CB Mini Review & Up Grades - 5/15/14

[Sanibel*Gal]

Hello Everyone - We have just returned from the first 4 Day Caribbean Princess cruise to Grand Turk after her 10 day dry dock. I will give you the up dates we noticed and some other observations of our cruise.

 

We are fortunate to live in FL so we just drive across the Alley, park at the off site parking and shuttled to the ship. Arrived at terminal 2 around noonish, went to the Preferred boarding area, checked in and were escorted up to the Elite lounge. Only waited about 10 min & we were allowed to board the ship. Once on board we proceeded to our cabin and on our way we noticed all the new carpeting - which the ship really needed. In areas that the carpet was not replaced you could see that it had been cleaned which helped brighten it up.

 

Our cabin was ready and DH both agreed that it had been deep cleaned. Also looked like the drapes, sheers & bed skirt were new and barrel chair & carpet were cleaned. We did have the Elite bathroom ammenities & mini-bar set up. Shower has shampoo & body wash dispensers on the wall along with new shower head. Cabin still has the same flat screen TV's, same channels & same old movies. Out on the balcony we could see all the railings around us had been varnished & our balcony had been painted (We were on the Aloha Deck, A747).

 

The pillows seemed new and the bed did have a mattress topper so our bed was very firm but also comfortable and no problems sleeping. There were two maint. issues in our cabin, low safe battery & clogged shower drain. Made a note to our room steward (who was great by the way) and both were taken care of.

 

Up to Horizon court for a little lunch before sail-a-way where it was very warm. The outside hall was cool but anytime we went into the HC it was really warm. Through out the cruise we did notice hot/cold spots on the ship. We have noticed this before on the CB that the A/C seems to work in some areas & not others. So if you tend to get chilly bring a light jacket or sweater.

 

Then the down pour started and I mean it rained like crazy with lots of thunder & lightening. So much that we could see that they had stopped loading on supplies & luggage. Sail-a-way was not until after 6:00 pm but we were scheduled to sail at 4:00 pm. That's ok we were safe & dry on board and enjoying every minute of it. We went to the Skywalkers for the Elite Lounge which was extremely busy - waited 40 minutes for a waiter but then went down to the Wheelhouse instead. We had anytime dining in the Coral dining room, our wait staff was excellant but the food was hit or miss for us, but of course we did not go hungry.

 

First sea day we were up early and like to sit up above the Neptune pool close to Tradewinds. The towels were starting to appear on lounges all around us, no people - just towels. We observed this most of the morning as well as a passsing shower. We would get up & take cover but no one would come to take those towels off so in a few hours there were nothing but lounges with wet towels! Bar service was very slow...... at every bar - there weren't enough bartenders or servers on deck to take orders or in some of the lounge areas. There was a noticeable younger crowd on this cruise who had lots of the drink packages.

 

Next day - Grand Turk turned out to be a beautiful sunny day & we enjoyed our time on the beach there. We left late due to a medical emergency announced by the Captain - not sure what happened but I hope it was nothing too serious.

 

Last sea day - more of the same like the first - a few showers, wet towels & lots of chair hogs. I did notice that the deck attendants were bringing out what looked like "new" towels. They had larger stripes & towels themselves were larger, so that might be an upgrade.

 

There were no "Formal Nites" but the Patter had the dress code as "Smart Casual" for 3 nites & one nite as "Dress to Impress". I did not see any shorts/T-shirts or ball caps in our dining room. For the most part, everyone cleaned up very nicely.:)

 

We don't usually do the production shows but enjoyed the comedians (Alfred & Seymour and Jim Colliton), the piano player (David Juneau) and Los Brilliantes Trio in the Wheelhouse.

 

To sum it up - the biggest changes we noticed is new public area carpet, cabin drapes & linens and lots of interior cleaning. I'm sure there was much more work done to many of the ship areas that we don't see. There was still some work going on towards the aft not sure exactly what it was tho. DH also mentioned that drink prices have gone up - 75 cents to a dollar a drink.:p

 

This was an R&R cruise for us - so that's what we did, read, eat, drink & relax.....

 

Andrea

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[mollyanne]

Thanks for the info! Looking forward to boarding the CB in 6 days. :)

[Lilly'sMom]

Thanks for the update!!! :D

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the comments.

Did they install the new cabins?

[Sanibel*Gal]

Thanks for the comments.

Did they install the new cabins?

 

We didn't have a chance to check that out, so not sure...

[vfangue]

Great --- thanks for your input, we're scheduled on the CB in Oct. While in Houston we toured the CB and noticed that the lines for the Horizon Court for lunch on embarkation were ridiculously long. Was that the case for you also? Wondering what other dining options are available during embarkation?

 

Also what was our opinion of the atmosphere on the lounges at night? What were the hotspots, types of music, etc?

 

 

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[Sanibel*Gal]

Great --- thanks for your input, we're scheduled on the CB in Oct. While in Houston we toured the CB and noticed that the lines for the Horizon Court for lunch on embarkation were ridiculously long. Was that the case for you also? Wondering what other dining options are available during embarkation?

 

Also what was our opinion of the atmosphere on the lounges at night? What were the hotspots, types of music, etc?

 

 

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We went to the Horizon court right after boarding so the line was not that long. However, in the next hour it was very long & the place was very busy. The Pizza station along with the Trident Grill (Burgers, fries, hot dogs, etc) is available and located on the Lido deck. International Café in the Piazza also serves up salads & other goodies. Usually one of the dining rooms is open for lunch, but we have never gone to the dining room on embarkation.

 

There is usually plenty going on in the evening - dancing in the Wheelhouse to a piano player or trio. Explorer's lounge had the Princess Orchestra playing dance music, Crooners has a piano player/singer for entertainment & Skywalkers opens around 10/11 for with a DJ & dancing. Of course there are usually production shows & comedians.

[JF - retired RRT]

We always go to the MDR for embarkation lunch. It is NEVER crowded. Be sure to go before 1:30. Check the Patter for which dining room is open, if you ask a crew member about 95% of the time you will be directed to the buffet.

 

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[TracieABD]

Thanks for the review!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[molme]

Any idea how long Alford and Seymore will be on board? We saw them 3 yrs ago on the Crown and they are very funny. Hoping they will still be there when we sail her in Aug.

Edited May 21, 2014 by molme

[Sanibel*Gal]

Any idea how long Alford and Seymore will be on board? We saw them 3 yrs ago on the Crown and they are very funny. Hoping they will still be there when we sail her in Aug.

 

No, sorry - I don't know how much longer they will be on the CB, but I agree we have seen them twice and they are hilarious!

[SraLiz]

Thanks so much for your review Sanibel Gal! We are traveling in A747 in March and I have a ton of questions. I booked it on the advise of our cruise coordinator, he said it had an extended balcony. Then I looked at some pictures and it seems to be totally covered. Please tell me what you think??? Thanks!

[RickEk]

Thanks so much for your review Sanibel Gal! We are traveling in A747 in March and I have a ton of questions. I booked it on the advise of our cruise coordinator, he said it had an extended balcony. Then I looked at some pictures and it seems to be totally covered. Please tell me what you think??? Thanks!

 

Here's a picture of the aft section of Caribbean Princess. You can see A747 at the top of the photo. It is that cut out section, so yes, you do have a bit of an extended balcony and it is covered.

 

Dawn Princess and Caribbean Princess - 2011 by RickEk, on Flickr

[SraLiz]

Thanks for the picture!