Caribbean Princess Review 8/24/08 to 8/31/08 Canada/New England

[Colo Cruiser]

I am sorry you/party felt the need to tip to receive service that should be provided automaticly.

This is a shame. :)

[Love Boat Dream]

Donna

Thanks for the well balanced and detailed review! It was interesting to read the comparisons. I've been on 18 Princess cruises and 3 RCCL. I enjoy both lines (but once you are Elite on Princess, it is hard to cruise with no perks!)

 

I sat with James Deering at the most traveled passenger luncheon. He was great! Very informative and honest!

[quincytoo]

Loved your review:)

 

Thank you for taking the time to write it :)

 

We are booked on the CB this Oct and are trying early seating TD, I must say I am happy that we are after reading all the comments about AD hassles on the CB.

[DonnaK]

I just realized that my review contains an error.

 

The ship's clocks were moved FORWARD one hour on the first night out, and were moved BACK again on the night between Saint John and Bar Harbor.

 

I originally wrote it the other way around, but I think everyone understood the point that the ship is always on local time for each port.

[Cinerama]

Entertainment: Living in New York, we have seen many Broadway shows and musicals, so the measure by which we judge Production Shows is quite stringent. Do You Wanna Dance, which is a tribute to various dance styles throughout the decades and around the world, was extraordinarily well-done! Piano Man is a wonderful tribute to the music of Billy Joel, Elton John, Neil Sedaka, Barry Manilow and Liberace. Both shows were full of energy, colorful costumes and sets, brilliant dancing and exceptional lead singers (particularly Jesse Hamilton).

 

The only other show that we attended in the main theater was a comedian named Philadelphia, who was extremely funny! Some of the other headliner shows that we didn’t see were: Kamika’s musical comedy, Johnny Thunder’s cabaret show, The Crew Talent Show, and impressionist Jason Neistadt.

 

Another plus for Princess is the amount of quality entertainment available in alternate smaller venues around the ship. There was always someplace for us to go after the main show, but we constantly seemed to make our way over to Crooners Bar, and quickly became “groupies” of Bert Stratton. We loved his interactive and comedic style. It was a tremendous amount of fun for us to participate in singing along to standard and favorite songs! Bert really made the cruise for us, and we’re sad to hear that he’s cut back drastically on his cruise ship bookings. We wish him much success in his move to Nashville to pursue his songwriting and recording career. My husband purchased his original CD, and he’s an amazingly talented serious singer/songwriter.

 

Other entertainment which we did not see included: Mr and Mrs Smith, John Joseph, James Michael, Country Hoe-Down, and more! We would have liked to attend some of the game shows, like The Weakest One and Princess Pop Star, but we couldn’t be in two places at once each night.

 

 

We were on the Grand in 2004 and Caribbean in 2005 and many of the same entertainers were on our cruises.

 

Piano Man, Kamika, James Michael, Philadelphia, Bert and I think Jason Neistadt were also on those ships. I remember James Michael dressed in some sort of red costume. He also helped out a hypnotist in another show. Philadelphia trying to get a single young man (with his parents watching) and a single older woman in the audience together for a date in one of his routines. He also made up a song. Is Jason Neistaft the short older man singing like Neil Diamond and other singers? Bert will not be on our next cruise 10/12. I wonder who the Crooners performer will be?

[birdstar]

We were on the same cruise and anytime dining is great if you want to eat before 6:30 or after 8:00. My mother-in-law insisted on making reservations for 10-15 of us at 7:00 or 7;30 each night. Giovanni tried to accomodate us the best he could but we did have to wait almost every night. My husband and myself and our 3 children went to dinner one night at 5:45 and walked right in. Also the night we ate at 8:45 again no wait at all. Dinner did take a long time, but I liked having a nice relaxing dinner. Our family had lots of unique situations which they handled wonderfully. My mother-in-law was pretty demanding and the waitstaff just took it in stride. My kids ordered the kosher meals and Giovanni, the head waiter, took their orders personally and every night brought them extra large salads, kosher pickles and gefilte fish with horseradish before we even ordered. He was so cute, he even found some tostitos that were kosher and brought them to us to make sure the kids could eat them and then gave them a big bowl on the table. I can not say enough good things about him as he treated my kids like they were royalty.

