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Is Caribbean Princess still sailing with reduced speed? Air conditioning issues?


barbaraanne
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We are booked on Caribbean Princess for the May sailing to the ABC islands. I have read that the speed of CP has been reduced for months and ports cancelled because of this problem. Is this still happening, or has it been repaired?

 

I am also concerned with air conditioning problems on this ship...are they worse than average?

 

Would we do better to change the booking to the Royal in November to the ABC islands? I prefer the many pools on the Grand Class and have never been on the Royal class before, but having a hot room and missing one of the ports because of slower speed would be a deal breaker for me.

 

Any input?

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The problem with one of the propulsion motors on the Caribbean Princess only reduces it's speed by a couple of knots. It had no effect on the air conditioning when we spent 24 days her last summer.

 

I just looked at the time of arrival/departure from each of the ports for the Caribbean Princess in May versus the Royal Princess in November. The Royal arrives at the first port at 8am versus 12pm for Caribbean P. Then the Royal stays till 10 pm at the second port, while the Caribbean leaves at 6pm! So there are effects on the time spent at Curacao, Bonaire and Aruba.

 

As for air conditioning, I didn't mean to imply that the two issues were related. I just know that when we sailed the Emerald last time, we had major air conditioning issues in our cabin. I have read that others have had the same problem on Caribbean Princess, which is an older ship. I am a hot person and just melt without good air conditioning!

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Following, we are on the Jan 13th sailing!

 

anyone???

 

***

Me darling wife and I shall be with you. Check out the Princess Roll Call for this Caribbean Princess cruise date. It is one of the most active that I have ever seen!

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We are booked on Caribbean Princess for the May sailing to the ABC islands. I have read that the speed of CP has been reduced for months and ports cancelled because of this problem. Is this still happening, or has it been repaired?

 

 

 

I am also concerned with air conditioning problems on this ship...are they worse than average?

 

 

 

Would we do better to change the booking to the Royal in November to the ABC islands? I prefer the many pools on the Grand Class and have never been on the Royal class before, but having a hot room and missing one of the ports because of slower speed would be a deal breaker for me.

 

 

 

Any input?

 

 

 

We are on CB for a Panama Canal Cruise on March 8th. The propulsion issues are there and from what I gather will be present on the ship for another year or more (until next dry dock). It has resulted in the loss of one port (Falmouth) from the original itinerary and adjustment of times on others (all shortened). This is disappointing to us and the $50 pp ship credit doesn’t quite cut it for us, but what do you do? Our work and family schedules and obligations don’t give us the flexibility to reschedule without a lot of upheaval. This is an anniversary cruise for us and the main goal is the Panama Canal. That’s still on there, if it weren’t then that would be a different story. As for the A/C, Lord help us all! I hope there are no issues there!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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From what I have read the Caribbean requires a dry dock to repair the propulsion issue, caused by the electrical windings on one of its motors. Its top speed is 18 knots vs most other ships that have top speeds of around 22 knots. I think the repair is scheduled for spring 2019.

Have not heard about any issues with air conditioning.

 

It is up to you as to when you should book the cruise. For me the Caribbean has many advantages over the Royal, more pools and more shade around the pools, more lounges, Skywalker's, full promenade, Planks & Steamers and more. Having been on both I prefer the Grand Class ships.

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Following, we are on the Jan 13th sailing!

 

anyone???

 

***

 

We'll be on the January 13th sailing with you.

They adjusted our itinerary several months ago to deal with the reduced speed. Should not be a problem.

Please do join in on the Roll Call if you have not done so already. :)

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I was on the October 31st sailing of the Caribbean Princess. It was a round trip to a partial Panama Canal trip. Boy am I the lucky one:

 

1. Yes, we had propulsion problems that took us to The Grand Cayman Island instead of Jamaica (made all ports on time).

 

2. Yes, we had a medical-vac as we approached Jamaica and had to turn around to head back toward Florida (made all ports on time).

 

3. Yes, the air-conditioner in our cabin (and Fiesta Deck hall) was poor upon embarkation and then went out for about 5 hours.

 

4. Yes, went dead in the water after leaving The Grand Cayman Island (and made all ports on time).

 

Do I get a prize????

