My Impressions Caribbean Princess 24/09/05

[sgriff17]

No free ice cream or juice? What am I getting myself into :(

[Wicked]

sorry about the Suite thing in my sig, I dont' know how to post that into a post only my signature :) It will come off soon and I liked the SeaWitch avatar myself! :)

[LARGIN]

We all know.. Can you please remove from your signature now as it takes up a full screen.. :eek:

[LARGIN]

Myself, I prefer the dining rooms vice the buffet.. The food is hotter and better prepared, and you don't pig out like most do in the buffet line..

[coiran]

We never use the buffet for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The selections in the dining rooms are far better than anything I have ever seen at the buffet. We do occasionaly walk thru the buffet in the afternoon to grab a snack or a fruit tray & drinks but that's about. I also get my first cup of morning coffee up there since it is probably the best cup of coffee on the ship!!!

 

Ron

[surrocruiser]

If you have breakfast and lunch in the dining room, do you need to adjust your tips? Also, is there a dress code? Obviously, no swimsuits, or tank tops for the guys, common sense restaurant type of things. But shorts, jeans?

[jerseygirl3]

I don't see a reason to have to adjust your tips if you elect to use the dining room more frequently.

 

I went to the dining room for breakfast with my bathing suit on, but with shorts and a shirt on over it. Most people were dressed similarly.

[imsulin2]

We never use the buffet for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The selections in the dining rooms are far better than anything I have ever seen at the buffet. We do occasionaly walk thru the buffet in the afternoon to grab a snack or a fruit tray & drinks but that's about. I also get my first cup of morning coffee up there since it is probably the best cup of coffee on the ship!!!

 

 

Ron

 

You get your first cup of morning coffee in the buffet since it is "probably the best cup of coffee on the ship?" Wow! The only decent cup of coffee I've gotten was from the specialty restaurants!

 

You occasionally go to the buffet to "get a fruit tray and drinks". The only drinks I saw in the buffet were: Ice water, tea, and coffee. Did I miss something?

 

TIA

[Skitter]

We have sailed on Princess many, many, many times. I must say the Caribbean Princess is our least favorite ship. I don't think we will ever sail on her again. Trust me, 500 more people does make a difference.

Skitter

[CruiseFever]

We never use the buffet for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The selections in the dining rooms are far better than anything I have ever seen at the buffet. We do occasionaly walk thru the buffet in the afternoon to grab a snack or a fruit tray & drinks but that's about. I also get my first cup of morning coffee up there since it is probably the best cup of coffee on the ship!!!

 

 

Ron

 

We formerly HAVE used the buffet more often than not for breakfast and lunch but after our last cruise I must agree; nice selections in the dining room, served hot and by a person without fighting the crowd WAY better.

 

Serving hot things hot and cold things cold in the dining room is one of the things I think Princess does best. There's a world of difference between what I end up eating in the buffet and what I end up eating in the dining room.

 

We made a concentrated effort to make it to the dining room during serving hours for lunch and enjoyed our meals much more.

 

Sometimes there WAS an awkwardness at the table depending on the mix of people (strangers) seated there as it is open seating. But after the second lunch of near silence I just started talking to them like we'd been dining together for years. Most all of them opened right up and we had a marvelous time. Others looked like they would probably never leave their cabin again.

 

We too like the buffet for an afternoon or late night snack. 3:30 Ice Cream time is a favorite but I have to be careful with that or I'll miss tea time...in the dining room!

[CroozBlooz]

Wicked, we'll watch after the CB for you this week!

 

So far, everything has been great. Our waiter at dinner (Daniel in the Palm) did a very nice job last night, and we intend to get him each evening. As the menus are the same, we have a pretty good idea of what we like and what we don't. I had the Zander (a nice mild fish) and my wife had the always available strip steak. Both were very good.

 

Although we do not frequent buffets on land, we generally eat breakfast at the Horizon Court, since I usually just eat a bagel and fruit. My wife finds things she likes as well. The made to order omelets upstairs also are very good, and hotter and fresher than what you would get in the dining room!

 

So far, we don't think it's been "too crowded" but then again, it's only the first day at sea, and many may still be sleeping! More to follow.

[peterv]

Peter nothing is worse that paying good money for a vacation and then not having the "time of your life". I'm sorry to hear you cruise on the Caribbean Princess was not what you had expected. There are many things we don't favor about the Grand Class ships and you mentioned most of them. The CP is a super Grand Class and I doubt we'll ever try her.

 

Wishing you a much better cruise on your B2B Golden sailing.

 

On a positive note, I never said I didn't enjoy my holiday, there was nothing in my comments that put a damper on it. In fact there isn't much that would ruin it for me. :) Well, maybe if the ship sank, but even that would be an experience! :p

 

We were both thinking that it would be a somewhat better cruise than our last trip on the Triumph last Christmas. Unfortunately there really isn't anything that we felt makes Princess stand out as a more upscale or better cruise line than the others. In fact with our Carnival trip it does appear that you get a bit more than when we pay a higher fare to Princess. For example only water, iced tea, coffee, no self-serve ice cream, lockers for the asking in the spa, charging for a glass of juice except during breakfast. We sometimes got the feeling that we as passengers were in the way of the crew.

 

In any case, we will see what (if any) differences occur over this Christmas.

 

To all with supportive comments, I thank you, and once again, the holiday wasn't ruined by any means, and we both enjoyed ourselves. After all a week in the sun sure beats a rainy week in London town every time!

 

Cheers,

Peter

[woodofpine]

Your comments are well thought. Some - subjective, as to food and entertainment - but hey, that's what opinions are. I'd be interested in any comparisons you have to P&O given the prior corporate relationship.

 

Most of the following comments I agree with. Cruising has changed as have cruisers. One "nice" thing is that cruises are cheaper than ever - much cheaper, but ultimately you get what you pay for so staff ratios have declined as has food service. Your correct in criticizing the Horizon Court design. And personally, I've always thought that Princess' fresh water pool plumbing came at the expense of pool side towels, buffet cloth napkins, and other industrial laundry.

 

Ditto - expectations, when I first tried Celeb (Summit) I went with high expectations and was disappointed. I took the same ship a year or two later (with lower expectations) and that cruise was near the top of my list...

[Twaincruisers]

We were on the Golden last year and find Horizon court the most disastrous design of any ship. Why design an island layout to break up lines and then stick the islands in a closet and run two lines in opposite directions on a collision course! Spent most of my time just trying to get to the next island while running into people going in the opposite direction. We are on the Sea in Dec. and I am so not looking forward to their buffet. It will be confusing enough having people embark/disembark in two different ports.