Our Perspective CB New England/Canada 8/22-8/20

[Luv2escape]

General Information: Sorry about the date - it was 8/22-8/29

 

We are ‘active seniors’ in our early 60’s. We exercise daily, enjoy each other’s company, meeting people, and cruising. When given lemons we always make lemonade!

Embark/ Disembark: This is our 7th cruise with Princess; we are Platinum so it was an easy 5min, no wait process to embark . (We boarded at 1:20pm). Disembarkation was also easy. Off the ship via Platinum Lounge and used Princess transfer to JFK. Reasonable $ and they handle the luggage.

Dining:

We had Anytime Dining. We have had anytime for 5 other cruises and traditional one time when we were traveling with a group of 8. We prefer the flexibility that this style dining affords us. Everything you have read from other posters was true for the CB. We had sailed on CB during her first season. We were well aware that this sailing was full –3500 passengers (500 children). Long waits for seating, difficulties getting a reservation, phone not answered after an hour of trying and once seated less then efficient table service. (food arrived cold twice and DH sent it back also spoke to Maitre’d without much response . The worst was the Deck 6 dining room- Deck 5 was a much better experience short wait times and we tried all different times, Not just Prime Time –5:45-about 8pm) There seems to be a basic problem with the amount of people, and flow through the dining room as well as slow serving for the larger tables 6-8 or more.

We commented on our experiences on the evaluation and via e-mail. We have never had these issues on the other Princess ships with less passengers.

We are not buffet fans. I did check out the sail away buffet to see if there was the seafood buffet…. There were seafood entrees but no seafood buffet. Probably a victim of corporate cutbacks? We loved the International Café offerings and the Tapas and Sushi at

Vines (no charge for these)

We had the Champagne Balcony breakfast… Our waiter made us mimosas and served a Fabulous Fruit selection, great Blue Berry Pancakes, Eggs Benedict, Assorted Pastries

coffee and herb tea

Afternoon tea – it was good but sequence out of order…we had to ask for scones….

Crown Grill - fabulous!!!! Worth the additional charge.

Over all the food was good – we enjoyed and there is Always the “always available” standard items that are consistently good. Pastas were wonderful!

Ports:

Newport was cancelled by Hurricane Bill. We enjoyed the sea day…

Boston: Arrived at 8am instead of 10am. We had reservations for HOHO Old Town Trolley. Saw all the highlights of the city. Toured Fenway. Walked the entire Freedom Trail. Had fabulous lunch in No Name Eatery. Went to Mike’s Parterres for treats and espresso in the North End. On way back to ship Thunderstorm hit. . We had a great day.

Bar Harbor:We did the ship’s excursion- Biking Arcadia NP. It was a good work out and the park was serene and very beautiful. Had a great lobster lunch at Testa’s on Main

Street. When to Bill’s for Ice Cream after visiting some shops and DH had the lobster ice cream, I had the blueberry… (THE BEST)

St John’s NB. Lots of Fog!!! Took trolley tour then walked to City Market. Sampled yummy seafood chowder and some local beers. Saw the Bay and Reversing rapids.

We opted not to go kayaking, as the weather was damp and overcast…

Halifax: We had wonderful weather . We went to the Maritime Museum, took a carriage ride around the city, toured the Citadel, and loved the Public Gardens. We walked the entire boardwalk, stopped into the Casino. DH won $50 on the slots better than he did in the ship’s casino. Had great Fish and Chips at Murphy’s on the water. On return to ship: We saw the RCMP Bagpipe and Drum Corp perform in the Princess Theater. They played traditional Scotch tunes and also had a Scotch folk dance. Very nice!

Entertainment: We went to all 3 Production shows: Do You Want to Dance?, Caribbean Caliente and Piano Man. High energy dancers lots of glitz and costume changes.

Wheelhouse.Bar Ashley Clarke Quartet & Elements-great for dancing

Crooner Lounge Bert Stratton, Piano entertainer. He has ‘groupies’ and we did not care for him.

Explorer’s Lounge Comedian Jay Moore (1st part of the week) &James Michael – majic act and comedy.

Skywalkers’s had a DJ nightly . We enjoyed the 50’s and 60’s dance party. (Our music)

MUTS was fun showing recent releases such as Star Trek, Ironman and BrideWars. Monsters vs Aliens, Marley and Me and Bedtimes Stories for kids and families. Concerts included Beyonce, U2 and Christine Aquilera

The Crew Talent show was great, especially the skit by Dan Styne (CD) and Co - halarious

Other comments:

Our cabin – balcony on Lido deck forward near the door to the deck above the bridge. Great for Sailawys and photos

The cabin was kept immaculate by Resty our steward who attended to our every need. He was personable and made us feel pampered. He had the eggcrate topper,topsheet and feather pillows on our bed when we arrived.

There were crew cleaning and maintaining the ship everyday. (They were out polishing the brass and varnishing the handrails.

