Caribbean Princess Review 10/22/05

[Twinflow]

It?s a big ship with the little ship feel as they state. They are correct the ship is cut up into small areas/rooms with low ceilings. Even the dinning rooms have low ceilings. I found the ship difficult to find your way around. The hallways around the cabins were narrow and with cabin Stewarts carts were hard to walk by. The Stewarts were using large paper bags to hold clean laundry because their carts were too small.

 

The Princess Theater seated about 800 people and usually passengers that arrived at show time were found standing in the walkways. I even witnessed a crew member suggesting they leave and find entertainment in other areas of the ship.

 

The food was a real disappointment compared to my Carnival Cruises. Many times during dinner we ordered off the available every night selections. The dinners were a real disappointment compared to Carnival?s signature meals. The lunch buffet was basically four identical stations with the same food. Try to find a fresh Deli Sandwich like Carnival offers was impossible. One day I went back to my cabin and ordered a turkey sandwich and it was processed meat. This was the worst food I have ever eaten on a Cruise. The only drinks available at no extra charge were coffee, hot tea and ice tea. Try to find Hot Coco and they send you to a bar and charge you extra. Carnival offers you many more choices of drinks at no extra charge. I purchased a Soda Card and found the soda being dispensed at the Horizon Terrace Pool bar coming from a large thermos. The soda was always flat and I refused to drink it. The only Ice Cream was available at one location and the minimum charge was $1.50. Carnival has ice cream available 24-hours per day at no extra charge. Oh, one person tried the pizza and recommended us not to eat it. On Carnival they always have a line at the pizza station.

 

The cabin and bathroom were large because we had a handicapped room. We were not handicapped but the room was assigned to us at no extra charge. The shower did not have the usual shampoo and body soap dispensers like Carnival. They had ketchup style packets of shampoo that you had to open with your teeth. The soap was supplied in round bars. I had to steal bath towels off the Stewarts carts to have enough for our cabin.

 

On Carnival before dinner you could find several selections of live music. This ship was catering to an older crowd and I am 49! Only one piano player before dinner playing slow older songs. BTW, and I like all kinds of music.

 

The Crew! Someone told them not to talk to the passengers. They were very cold and never smiled. It seemed like they were told to just do your job and not bother the passengers. Crew interaction with the passengers is a must! This was one big problem all over the ship. I even had a crew member riding the elevator with me complaining about the passengers holding up the elevators. The elevators were slow and the wait time was longer then expected. I know people will wait 5-minutes to go down one flight of steps.

 

Reading areas, I found the library closed all afternoon. So my usual reading area under the life boat deck was a jogging track. They had wooden chairs for passengers to sit on but the joggers would come by and I felt I was going to trip them. I headed to the Skywalkers Night Club and found a quite place to read. But around 930 am the music started playing over the speakers and made reading difficult. I found the same people trying to read everyday in the Night Club. The place smelled of smoke from the previous night. Late in the week I found a teenager studding his history book in the closed Churchill Lounge.

 

This was my 4th Cruise in 12 months. The three previous were all Carnival Cruises. I am not a drinker or a party person but I do want to have fun on a 7-day Cruise. I find the crew and passenger much friendlier on the Carnival Ships. Usually by the end of the week I have made friends with many crew members and passengers.

 

Our Cruise Group was made up of 16 persons. Their ages ranged from a 9 year old girl to folks nearing retirement in their 60?s. We all agreed to never return to a Princess Ship.

 

One last note: on Friday evening I had a older couple tell me they have been on 39 Cruises all over the world. They also stated they would never return to a Princess Ship.

 

Sailing on the new Carnival Liberty 12/10/05 my holiday Cruise.

[ria]

Sounds like you should go back to Carnival.... whine, whine , whine

 

Ria

[stephenandrew]

Sounds like you should go back to Carnival.... whine, whine , whine

 

Ria

 

This kind of response in really inappropriate. The OP is entitiled (and should be encouraged) to share his opinions. Ease up.

[mtaylor04]

Thanks for the review. I hope you enjoy your next cruise on Carnival better. For the money you spend you should be happy.

 

I will stick to Princess, as we have found many things to enjoy about Princess. The more people decide not to use Princess the cheaper the rates will get :D

 

I don't know any theater venue that you can wait until the last minute and get into the theater. We always go to the theater (musicals) 30 minutes to an hour early. I am always amazed when people complain about this issue.

 

There were several items on the menu that I did not like but there were others that were very good. Also, the pizza was great when it was fresh out of the oven.

[cabana]

This doesn't sound like the ship we were on a few months ago. The crew were more then friendly to us.

[Laurab23]

I really hope this cruise was the exception and not the norm.We've been on 2 Carnival cruises and loved them but next year we are trying the new Crown Princess.We are getting a suite,which is very expensive,and I hope we find our cruise more enjoyable than you did yours.Some of the things you mentioned are what I really enjoyed on Carnival so I'm starting to worry a little! I love the lunch buffet on Carnival and Princess from what you are saying sounds pretty lame for the lunch buffets. I think I'll miss the free lemonade and ice cream so hopefully I will find other good things to make up for it.But no matter what,I plan to enjoy my cruise. Thanks for your review.

 

Laura

[mtaylor04]

There is free ice cream in the Horizon every afternoon (I think around 2 or 3). They have the items so that you can make a sundae or banana split or just plain ice cream.

 

It might not be free all the time but they do have it every day at a certain time

 

Mary

[Cruising89143]

It sounds like Carnival is more to your liking and there is nothing wrong with that. Hopefully your next cruise will be more to your liking.

