Caribbean Princess Review 7/29-8/7 *WARNING - long, detailed and opinionated

[sammiedawg]

Donna, very good review and I agree with you 100% on the crowd issues. We were on this ship once, I did not hate it but was happy to get off d/t the extra 500 people they added to the Grand class design. They added an extra passenger deck but other public space is the same. Since then we have avoided these ships people refer to as the Crown class, 3100 passengers instead of 2600. We could not find seats in the Horizon Court, the theatre was full 15 minutes before the show started, the main hallways in the atrium were shoulder to shoulder at night, forget finding a seat at the pool. I'm a people watcher but I don't care to fight for space, there are better alternatives out there.

Passenger space ratio is poor on this class of ships. I am amazed when I read posts stating they did not notice the crowd.

[winnky333]

We'll be on the 8/14 sailing to Canada. Where did you fax a request for the eggcrates?

[Pam in CA]

Thank you for clarifying! I was indeed comparing the CB to RCI's Voyager-class ships (Explorer, Adventure, and Mariner) which have a larger amount of public space available per passenger.

IMHO, whether or not the ship feels crowded has a lot to do with the CD and his/her staff than anything else. Princess ships have a lot of lounges and good CDs make sure there are activities going on throughout the ship which distributes the passengers better. I've been on the CB and similar ships and never felt it was crowded yet was on the Golden, for instance, which has fewer passengers and it felt stuffed. The Golden's CD had few activities planned which I think made a big difference.

[DonnaK]

IMHO, whether or not the ship feels crowded has a lot to do with the CD and his/her staff than anything else. Princess ships have a lot of lounges and good CDs make sure there are activities going on throughout the ship which distributes the passengers better. I've been on the CB and similar ships and never felt it was crowded yet was on the Golden, for instance, which has fewer passengers and it felt stuffed. The Golden's CD had few activities planned which I think made a big difference.

 

This is an excellent point, and I hate to say it, but Neil Roberts was a dud as CD, and his staff was equally lacking in personality, enthusiasm and energy. The difference was obvious compared to sailings with more dynamic CDs.

[roe2ship]

Thanks for posting your experience on the CB. I find it interesting about the theatre issue comments.....dramatic change..... must be because of a different itinerary which attracts a different demographic. Good thing your review is very detailed about the pool section........most will post deck loungers were impossible to find ANYWHERE leaving out an important sentence as simply going one deck above the pool. Obviously this is how members get misled.

 

Donna is comparing the CB to the Explorer which is almost 20% larger but carries a similar passenger load.

Sometimes numbers don't mean anything....it is all in the design of the ships. There are many posts on the RCI boards who find the Voyager class ships crowded. Personally I don't but do feel more comfortable on the CB than the Voyager class.

[DonnaK]

We'll be on the 8/14 sailing to Canada. Where did you fax a request for the eggcrates?

 

Fax Transmittal Form

To: Princess Cruises

ATTN: Special Services Department

Number of Pages: 1

Fax: 661-284-4885

 

Name:

 

Booking Number:

 

Ship:

 

Sail Date:

 

Cabin Number:

 

Phone Number:

 

email address:

 

Request: Please arrange for the cabin steward to place an egg crate mattress topper and a top sheet on the beds, in the queen formation, in the above stateroom.

 

[RI_Lady]

Thanks, Donna!

 

My DH and Have enjoyed reading your review, keep the posts coming! We will be making the trip north on CB beginning 8-21-10.

 

Karen (RI_Lady)

[crosbystreet]

Donna, very good review and I agree with you 100% on the crowd issues. We were on this ship once, I did not hate it but was happy to get off d/t the extra 500 people they added to the Grand class design. They added an extra passenger deck but other public space is the same. Since then we have avoided these ships people refer to as the Crown class, 3100 passengers instead of 2600. We could not find seats in the Horizon Court, the theatre was full 15 minutes before the show started, the main hallways in the atrium were shoulder to shoulder at night, forget finding a seat at the pool. I'm a people watcher but I don't care to fight for space, there are better alternatives out there.

Passenger space ratio is poor on this class of ships. I am amazed when I read posts stating they did not notice the crowd.

 

Hi Donna, this is a great review so far.

