Just Returned on the Caribbean Princess

[Ep010835]

Yippie!! :D

[Vegastime]

We are onboard right now and agree with most of your review. The fast free internet has been great. Pleasantly surprised on the shape of the ship, after some of the other reviews.

 

We have a aft balcony cabin, and have noticed more vibration than on previous cruises, but it is not overly bothersome.

[cruisen JJ]

We were on for 10 days in April and thought the ship and crew were excellent!

[floridalover5623]

Thanks for your review, but we don't agree in the area of food and food service. Having been on this ship 8 times (just off last month) we have seen a severe decline in food quality, offerings, buffet appearance, and service in the DR and buffet areas. There has been enough of a decline that we will not book this particular ship again. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. :)

Not to say that you're wrong but it's posting such as this that have me a little concerned about the food situation. Unfortunately, it appears that the preparation isn't up to Princess standards of the other ships in the fleet.

It's puzzling since they usually correct downfalls such as this before they get out of hand.

[Magellan321]

Great review :) ! Fyi....we have sailed with the future cruise consultant also and you are spot on! It's not like we went when they are closed and asked for service. Went, stood in line, waited our turn to find out about a particular date that wasn't in the brochure rack....and she seemed highly annoyed. I thought going in with a specific date and ship to not waste her time would make there job easier than others that we have seen pull the....I want to go such and such region but have no idea when but give me the best price you can find. I thought maybe it was just me.

[kywildcatfanone]

Thanks for your review.

 

 

As to this statement: I suppose however they are doing some tracking of the passenger’smovements for the ship’s own purposes though.

That is the purpose of the medallion, to track you about the ship and your spending habits, and to market specifically to you.

[kendon]

Not to say that you're wrong but it's posting such as this that have me a little concerned about the food situation. Unfortunately, it appears that the preparation isn't up to Princess standards of the other ships in the fleet.

It's puzzling since they usually correct downfalls such as this before they get out of hand.

 

Sadly from reading other reviews, it appears that the other ships are suffering the same issue. I understand cost savings. I don't understand lowering standards.

[phabric]

I am traveling with a friend and her 9 yr granddaughter. This will be her first cruise and not sure if she wants to go to the kids club.

 

Did your granddaughter go to the kids club?

 

How did she like it?

 

Do you have any kids club activity programs?

 

Did they give you a kids club activity program per day or for the whole week?

[Bwana Tom]

I am traveling with a friend and her 9 yr granddaughter. This will be her first cruise and not sure if she wants to go to the kids club.

 

Did your granddaughter go to the kids club?

 

How did she like it?

 

Do you have any kids club activity programs?

 

Did they give you a kids club activity program per day or for the whole week?

 

Unfortunately we couldn't convince our granddaughter to attend any of the kid's programs. We tried our best to convince her, but we made no progress. It did appear to us that they had some great activities for the kids throughout the cruise. We frequently saw the various age groups being escorted to different activities on the ship and the ship staff seemed to be great and very well suited for the job. We did walk through the kid's club facilities and they looked really neat. I hope you have better success with your 9 year old, because I think our granddaughter missed out by not wanting to attend. I would be sure to sign up for it before the trip.

I think the Princess website has a listing of the kid's club activities. Aside from those programs there are a lot of other activities going on like paper plane folding competition, face painting, ring toss, a clay shark making contest, etc. If she doesn't want to attend the kid's club itself those are great ways for her to have fun as well.

I hope you and her have a great time.

[phabric]

Thanks

[PescadoAmarillo]

Theonly staff person we had an issue with was with the Future Cruise Consultant. BernadetteVaziri. Ironically, on our last cruise on the Coral Princess we had the sameperson and on both occasions we found her personality to not be conducive ofthis job. She was abrupt, outspoken and we though she didn’t treat thepassengers with the respect they desired. It always looked like she was moreconcerned about organizing her job and office area than dealing with the questionsthe passengers had. When talking to hershe always seemed to have her mind on something else.

