Caribbean Princess Review

[mschnackel]

Just an FYI to folks booked on this ship. My husband and I sailed her on April 3. We chose PC dining and had NO problems whatsoever. We never made a reservation. We walked into the Coral and Island dining rooms and were seated within 3-4 minutes. And yes, we ate at peak times and at 5:30 when they opened. They have two lines...one for folks with reservations on the left side of the entrance, and one for folks without on the right side. We didn't care who we ate with, as this was a way to meet other folks, so we were seated at tables with others who didn't have reservations. There was always a line for the folks with reservations. My suggestion is, if you really like the anytime dining, do it. If you really want to eat at a specific time, make a reservation when you board. If not, you will be seated when you get there with others...

[Rustynail]

Thanks to everyone for all the fantastic information!

The Carribean will be our first balcony cruise. We are bood in a BC cabin on the Riveria deck.
I know everyone is different but do you think the Caribe balcony is better value then the Riveria or Baja?

I want to make this as special as possible and would be willing to upgrade if necessary.

Thanks,

Dan

[img]http://www.animatedgif.net/animals/dogs/stikdog_e0.gif[/img]

CARRIBEAN PRINCESS JAN 2005
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CARNIVAL'S LEGEND JAN 2003
CELEBRITY'S CENTURY DEC 2003
[img]http://www.animatedgif.net/animals/dogs/cflbird2dog_e0.gif[/img]

[Cruiseknut]

What you have now will be great If you are sailing before June, the ship is basically sold out.


Starward 4/1987
Festivale 11/1988
Starward 4/1989
Tropicale 6/1998
Rhapsody of the Seas 5/1999
Veendam 10/1999
Norwegian Wind 4/2000
Maasdam 11/2000
Elation 5/2001
Veendam 1/2001
Norwegian Sky 5/2002
Golden Princess 11/2002
Ecstasy 2/2003
Zuiderdam 4/2003
Grand Princess 9/2003
Rhapsody of the Seas 11/2003
Caribbean Princess 5/2004
Sun Princess 12/2004

[azsunshine]

msschnackel,
Thank you so much for the info on PC Dining. I was concerned we had made a mistake when I heard all the stories of people being turned away, and having to eat in the buffett on formal nights and such.

Carol and John
Caribbean Princess
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NORDIC PRINCE 2/1994
RYNDAM 1/97
ENCHANTMENT 1/98
VEENDAM 6/98
SEA PRINCESS 3/99
RHAPSODY 1/2000
GRAND PRINCESS 11/00
VOYAGER 11/00
LEGEND 3/02
CARIBBEAN PRINCESS 5/04

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[cruzincurt]

So how long do they hold the table in PC for the bozos who make a reservation then don't bother to show up at that time?

13 cruises so far - RCCL, Carnival, Celebrity, Princess, NCL, HAL (we were on the last cruise of the wonderful Norway, still have my room key)

Caribbean Princess 5/15/04 next

Be brave...live free!

[bcollan]

msschanckel, I believe we rightly or wrongly formed our opinion of PC dining on the first full day at Princess Cay. The morning Horizon Buffet that day was downright ugly, then, when we went to the Coral dining room at 5:45 we were told there were no tables available till 8:45.

We were discouraged that day, and retreated to open seating breakfast and the Palm (which we had first seating) for dinner. Possibly enough people were rebuffed that first day that they seeked alternatives latter days, including open seating breakfasts, Palm dinners and Cafe Caribe dinners that the congestion relieved itself on following days.

cruzincurt, BTW, we weren't bozos who vacated our first seating reservations, we asked to be changed to PC the first night. Luckily, they didn't reassign our table, and we were able to use it for the rest of the cruise (aside for our nites at Sterlings and Sabatinis). Also, there were plenty of empty tables in the Palm for first seating the whole cruise.

Bill C.

[mschnackel]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bcollan:
msschanckel, I believe we rightly or wrongly formed our opinion of PC dining on the first full day at Princess Cay. The morning Horizon Buffet that day was downright ugly, then, when we went to the Coral dining room at 5:45 we were told there were no tables available till 8:45...

I understand! Many folks had problems the first couple of day. We just lucked out I guess...

[mschnackel]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by cruzincurt:
So how long do they hold the table in PC for the bozos who make a reservation then don't bother to show up at that time?

13 cruises so far - RCCL, Carnival, Celebrity, Princess, NCL, HAL (we were on the last cruise of the wonderful Norway, still have my room key)

Caribbean Princess 5/15/04 next

Be brave...live free!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


About 10 minutes the Matre D told us....