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I was on the October 31st sailing of the Caribbean Princess. It was a round trip to a partial Panama Canal trip. Boy am I the lucky one:

 

1. Yes, we had propulsion problems that took us to The Grand Cayman Island instead of Jamaica (made all ports on time).

 

2. Yes, we had a medical-vac as we approached Jamaica and had to turn around to head back toward Florida (made all ports on time).

 

3. Yes, the air-conditioner in our cabin (and Fiesta Deck hall) was poor upon embarkation and then went out for about 5 hours.

 

4. Yes, went dead in the water after leaving The Grand Cayman Island (and made all ports on time).

 

Do I get a prize????

 

 

Okay wow, now we are getting to the issue, and I am sorry that your cruise was so affected. This isn’t right. If the propulsion system is not working correctly, why are they going to wait until 2019 to fix it? We love Princess grand class ships, but this seems dangerous. I read that a recent Caribbean Princess cruise resulted in listing in the ocean with no power whatsoever for some time.

 

This is a safety issue that needs addressing now!

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Okay wow, now we are getting to the issue, and I am sorry that your cruise was so affected. This isn’t right. If the propulsion system is not working correctly, why are they going to wait until 2019 to fix it? We love Princess grand class ships, but this seems dangerous. I read that a recent Caribbean Princess cruise resulted in listing in the ocean with no power whatsoever for some time.

 

This is a safety issue that needs addressing now!

 

I was not concerned or worried and had a great time on the ship. The Captain kept us well informed. It was just another adventure. We were never in any danger. Yes, the ship did list on the starboard side but I was high and dry on the other side. The loss of power (for about an hour during daylight hours) was due to Generator 5 giving out not because of the propulsion issues.

 

The Caribbean Princess is a good ship. I love the Grand class ships even though this one is "slightly" larger than others I've sailed on.

 

You will have a grand time. Let the Captain do the driving.

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I was not concerned or worried and had a great time on the ship. The Captain kept us well informed. It was just another adventure. We were never in any danger. Yes, the ship did list on the starboard side but I was high and dry on the other side. The loss of power (for about an hour during daylight hours) was due to Generator 5 giving out not because of the propulsion issues.

 

The Caribbean Princess is a good ship. I love the Grand class ships even though this one is "slightly" larger than others I've sailed on.

 

You will have a grand time. Let the Captain do the driving.

 

Well, glad you were high and dry during the listing period! I still feel a little anxious though. I don’t think we should have to trade the working ability of the ship just to be able to cruise on Princess to the southern Caribbean in May. Seems the engine issues would be pretty high on most people’s list of concerns.

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For many years the Caribbean Princess has been the "lemon" of the Princess fleet.

There is always something going wrong on that ship.

 

In the Princess Fleet, if an officer does something wrong - but not bad enough to be fired - he is assigned to the Caribbean Princess as punishment.

I was forced to fill in for someone for 3 months on that ship. It was an absolute nightmare.

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We were on the ship in October for 14 days with no problems. Yes there were some port changes and one port cancellation, but this was due to hurricane Irma. We also lost a couple of hours in Aruba, but we knew about this well in advance and the $50pp OBC was acceptable to us. If you like the current itinerary/port times, you will be happy on the Carribbean Princess.

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We were on for 27 days in the British Isles/TA on Baja deck port side, mid 600's. We and many of our neighbors had problems with our toilets for most of the cruise, and our shower would go from very cold to very hot quickly. Neither of us had a decent shower in 27 days. The first crew member who came to check it turned the water on for less than a minute and told us it was fine! Four other times crew members came in and promised that it was fixed, but it never was fixed.

Once we got to warmer weather and needed our a.c. it was very poor. It was 78/80 most of the time even though we had technicians in several times. Finally, one tech. told us that if he fixed our a.c. it would make other cabins too warm. This was our 23rd Princess cruise, and we've never had the issues that we had on this cruise.

On the plus side, we loved the new beds.

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For many years the Caribbean Princess has been the "lemon" of the Princess fleet.

There is always something going wrong on that ship.

 

In the Princess Fleet, if an officer does something wrong - but not bad enough to be fired - he is assigned to the Caribbean Princess as punishment.