People who know me know I do not say this sort of thing often...

 

In over 100 cruises with Princess, there are only two people I would say this about, and she is one of them. And she has been a known issue for years. I’m shocked she is still employed by Princess.

[AF-1]

Bwana Tom, thanks for such an uplifting review. It sounds like your family had a wonderful two weeks on Caribbean Princess

[sherman931]

We were on the CB the previous week. We booked a future cruise and I 100% agree with your comments on The Future Cruise person. She was cold and arrogant and behaved as if she was doing us a favor

[willyshaw]

I apologize in advance for such a long posting, but I wantedto address a few of the concerns that fellow cruise critics have pointed out pertainingto the Caribbean Princess.

My wife and I as well as our grown daughter, her husband and10-year old daughter just returned from a back to back cruise departing Ft.Lauderdale, Florida on August 11th. This cruise covered the eastern and westernCaribbean on the Caribbean Princess (CB). My wife and I has a BE class B223balcony cabin located on the starboard side forward and our daughter’s familywere in A701 a balcony cabin on the starboard side aft. Coming from as far asMontana we always like to book longer cruises and the combined 14 nights workedwell for us.

The complaints that have been registered are wide and varied,including such things as: the ship looking dated, dirty and rusted, warn anddirty carpets, propulsion problem, unresponsive staff, poor quality food in thedining rooms, the buffet and specialty restaurants, too small of bathrooms,problems with the internet, debarking & embarking problems, the OceanMedallion not being present, poor quality shows and entertainment, poor airconditioning as well as many other areas of concern. I will attempt to provideour own prospective on those items in that same order.

Ship Looking Dated,Dirty & Rusted: I was in theU.S. Navy and know how the salt water and salty air can raise cane with metalmaking it necessary to continuously work on maintenance and upkeep. In myopinion the crew has done an excellent job maintaining this ship and in my opinionit was in excellent condition overall. While there were a few spots of rusthere and there they were so small you had to look hard to find them. And as faras the carpet condition goes we found it to be in great condition and alwayskept clean. We were just a bit disappointed that the hallway carpet was not colorcoded as it is on some Princess ships to distinguish between starboard and portside. By color coding the hallways it makes it much easier to move about on theship.

Propulsion Problem: So many people were concerned over thevibration issues and the speed of the ship. While there was a slightly mount ofvibration, particularly in the aft portion of the ship, if this issue hadn’tbeen discussed so thoroughly you likely wouldn’t even notice it. And while theskipper keeps the speed down to about 18 knots and under that didn’t pose aproblem either.

Unresponsive Staff: All in our party found the staff to be greatwith one exception. Our waiters Leandro and Jorge in the Coral Dining Room wereexcellent, very attentive to our concerns and quite funny. Our cabin stewardDino also very good. He was always around if we needed him, but neverinterrupted our daily routine. On a couple of occasions our toilet wouldn’tflush, but it was promptly repaired and without any disruption or problems. Theonly staff person we had an issue with was with the Future Cruise Consultant. BernadetteVaziri. Ironically, on our last cruise on the Coral Princess we had the sameperson and on both occasions we found her personality to not be conducive ofthis job. She was abrupt, outspoken and we though she didn’t treat thepassengers with the respect they desired. It always looked like she was moreconcerned about organizing her job and office area than dealing with the questionsthe passengers had. When talking to hershe always seemed to have her mind on something else. I would think Princess wouldwant to put someone in this important job that would be considerably morepleasant to work with.

Poor Quality Food inthe Dining Rooms, the Buffet and Specialty Restaurants: After reading all of the negative commentsabout the food on the CB we were pleasantly surprised. In all areas we found itto be very good to outright excellent. Of course there were some dishes weweren’t too fond of, but that is expected no matter where you are dining. Weonly ate once at one of the specialty restaurant, the Crown Grill. We found thefood to be excellent and above the quality typically found in the Coral DiningRoom, but we received this as a bonus to your booking and probably wouldn’t likelypay the $29/person for it. My wife, daughter and granddaughter thoroughlyenjoyed the afternoon tea and a great way of meeting new people.