[shannon_anthony]

does anybody have pictures that I can see?

Shannon
Caribbean Princess 5/8/2004

[cruzincurt]

Thanks, In my opinion, the PC approach should be that you can dine whenever you show up, not allow someone to book a solid reservation at the same time every night. IMHO if you want a set dining time every night, book the traditional; early or late. I'll be really pissed to be standing in line while there are open tables waiting for someone to show up.

I look at PC as being variable each night, whenever we get ready to dine that day, we go.

What upset us last Princes trip was that we were late traditional at a table of eight. Sometimes one or two other couples didn't show up because that night they chose PC for that night. I say make up your mind so your table mates don't sit there waiting for no shows.

13 cruises so far - RCCL, Carnival, Celebrity, Princess, NCL, HAL (we were on the last cruise of the wonderful Norway, still have my room key)

Caribbean Princess 5/15/04 next

Be brave...live free!

[whobut]

We just returned from the 4/3 Caribbean Princess cruise. The ship is beautiful. The ill mannered children were horrible. We had to listen to them running up and down the hall at 1:30 A.M. - called and were told that "we have to be made aware of this" and "they are paying guests, too" Imagine.....in the pool on deck 16 aft at least 6 boys were cannon balling two middle aged women non stop. They got large glasses of ice and were throwing ice at eachother while running between guests and on top of chairs that were unoccupied ! We've been on numerous cruises, but this one was awful. I think parents should be responsible for their children at all times.

[catzcrazy]

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What is the scholar at sea program. I have been on 8 cruises (Carnival and Celcbrity, but have not heard of this before.

Thanks,

Becca


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by chloeleigh:
Hi Bill & Judy,
Glad to see you're already home safely and posting on the boards..i added some info to torbs' thread before i had seen that you started one or certainly would have joined yours. I would definitely agree with your comments..you at least got to see the main theatre show "let's rock"..made me feel better to hear that it wasn't that wonderful, or as you put it, not to our taste...since we never got to see it..after waiting over 15 minutes for the second seating show to start, James came out announcing technical difficulties..apparently it was a trap door glitch and so the show never went on, despite the attempts to fix the safety of the stage...like u said, entertainment was varied, and often we had to run from one event to the next because there were so many from which to choose..i personally enjoyed the comedienes (i know that is spelled wrong, just too tired to think right now), and Burt in the piano bar was FABULOUS..as far as food goes..traditional seating definitely the way to go to avoid hassles or being stuck at buffets...my husband and i both being vegetarians (although we do eat fish) were very pleased with the food selections, seems there is a lot more "healthy style" food available as an option..something we often worry about since we're not typical meat and potatoe type of people..have to say that my husband also enjoyed the scholars at sea program..i left it up to him to learn about computers and digital photography ( i personally was on vacation and used free time for hot tubs)..work out room was bigger and better than any other ship fitness room i've seen...again, i was on vacation and didn't exercise either, but hubby was impressed and enjoyed using it...was disappointed in the art auctions as we've purchased before on other ships, but they were run by outside dealers and this was a princess in house auction dealer, so didn't feel like there was as much availability, nor bargains as other ships..will post more after getting some sleep..overall a great vacation, and ports were very nice<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

Catzcrazy
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[bcollan]

Catcrazy, the "Scholars at Sea" program is a series of classes including popular favorites such as computers, digital photography and pottery. Basic group lessons are free (except for an occational "materials" charge), and extended personal lessons are charged hourly. As if there isn't enough to do already on a cruise! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Bill C.

[catzcrazy]

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Thanks Bill,

Think I will pass on those classes - I want to totally relax...

Catzcrazy
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[jimmy627]

will be sailing in Nov
thanks for the info

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11/27/2004 CARIBBEAN PRINCESS

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[img]http://www.agll06.ukgateway.net/JimKDGQtransp.gif[/img] [email]cruisemates1@aol.com[/email] THE MIRACLE 2-13-2005 [img]http://boogyjive.bravepages.com/images/bobsfreegifs/smileytap.gif[/img] [img]http://members.lycos.nl/Radio2fans/ex/jimmy.gif[/img]

[goldengirl]

hi
thanks for taking the time to all who have posted. i will be sailing on the carribean princess in may. i am upset to hear about the unruly children, and i hope they straighten that out. i would be very upset to have kids knocking on the door in the middle of the night.
How was the captain's party? did anyone order
room service? Did anyone attend the anniversary party? what type of nightly entertainment did they have? did they have any adult comedy shows?
how many pools do they have?
Does anyone know the diiner theme nights and what kind of food is served?
how was the provate island, do they have hammoks? any shopping? someone mentioned you could get a massage there?
did you have to tender in?

