Was anyone on the Carribean Princess last week-4/17??

[Lisaanne]

Have the kinks been worked out? How was PC dining? Entertainment? Etc......What was the movie this week, did they still play the movies from the first two sailings? Any info would be great. 27 more days for us!
Lisaanne

Crown Monarch 1992
Sensation 5/01
Imagination 5/02
Horizon 12/02
Paradise 5/03
Carribean Princess 5/04
Holland Oosterdam 12/04

[Suzanne123]

We're home after a wonderful week on the Caribbean Princess. We had PC Dining, but when I called the concierge the first afternoon to make reservations for Movies Under the Stars, he told me that I should make a standing reservation for dinner every night or I would have to wait for a table. I didn't want to be tied down to a certain time every night, so we went to the Cafe Caribe for dinner the first night and liked it so much we never did go to the dining room - ever!
We didn't go to the evening shows (I just don't enjoy magicians and big productions etc.), but the few ensembles we saw -- Exotique and Hip Pocket -- were very good.
I saw a couple of lines (pizza by the pool, photo gallery) but I didn't see any difference with crowding/deck chairs/breakfast buffet compared to the Golden Princess.
Our cabin steward was the best we've had on Princess.
The movies under the stars were Intolerable Cruelty, Something's Gotta Give, Wizard of Oz sing-along, A Hard Day's Night, Tina Turner in concert and Tom Jones in concert. Lots of different movies on television that I wish they had shown in the Princess theater.
The CP is beautiful and new, and I think you'll have a great time. My only small complaint -- Take a sweater or two. This is a really cold ship! Even the sales girls in the boutiques told me they kept hot chocolate in their cabins.
Bon Voyage! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

[Lisaanne]

Thanks for the quick response. It seems like everything is improving nicely. Thanks for the tip about the cold ship. Lisaanne

Crown Monarch 1992
Sensation 5/01
Imagination 5/02
Horizon 12/02
Paradise 5/03
Carribean Princess 5/04
Holland Oosterdam 12/04

[misslou]

We don't sail until July 17. I'm wondering about the weather in the summer. I'm sure someone has cruised the Caribbean in July and can tell me just how warm the outside temperature is. I know no one has sailed the Caribbean Princess in July...yet. We've only cruised to Alaska, there is no comparison climate wise. Any information will be appreciated. Thanks for sharing your experiences of your CP cruises, they are most helpful on what to expect.

Marilyn

Caribbean Princess, July 2004
Sun Princess, July 2002

[Bucky3]

Thanks for the 4/17 report. Did you make a reservation for the Caribe Cafe on the first night or just walk in? We don't want to miss the scenery as we sail out of FL - do you remember about how long this takes. Thanks

[Suzanne123]

No reservations necessary for the Cafe Caribe. It opens around 5:30 for dinner daily. We didn't experience long lines there, although we tend to eat early - between 6 and 7. Lots of windows to watch sail-away. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[SoFloDeb]

Marilyn, with regard to the weather in the Caribbean - expect it be very warm. Probably in the 90s, high humidity, chance of thunderstorms each day as a result of the heat and then the ocean breeze. Those thunderstorms can be quite scarey, yet awesome and beautiful at the same time. I would think that lots of time in the water will be the way to go. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

Deb in South Florida
Caribbean Princess 01/15/05
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2005;01;15;12;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Mariner of the Seas 3/14/04
Golden Princess 01/25/03
Voyager of the Seas 12/01
Majesty of the Seas 11/00
Carnival's Ecstasy 12/99
Carnival's Paradise 11/98
NCL Westward 9/93
MS Dolphin 9/92
Sky Princess 4/91
Regent Sun 4/90

[sue222]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Suzanne123:
We're home after a wonderful week on the Caribbean Princess. Suzanne I have a question! How was the coffee? I am thinking to bring a small coffee pot. We like strong coffee but not the starbucks taste. Also this will be our first caribbean Princess cruise <Sep 25> My husband thinks the better food will be in the traditional dining area. Is this true? I picked PC dining since I like to eat early also. What kind of foods did they have at the Cafe and what is the dress code? Thanks for any info. Did you make any pictures?Do thye have sugar free desserts and low carb breads?

[Bucky3]

Another question: Did you eat in the Caribe Cafe on formal night. If so, did they serve lobster in there and were people formally dressed? Appreciate your time in answering our questions. Thanks

[Suzanne123]

I'm not a coffee drinker, but my husband thought the coffee was pretty good -- not as strong as Starbucks, although he had a cup he thought was bitter one day at lunch. Maybe just luck? I guess you could plug in a coffee pot on the desk in your cabin, but you have only two outlets and to me, they seemed smaller than usual. I had trouble plugging in my curling iron.
This was our 7th Princess cruise and maybe I'm just tired of the same menus in the dining room. (I never did enjoy French night.) Anyway, Cafe Caribe offered the same main dishes including lobster, shrimp cocktail and Beef Wellington as the dining rooms, and they also had some spicier dishes that we really enjoyed. I'm a big shrimp fan and thought the creole shrimp with rice was great and the shrimp they did on skewers one night was good too.
As for dress code, I asked the head waiter at Cafe Caribe on formal night what we should wear for dinner and he said "You look fine the way you are. Please come in!" I was wearing just khakis and a blouse. Other people wore everything from shorts to dresses. It was very casual. On formal nights we went from there to the Movies Under the Stars where you sit in the dark under wool blankets so we didn't leave the pool deck or see a tuxedo.
They did have sugar free desserts, although I can't tell you what they were. One of the best things about the buffet was the "Dessert Area". If you decide to eat in the dining room, at least come up to the buffet for dessert. I don't remember seeing any low-carb breads, as I was busy with the high-carb desserts(LOL). [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[azsunshine]

Lisaanne,
If you are sailing on 5/22 we are having a sail away party for cruise critic folks. e-mail me at caribbean522&yahoo.com for the details!

