Just off the Caribbean Princess 6/30/18-7/7/18

Please do. There seem to be many posts that knock the buffet food & it's got many of us wondering what changed to make it that bad.

We'll be on the ship for three weeks in August and I'll be doing a live from on my blog. We usually do buffet so I'll be sure to report on it, too.

They've always had disgusting looking meat loaf on all Princess's buffets. I've never had the gumption to even try it as long as there are other options.

As for the desserts, they're made for Princess by an outside concern and pretty much the same on all the ships except for some special items.

I've noticed those desserts on other lines, but Princess was much better than that up until recently. :(

Hmmm... we were on board in early June and found the buffet to be just fine. I really liked the new look. There was staff at the entrance passing out plates and the addition of the wash basins was a nice touch. I thought the added choices during the day in the Planks/Steamers (old Cafe Caribe) area were good too. Although we only ate in the MDR a few times, the quality of the food was good there too. We did go to the Crown Grill and Planks and had an Ultimate Balcony Dinner too. Those meals were excellent, especially the UBD. Maybe the executive chef rotated out in June? We've found that the chef does make a difference in how the various galleys are run. We'll be aboard again in August and can compare and contrast.

Totally agree about the influence of the Executive Chef and probably his/her direct reports. We've had David MacDonald on several cruises(including CB) and food was excellent. I think he's a demanding chef and very visible and it shows in the preparation aspect of the foodstuffs his team has to work with. I'm sure the variation in suppliers of the fresh foods is challenging for the chefs. Can you imagine the challenge of satisfying 3000 palates? Have to laugh though, when our kids turned up their noses at what mom had prepared for dinner, she pointed to the PB&J "buffet" and told them to help themselves......

76 would cause me to abandon ship. :)

OMG, Anything less than 78 is straight up cold to me. I would be under the covers wearing all the clothes I brought with me at 76!

Totally agree about the influence of the Executive Chef and probably his/her direct reports. We've had David MacDonald on several cruises(including CB) and food was excellent. I think he's a demanding chef and very visible and it shows in the preparation aspect of the foodstuffs his team has to work with. I'm sure the variation in suppliers of the fresh foods is challenging for the chefs. Can you imagine the challenge of satisfying 3000 palates? Have to laugh though, when our kids turned up their noses at what mom had prepared for dinner, she pointed to the PB&J "buffet" and told them to help themselves......

OMG, Anything less than 78 is straight up cold to me. I would be under the covers wearing all the clothes I brought with me at 76!

You will love the CB then. Even with the vent completely off and no deflection, it was still somewhat warm by my standards. I know they only let it get so cool, maybe 72, but I really like it closer to 70, and still found it warm.

Will be removing the vent on all future cruises I think, just to get it as comfortable as possible :)

I've noticed those desserts on other lines, but Princess was much better than that up until recently. :(

I can't speak for other cruise lines since it's been much to long to compare but the desserts on Princess have been consistently poor for many years. They do have a few only served in the DR that are pretty good but in the buffet they haven't changed since I can't remember. Aside from the cookies & bread pudding the others leave me cold.

If we eat at the buffet we sometimes go to the show & stop by the DR for coffee & dessert.

Our cruise is scheduled for Trinidad. I don't know why Princess still has this port (Trinidad) on the itinerary. It is a Level 4- Do Not Travel in thePort of Spain, the highest that the State Dept. has.

My grandson was in Trinidad for ten days in January. He competed in a Steel Drum competition. He said there were no problems with safety or security.

You will love the CB then. Even with the vent completely off and no deflection, it was still somewhat warm by my standards. I know they only let it get so cool, maybe 72, but I really like it closer to 70, and still found it warm.

 

Will be removing the vent on all future cruises I think, just to get it as comfortable as possible :)

So they will let you remove the vent to get better airflow? Do you ask room steward to do this?

My grandson was in Trinidad for ten days in January. He competed in a Steel Drum competition. He said there were no problems with safety or security.

So he didn't have any problems.

It must be a safe place after all. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

So they will let you remove the vent to get better airflow? Do you ask room steward to do this?

No matter what the steward says, my vent cover is coming off as soon as we get in the cabin.

I bring my own small temp gauge with me and if I turn down max it gets to 65F at night on Most Princess ships which is how I like it. During the day I keep it at 72F

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I bring my own small temp gauge with me and if I turn down max it gets to 65F at night on Most Princess ships which is how I like it. During the day I keep it at 72F

 

 

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I'll say that on ANY Princess ship I've ever sailed on no matter low low you set the thermostat it will never reach 65 degrees. 72 is usually a more realistic lower number.