I was forced to fill in for someone for 3 months on that ship. It was an absolute nightmare.

 

Wow! Thanks for this heads up CHPURSER.

 

I believe you.

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We were on for 27 days in the British Isles/TA on Baja deck port side, mid 600's. We and many of our neighbors had problems with our toilets for most of the cruise, and our shower would go from very cold to very hot quickly. Neither of us had a decent shower in 27 days. The first crew member who came to check it turned the water on for less than a minute and told us it was fine! Four other times crew members came in and promised that it was fixed, but it never was fixed.

Once we got to warmer weather and needed our a.c. it was very poor. It was 78/80 most of the time even though we had technicians in several times. Finally, one tech. told us that if he fixed our a.c. it would make other cabins too warm. This was our 23rd Princess cruise, and we've never had the issues that we had on this cruise.

On the plus side, we loved the new beds.

 

Because our air conditioning was so poor on the Emerald, I have no doubt the air conditioning is as bad or worse on an older ship. During the dry dock last year they added the two for fee restaurants, but basic mechanical up keep seems low on the list, from what I’ve been reading. I don’t know if we will keep our booking. I can’t imagine getting stuck without power, and with plumbing issues too, listing in the ocean. Sounds like a nightmare.

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We had a technical problem on our British isles cruise in August announced after we left Guernsey. The lights in the corridor dimmed briefly (with the emergency lighting coming on). Coupled with our late departure from Guernsey, we ended up getting to Cobh late. But there was time for the captain to make up the time without cutting into the number of hours we got in that port.

 

We also had an issue with sewage backing up into our toilet. It was disgusting but fortunately did not spill out the bowl like I've read about others having experienced. And it was clear by the time we finished dinner.

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Because our air conditioning was so poor on the Emerald, I have no doubt the air conditioning is as bad or worse on an older ship. During the dry dock last year they added the two for fee restaurants, but basic mechanical up keep seems low on the list, from what I’ve been reading. I don’t know if we will keep our booking. I can’t imagine getting stuck without power, and with plumbing issues too, listing in the ocean. Sounds like a nightmare.

I think you might be better off not going on the Caribbean. It sounds like you're trying to talk yourself into a bad time.

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I think you might be better off not going on the Caribbean. It sounds like you're trying to talk yourself into a bad time.

 

Actually I was trying to talk myself into going on the Caribbean despite the reduced speed and air conditioning problems, but more was brought up than I expected. Can’t learn if I don’t ask!

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For many years the Caribbean Princess has been the "lemon" of the Princess fleet.

There is always something going wrong on that ship.

 

In the Princess Fleet, if an officer does something wrong - but not bad enough to be fired - he is assigned to the Caribbean Princess as punishment.

I was forced to fill in for someone for 3 months on that ship. It was an absolute nightmare.

 

I did not have this experience as a passenger on the Caribbean Princess. I thought the staff was excellent from the Captain down to the Customer Service Staff. The problems I encountered on the ship were due to Princess Corporation and needs to be addressed, but that is for another time.

 

Fantastic Captain Marco Fortezze

Excellent Head Waiter Jelena

Maria in Customer Service

George in Sabatini's and Crown Grill

Diego, Food and Beverage Supervisor...

And the list can go on and on.

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Okay wow, now we are getting to the issue, and I am sorry that your cruise was so affected. This isn’t right. If the propulsion system is not working correctly, why are they going to wait until 2019 to fix it? We love Princess grand class ships, but this seems dangerous. I read that a recent Caribbean Princess cruise resulted in listing in the ocean with no power whatsoever for some time.

 

This is a safety issue that needs addressing now!

 

FYI...Princess has said that if they were to take the ship out of service now they would have had to cancel many cruises & they didn’t want to upset people already booked. It requires a dry-dock & major work to fix the problem.

Tom😎

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FYI...Princess has said that if they were to take the ship out of service now they would have had to cancel many cruises & they didn’t want to upset people already booked. It requires a dry-dock & major work to fix the problem.

Tom😎

 

I can't imagine being more upset than having port visits shortened to just a few hours, air conditioning not working to par, and backed up toilets. I'd much prefer the cruise line cancel!

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