[cruisingisforme]

Hi Donna,

 

Thank you for your great review. We are sailing Sept 14 and are looking forward to it. Wanted to know the cost of parking at Red Hook? Please advise.

 

Thank you.

 

Charlotte

[DonnaK]

Hi Donna,

 

Thank you for your great review. We are sailing Sept 14 and are looking forward to it. Wanted to know the cost of parking at Red Hook? Please advise.

 

Thank you.

 

Charlotte

 

 

It was $136 for the week. When you enter the parking lot in your car, you are issued a ticket. After the cruise, you pass big blue vending machines at the entrance to the parking lot where you insert the parking ticket and your credit card or cash. There are attendants to assist you. (There are also vending machines at the exit to the terminal). Then, you are issued a receipt which you use to exit the parking lot in your car.

 

After we parked the car, we asked the attendant what the procedure was upon returning from the cruise, so we knew exactly what to do afterwards.

[Sea and Me]

Donna:

 

Your review was one of the best I've read:) We are on the Caribbean Princess 10/19/08 and are really looking forward to it. We wanted something different and we always wanted to see CAN/NE. Your review was so interesting that we feel we know the ship and the ports.

 

Thanks so much for all the work you put into your review.

 

Carol

[Miramar]

DonnaK: I enjoyed reading your review. I was wondering if you can answer a question about your suite for me. Did you hear any noise from above either during the day or especially at night? Some people have reported mixed findings with those suites midship on Riviera deck, in that some people find them noisy, while others have no complaints. We have one reserved for next year, so would be curious to know how you found it. Thanks.

[DonnaK]

Thanks for the complements on my review - I'm so glad you all found it helpful!

 

Miramar- great question! I should have included it in our review, because I was concerned about noise from above beforehand too.

 

Noise was not an issue at all inside the cabin at night. We heard nothing, and I am a notoriously light sleeper.

 

During the day, while out on our balcony, we could hear music and chairs being moved around on the Lido Deck, but if we came inside the cabin and closed the sliding door, we no longer could hear the noise.

 

Maybe once or twice the entire cruise, I could hear a faint noise while inside the cabin during the day, but it wasn't anything to complain about and certainly not bothersome.

[zacc]

Donna

 

Thanks for the great review!! A question for you - We will be sailing on the CB Sept 14th and have our meet & greet scheduled for Sunday following the muster drill. There are some concerns that this time my interfere with dinner etc. Do you remember what time the muster drill was held?

 

Thanks

Larry

[Cinerama]

DonnaK,

 

Thank you for the great review. Do you remember if they offered escargot as an appetizer one of the nights?

[luv2swim]

Thanks for the complements on my review - I'm so glad you all found it helpful!

 

Miramar- great question! I should have included it in our review, because I was concerned about noise from above beforehand too.

 

Noise was not an issue at all inside the cabin at night. We heard nothing, and I am a notoriously light sleeper.

 

During the day, while out on our balcony, we could hear music and chairs being moved around on the Lido Deck, but if we came inside the cabin and closed the sliding door, we no longer could hear the noise.

 

Maybe once or twice the entire cruise, I could hear a faint noise while inside the cabin during the day, but it wasn't anything to complain about and certainly not bothersome.

 

Thanks for that info. I was wondering what those suites would be like.

[DonnaK]

Donna

 

Thanks for the great review!! A question for you - We will be sailing on the CB Sept 14th and have our meet & greet scheduled for Sunday following the muster drill. There are some concerns that this time my interfere with dinner etc. Do you remember what time the muster drill was held?

 

Thanks

Larry

 

 

According to my Patters, it was held at 4:15pm. As I remember, it lasted about 20 minutes.

[DonnaK]

DonnaK,

 

Thank you for the great review. Do you remember if they offered escargot as an appetizer one of the nights?

 

 

Yes, it was offered one night (I think Cosmopolitan night) however it wasn't listed on the menu. Our waiter advised us that it was available that night even though it wasn't on the menu.

 

Additionally, Pesto Pasta was available on Chef's Night, even though it wasn't listed on that menu.

 

Those are the only "off-menu" items.