I am glad that i have a fixed meal time, as thre PC does not sound as if it running smoothly.
i did it on NCL and it was awful.

hope to hear form you soon. What time di you all get off the ship and get to the airport by?

my flight home is 11:30 a.m.
thanks

[newatcruising]

Regarding PC Dining... Just off the 4/10 sailing of the Caribbean Princess and very much enjoyed PC dining. Luckily on the first day I had few questions and the service desk informed me to make reservations for the week. When we did make our reservations, they tried to put us at the same time in the same dining room each night. We ended up eating 4 nights in Island, 1 in Coral, 1 in Sterling and 1 at the Buffet. Since all of the Dining Rooms are pretty much the same, I would recommend going to the same dining room each night. We varied the times depending on the days activities (early when we were at sea, and later for port days and days when the Kids Club fed the kids). I felt by the 2nd or 3rd day the host (Mauro) knew exactly who we were. In fact, on the last day he called me by name and said he had missed us the last couple of nights. Also, they were pretty flexible about changing reservation times. When we needed a later reservation time, the Passenger Services desk said that the reservation is held for 15 minutes and then cancelled automatically. The line with no reservation did seem to get long between 7:00 and 8:30, but that is their peak time.

[Bucky3]

So, on port days what time did you/could you make reservations? Seems to be difficult to make a 7PM reservation????????? Thanks for any info.

[spongerob]

It seems the biggest problem was people suddenly showing up at 7 PM, all wanting tables for two. For a number of reasons, this isn't really workable. Just like Outback or any other place that is first come - first served, you can only do so much with the staff and space that you have.

For future reference, the Palm dining room (traditional) has many tables for two that went unused during the entire cruise. It's an option for those who don't wish to share the company of others.

Coming up:
Caribbean Princess Apr 3/04
Golden Princess Apr 10/04
Tahitian Princess Oct 14/04

[Poorlittle]

We are just back from the 4/10 cruise and loved every minute. We only made reservations one night. The rest of the nights we walked in and had no problem getting a table. We liked sitting with and meeting new people at dinner. Everything was wonderful and Im having terrible cruise withdrawl. Especially when my son asked what was for dinner. I told him to go out and sit down and see who comes with the menu.

[Tos]

Does anyone remember the name of the Captain on the Caribbean Princess?

[CruiseKing]

He is Captain Guiseppe Romano

Bruce

Crown 1991 Eastern Caribbean
Dreamward 1994 Bermuda
Sun 1997 Western Caribbean
Grand 1999 Mediterranean
Dawn 2000 Southern Caribbean
Ocean 2001 Mexican Riviera
Crown 2001 Hawaii/Tahiti
Dawn 2002 Eastern Caribbean
Conquest 2003 W. Caribbean
Dawn 2003 Transit Panama Canal

[lovinsea]

THANKS for all the reviews, we will be new
to Princess our previous sailings were with
RCL (18times) and think it's time for a change.
(better we hope). I have just a few questions..
1st regarding Movies under the Stars, could
you hear the sound from your balcony, we are
looking to book on the Riviera deck mid-ship.
2nd.? since you can choose when to eat, do
they have still have a formal nite when you meet
the Capitan and they serve cocktails?
Really looking forward to trying Princess.
Thanks for your help.
ann

[Mandee]

Lovinsea- On the first formal night they have a Captain's reception. If you have personal choice dining you can choose if you would rather go to the earlier or later one. They serve cocktails (a little watered down, but still good) and canapes and you can meet the Captain.

**Mandee**

2/03 Golden Princess
4/04 Caribbean Princess

[roe2ship]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by spongerob:
It seems the biggest problem was people suddenly showing up at 7 PM, all wanting tables for two. For a number of reasons, this isn't really workable. Just like Outback or any other place that is first come - first served, you can only do so much with the staff and space that you have.

For future reference, the Palm dining room (traditional) has many tables for two that went unused during the entire cruise. It's an option for those who don't wish to share the company of others.

Coming up:
Caribbean Princess Apr 3/04
Golden Princess Apr 10/04
Tahitian Princess Oct 14/04<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Okay, now I am really confused. I thought that if you wanted to sit alone as a couple (table for two) that PC was the way to go...(dine with whom, where and when you want) I chose PC dining specifically to obtain tables for two. Now with so many conflicting reports on PC, I am starting to wonder if I should switch, even though I think first is too early and second is too late. Any comments, anyone?

Caribbean Princess 7/03/04
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