. Buffet will be busiest between 6-730pm, arrive before or after and you'll almost be alone. :)

[Spender Nui]

It's the only one of the newer Pricess ships we've been on (with family too) and had no feeling of crowding.

[mbrock800]

DH and I just got back from the 9/30 sailing of CB. We did not feel crowded. Yes, there were a couple of wait times at the elevators and in the buffet lines, but overall, we did not feel crowded in the least. In fact, we made mention of the fact that it was difficult to believe that the ship had over 3000 passengers because it just didn't feel that big or crowded. The anytime dining was great, but we did notice that the Coral Dining room (midship) tended to stay much busier than the Palm Dining Room (aft of ship). We were told one night that the wait for a table for two in the Coral DR was 45 minutes so we just walked back to the Palm and got right in. We never had trouble finding a deck chair. It seemed that there may have even been more deck chairs on the ship than passengers. Enjoy!

 

mbrock800

[mom2tcdx2]

I traveled on the ship in May and didn't find it to be that crowded. However there were times when things were a bit difficult. We never found a seat inside the buffet at breakfast and tended to take our food out to tables by the pool, same sort of problems at lunch. I have decided on my trip on November I will eat more in the dining rooms instead of the buffet. Comedians at the Explorer's lounge were pretty crowded and we never got a good seat for those. I never noticed much of a crowd for the tenders and getting on and off the boat was pretty easy I thought. However if you are used to waiting in lines at theme parks this was a breeze. We did the anytime dining and usually ate somewhere around 6:30-7 and never waited for a table. There were always plenty of loungers around MUTS in the evening. I must say I really figured it would have been worse but was pleasantly surprised.