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Just returned from Caribbean Princess


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Having read the negative reviews of the CB, I just wanted to give some feedback having today returned from our second cruise on her this year.

 

Just to give a little background, we are a family of seasoned cruisers from the UK - Elite with Princess (60+ P&O/Princess cruises).

 

We travelled on Caribbean Princess in May this year, a one week cruise to Scandinavia. We were disappointed. The entertainment was mediocre, as was the food. The crew weren't the normal enthusiastic, engaged Princess crew - and the senior officers weren't visible around the ship. The ship also looked tired in places, the Horizon Court and Skywalkers in particular.

 

We considered cancelling our forthcoming CB cruise to the Mediterranean in August, but in the end decided to stick with it.

 

We're glad we did. The entertainment was much better. There were only 2 nights out of 14 when the theatre show/act wasn't to our taste. A new theatre company had just boarded the ship. Their performance was a little rough around the edges, but improved towards the end of the fortnight. The ship itself seemed in a better state. Cleaners and maintenance crew where more visible. We noticed that some of the furniture in the buffet and Skywalkers had been replaced, or at least deep cleaned. But the most significant change was the attitude of the crew, whose service/friendliness were far better - on par with what we expect of Princess. Senior officers were far more visible. One crew member (who I won't name) made an interesting comment that it all depends on who's at the top. Captain Pomata (who managed 5 minutes at the most travelled event in May) went on leave in June, the Captain is now Nick Nash.

 

That's not to say that there weren't still negative points (but I've yet to go on a cruise where everything was perfect). In particular the food still wasn't great, especially in the buffet, and we did hear fellow passengers complaining about issues with a couple if cabins. The ship is 11 years old, and it shows compared to ships built in the last couple of years. I do think P&O's entertainment, which still features 45-50 minute production shows, is superior to Princess, but then the service on Princess tends to be better.

 

In summary - would we cruise again on Caribbean Princess - yes - but I hope that the current level of improvement is sustained.

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Thanks for the comments. :)

 

The Staff Captain handles the crew and maintenance not Captain Pomata.

Capt. P is a very personable and hands on guy. We have known him for many years. Always a pleasure when sailing with him. He has also come to many of our M&G's and spent a long time talking with members.

I would say he had other pressing business if he was only there for 5 minutes.

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Lover of cruises, thanks for you insight on the Caribbean Princess. No cruise is ever perfect, but it's nice to have a good crew welcome you and the ship to be in great shape. It's been a few years since we have been on the CP, but we are looking into the 10 day Canada/New England cruise next Sept. on this ship. Glad to hear your Mediterranean cruise was so much better in August.

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I'm glad to hear that things are looking up on the Caribbean Princess, and feel somewhat justified in my remarks about the crew that someone else thought things were "off" earlier in the year.

 

But when it comes to leadership, most of the ship's crew that passengers come into contact with are under the direction of the Hotel General Manager, not the Staff Captain. That is what was so curious to us...we had sailed many times with the HGM who was on the ship earlier in the year on Emerald Princess cruises and everything had been first rate. I still have to blame the shorter cruisers and more frequent turnarounds for the impact on the crew.

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I'm glad to hear that things are looking up on the Caribbean Princess, and feel somewhat justified in my remarks about the crew that someone else thought things were "off" earlier in the year.

 

But when it comes to leadership, most of the ship's crew that passengers come into contact with are under the direction of the Hotel General Manager, not the Staff Captain. That is what was so curious to us...we had sailed many times with the HGM who was on the ship earlier in the year on Emerald Princess cruises and everything had been first rate. I still have to blame the shorter cruisers and more frequent turnarounds for the impact on the crew.

 

Yes the PSD deals with crew however the Capt/Staff Capt. have the final say.

Especially disciplinary/ship board policy matters.

Edited by Colo Cruiser
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Thank you for your post. Glad to hear that things have improved on the Caribbean Princess. We haven't sailed her in a while, but in the past she was a favorite..We never noticed (3 years ago) the need for renovations on CB.

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Yes the PSD deals with crew however the Capt/Staff Capt. have the final say.

Especially disciplinary/ship board policy matters.

 

I'm not saying that previous issues with the CB were caused by one man, I'm just repeating what we heard and that we obversed senior officers (inc the Hotel Manager and Captain) were far more "visible" this time round.

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Thanks for the comments. :)

 

The Staff Captain handles the crew and maintenance not Captain Pomata.

Capt. P is a very personable and hands on guy. We have known him for many years. Always a pleasure when sailing with him. He has also come to many of our M&G's and spent a long time talking with members.

I would say he had other pressing business if he was only there for 5 minutes.

 

Did not see capt. Pomata once on our 14 day med. Cruise. It did not make or break the cruise but found it unusual.

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We also just returned home to the US from the 2 week West Med Cruise and we also sailed her last March in the Caribbean. And we are also Elite.