 

I have been on two Celebrity sailings in the past and never felt crowded. This ship felt very crowded especially around the non-MUTS main pool and the buffet. The line at the waffles/ice cream bar was too long to bother.

 

Also, we had to skip a couple of the shows since there were no seats left.

 

The Exlorer's Lounge and Club Fusion are great venues, but the shows they had in there (same band over and over, and karaoke) were lack-luster compared to the main stage offering.

 

Where I thought Princess did do a great job was in the food (except for the coffee). It will be fun to hear what you think about that. And I loved the International Cafe and the wine bar.

[Rhitson88]

Thanks for posting. We are sailing September 2010 and the last couple of reviews on Caribbean princess (under Member Reviews) have been terrible. Already made final payment so I can't cancel. Looking forward to your candid review.

 

 

 

Caribbean princess is a GREAT ship. Despite what is said about it. A cruise is always what you make of it. If you are sold to another cruiseline then you sometimes refuse to open yourself up to other options. But I cruised on the Caribbean Princess 2 cruises ago and it is an awesome ship.

[janina]

I have felt crowded on the carribean princess..moreso than some of the other ships. Thanks for taking time for the review. Love the aft adults only pool.

[coo359a2]

This is an excellent point, and I hate to say it, but Neil Roberts was a dud as CD, and his staff was equally lacking in personality, enthusiasm and energy. The difference was obvious compared to sailings with more dynamic CDs.

 

Does Neil still say G'Day, G'Day, G'Day all the time when talking on stage. Had him on a b2b in Sept 06 and agree the worst CD we have had in 23 cruises. Only saw him a few times out and about and would not talk or smile when passing. On stage he sounded and acted like a "real fun" CD but changed totally when he was off the stage.

[DonnaK]

Does Neil still say G'Day, G'Day, G'Day all the time when talking on stage. Had him on a b2b in Sept 06 and agree the worst CD we have had in 23 cruises. Only saw him a few times out and about and would not talk or smile when passing. On stage he sounded and acted like a "real fun" CD but changed totally when he was off the stage.

 

Yes, he still says that. We never saw him out-and-about, only on the stage and on the stateroom TV.

[sammiedawg]

The week we sailed the CB there were more scheduled activities, movies, shows than any ship I have been on. It still was crowded in the Horizon Court, theatres, atrium at night, pools. The ship was crowded, 500 extra people rattling around in a space designed for less people.

I like Princess, I don't think this observation has anything to do with someone being loyal or wedded to another cruiseline.

[Lynzchat]

Thank you for clarifying! I was indeed comparing the CB to RCI's Voyager-class ships (Explorer, Adventure, and Mariner) which have a larger amount of public space available per passenger.

 

 

If anyone has any questions or thoughts for me to address in the rest of my review, please feel free to ask. I'm working on Entertainment, Activities, Dining, and Ports right now.

 

Thanks for the awesome review, Donna! Quick question, did you happen to use the Sanctuary for a day or a week? Did you find it hard to get a place there?

[travelmom12]

Just some thoughts as I have been reading your review - we were on the same cruise. We very much liked the cruise, and I was astonished to read all the recent negative postings about the ship. I'm enjoying your more balanced review.

 

Re a/c in cabins - we were in 2 balcony cabins, Baja 719 and 723 - our cabins were always cool and comfortable, and the thermostat was very responsive.

 

Re a/c in Horizon Court - I was never particularly warm in there, and truthfully, since I was usually dressed in a bathing suit and cover up, I appreciated the fact that it wasn't freezing from air conditioning. I did find that sometimes Cafe Caribe was warmer and moister, but figured that it was because of the entry straight from the deck. The temperature was more than made up for by the easier availability of tables.

 

Re crowding - on every ship I have been on, it was a struggle to find seating if you wanted a lounge around the main pool. This ship was no exception. Since I personally dislike this area due to the noise and number of small children, I usually find other places to plant myself. On the Caribbean Princess, this was often at the aft pool or the one that is forward by the gym and spa.

 

Re MUTS - we loved it. We watched movies outdoors during the day AND at night.

 

Re entertainment - there was a band that played periodically at the main pool. I think they were called Exotique. It is obvious that Princess is not putting much money into their music offerings, since the "Princess Orchestra" is also the "Big Band" and the "Jazz Quartet" etc.

