Caribbean Princess 7/16/05...review

[roe2ship]

Sorry this cruise wasn't up to your expectations. I had two fantastic cruises on this ship. Although, I have heard that Celebrity is one step above Princess. As far as this being a Carnival ship in disguise, which ship would you compare it to? I looked in your signature but no Carnival ships were listed.

[katisdale]

I've been on three Princess cruises, the old Crown, the Royal and the CB. I liked all three but they were not similar cruises. I enjoyed our CB cruise this past May 28. Our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren (ages 5 and 8) went with us. The children had a fantastic time and the adults enjoyed themselves. What I learned on this cruise is that I am not a traditional caribbean cruiser. I prefer longer cruises - 10 to 14 days is nice - and I also prefer a more diverse itinerary. The amenities of the cruise ship - casino, bars, pools etc. - do less for me than the ports and in the ports I want to learn something not shop or eat. That said I did enjoy the CB and really enjoyed watching the kids have a great time. I will cruise Princess again but probably not in the caribbean, next years Golden that goes to Egypt looks tempting. As an aside we chose personal choice dining, never had reservations, and never waited for a table. I thought the food was fine especially in the dining room for breakfast. I am pleased that Princess has enough choices in ships and itineraries that I can find what I enjoy.

[newfimom]

It is usual you will find different opions on this board. Mine, was just that, mine.

 

I wrote it as I experienced it, you must understand that I expected a better level of service. I have been on 4 other Princess ships that were for a lack of a better word...excellent. This ship just did not provide the same level as my previous Princess cruises.

 

I like having a butler, I am used to eating good food. At home we go out to eat at resturants that provide good food and service. We work hard for our money and pay alot for our cruises. What is wrong with expecting a good level of service and food in return? Should we except less and not say anything just to please people on the boards? I think not.

 

When something is good, I am the first person to pass the compliments. I did so in my review. There are many things that were good about the ship. But not enough to outweigh the negative.

 

I had a good time last week, I am not saying that my trip was terrible. We met some wonderful people and had some good fun and laughs. One thing you can be sure of is that cruises bring all different people together. I am very fortunate that I have always met wonderful people.

 

As far as the cigar bar goes, my husband enjoyed it every night. And by the way SgtJerry., My husaband is a LT. and in my town a LT. outranks a Sgt., so you would be the one in the tender. LOL.

 

So, as far as my opionion goes, it will remain my opinion. I hope all your cruises are what you expect of them.

 

Fran

newfimom

[atlcple2]

You are absolutely entitled to express what you experienced on your cruise. It is unfortunate that you had so many problems and the cruise didn't meet your expectations. I agree, we all spend a pretty penny for our cruises and have certain expectations of our cruises. For me, we are trying Princess for the first time in September and I try to be objective as we are looking to see what Princess has to offer that the Spirit Class on Carnival did not....not that we had any bad experiences on Carnival...they have all been above our expectations...we just wanted to check out Princess as we have heard so many wonderful things from their previous guests. If the CB doesn't meet our expectations, we will enjoy it anyway and perhaps try RCCL next time or even go back to Carnival. At any rate, I hope you have a better experience on your next cruise no matter what cruise line you use. If we all have a bad experience on the CB...you certainly warned us! ; )

[newfimom]

Hi,

 

I hope you have a wonderful time. Let me know what you think when you get back.

 

 

Fran

newfimom@aol.com

[atlcple2]

Thanks Fran. I'll be sure to send you an email when we return and we will post pictures as well.

 

Scarlet

[newfimom]

No you will not find any Carnival ships in my signature.

 

I was told many years ago by someone in the cruise industry that Carnival was the low end...Royal Caribbean nextup...then Princess higher on the ladder, Celebrity towards the higher end and then came the Radisson, and the Silver Seas, Crystal, and Seabourne, etc.

 

Carnival has since bought over many of these cruise lines. But that doesn't make the Carnival ships any higher on the ladder.

 

If any of Carnival ships were good for you then I am glad you enjoyed them.

I compared them from what I was told and have read by others on these boards as well as friends who have tried them.

 

Everyone always has a different experience. Some great, some not so great.

 

Fran

[sprite]

I'll be cruising on the CB this labor day and it will be my first Princess cruise. I've been on the Carnival Destiny and RCCL's Explorer (twice). I was a little disappointed with Carnival for reasons I won't get into tonight but had a blast on the Explorer. Fortunately, my husband and I are just happy to be going on a cruise and our expectations are pretty low. I hope I'll be able to post a good review when we get back but I thank you all for your honesty and I enjoy reading everyone's opinions.

[atlcple2]

No you will not find any Carnival ships in my signature.

 

I was told many years ago by someone in the cruise industry that Carnival was the low end...Royal Caribbean nextup...then Princess higher on the ladder, Celebrity towards the higher end and then came the Radisson, and the Silver Seas, Crystal, and Seabourne, etc.

 

Carnival has since bought over many of these cruise lines. But that doesn't make the Carnival ships any higher on the ladder.

 

If any of Carnival ships were good for you then I am glad you enjoyed them.

I compared them from what I was told and have read by others on these boards as well as friends who have tried them.

 

Everyone always has a different experience. Some great, some not so great.