We were surprised that the Yanks were in such a minority. We were told that there were 70 aboard but we only met about 14. We also found 2 Australians. The rest of the passengers were all Brits. There were also 700 children on board.

I agree that there was much repair and painting going on. But the constant smell of varnish was very strong and irritating to my eyes and lungs.

I thought the entertainment was spotty. The comedians were definitely directed at the Brits and used a lot of slang that we didn't understand. The Singers and dancers did seem to have their act together. They just came onboard mid July.

The menu was very different from last March. Many nights I wasn't sure what to order but our waiter did a great job of explaining the different meals and I enjoyed everything I ordered.

The Kid factor did cause a lot of grumbling among the passengers. We avoided any areas that would attract the kids. We stayed in the adult only pool and jacuzzi. The regular pools, jacuzzis, ice cream bar and pool bars were overcrowded. There was lots of very spirited activity all through out the pool areas. There was security on the pool deck at all times. I heard from some disgruntled passengers that the 'kids' took their breakfast orders from their cabin doors and switched them with other rooms. That did not happen to us.

 

We loved the Captain Nick Nash. He was highly visible and we loved his embellished announcements about docking and the weather.

We did not care for the Cruise Director Neil. He and the Deputy Cruise Director Mikka were invisible. Except for 2 or 3 minute announcements for the shows, we only saw them on the TV for the daily show and some prerecorded videos. Neil's jokes were at least 30 years old.

I found all the staff helpful and friendly.

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I heard from some disgruntled passengers that the 'kids' took their breakfast orders from their cabin doors and switched them with other rooms. That did not happen to us.

 

 

Since the order cards have the passenger's name and cabin written on them, just switching which doors they were on would not change the delivery.

 

The 'kids' would also have to cross out and write in new cabin numbers and names.

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How long is Captain Nash on for? Will he be the captain in October? He is one of the better captains that we have sailed with. If you have any problems with staff the best person to talk to is the Passenger Services Director. We had to do that on the Emerald because we had such a bad CD. Very few people liked him and the activities he had were terrible. The CD is the one responsible for all the entertainment on board. I have also noticed that when it is nearing the end of the contract the singers and dancers seem burned out from performing the same shows over and over again.

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How long is Captain Nash on for? Will he be the captain in October? He is one of the better captains that we have sailed with. If you have any problems with staff the best person to talk to is the Passenger Services Director. We had to do that on the Emerald because we had such a bad CD. Very few people liked him and the activities he had were terrible. The CD is the one responsible for all the entertainment on board. I have also noticed that when it is nearing the end of the contract the singers and dancers seem burned out from performing the same shows over and over again.

 

I think Captain Nash goes on leave sometime in September.

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We also just returned home to the US from the 2 week West Med Cruise and we also sailed her last March in the Caribbean. And we are also Elite.

We were surprised that the Yanks were in such a minority. We were told that there were 70 aboard but we only met about 14. We also found 2 Australians. The rest of the passengers were all Brits. There were also 700 children on board.

I agree that there was much repair and painting going on. But the constant smell of varnish was very strong and irritating to my eyes and lungs.

I thought the entertainment was spotty. The comedians were definitely directed at the Brits and used a lot of slang that we didn't understand. The Singers and dancers did seem to have their act together. They just came onboard mid July.

The menu was very different from last March. Many nights I wasn't sure what to order but our waiter did a great job of explaining the different meals and I enjoyed everything I ordered.

The Kid factor did cause a lot of grumbling among the passengers. We avoided any areas that would attract the kids. We stayed in the adult only pool and jacuzzi. The regular pools, jacuzzis, ice cream bar and pool bars were overcrowded. There was lots of very spirited activity all through out the pool areas. There was security on the pool deck at all times. I heard from some disgruntled passengers that the 'kids' took their breakfast orders from their cabin doors and switched them with other rooms. That did not happen to us.

 

We loved the Captain Nick Nash. He was highly visible and we loved his embellished announcements about docking and the weather.

We did not care for the Cruise Director Neil. He and the Deputy Cruise Director Mikka were invisible. Except for 2 or 3 minute announcements for the shows, we only saw them on the TV for the daily show and some prerecorded videos. Neil's jokes were at least 30 years old.

I found all the staff helpful and friendly.

 

Princess Cruises out of Southampton tend to be British dominated, at least those cruises going to sunnier climes (not the British Isles cruises). The school holidays meant a very high number of children.

 

Agree that the CD was pretty terrible!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm glad to see that other people realize that no cruise is perfect just as day-to-day life is not perfect. Most people research a cruise ahead of time and know the age of their ship, any ship that is aging will show some age, once again just like all of us are aging.

 

With all of that said it is still better to be on a cruise then at work !!

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  • 4 weeks later...

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