We did not use the Sanctuary (weather and short itinerary.) but for a warm weather cruise it looks very nice.

Overall we had a very enjoyable cruise but have decided that this ship is too big for us and we will definitely consider size when making our next cruise choice…. Bigger isn’t always better. We are booked on the Golden to Hawaii next and have sailed on her before with 1970 passengers we never felt crowded nor did we encounter the Anytime dining issues.

Thanks you for reading this review – our perspective!

Dot and Paul:);)

[RickEk]

Thanks for your review. I'd concur with your thoughts concerning the extra people on the Caribbean Princess (and the latest ships). Adding the Riviera deck and the extra 500 people without expanding the public spaces may be too much for those ships resulting in crowding, etc. Hopefully the next generation of Princess ship (whenever that may be :rolleyes:) will address this issue...

[sept10dsm]

thank you for the review. I am concerned about the number of people as well. It looks like our Oct 17 is waitlisted except for a few suites so it will most likely sail full as well. We probably won't have the 500 children but it will be full. I, too, like the smaller ships. There isn't much choice since we like to sail from NY. We live closeby and this will be the 3rd Canada/NE on Princess for us. Thanks again!!

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Thanks for your perspective. I was on the cruise also and agree. Our room steward John was great. He introduced himself soon after we arrived to our inside cabin. He asked us to put the "please make up the room" card in the door when we went to dinner since we had anytime dining and he didn't want to miss us. We also did this when we left for the day. Our room was always spotless when we returned. He always smiled and said hello when we saw him in the hall.

 

I agree that the dining rooms were understaffed. One of the waiters did comment that no one on the trip wanted to eat after 8:15. That may be part of the problem. We ate late once and the Island dining room was half empty.

 

The cruise was very inexpensive, we were with good friends, and I'm heading back to Weight Watchers. All is right with the world. Our next cruise is on Oceania. I'm expecting better food and service but I'm also paying at least 3 times as much.

 

Cynthia

[sept10dsm]

Thanks for your perspective. I was on the cruise also and agree. Our room steward John was great. He introduced himself soon after we arrived to our inside cabin. He asked us to put the "please make up the room" card in the door when we went to dinner since we had anytime dining and he didn't want to miss us. We also did this when we left for the day. Our room was always spotless when we returned. He always smiled and said hello when we saw him in the hall.

 

I agree that the dining rooms were understaffed. One of the waiters did comment that no one on the trip wanted to eat after 8:15. That may be part of the problem. We ate late once and the Island dining room was half empty.

 

The cruise was very inexpensive, we were with good friends, and I'm heading back to Weight Watchers. All is right with the world. Our next cruise is on Oceania. I'm expecting better food and service but I'm also paying at least 3 times as much.

 

Cynthia

Just a question, was it better or worse to wait until later? Thanks. I know about the price on this cruise. We booked for 499 pp for Oct 17! Thanks!

[chamima]

Thanks for your review. It certainly makes more sense to those of us not on the cruise when someone specifically states problems clearly as you did rather than just "awful cruise".

You said that sushi was free. Are they doing real sushi with fish, etc. or now that it's free is it the all vegetable quasi-sushi that they used to serve at the buffet?

[BratDet]

Yours was probably the best review I have read that clearly explained the negatives that were had on a CB cruise without sounding petulant or unreasonable. Very well written! (I love to read- alot.)

A very enjoyable read from you & thank you for posting it!

Although my husband and I did the CB princess summer itinerary, your posts and others regarding the posts make me think...this might be a nice route for us to also try....

 

Bernadette

[BratDet]

"your posts and others regarding the posts make me think"

 

 

the word posts was supposed to be itinerary (still waking up!)

[Clutterlady]

Thank you for posting a well thought out review.:)

[sept10dsm]

Yours was probably the best review I have read that clearly explained the negatives that were had on a CB cruise without sounding petulant or unreasonable. Very well written! (I love to read- alot.)

A very enjoyable read from you & thank you for posting it!

Although my husband and I did the CB princess summer itinerary, your posts and others regarding the posts make me think...this might be a nice route for us to also try....

 

Bernadette

Yes, this is a nice route. We will be doing our 3rd in Oct!! We live closeby in NJ so it's great especially when we get a great rate like we have for all 3!!!

[Grego]

We always appreciate the more objective reviews and that would include yours. There are always negatives if you really want to look for them and we don't because we are having too much fun to complain about a sunset or sunrise.

 

I wonder if the wait being shorter at the deck 5 dining room is because, "you can't get there from here". When we were on the CB a year ago we wondered if that dining room was an afterthought. We chose it because we could find our way there and there usually wasn't a wait. There was also a rumor that they were shifting the rooms around. On your voyage, which ones were the anytime dining in?

 

Thanks again for the review and we'll keep this in mind while making our final port plans.