[CruiseBumm]

Nice ballanced review. I hope princess take heed and makes adjustments to "almost any-time dinning".:p

[zacc]

DonnaThanks for the muster information......we may have to adjust our m&g time.Larry

[CTGirl]

Hi Donna,

Excellent review. I think Lance and I agree with just about everything you mentioned. It was a pleasure spending time with you and your family.

Shelly

[DonnaK]

Hi Donna,

Excellent review. I think Lance and I agree with just about everything you mentioned. It was a pleasure spending time with you and your family.

Shelly

 

Hi Shelly! We enjoyed meeting you and Lance too.

 

Happy cruising,

Donna

[Cinerama]

Yes, it was offered one night (I think Cosmopolitan night) however it wasn't listed on the menu. Our waiter advised us that it was available that night even though it wasn't on the menu.

 

Additionally, Pesto Pasta was available on Chef's Night, even though it wasn't listed on that menu.

 

Those are the only "off-menu" items.

 

Thanks DonnaK! We tried them on our first Princess cruise in 2004 and loved them. When we did our 2005 cruise we ordered them again. The waiter could tell we enjoyed them so much that he brought another serving.

 

Thanks!

 

Roland

[DonnaK]

Thanks DonnaK! We tried them on our first Princess cruise in 2004 and loved them. When we did our 2005 cruise we ordered them again. The waiter could tell we enjoyed them so much that he brought another serving.

 

Thanks!

 

Roland

 

Roland, I asked the waiter in the beginning of the cruise if escargot was on any of the menus and he said that he'd find out for me. Then a few days later, he told us that escargot was available that night even though it wan't on the menu. (It was offered throughout the dining room that night, and not just to us). I ordered two servings right up front.

 

If having escargot is important to you, you might want to ask in advance too, just in case.

[chazg]

Kudos to one of the best reviews I have read on CC. We surely did miss sailing with you guys this summer. Last summer was a blast. We sailed the Liberty last week and had a great time, but it is hard to beat the service level of the Mariner Staff. Now I see why everyone loves the MOS!

 

Are you panning on sailing the Oasis? We are looking at the week of Aug 28th 2010, so if your interested LMK.

 

Sue wants to do the AOS for the Barbados route next year so we will see, with Airfare being so High!

 

Again great review and comparison!

 

Big Ups to DonnaK!

[DonnaK]

Kudos to one of the best reviews I have read on CC. We surely did miss sailing with you guys this summer. Last summer was a blast. We sailed the Liberty last week and had a great time, but it is hard to beat the service level of the Mariner Staff. Now I see why everyone loves the MOS!

 

Are you panning on sailing the Oasis? We are looking at the week of Aug 28th 2010, so if your interested LMK.

 

Sue wants to do the AOS for the Barbados route next year so we will see, with Airfare being so High!

 

Again great review and comparison!

 

Big Ups to DonnaK!

 

Hey Chuck! How did you find me here on the Princess board? lol Glad you enjoyed LOS!

 

So glad you liked our review! We originally planned to do AOS/Barbados this year instead of the Caribbean Princess but airfare to San Juan was almost as much as the cruise fare. We'd like to sail from NY/NJ again next year, so not sure what we'll do. We have to go a week or two earlier because my eldest daughter will be in college next year, and that often begins before Labor Day, which means we couldn't do 8/28/10 on OOS either.

 

Regards to Sue and the boys.

[amypete]

Well, I can't write a review that compares to Donna's but I will do my best to offer a few different and probably some same perspectives.

 

We flew into LG on Saturday and had an easy ride to a downtown hotel. Worried about getting to the pier on time on Sunday, we left our Manhattan hotel btw 11:30 and 12 - and got to the pier within 30 minutes. Being in NYC on a Sunday was a piece of cake! There was a slight detour to the pier that increased the cab fair, which, I might add, we had no trouble getting to the pier from a taxi downtown.

 

We got to the pier and into the embarkation area before 1 pm and went through a very fast line. Got on board, the room was ready and our luggage was there shortly after. We went and got a bite to eat and then enjoyed our balcony view of NYC. We were in cabin C247, which offered great views and no extra noise from anywhere else on the ship.

 

We had anytime dining, although I did put in for late dining. Since we prefered late dining, we did anytime or the Caribe Cafe later in the evening with no wait at all whatsoever.