 

Fran

 

Remember that everyone's perception is different. Our last 2 cruises were on the Spirit Class ships. We were on the 3rd voyage of the Carnival Pride and went on her sister ship last year, the Spirit. The ships were beautiful and the service was excellent. In fact, we will have higher expectations on the CB because it was so great. We had a balcony on the top deck under Lido with an extended balcony which was huge! The rooms are very large (larger than Princess) as well. The dinner Club was out of this world. We had 5 servers waiting on just us for that meal. One server specifically brushed the crumbs off the table as we ate...I would consider that first class service on any cruise line or restaurant. Both of those cruises were expensive, not any less than our cruise we just paid for with Princess on the CB. Granted we received a previous guest discount on the last 2 cruises with Carnival AND on Princess, even though this will be our first cruise with Princess. A lot of people don't know that if you call Princess directly and tell them you are a previous guest of Carnival, you get the same discount, which is a nice perk. Some of the things I have seem people complain about with Princess were non-issues on our last 2 cruises. The coffe is wonderful, lots of lemonade, punch, apple and orange juice 24/7. I will say that there is a difference between the Spirit Class ships and ships like the Fantacy (a smaller, older ship)...the Fantacy is a "party" ship and a totally different experience, very fun, but not luxurious at all. If I were rating the Fantacy cruise (our first cruise to the Bahamas for 4 days to see how we liked cruising), I would absolutely say it was a lower end cruise. It was inexpensive and the service was not the same as the Spirit and Pride, but an excellent choice for someone who doesn't have a lot of $$ to spend and wants to go for a 3-4 day cruise to see how they like cruising. I know a lot of people automatically say they wouldn't go on a Carnival cruise, but if you haven't been on one (especially the newer, higher end ships), how can you compare Carnival to other lines? I think Carnival gets a bum rap a lot of the time. Anyone else had good experiences on Carnival?

[atlcple2]

I'll be cruising on the CB this labor day and it will be my first Princess cruise. I've been on the Carnival Destiny and RCCL's Explorer (twice). I was a little disappointed with Carnival for reasons I won't get into tonight but had a blast on the Explorer. Fortunately, my husband and I are just happy to be going on a cruise and our expectations are pretty low. I hope I'll be able to post a good review when we get back but I thank you all for your honesty and I enjoy reading everyone's opinions.

 

 

Sprite, we will be on the same cruise. I think we have both posted on the Roll Call Board for this cruise. Are you guys going to meet at Blackbeards Bar after Muster? From the postings, it looks like we are going to have a very fun crowd on this cruise! We can't wait! ; )

 

Scarlet

[phaelon56]

Fran - I appreciate your candor as I think many others also do. If you'd never crusied on Princess before, never been on any crusie or had perhaps only cruised on a higher end line, I'd assume that your observations were related mostly to expectations. But your three prior Princess cruises and your fairly non-judgemental / objective way of describing your CB experience leaves me confident ointhe accuracy of your report.

 

But having seen other reviews that were markedly different than yours leads me to think that Princess has some consistency of service delivery problems on the CB. I had a fantastic experience in fall 2003 on the Grand and still look forward eagerly to being on the CB this November. I'll be sure to report back here after my trip as it appears that you and I have reasonably parallel expectations as regards food and service.

 

As for perceptions regarding Carnival cruises, I've always been aomgn those who had no desire to try Carnival but I think my reaction is based mostly on the nature of their mass-market advertising. My former GF, who convinced me to try a cruise in the first place, had been on three or four Carnival seven day cruises. She loved them and thought the food was as good as Princess but her taste/perceptions were less critical than mine regarding food.

 

She did feel that the servie was comparable on the two lines in her limited experinece but she enjoyed the waiter relationship aspect of the Traditional Dining more than what we experienced in PC Dining. But we loved the flexibility as we rarely knew on any given day when we'd be ready for dinner. She did feel that the decor/ambiance of the Grand was more restrained and less flashy than the carnival ships she was on (a good thing) but felt that the on-board musical entertainement in the lounges on Carnival was markedly better (aprt formt he guy who did the piano bar in the lounge I thought the entertainment on the Grand was marginal).

[gkeyes1008]

Boy after reading this thread maybe I need to go back to Carnival instead of trying Princess..

 

I have only sailed on Carnival and believe me have had great vacations each time I sailed. I believe last count was 9 sailings. I have never had a steward or wait staff to give me anything but excellent service. Yes there were some that were better than others but they were always excellent. I am on vacation and as a previous poster stated I am not picking up my dishes nor making my bed. Now the food I understand maybe a problem on Princess as some posters have said it is bland..Carnival food is never bland...Hey a little salt and pepper will correct that problem... I am still on vacation....

 

I am still a little bewildered why the comparison of Carnival with all other lines??? If it is suppose to be the trailer park of cruising why would you compare it with other lines?? I was always scared to go on another line scared that they were all snobby and would feel uncomfortable but hey my money is worth the same whether I am paying Carnival or any other line... I am looking forward to sailing on the Caribbean Princess this October and yes I am sure I will do some comparison but I am sure I will not get on here and bash one or the other.....

 

Just remember you are on vacation and a vacation is what you make it...I am not relying on others to make my vacation...

 

Thanks for all the reviews. I will still read them with an open mind and go with the same expectations I go with each year and that is to have a great vacation....