Just back from Caribbean Princess-some facts you might like to know.

[mcrika]

We just returned from the 5-29-04 sailing of the Caribbean Princess, We enjoyed the vacation very much and could recommend this ship and the western itineray with confidence to anyone.

I'm not much of a typist, so I will just state a few facts that I now have first hand knowledge of that have been discussed on this board a few times that hopefully you will find useful. We were in c714 on the port side of the ship.

1. Caribe deck balconies are half covered and half exposed and are approximately 9 feet 9.5 feet. Ours had two chairs, two reclining chairs with cushions and two tables on it.

2. Dolphin deck balconies are fully exposed and about half the depth and the width as the Caribe deck.

3. Baja, Aloha and I'm pretty sure this would also apply to Rivera deck balconies are half the depth and the same width as Caribe deck but are fully covered.

4. The Horizon Court and the Caribe Cafe are directly adjacent to each other, if you go up the aft stairs or elevators you will be roight the middle of the two. Between the two of them, one or the other is allways open. So food is available 24 hours a day.

5. Dinner time selections in the Caribe Cafe were excellent, lots of seafood and other good stuff. At dinner the tables are all set and there are staff there fillings water glasses and providing other services. It is a very viable alternative to the main dining rooms.

6. If you are a soda drinker, the soda card is $20.00, add $2.50 if you want the souvenior Coke cup. Here is a tip, forget the Coke cup, they don't hold very much. Instead, always ask for a "medium" coke and they will give you a plastic cup that is twic ethe size of a standard cup.

7.If you care the port side of the ship is facing away from the actual port at Ocho Rios and and Grand Cayman. It faces the port at Cozumel, but the view was blocked by the Carnival ship docked accross from us on the same pier.

8. If you cruise in the summer months be prepared, it was quite hot and very humid last week. Even with nice breeze blowing it was a tad uncomfortable.

9. Service on the ship in general was mediocre, it seemed to us that the crew was just not as friendly or cordial as we have experienced in the past on previous Princess cruises. No big deal, just an observation.

10. As expected, on sea days the pools and surrounding areas were quite crowded, there were however, plenty of chairs available as long as you did not need to be right at the pools.

11. We noticed that on this cruise, the crowd was generally younger. My guess would be that the average age was 35 -40. There were quite a few families and a good number of yound adults.

That said, we had no encounters with any unrully teenagers or younger children.

 

Thats about all I can think of at the moment, if you have any specific question I will try to visit this board from time to time to answer them for you.

[sue d. miller]

Wow Mcrika, Thanks. All that info is sure going to help alot of cruisers that have not been on the Caribbean yet. Thanks for taking the time. Much appreciated!!

 

Sue

7 days on Star Princess 10/24

 

GROWING OLD IS MANDATORY..... GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CaptData]

Thank you for this report. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

 

MS Maasdam 6 - 17 Feb 05

 

 Until I sail away on the ocean blue

 

 

 

Navigator of the Seas Western Crib 08/03

Dawn Princess - Eastern Carb 01/03

Dawn Princess Panamal Canal 11/02

 

[GOBOLTS]

Thanks for the review! Was the caribe cafe busy at dinner time? how many nights did they have seafood? We love those crab legs! we will be on the caribe deck, I know about the balconies but what about the size of the rooms? Shower?

 

John

 

Millenium 11/03

Caribbean Princess 

[CruiseFever]

Just what we needed to know- thanks!

 

Two questions:

 

Did they ever play the Love Boat song while you were on the ship?

 

and of course:

 

Did you see anyone carrying on cases of water, soda or beer?

 

Happy Cruising

 

Chris

 

www.LifeIsCruising.com

 

Next up:

Caribbean Princess 06/26/04

Star Princess 10/24/04

Diamond Princess 12/22/04

Sapphire Princess June '05

Caribbean Princess 09/17/05

Carnival Valor 10/30/05

 

[Lidi]

mcrika, Thanks for the review. I would like to hear more about your cabin as our friends will be sailing in that exact cabin on the 9/25 eastern sailing. We will be next door in c718. Was your steward helpful? Any problems or complaints about the cabin or location. We are just thrilled with the balcony. Thanks again for the review and any other information you have.

 

SS Norway 5/11/03 first cruise for 20th Anniversary!

Well worth the wait!

 

Caribbean Princess 9/25/04

because we are hooked!

[Bucky3]

Thanks for the review. We'll be in C710 in a couple of weeks. Did you like that location? And, do they really have crab legs in the Caribe Cafe!?? Thanks in advance!

[Tak8]

I was wondering what is the Caribe cafe?

[meyerhaus]

Did you see anyone carrying on cases of water, soda or beer?

 

Chris, you kill me! I so wish that I could go with you guys on the CP. I know that it is going to be a blast!

 

JON

 

www.geocities.com/pattersandmenus

 

Golden Princess Southern Caribbean-7/11/04

Click to go to the ROLL CALL!

 

Big Red Boat-1993

Celebrity Zenith-1993

 

 

[decr]

We also were on the May 29 sailing.

 

To answer the 2 questions:

 

1. We never heard the Love Boat theme music.

 

 

2. I carried on a bag that had a case of diet pepsi and several bottled waters. We had no problems with that. In fact, the case of diet pepsi made a great seat for my 7-year old son as we went thru the security line.

[DBDB9116]

Thanks for the review. I have one question, Is there a place onboard to buy coffee (lattes) and pastry. The last ship I went on had a small pastry/coffee cafe.