We have never had an issue with the temp not going low enough. I like to sleep in a cold room.

So they will let you remove the vent to get better airflow? Do you ask room steward to do this?

Let you? Well, on the CB, and I believe it's the same vent type as on the newer ships, maybe all CB and newer ones, it just snaps in and snaps out, no tools required.

In our case, because of how warm the room was, we finally had a facilities guy come, and he removed it. He pried slightly on it with a flat blade screwdriver, then pulled it down. It did allow for better airflow out of the the vent, but like I said, it doesn't keep pumping colder and colder air, it only gets so cool in the room, my guess was 72 was the lowest.

I'm not sure if the steward would or could do this, but you could ask facilities to do it, or just do it yourself, as I will on future cruises where I have this issue.

I bring my own small temp gauge with me and if I turn down max it gets to 65F at night on Most Princess ships which is how I like it. During the day I keep it at 72F

 

 

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I'm going to have to get one, but I don't think it's possible to get the temp down to 65F. At least that has been my personal experience. I would guess 72 is about the lowest it ever goes. It's not like you set the thermostat on the lowest setting and it just gets colder and colder till you turn it up, again, that is my experience, but without a temp gauge.

I'm going to have to get one, but I don't think it's possible to get the temp down to 65F. At least that has been my personal experience. I would guess 72 is about the lowest it ever goes. It's not like you set the thermostat on the lowest setting and it just gets colder and colder till you turn it up, again, that is my experience, but without a temp gauge.

My experience has always been that on embarkation day they open the balcony doors to clean up & the room heats up to the point that it takes 24 hours to cool back down.

I also think they reduce the AC when the ship is in any port to save money.

My experience has always been that on embarkation day they open the balcony doors to clean up & the room heats up to the point that it takes 24 hours to cool back down.

I also think they reduce the AC when the ship is in any port to save money.

Yes, I believe both of these.

I still don't think you can get the room below 72 or so, no matter. Even with our vent removed and air blowing more, it never got cool enough for us to want to turn it up. Could have used it getting a few degrees cooler. If I sweat after a shower while getting dressed, my room is too warm. Again, just me.

not just you...

our 2nd Princess cruise, 1st out of FLL - May, 2010 I believe - must have been close to 90 in port - got out of the shower shortly after sailaway....might as well have not taken one...

it was a balcony room, but after we going moving, the a/c cranked up and all was well the rest of the cruise...:cool:

We just got off yesterday. I had C731 - balcony and mine was perfect at 68 degrees.

My three friends were in D619 - mini suite and it was 78 degrees. They complained for several days and finally got a big fan. It was noisy but at least the air moved. I was so happy that I was not in their room. When you walked down their hall, you could feel it getting warmer the closer you got to their room.

I always bring a temperature device so that I know If it is me or actually hot

We just got off yesterday. I had C731 - balcony and mine was perfect at 68 degrees.

My three friends were in D619 - mini suite and it was 78 degrees. They complained for several days and finally got a big fan. It was noisy but at least the air moved. I was so happy that I was not in their room. When you walked down their hall, you could feel it getting warmer the closer you got to their room.

I always bring a temperature device so that I know If it is me or actually hot

I'm happy to hear that area was acceptable on the CB. It's close to our future cabin location.

Some ships have inherent problem that are just about impossible to solve.

I unfortunately found two of their cabins on the Emerald a few years ago. :mad:

I'm happy to hear that area was acceptable on the CB. It's close to our future cabin location.

Some ships have inherent problem that are just about impossible to solve.

I unfortunately found two of their cabins on the Emerald a few years ago. :mad:

We might need a new board type for "cabin temperature". I would follow that one closely. The room temp is one reason we normally book an inside, the probability that it will be cooler than a balcony cabin.

We might need a new board type for "cabin temperature". I would follow that one closely. The room temp is one reason we normally book an inside, the probability that it will be cooler than a balcony cabin.

Not sure about that theory. It was warm/hot in the hallway as well. It just got hotter as you walked toward the center of the ship. I was very aft and was nice and cool. The farther forward you walked the warmer it got in the hallway. It was like the center'ish of the ship got warmer.

One thing I should mention when I wake up around 7 or 8 the temperature measures 65 if

Set at maximum cool. It will not get that cool during the day. I immediately of course turn it up to max warm and it gets up to 72 within 15 minutes. This I have measured on many Princess ships but have had the “heat” problem mentioned elsewhere a few times but repair was accomplished with an hour or so of call for help. This is a balcony room always. Mike

PS The gauge is accurate in every other setting...it doesn’t lie. Mike

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I am packing to board on Saturday and wanted to ask if the lamps had the USB outlet bases?