Four Day Caribbean Princess review-long

[TravelinAround]

Hi Everyone,

I just got off the Caribbean Princess on May 1 for the four night cruise. I am a TA and booked a client for this week's sailing and the price was so good, I decided to go myself.

Embarkation: very smooth. I arrived at 1:30 and immediately got onboard no waiting.

The Service: I was surprised that it really wasn't up to par. It seemed like apathy was the theme for the cruise with the staff. The cheery smiles and helpful attitude were just not there across the board. The only folks that really stood out for me were my stateroom attendant, Wirot, and the pedicurist, Celia and all the room service staff. I really got the feeling that the staff wasn't really prepared for the new itinerary. I overheard a lot of complaining among staff and a few instances I saw and heard employees in the buffet areas being reprimanded by supervisors. I was really shocked that they did this within earshot of passengers. I never did see the cruise director, but saw the deputy cruise director a lot. It was kind of sad because he tried to be funny but he just didn't hit the mark. However, I can see how this cruise proved to be especially challenging for the staff. It was populated almost exclusively by Florida snowbirds, I guess onboard for their last hoorah before heading up north. I witnessed a lot of rudeness, loud complaining and shoving on the part of passengers. A lot like teenagers, but without the hormones!

 

The Food: Another area where I was a little disappointed. The quality of the food was inconsistent. The first night I had prime rib which was excellent, the appetizer however, was not good. It was a cold soup (which usually I love) but it just didn't taste fresh and it was presented without any thought. It looked like the dishes came from two different kitchens. The Horizon and Caribe were fair. Some of the carved meats were dry which is rare. The main complaint I had with the buffets --- variety. Breakfast was the same each morning. And some of the themes for dinners were just strange. One night it was Bavarian night -- sausage, sauerkraut, boiled potatoes, coleslaw,. I just thought that was weird and certainly didn't have a very wide appeal. I did spend $15 and ate at Sterling's Steakhouse. The food was better here than anywhere else on the ship but again, the service was strangely not on par. Room service was prompt and very pleasant, but I wish the menu had a little more variety.

 

Cleanliness: I was really impressed at how clean and well maintained the ship was. She is in excellent shape and someone was always vacuuming or polishing or washing.

 

Cabin: B431 balcony cabin on Baja deck. The cabin was clean and well maintained. Bathroom was of course tiny. Smaller than Royal Caribbean's similar category for sure. But I think it's because of the way the room is arranged with the large closet/dressing area in the front of the room. Mattresses were not upgraded but but comfortable enough. No problem with air conditioning or lighting. I would stay in this category again but I would not stay in anything below the Baja deck ((11). As others have said before, the balconies below that jut out and are only partially covered. I could see almost everything on the 2 decks below me.

 

Entertainment: I didn't see any of the major production shows but did see Sarge, the comedian - one of the funniest I've seen at sea. I loved MUTS. Great concept. Nice instrumentalists throughout and a great band on the Lido deck.

 

Spa: Typical Steiner spa, high pressure sales pitch to buy their products. They are really big on encouraging you to buy things that will help your body rid itself of toxins. One woman even told me how dangerous regular deodorant is because it gets in the lymph nodes under your arms and can cause breast cancer! They were trying to sell me a $48 brush to exfoliate my body. However, the spa is really big. Lots of treatment rooms, a nice thermal suite with mist showers and aromatherapy saunas. I received a wonderful pedicure. It was so relaxing I fell asleep for a few minutes.

 

Casino: Just too darn smokey! I couldn't stay in there but more than a few minutes because the air was so foul.

 

Ports: Grand Turk- I did the hop on hop off excursion. Don't do it. The island is very tiny and doesn't really have a "downtown" the buses take you to three places, an old prison, a lighthouse which you can't climb, and a salt plantation/factory. The island is very flat and isn't especially interesting architecturally. I would recommend the horseback riding on the beach or the kayaking.

Princess Cays - I liked it better than Labadee (Royal Caribbean's island). The stretch of beach is expansive. I rented a clamshell cabana and made the mistake of picking one in the snorkling area. If I would have walked a little further I could have planted myself at the south beach area where it is much less crowded and more peaceful. The sand is soft and pretty but it isn't really powdery. I guess they shipped it from somewhere to fill in. The underwater areas are very rocky. You honestly can't walk in the water without water shoes. The barbecue they served was very good.

 

Favorite place onboard: The Terrace pool. I don't think a lot of people are aware of it. It is an adults only area with a bar and pool and a great sunbathing area with partial shade right off the aft of the ship. Absolute heaven!!!!!

 

Disembarkation: Lots of people (2,000) chose self carry and walk off. That delayed us getting off by 30 minutes or so. But I was able to hang out in the Explorer's Lounge because I have Elite status. I had a later flight so I wasn't that concerned getting off immediately. When we were called (by color) I breezed through and was able to get my luggage very quickly. All in all a painless process.

 

I know a lot of this was negative but when I go onboard a ship I look at things with a TA's point of view and I tend to pick apart every little detail. I still loved the cruise and would do it again with a few different choices.

[TwinCruiserMom]

We felt very much the same way about this cruise. I was on the CB twice in 2007 and wrote glowing reviews each time. This time there just was something off. That does not mean that we did not have a good time, but it was a bit less than what we normally expect from Princess.

 

Some people do not appreciate any negative comments, but I think both negative and positive comments are helpful for forming opinions. I appreciate your comments about the cruise since you are a travel professional.

 

We beat the disembarkation problems by getting in the last group off at 10:30. We went up to skywalkers around 9am and relaxed up there until our meeting time. As we were going to the Island where we were to meet, they called last call off the ship. We walked right up to the door and through the terminal in just minutes! We had a 2:15 flight and felt we would rather wait on the ship than spend the whole time in the airport.

[Clutterlady]

Thank you for an honest and fair review!

[dforeigner]

For some reason, short cruises seem to be sub par compared to 7+ day cruises. Regardless, thank you for taking time to write a review.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. :)

[princessscubamom]

hi,

 

was reading this tonight, and decided to let people know about our 3 night right after yours. if there was a staff morale problem, they got it fixed before we got on. i would say that almost to a person. . . everyone - said hello to us. smiles and hellos from staff all over the ship, even the luggage people who took our stuff off for us the last night.

 

I did see alot of supervisor type personel around throughout this cruise, even waiting outside of the buffet area when we were done "loading our plates" for breakfast!

 

we were impressed with the attitude of the staff all over the ship. one night, i approached a closed desk (an employee was working at the computer) and asked where something was located. he said "i am sorry, i'm not quite sure. i only got here 2 days ago." but he spent a few minutes looking for the paper which told him where i should go. of course, there were a few who were not so helpful or cheerful, but they were the exception rather than the norm.

 

may try to get a little more in depth later, but i can say the 6 people that i was with were very impressed with the service and attitudes of the employees on our short cruise. have sailed with princess 3 times before this, and we were not disappointed at all with our little 3 day get-a-way. princess does things very well indeed!!!!

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Thanks for the good review:)