[Colo Cruiser]

I wonder if the wait being shorter at the deck 5 dining room is because, "you can't get there from here". When we were on the CB a year ago we wondered if that dining room was an afterthought. We chose it because we could find our way there and there usually wasn't a wait.

Thanks again for the review and we'll keep this in mind while making our final port plans.

 

Think they were referring to the 2 anytime rooms in the atrium area not the trad room on deck 6 aft? Or is that what you meant? :)

 

I always think of that deck 6 aft dining room as the one you cant get to from here.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the detailed review.

[Grego]

Think they were referring to the 2 anytime rooms in the atrium area not the trad room on deck 6 aft? Or is that what you meant? :)

 

I always think of that deck 6 aft dining room as the one you cant get to from here.

 

Yes, I have too many ship's deck plans running through my head. The DR on Deck 6 Fiesta is the one that you can't get to from that deck and I thought it used to be the Anytime DR and was called Palm.

 

I guess I need for someone to just tell me if there are still 2 Anytime DRs and which ones are they.

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Just a question, was it better or worse to wait until later? Thanks. I know about the price on this cruise. We booked for 499 pp for Oct 17! Thanks!

 

On our cruise you could walk into the Island dining room at 8:30 without a wait. Before going I read that the Island had more 2 & 4 tops than the Coral. It seemed to be true. The four of us ate at the Coral one night and had to wait. I will always make reservations for the first night as soon as I board. (I said that last time and forgot.) The first night was very bad. You had to wait in a long line to get a buzzer.

 

I called twice for reservations and had no trouble getting an 8:15 for four people. The rest of the time we either walked in or had a short wait. We went at all different times.

 

Enjoy your cruise. The leaves should be beautiful.

 

Cynthia

[sept10dsm]

On our cruise you could walk into the Island dining room at 8:30 without a wait. Before going I read that the Island had more 2 & 4 tops than the Coral. It seemed to be true. The four of us ate at the Coral one night and had to wait. I will always make reservations for the first night as soon as I board. (I said that last time and forgot.) The first night was very bad. You had to wait in a long line to get a buzzer.

 

I called twice for reservations and had no trouble getting an 8:15 for four people. The rest of the time we either walked in or had a short wait. We went at all different times.

 

Enjoy your cruise. The leaves should be beautiful.

 

Cynthia

Thanks! WE are usually 2 and eat at a table for 2. This cruise we will be 5, since my daughter, her husband and baby will be joining us. Did you go at all in the 7pm timeframe? Thanks again for answering and the good wishes!

[Luv2escape]

Grego: Coral Dining Room Deck 6 Anytime Dining (Most Congested)

Island Dining Room Deck 5 Anytime Dining

Palm Dining Room Deck 6 Traditional Seating Far aft down a

a set of stairs.

We tried various times. Later is better - by the 3rd night we waited until after 8pm.

 

Sushi and Tapas at Vise were no charge items. The sushi also sashimi were 'real' fish -tuna, yellow tail, salmon, squid (all very fresh) Tapas were different offerings each evening...

 

Enjoy!

Dot & Paul;):)

[MommyJamiex4]

I thought I had it all covered with regard to the food!!!! I missed the tapas and Sushi! GRRR.....

[Paramour007]

Did you bring Canadian money with you or can you use US currency throughout? Sailing on the CD this Sat. 9/5.

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Thanks! WE are usually 2 and eat at a table for 2. This cruise we will be 5, since my daughter, her husband and baby will be joining us. Did you go at all in the 7pm timeframe? Thanks again for answering and the good wishes!

 

I think we went once around 7pm. Since people were lined up at 5:30 to get in, some were leaving by that time. You won't be able to get reservations for that time though. Since a baby is involved, perhaps you should try for a standing reservation that fits the baby's schedule. I'm not sure how you go about doing that but someone else here will know.

[Clutterlady]

US money is accepted in St. John and Halifax, see you on the 5th:)

[CraigRDR1]

Thanks for the review...We were on the same cruise. Seems that you were right on target.

[RTPGiants]

BTW on the money question...US currency is accepted pretty much everywhere, but you'll sometimes get screwed on the exchange if the place only will give Canadian $$$ change.

 

As an example, the bus tour in St. John's is $16 US/$18 Canadian.

 

However, at some stands on the boardwalk in Halifax, if the bill is say $8, and you pay with $20 US, you'll get $12 Canadian back, which means you're eating the exchange rate.

[sept10dsm]

I think we went once around 7pm. Since people were lined up at 5:30 to get in, some were leaving by that time. You won't be able to get reservations for that time though. Since a baby is involved, perhaps you should try for a standing reservation that fits the baby's schedule. I'm not sure how you go about doing that but someone else here will know.

Thanks. Do you recall the timerange that no reservations were allowed?

[Paramour007]

I know you can bring your own wine and champagne onboard. We have done this many times in the past and even though Princess tells you there will be a corkage charge in the dining room there has never been one. Does any know if they are now actually charging a corkage fee or are they still letting that slide?