[Laurab23]

Thanks for that info. At least I know I can get my "ice cream fix" at some point of the day!

 

Laura

[spongerob]

Here we have a glowing review of Carnival, yet people complain about "Carnivalization". Sounds like the OP would be happier if more Carnivalization had taken place. ;)

[timberhollow]

The Caribbean Princess is still our favorite, perhaps you never made it to the Caribe Cafe.

 

The crew is always very friendly and found the pizza to be good too.

 

I'm sorry that you did not find your experience as enjoyable as we have in the past.

[LARGIN]

Sorry your cruise did not live up to your expectations.. Princess is less a party ship than Carnival. I suspect that you will have more fun sailing Carnival ships.

[bickee]

Laura don't worry. I had only sailed Carnival prior to the EXACT same cruise as the OP and LOVED the CB!!! That cruise was fabulous, and our tablemates who had cruised many different lines a total of 23 times said it was their favorite! I guess everyone's looking for something different! It was my best cruise yet. :)

[Laurab23]

Thanks Bickee,That makes me feel alot better.

[stoneharborlady]

Funny how different people see things so differently. I thought the food was wonderful, the crew very friendly, and the ship beautiful. The downer? Over much too quickly!!! Karen

[roe2ship]

This doesn't sound like the ship we were on a few months ago. The crew were more then friendly to us.

They sure were (Hi Bill!):)

Funny how different people see things so differently. I thought the food was wonderful, the crew very friendly, and the ship beautiful. The downer? Over much too quickly!!! Karen

Karen, I agree!:) Maybe you had to wear red shirts;)

 

So skywalkers smelled of smoke?? Does Carnival night clubs not smell like smoke? How about their casino:rolleyes:

[hstrybuf]

How lucky you are to have gone on four cruises in the last year! Perhaps your expectations were not in line with what Princess offers vs. Carnival. I have sailed on both lines, as well as RCI, and had a marvelous time on every one. Perhaps you aren't a Princess person. Hopefully your next Carnival cruise will be more to your satisfaction.

[spongerob]

Hmm, Deb, that's awfully close to what a cheerleader might say....ROFL!

[ToplessPony]

In case anyone else missed it like the OP. While on the Caribbean Princess a couple of weeks ago we were thirlled to find that the grill was serving made to order deli sandwichs along with the normal grill items. Had a couple for lunch one day and they were very good. :)

 

The bar at back also did not have a working soda dispenser the week of November 5th but every other bar that we went to did have normal fountain soda that to me tasted just fine with plenty of fizz. No different then I've had at any fast food place or 7/11.

Scott

[hstrybuf]

Well, Rob, you know I've never been called a cheerleader! :D But then again, I've never found much to complain about on any cruise, any line. And I get tired of reviews that are one sided where the OP can't find anything good to say about the entire cruise. The RCI forum just had one of those and the post was poofed and reposted several times. Annoying to say the least.

 

In my case, it would only be a bad cruise if the ship sunk! :D

[Marmarjudy]

This just shows there is a cruise line for everyone. Princess happens to be ours. My husband refuses to ever again sail on a Carnival ship--once was enough for him. FYI---I have sailed them many times and would do so again, with friends, for a party atmosphere where we can laugh at the waiters dancing on the tables and singing God Bless America (even though none of them are American) and expect basic meat and potatoes type food--not bad food, just basic. I feel the same way about RCCL.

 

My husband and I much prefer the resort type atmosphere on Princess with the anytime dining. We are booked for January--6th Princess in 3 years--and can't wait.

 

And, by the way, it is cabin steward, not stewart...sorry, I just had to say it because this and "dinning" instead of dining are two of my pet peeves on these boards:-)

 

Judy

[ToplessPony]

Pizza! You should given the pizza a try yourself. We find it to be very good to excellent! Along with the 2 regular types they always had one other interesting combination. One of the best we tried was garlic and chicken. Later we tried a ham, mushroom and artichoke slice that was very very good! Not saying I'd book Princess just for the pizza but it is close! :) :)

 

Scott

[RvrCrzr]

Talk about viscious!:eek:

 

Ease up. Each person will have a different experience...even on the same ship/cruise. They are just giving their take on the trip.

 

If they liked or disliked something...they can express that. Nothing wrong with that.

 

Their review or opinion won't stop me from sailing a certain ship, or line. Just because they prefer Carnival, and express it on the Princess board isn't a reason to start busting their chops.

 

Thanks for the review. I think people are busting on you because there was a lot of negative points in it. Was there anything you liked better on PRINCESS than CARNIVAL?

[Nolesfan]

Remember when Carnival cured Cancer? Then they bought everyone a puppy! Then they got every man, woman and child in the whole world to stand hand in hand and sing kumbaya until nothing bad ever happened again!

 

Carnival rocks!!

 

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[ScooterCruiser]

I am new to this site and I always admired the positive way people responded to questions and opinions. In my present position I am subjected to so much negativity that I find these threads to be a nice “escape”. It is wonderful to interact with others who love to cruise and who share a desire to meet and interact with others of similar interests. I understand how passionate some are about their favorite cruise line but to flame someone for their opinion does not seem constructive or necessary. Each person’s opinion has some value. I am not here to preach or condemn, I just want to continue enjoying all you wonderful, helpful people. I apologize if my spelling or grammar distracts anyone.

 

Gary in Baghdad:cool:

Sun Princess 4/17/06