 

The send off was fine - the crew has their polished performance, which they had down to a "T". The wait staff was very good and frequently asking if we wanted more drinks!

 

FOOD - The food was fine. I like interesting restaurants on the mainland and I don't know if everything I had was in that category but it was good. The buffets always had lots of food and were very popular the evenings they had crab, lobster, etc. We always at too much, that is true. It kind of bugged me the flow around the coffee area - seemed to not flow in the correct direction - always going back and forth between cups, coffee and cream. End up in the next person's way! And I love good coffee - and this was fine. Not perfect, not bad. I didn't buy a coffee card for that reason but I did buy a pop card. We tried to remember to bring it along and use it. Of course the price of wine was horrendous, but we knew that and also brought a box with us to have in the cabin which helped balance out the price! The desserts were somewhat not that interesting - once again, they were good, yes. Not spectacular, but quite good.

 

We celebrated our anniversary at Sterlings and the steaks were very good! Being from Nebraska, beef is our favorite so it seemed appropriate. The food was a notch stepped up and great for a special occasion. The staff was very attentive too and made us feel very special! :p

 

MUTS - we watched one movie on MUTS and enjoyed that. I think with the location of our cruise it was so much cooler that it was a different environment than southern travels! Sound was fine. Popcorn needed a bit more flavor thought!

 

TOURS - we went on Princess tours because I wanted the convenience.

 

In Halifax, we were on the Pub tour, quite fun with a man in a skirt and another with bagpipes !!! Silly tour that we had a fun time at and met some great people at! We also had enough time in the morning to do quite a bit on our own, including the Maritme Museum, which DH really enjoyed. Very charming !

 

In New Brunswick, we were disappointed to have the Wine and Dine tour cancelled (don't remember the correct name) so we went on the tour up to St Andrews and the Algonquin Hotel, as we stayed at the Algonquin Hotel in NYC. Beautiful location and it is said Stephen King was inspired to write the Shining because of this hotel. There was enough time afterwards to tour the town. We also had lunch there.

 

In Bar Harbor, we were on the Lighthouse Tour and had lots of time to walk the town as well. It was nicely done, we saw all kinds of things and had an excellent tour guide on the boat.

 

In Boston, we went on the President's Tour - one thing that was disappointing but at no fault of Princess is that the pier is not a great location - and the tour started at 11 so we didn't really have any pre or post time to see anything else. Hubby likes history, can you tell?

 

In Newport, we went on the Land and Sea - very nicely done, good tour guide. Beautiful and the guide gave lots of good suggestions as to other things to do. Too bad the weather was misty! DH found a sports bar later and we watched a little college football and the Yankees lost :(

 

ROOMS - We had a balcony room - our first on the outside. Really enjoyed it. Had a Towel Monkey the night we celebrated our anniversary - and we did get announced on the morning news! The morning news crew made us laugh and I think it wasn't until the end that Dan thought his drink tasted OK!

 

ENTERTAINMENT - We saw alot of the comedy shows and enjoyed them all - they were all quite varied and well done. My husband wanted to play the Married Game - I am glad we didn't... so then he went and played the Weakest One game - and won! :D So that made his day and validates all the hours he watches game shows and the History Channel. The bag had a lot of Princess souvenoirs in it and a bottle of champagne! But we lost at bingo :(

 

Our flight didn't leave until 2 pm so we waited until our deck, Caribe, was dismissed. We had no where to put our luggage so we couldn't really do anything anyway. It went very quickly with no problems. When we got to the airport they dc'd our flights home. Once again, I might add, we got the the airport very quickly and had NO line at the United Counter. Gotta love Sunday morning! The young man there was very apologetic and we got to fly home first class!! Icing on the cake, considering the tickets were free tickets from another United error the previous year!

 

Will we cruise again? Probably - the conveniences are so great ! I am curious about other cruise lines and may want to try another. We have only cruised twice, but both were on Princess, making it kind of a Deja Vu experience!

 

Over all, we had a fantastic time and our kids survived without us. Seeing the weather map, I am glad we are finished now and not leaving next week - I hope those cruising to NE in the coming weeks get smooth sailing but I don't know about that.

 

Thanks for all your help on CC as we planned the cruise. It was a great resource! We never got to the Meet and Greet, but we did meet a lot of people!