 

Re the Princess theatre - It was empty the night we went to see one of the musical shows (Piano Man, which was just OK), and it was packed with standing room only the last night of the cruise when 2 comedians performed (first one was good, second seemed to have run out of material by the time he did this show).

[CMHF]

Hi Donna,

 

It was crowded around the pool; not from people, but from all chair hogs! It was the worst I have seen in 60 cruises! On deck 16 (1 above the pool), I would get out at about 8:30am and just about every lounger (200+) was taken, yet there were only about a dozen people actually on the deck. I have been on this same cruise 4 times on 2 different ships and it was never that badddd!

Harvey

[SCFCRUISER]

Thanks for the review Donna. We will be on the CB in January & very much looking forward to it!! Do you have any pics of the interior & exterior that you would like to share???

 

Thanks,

Steve.

[DonnaK]

Thanks for the review Donna. We will be on the CB in January & very much looking forward to it!! Do you have any pics of the interior & exterior that you would like to share???

 

Thanks,

Steve.

 

 

I'm sorry (I love reviews with photos too). I didn't take any pictures of the ship. Just photos of my daughters on Formal night. :)

[DonnaK]

Thanks for the awesome review, Donna! Quick question, did you happen to use the Sanctuary for a day or a week? Did you find it hard to get a place there?

 

 

Sorry...We didn't use the Sanctuary.

[kimgoblue]

Thanks for posting. We are sailing September 2010 and the last couple of reviews on Caribbean princess (under Member Reviews) have been terrible. Already made final payment so I can't cancel. Looking forward to your candid review.

 

Not to hijack DonnaK's thread, but I recently posted an overall positive review of the CB under Member Reviews. Was the cruise perfect? Of course not, but we still had a great time.

[swdke]

If anyone has any questions or thoughts for me to address in the rest of my review, please feel free to ask. I'm working on Entertainment, Activities, Dining, and Ports right now.

 

Do you know where the early (5:30 PM) Traditional dining room was located, or which dining room was used for this dinner seating? Sorry if it was already mentioned. Thanks.

[DonnaK]

Do you know where the early (5:30 PM) Traditional dining room was located, or which dining room was used for this dinner seating? Sorry if it was already mentioned. Thanks.

 

We had 6pm traditional in the Palm. I heard that the 5:30 seating was held in a small section of each of the anytime rooms, but I didn't confirm this personally.

[cruisemom42]

The week we sailed the CB there were more scheduled activities, movies, shows than any ship I have been on. It still was crowded in the Horizon Court, theatres, atrium at night, pools. The ship was crowded, 500 extra people rattling around in a space designed for less people.

I like Princess, I don't think this observation has anything to do with someone being loyal or wedded to another cruiseline.

 

I agree. I've been on CB twice with two different CDs. I felt the ship was crowded to the gills both times. I wouldn't have chosen to sail her again except that my son had such a great time onboard.

 

I did not find the Golden or the other Grand-class ship I've sailed (Star) to be anywhere near as crowded.

[Whimsy]

Enjoying the review. Thanks for sharing.

 

Approximately how far in advance did you send the request for the egg crate and top sheet?

[jcls]

I was on this cruise also at the same time. I was stuck in traffic for almost 3 hours. That was the worst thing but we didn't get stressed about it and were actually on the ship at 4pm. The room would seem a little hot sometimes but we just adjusted the thermostat and everything was fine. We were on R725 right under the Lido deck. The noise from the Lido deck wasn't bad. The big advantage of the Riviera deck was you could quickly get food from the Horizon Court and take it back to your room and eat on the balcony. As far as the kids - some were running through the halls in the middle of the night a few nights but I was so relaxed I didn't let it bother me. Nothing else. I've been on the Disney Magic 3 times which is a great ship and the shows are much better (naturally). However, the shows on the Caribbean Princess were pretty good and funny. We saw the dancing show, the hypnotist (sic), several comedians, martini making, some shows in the Explorers lounge and everything was fine except for crowding in the lounges. There was always plenty of seats in the Princess Theatre. I would highly recommend this cruise, iterinary, ship, etc. I came back very relaxed and wish I was still on vacation!!!