Thanks,

DB

[jh979]

Also just off that cruise. It is funny how people can get a different view of things. We were also on the Caribe deck, C309, and all of the staff we encountered was extremely friendly and happy to help you. We used the adult pool at the back, we used the pool lounges on the decks above the pool with no trouble in getting two. If you wanted a chair in a particular place, the deck attendent would set one up for you.

 

The Caribe buffet served seafood each night, my wife loved it, I would head to the horizon buffet for a sandwich most times. We never found the Caribe to be crowded in the evening. When we went down to a dining room for dinner, we were seated immediately each time, at a table for two.

 

There is a coffee/latte spot on the atrium, deck 5 I think. My wife drinks coffee and wasn't to thrilled with the taste of the coffee.

 

We had a great time, with nary a rain drop, lots of sun for everyone. I think this was one of our best cruises.

 

Next:

11/28/04 Mariner of the Seas

 

Past Cruises:

5/29/04 Caribbean Princess

12/03 Enchantment of the Seas

5/03 NCL Sky "Alaska at last"

1/03 Imagination

6/02 Sovereign of the Seas

 

 

[Flacrusrs]

Thanks for an informative review. We hope to do the Eastern sailing on the CP in February.

[DBDB9116]

Thanks for the information about the latte location. I heard that the coffee was bad and thought a latte might be a better alternative. I guess I can live without a Starbucks for 1 week!

 

DB

[CruiseNut7]

Thanks for the terrific review!

 

QUESTION: We are booked on a guarantee category "AC" mini-suite which would put us on the Dolphin deck.

 

Are you saying there is NO cover over the balcony at all? I thought all of them had some kind of coverage.

 

I'll appreciate any feedback.

 

Thanks,

Diane

 

Caribbean Princess 11/27/04

 

Celebrity Summit Photos

http://community.webshots.com/user/ddepace7

_____________________________

Celebrity Summit 2004, Star Princess 2003, Carnival Triumph 2002, RCCL Enchantment of the Seas 2001, Carnival Ecstasy 2000, Norwegian Majesty 1998, Carnival Ecstasy 1998, Grandeur of the Seas 1997, Regal Princess 1995, Carnival Holiday 1993, Emerald Seas 1991, Dolphin 1990, Britannis 1989

[roe2ship]

jh979, did you use the Palm dining room? And are there some tables for two that are not so close together?

 

Caribbean Princess 7/03/04

 

 

[decr]

We had private tables for 2 everytime that we went without the kids. In fact, we had a table to ourselves every meal that we ate in the dining room.

[jturner901]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by roe2ship:

jh979, did you use the Palm dining room? And are there some tables for two that are not so close together?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

In the Palm, the tables for two are packed pretty tightly together. Actually, the whole Palm dining room is packed pretty tightly together.

 

All the best!

 

Jay & Karen Turner

Mount Hope, Ontario

 

Westerdam 12/93

Statendam 10/95

Zenith 05/96

Westerdam 05/97

Norway 10/97

Westerdam 10/98

Sun Princess 10/99

Volendam 10/00

Volendam 10/01

Century 10/02

Zuiderdam 05/03

Caribbean Princess 05/04

[cruisinsuz]

Wow! I was surprised to hear that the balconies on the Dolphin deck were smaller. I (mistakenly) was under the impression that they were, in fact, larger than other balconies! We are in an AC mini-suite on 6/26 and are expecting plenty of room for two chairs and two reclining chairs/table. Will we be disappointed? Thanks!

[Aquarian]

roe 2 ship: there are tables for 2 in the Palm Dining Room that are against the wall on one side and there are not tables close beside. You might ask for one of these. Mauro should be at the desk at the Palm Dining room and I'll bet he would accomodate you if you asked for privacy.

[comettgirl]

While the balconies on the Dolphin deck are bigger then those on the Lido, Aloha and Baja (lower catagory cabins), they are not as big as those on the Caribe deck BA, BB catagories. With the other furniture on them, it would be a tight squeeze to add two lounge chairs. If balcony space is what you want, go to the caribe deck.

 

Therese

[cruisinsuz]

Thanks, Therese.

 

I could have sworn I had read that the two chairs w/table and two recliners fit fine on the Dolphin deck mini-suites balconies. I had myself all pumped up for that! Tell me it's still so!!

[seattlecruiser]

Cruisinsuz,

Here is a link to a picture of the decks on the Diamond (which i believe has the same setup as the CP). It looks to me the the Caribe decks are just slightly deeper than the Dolphin minis. You can see that by comparing the size of the partitions between the decks. The middle partition on the Caribe balcony looks to me to be about 6-12" wider than dolphin. Link : Community.webshots.com/photo/145352599/145358963xJZShV

[cruisinsuz]

Thanks, seattlecruser!

Any reason why I can't access the link? It says Forbidden because "Access denied by access control list".

[comettgirl]

cruisinsuz, you heard right, the mini suite, dolphin deck balconies do have recliners, NOT lounge chairs. I call reclining back chairs, just that. I think they also give you a foot stool with that. I like the loungers, like the ones you find up by the pool. I always have the cabin steward bring one down. If you take some of the other furniture off the dolphin deck, you would be able to fit at least one lounge chair in it, plus a little more furniture. Maybe your table and chairs. You can also STACK furniture when you are not using it. It is do-able, but the Caribe deck balconies give you much more space to work with.

 

Therese