Carol and John
Caribbean Princess May 22, 2004

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

Future:
CARIBBEAN PRINCESS 5/04
STAR PRINCESS 11/04

[Bucky3]

Thanks SO MUCH for all your answers.

[Maurita]

Another question about the Caribe Cafe? Is it similar to the Windjammer on RCCL as far as types of foods offered. I have been concerned that the foods may be too spicy because it is supposed to be carribean type food.

[bidro]

I also have a question about Care Caribe...I was under the impression that it was like a seafood buffet every night. Is this accurate? What type of seafood dishes did they offer every night besides what was on the regular dining room menu?

Thanks

[Suzanne123]

They did have seafood of some sort each night - shrimp, lobster, trout, perch, mahi mahi, oysters - I can't remember all of them. They also had chicken, turkey, pork, roast beef, etc. The menus were different each night. It's definitely not hamburgers and hot dogs. You might consider doing a quick "walk-through" to make sure there's something you like. They open at 5:30 and that gives you some time to decide where to dine. It's a little confusing because the Horizon Court is still serving sandwiches etc. until 6 or so. Make sure you're at Carfe Caribe. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[Aquarian]

Do you know if they changed the food selection on the buffet in the Cafe Caribe each night?

[Aquarian]

I'm sorry. I just re-read your message and you did say it was different each night. Is it a buffet or served?

[cruisefanatic2b]

Hello there - I was on the Caribbean Princess as well for the 4/17 sailing. We had the vacation of a lifetime! I could write pages...

We ate in the Coral Dining room 5 of 7 nights (I called the concierge on embarkation day and made reservations at 7 p.m. for the week.) We ate at Sabattini's on Friday night (excellent!) and at the Cafe Caribe one night. The night we ate there, Cafe Caribe had a number of great dishes - Goat Stew (sounds wierd but was incredible), roast pig, prawns, etc. I wanted to try them all, but couldn't fit them into my ever-expanding gut. We enjoyed the Cafe Caribe very much and would like to have had another opportunity to eat there (didn't try it until Thursday night and we had reservations at Sabattini's for Friday...). Dress in the Cafe Caribe was varied from mostly casual (nice shorts, capris, sun dresses, pants and polos for men, etc.,) to a few folks who still dressed up. The food in the dining room was quite good (obviously it was better in Sabattini's but that was expected).

With a few minor exceptions, I found service throughout the ship to be impeccable.

Coffee was decent, but not terrific. I saw a comment or two about flat or watered-down sodas, but we didn't find that to be the case - they must have taken care of the situation. We found the soda card to be a good value.

We enjoyed movies under the stars immensely - lying on cushioned lounge chairs eating popcorn under the blankies with a warm Caribbean breeze blowing - it was great. As another writer mentioned earlier, there were various movies playing, so it sounds as though the movie selection has also improved since the maiden voyage.

Overall, entertainment was good. We especially enjoyed the magician and the band Deep Blue. The production show, Let's Rock, was fun tho a bit cheesy in spots. Deep Blue (steel drums, Caribbean-style music) played at the pool daily and had us all dancing and having a good time. On Friday night, they played in the Explorer's Lounge. They were good musicians as well as good entertainers - knew how show everyone a good time!

Personally, we didn't notice the ship's being cold, but then we like things a bit cooler.

This ship is awesome. I read some of the comments prior to leaving, and I was somewhat concerned. I think a lot has to do with personal preference. I wonder, too, if some folks go into it with far too critical an eye? If you look for flaws, you will almost always find them. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Caribbean Princess - we were heartbroken at having to disembark. She's a beautiful ship, the crew is excellent and the shore excursions we chose suited us very well. We loved our experience on the Caribbean Princess, and I'd sign up for another trip today if I could!

[jad828]

We were also on the 4/17 sailing. We had PC dining and never waited too long for a table. We did make reservations a couple of times, but, the nights with no reservation were just fine.
The comedians were okay for the 1st 15 minutes then just lost our interest. Some people we spoke to loved Sarge, but, he bored us after a while too. We didn't see "Let's Rock" so I can't comment on that.
We got to meet 1 of the people on our roll call (Sobayjake)...don't know where everyone else was! Too bad, we had fun!

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Until we sail on Caribbean Princess!!!!!


Caribbean Princess 4/17/2004
Adventure o/t Seas 9/7/2003
Sea Princess 1/2001



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[roe2ship]

Cruisefanatic2b, you said you had reservations in the Coral Dining room at 7:00 pm...did you still have to wait and how many were in your party?

Caribbean Princess 7/03/04
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[cruisefanatic2b]

Hi there, roe2ship! There were 2 in our party and we were always seated right away (no wait at all...). I think the key for us was we were interested in being seated with other people. Some folks were looking for a table for 2 (only) and I would imagine those folks waited whether they had reservations or not.

Hope that helps!

[cynbar]

Marilyn -- We did the eastern itinerary last August on the Grand, and I honestly didn't see much difference weather-wise from the winter cruises we've taken. The days in port were warm, but you get that all year long, and most port days we were at the beach or on the water anyway.I remember trips to St Thomas in January when we found it almost too warm for shopping downtown. We didn't see a drop of rain the whole week. One big advantage was that we didn't have to be as careful of the hot and strong sun as we do in the winter, since we'd been outside all summer. I wouldn't hesitate to go again, although we usually pick the contrast of a winter cruise from our cold Massachusetts. Enjoy!!