Any issues with quality of service and on board experience with Caribbean Princess

[Cruise Arizona]

I just finished reading the thread about the fog delays in Houston affecting Caribbean Princess, but I am wondering if the quality of the on board experience has diminished at all?

[moki'smommy]

We were on the 11/29 cruise which was delayed by 24 hours. This delay caused extra work, at least for the room stewards who had to return luggage to the on board guests, do room turn overs 2 days in a row, etc. before we boarded. What I'm saying is that they had reason to be tired and grumpy before we got on. I don't know what (if any) tip adjustments Princess made toward the staff who basically did an extra day of work with no extra tips from the people stuck on board; obviously some people tipped in cash for that extra day and some were quite generous.

 

I did not find ANYTHING objectionable in terms of service. Our room steward was good at telling us what he couldn't do (get a footstool for the balcony, get a mattress topper, and something else) but at least he was honest. The room was always well done, I had ice in the refrigerator, and he was pleasant. He didn't do anything "extra" but was a good guy and did his job. The lady sitting next to us at dinner told us about the towel animals she was getting each night--we didn't get any, but we also didn't need any and wouldn't have wanted to make extra work for the steward. Bottom line--I'd be happy to have him again; he didn't do anything that made the cruise special."

 

Our dining servers were not exactly "Mr. Personality," but again, basically did their jobs. THe assistant server (beverage dude) was a bit of an air head. This was probably why he has been on board Princess ships for 8 years and is still the assistant. My daughter almost forced conversation from him on the last night when she said, "OK, where are you from, who is at home, and how long have you worked on Princess?" She'd tried all week to get them to say anything other than taking orders (or in some cases messing up drink orders). But the messed up drink order became the only thing that lightened them up a bit. Our servers at lunch and tea seemed much more relaxed, so I don't think our dinner team was the norm for Princess.

 

Other people on board seemed efficient. Bar tenders were friendly even when we were just getting a soda with our card. Actually, these were the most friendly people on the ship. We had reason to visit Guest Services (or whatever Princess calls that desk) once; the lady was pleasant, honest, and did resolve our issue the next day (we had pre-ordered a beverage plan for my daughter, sticker was not on card. She had to research it with shore side, but then got us the sticker). Other venues--International Cafe, etc. were available and again, did a good job. They were ALWAYS cleaning tables there.

 

So, no complaints with service at all, despite staff being stressed from the delayed turn over.

[floridalover5623]

We were on the 11/29 cruise which was delayed by 24 hours. This delay caused extra work' date=' at least for the room stewards who had to return luggage to the on board guests,[/color'] do room turn overs 2 days in a row, etc. before we boarded.

 

So, no complaints with service at all, despite staff being stressed from the delayed turn over.

 

What did you mean by "return luggage"?

Was this luggage being brought on board for the first time or just moved to other cabins?

[Colo Cruiser]

What did you mean by "return luggage"?

Was this luggage being brought on board for the first time or just moved to other cabins?

 

 

 

The luggage was picked up for disembarkation, the cruise arrival was delayed and the luggage was taken back to cabins.

[eclue]

We were also on the 11/29 cruise -

Our cabin steward was the best one we have ever had - Antonio from Portugal - he was always smiling, very cheerful and accommodating - paid special attention to our need for fresh wine glasses, ice, extra pillows. We will be back on the CB on January 24th - I wish we were in the same cabin area again but we are on a different deck this time.'

I have no complaints whatsoever about this ship. Everyone aimed to please and they did a great job.

eclue:rolleyes:

[moki'smommy]

The disembarkation/embarkation was scheduled for 11/29. Those passengers scheduled to get off put their luggage out on 11/28 at night. The ship could not enter the channel due to fog, so the passengers still on board remained there for another night. In order for them to have clothing, etc. their luggage was returned to their room. They then put it out again on the night of 11/29.

 

We were in the terminal on 11/29 and had given our luggage to the porter on arrival. After sitting all day, we had our luggage returned to us and were sent to a hotel.

 

The ship arrived in port about 3 am on 11/30. Passengers began disembarkation at 7 am and we were allowed to board about noon.

 

For the guests, it was a one day delay. For the crew, it was a lot of extra work.

[honey8572]

I was on the 12/20-12/27 cruise that had a delayed boarding due to a deep clean for Noro. There were absolutely no issues in service/condition of the ship. Our steward was particularly conversational and pleasant, our cabin was always clean and well cared for, and we didn't notice anything off. The CD staff had to work particularly hard after we missed Belize (due to high winds) and created a day's worth of activities and printed a new Patter within an hour. The captain was on the overhead very frequently letting us know what the conditions were (we had heavy seas and winds the whole trip). I had been on the Caribbean Princess in the past and wouldn't hesitate to travel on her again.

[philv]

All very good to hear. We are on the CB March 6. I'm hoping the fog season is over by then and not an issue. I've been on CB several times before and always enjoyed my experience. Can't hardly wait! :D

[vplsh]

We were on the 12/27 cruise on the CB. We were delayed leaving Houston by about 4 hours, thus missing our stop in Costa Maya. However we were able to stop in Cozumel on Friday, which was great.

 

Our cabin steward was very good; friendly and efficient. He always went out of his way to greet us and speak to us if he was in the hall as we came or went. Dining room was a different story. We originally had fixed late seating and ended up asking for a change after the second day, as it took over 2 hours for dinner. We then were given a standing reservation for 8pm in the Coral dining room, which turned out better.

 

This was our 5th time on the CB and we were disappointed in the food as compared to the last time (July 2014). Entertainment was variable- the comedian was excellent, the production shows not so much. But, like food, that is subjective.

 

We would have liked more information from the Captain regarding weather- we only heard about the delay in departure from Houston once. There was nothing said until we all realized we were moving. Same with the docking issue in Roatan. I know the weather isn't his fault, but it would have been helpful to know what was going on.

 

We enjoyed the cruise since it fulfilled what we had hoped- a relaxing time in the Caribbean. But we were disappointed in the ship compared to our previous times on board her.

[satxdiver]

We were on the CB in October for a 10 day cruise. Our cabin steward was really great as usual. He was very friendly and helpful. The ship appeared to be in good shape. In general it was another wonderful Princess cruise. We will be boarding the CB again next month at Bayport for a B2B. We have sailed out of Bayport every year since Princess moved there in 2013. The year before that we sailed out of Galveston. We had only one fog delay leaving Bayport and that was March 2015. I think the CB is much maligned and a great ship.

[ddled]

Glad to hear these comments. We sail the 24th and have been reading a lot of these that were unsettling. By the way we live in Brownsville tx and there has been fog advisories the last 2 morning with one more tomorrow

[bradandcharla]

We were on the 12/27 fiasco. All I can say is Princess lost our business forever. Indifferent crew, lack of organization, terrible food, and a cruise director who was more interested in peddling his book than taking care of the passengers. After experiencing Disney service, this was a major disappointment.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

[Roses2]

We were on the January 10-17 cruise. We too were delayed in boarding and debarking. However, after over 40 Princess cruises we would rate the support from the staff and crew as outstanding, among the very best we have experienced.

 

We are booked back on the Caribbean Princess for her Transatlantic cruise in April and looking forward to seeing many of the same staff on that cruise.

 

P&J