Can someone reassure us about Caribbean Princess

[AJs Grandpa]

We're on the ta now,... This is our eighth transatlantic, and we sailed in much rougher sees especially in the North Atlantic. This has been the roughest and most uncomfortable crossing we've ever had. The ship is rocking and rolling a lot and I'm just not sure it has the capacity at this point to handle even the slight seas we've had.

 

We were also on the cruise. I'm sorry you had the cabin issues. That would certainly sour my view of the entire cruise.

 

I feel the need to comment on the seas. I don't quibble with your characterization of this being the roughest crossing you have experienced, but I would like to balance your comments with our experience. We have a couple of more Princess cruises than you, but this was our first TA. I was shocked by the calm seas! Yes, there were a couple of days when we rocked a little bit, but the vast majority of time the seas were "slight" and much, much calmer than I anticipated. We've had Caribbean cruises with rougher seas and really bounced around on a British Isles cruise a couple of years ago. I tend toward being uncomfortable in rough seas and have had the occasional need to spend extra time in bed during rough weather on other sailings. I never came close to having that feeling on the crossing.

 

As far as service cutbacks...yes, some were apparent. We were disappointed by the continued absence of the BOGO +1 happy hour. On the other hand, our waitstaff in TD was among the best we ever had. We had all lunches and breakfasts in the buffet, and--with a couple of exceptions--had great service there as well. It was almost too good as we barely finished a drink or dish before a waitperson swept the glasses and plates away.

 

We found the entertainment to be generally top-notch--above what we've had on other Princess cruises.

 

Again, I respect your view, but I wanted to share our different experience. I hope to take more TAs and hope they are as pleasant as our experience the past two weeks on the Caribbean Princess.

[philliesgirl48]

Just completed a 15 day TA on the Caribbean Princess & had no problems. The first 3 days across the Atlantic were as smooth as glass, there was some rocking the next 2 days but did not need to take any meds. Had a wonderful time. Noticed nothing wrong with the engines. Food & service were good.

[GottaLuvCruising]

We are also just off the Caribbean Princess transatlantic. We had a very good time, loved the sea days and the three production shows.

 

Our bathroom had an annoying urine smell the first few days and the shower curtain needed to be replaced. We did not make an issue of this, but we probably should have.

 

Our disappointment was primarily with the buffet. The aft sections which used to be buffet in the evening, with table cloths and beverage service are now extra charge restaurants (BBQ and Steamers.) At lunch one side is "Ramen" (yes, as in ramen noodles with your choice of add ons.) The other side offers a couple pre-made hot sandwiches and the exact same cabbage and apple slaw every single day..day after day after day. Now the Marketplace buffet is still both sides just forward of the aft section. While it is laid out pretty well, the food served makes me think of Golden Corral (and I do NOT go to Golden Corral.) It was ridiculously repetitive, odd concoctions presented as casseroles, canned diced potato with some sauce offered as "gratin potatoes" over and over again, tossed with whatever meat was left over from the day prior. The pre-made sandwiches allowed no option to select your ingredients and hot sandwiches were no longer hot, cold sandwiches were wet and mushy on the bottom. Weird combos like tuna and avocado...who eats that? They did offer trays of deli meat but everything was processed. Sometimes the carving station had nice meats like roast beef or turkey. One day the sandwich was a reuben (which I love); it wasn't hot, was made with pastrami rather corned beef and the bottom was mushy, but I ate most of it. Another day they offered beef brisket on the carving station. It looked like corned beef brisket but was not labeled as such. The next day they actually had corned beef sandwiches - not reubens - but they actually were delicious. Breakfast was repetitive as always, but it was fine. Lunch was disappointing. We had most dinners in the dining room.

 

We have sailed the Caribbean Princess twice before and loved the aft dining area of buffet for dinner - they actually served an assortment of the MDR menu items. We missed that.

 

For us the ship was fine. The cruise director was corny and silly, reminding us of Pee Wee Herman, but others seemed to enjoy him. We really enjoyed the international café and our coffee card. MDR menus were a little funky for us, but we didn't go hungry.

 

It is unlikely that we'd sail the Caribbean Princess again, but could be enticed with really low fares.

[4x4bob]

We also were on the CB for the recent Trans Atlantic from Southampton to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. This was our 3rd time on this ship so we did not have a "learning Curve" to find our way around.

 

And, we were one of the lucky ones to get in on the sale price offered by Princess. We were late taking advantage of the sale, so all of the Balcony's were gone so we went with an Interior.

 

Yes, there were a few glitches from time to time such as an Elevator breaking down or our Toilet failing to flush when some other passenger plugged up Zone 3. Crew soon had that fixed.

 

The service from the crew was outstanding and food was rated average by the Wife and I with some noticeable cut backs.

 

Considering that two major Hurricanes blasted into Texas and Florida just before we left and Another one was coming at the USA the day after we arrived in Florida, the water was uncommonly flat. We had some rocking in the English Channel, but most days it was rated as Slight, i.e. 1-4.5 feet high waves. I always do a water glass check in the MDR and saw very little movement each night at dinner.

 

The last day of the cruise the Capt, during his noon report, stated we had averaged 18.5 knots for the crossing. A few times he kicked it up to 19 knots. So, slow speed was not a factor in our crossing.

 

To sum it up, we had another outstanding cruise and now the Wife is shopping for our next one for the first of next year. And, if it is on the CB, we will go without any concern.

Bob

[ibchupacabra]

If the engine problems are still occurring at the time of your voyage, you will receive a notice from princess (if you haven't alread) with your adjusted port times. We actually cancelled our November sailing on the CP because our ports were shortened too much and docking times were weird i.e. arriving at the Panama Canal at 5AM.

[Tak8]

I was on the Caribbean Princess in May for a British Isles cruise. Great ship, no problems. I will be back on her in May for a Caribbean cruise. Yes, port times have changed slightly, but no big changes. Enjoy.