Caribbean Princess review 12/11

[mikend33]

I thought I would write a review, even though it's been a week, because of some of the negative reviews I have read on here.

 

We had a wonderful cruise. Traveling with my wife and I were nine of our family members. This is our third cruise together. Second with Princess. Embarkation was easy, we got there around 11:30 and were in our rooms by 12:15. The lined moved very fast. We had a balcony state room on Baja deck. It was a little small but any balcony is a good one, and you can look down unto the two deck balconies below(caribe and dolphin). Our room steward,Edgar, was fair to good, he did his job but didn't go out of his way like on the other Princess cruise. We made a reservation for eleven people, every night at six in the palm dining room, because we had anytime dining. We ate there only the first night, we found out that they have the same food at cafe caribe or the buffet every night that they do at the dining rooms. So we just ate at the buffet every night, with no regrets. If you love seafood cafe caribe is the place for you. They had it on at least three different nights maybe four. Lobster, lobster claws, king crab, snow crab legs, fried shrimp, shrimp scampi, oysters and clams. I have never eaten so much seafood in my entire life. And if you don't like seafood they had other options on their seafood nights, like beef wellington and prime rib. Also on formal nights they dressup the cafe caribe tables and have waiters there for you in case you need anything. I can't say enough good things about cafe caribe, just try it out for yourself.

The ship was beautiful and nicely decorated for christmas. This was the smoothest sailing we have had, even with the bad weather on thursday. We were on the Carnival Glory in January, which is a fairly new ship and it was rocky. We always found a chair on deck, maybe because alot of older people? My wife and I are movie people so we loved movies under the stars. They give you a blanket, popcorn, and bring around candy. It is a great experience. The Princess theater was nice, not extravagant, but nice. There were no big poles in the way when you are trying to watch a show, which is always good. We experienced that on the Glory. The shows fill up fast, so unfortunatly you have to get there like an hour early. There are plenty of bars and lounges. I found that the Churchill lounge was pretty much empty at any time, so if you want some quiet time I suggest going there. I have heard some complaints about the slow elevators. Our room was toward the aft and had no problems getting on the elevators quickly. But the other sets in the middle and toward forward were harder to get one.

 

This was our first time to San Juan and the next time we stop there we are going to stay on the ship. We didn't care for it at all. Listen to other people who write these reviews and say stay on the ship, they were right and we made the mistake of not listening to them. Of course St. Thomas and St. Martin were wonderful as usual. We found slightly cheaper cigarette and liquor prices in St.Martin then in St.Thomas but for jewelry we bought in St.Thomas. It seemed to me they were more eager to haggle in St.Thomas on jewelry then in St.Martin.

 

The only real problem we had were that some of the older people were crabby and rude and they let you know about it. Especially when they yell at each other about it. We are in our 20's but even both of my wife's grandma's and her aunt complained about them and they are close to 70! So it is not just a young person's perspective. But we looked at it this way, having alot of older people on the ship makes more room for us in places that we like to go, club, pool chairs, pools etc.. Overall we had a great cruise and we are going to go on this beautiful ship again.

 

michael

[IKE]

Hi Michael,

Thank you for telling us about how great the Cafe Caribe was.........I enjoy the kind of fish dinners you mentioned so I will definitely try it out. We are sailing on CP end of Feb. and looking forward to this new ship. I am looking forward to relaxing under the Stars and watching a movie. What movies were shown "Under the Stars" when you were on the Cruise? If you don't remember thats OK. In regard to the Seniors that were grumpy and nasty, I have seen them myself. You don't have to Cruise to find them. You see them everyday at the Mall etc. Its your Cruise! So you have to make the most of it and ignore these cranky people. Some people are this way all their life. Age doesn't change them. So happy you and your Wife enjoyed your Cruise. Ike

[MaryLS]

Hi Michael,

 

I was on the same cruise. I totally agree with you about the miserable seniors. They were even miserable to each other. It's beyond me how anyone can be so miserable while having the opportunity to be cruising! I also agree with staying on the ship in San Juan. I really didn't like San Juan at all.

 

Mary

[kryos]

I was on the same cruise. I totally agree with you about the miserable seniors. They were even miserable to each other. It's beyond me how anyone can be so miserable while having the opportunity to be cruising! I also agree with staying on the ship in San Juan. I really didn't like San Juan at all.

Maybe a constipation problem? :)

 

Nothing more miserable than a senior who hasn't had their daily bowel movement. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[salt_salt_salt]

Mike and Ike

Do you know if Bert Stratton is on the ship in the piano bar?

[marly]

Salt: Bert is on the ship and he's terrific! According to his website http://www.bertstratton.com, he'll be on the ship until April 2006 I believe. He does list the weeks he'll be off. I bought his cd on the cruise and I've been enjoying it every day since! Oops, hope this doesn't sound like I'm gushing :)

 

I'm so glad to read good reviews of this ship. My hubby and I have been on 20 cruises, and although we've never had a bad cruise, Caribbean Princess is our favorite.

 

Marly

[salt_salt_salt]

thanks marly

i will have to check his site, i bought his cd also while on the golden. you are correct, no cruise is a bad cruise!

didn't i see you on the streets in ybor?

[marly]

Salt: Don't get down to Ybor too often -- not too much Bert Stratton piano music playing down there :)

Marly

[SeaTrailer]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. Sounds like it was a great time. Love getting these tidbits (like the Caribe food)!

 

We will be on the CP at the end of March. Your comments just add to the anticipation.

[Rustynail]

Just when I had finally convinced myself to book the Palm dining room you had to throw me a curve ball and bring to light the great food at the Caribe.

 

Now what to do?:confused:

 

Dan

[marly]

Rustynail: Go ahead and book the Palm. You can still go to Cafe Caribe. There was one night at Cafe Caribe I didn't care for much, German night. I'm not a big fan of sausage and that's mostly what they had that night. I also found that the food got better as the week went on. The first couple of nights at Cafe Caribe, I was a little disappointed in what they were serving. At the end of the week, though, I thought the food selection really improved and was back to what I had remembered from my previous cruises on CP.

Marly