Too Small ofBathrooms: The bathrooms were small,no question about it, but they were perfectly adequate and well designed. Iwould much prefer a small bathroom for a little larger living area and balconyand that is the way these rooms were designed. The showers were very small, butalso adequate. You must be careful that the bottom of the shower curtain staysinside the small lip at the base of the shower or you will get water all overthe floor. On one of our previous cruises the person next door to our cabinflooded our room as well as theirs because he didn’t do that. We found that bywetting down the bottom of the shower curtain it kept the curtain hangingstraight down and inside the shower stall.

Problems with the Internet: We are Platinum members and were suppose toreceive 120-minutes each of free internet access. The ship has done away withaccounting the internet usage in minutes and for that reason all Platinummembers were given full, unlimited access to the internet for the entirecruise. That was a tremendous bonus which we very much appreciated and tookfull advantage of. I asked if that would always be the case, but no one seemedto be able to confirm or deny that it would be. The internet was fast andreliable and a big improvement over the past service. In fact we found itquicker than our own home service.

Debarking & Embarking Problems: Both the debarking and embarking was smoothand quick. Sometimes on back to back cruises we were allowed to stay on theship in an assigned lounge while the ship was cleared by customs, but this timewe actually had to disembark prior to returning to our cabin. That wasn’t aproblem and it quite quick, but it is nicer when we can stay on the ship.

Ocean Medallion: It was earlier projected the ***** would befully implemented on the CB by this time, but it was not. As we embarked somepassengers were given a medallion at the check-in desk, but we did not receiveone. Later on we found that they were implementing this system deck by deck beginningfrom the top decks and working downward. About 5 nights before the secondcruise of the back to back ended our daughter’s family received theirs on theAloha deck. Apparently a lady knocked on their door gave them their OMs and discussedhow to use them. While my wife located one deck below on Baja did not get one. Butthe current advantage of the medallion isn’t much. It will unlock your cabindoor for you when you get close to it, but that is about all the advantage youcurrently get. I suppose however they are doing some tracking of the passenger’smovements for the ship’s own purposes though. There were monitor screensthroughout the ship, but while they would scan both the OMs and your cruisecards they weren’t really functional.

Poor Quality Showsand Entertainment: This is one areathat I would at least partially agree with some of the chronic complainers. Wedidn’t feel that the shows were as good as we have seen on previous cruises.Most of the entertainment consisted of dancers and/or singers. Of the 14-nightsthey had 2 comedians, which were entertaining, but there were no magicians,jugglers, or hypnotists. I personally enjoy the variety that those types ofshows provide and really missed them on this cruise.

Poor AirConditioning: We did not find thisto be the case. The weather and hot and very humid on our August cruise, butour cabin was always kept very comfortable when turned to the lowest setting. Ilike a cool bedroom and I found the temperature to be perfect.

Overall the cruise was excellent and I wouldn’t hesitate togo on it again. The beds were comfortable and outside of the few things Imentioned above we found it to be a great vacation with the family. Our balconyon Baja deck was covered as was all the decks above us on the starboard side.The decks below ours were not covered and probably became hot in mid day.

We usually cruise in November and December, but because ofour granddaughter being in school this was the only time she could go. That metconsiderably more children aboard, but they cause no problems at all. They allseemed well behaved and it just added to the fun.

I feel bad that so many complaints have been lodged againstthis ship and feel the vast majority of those issues are totally unjustified. Ifrequently commented to the people aboard that I felt you would have to reallywork hard to not enjoy the cruise or the ship.

 

 

Great review I was on her on August 11th through 18 and I’m on par with you on just about everything except the AC

 

Our room AC was great in C752 but the ships AC was more of an issue for me did you notice it? As you would walk the ship the tempatire would drop and become very warm and then in other areas nice and cool especially in the buffet areas but it was noticeable to us in other areas as well.

 

I would also agree with the future cruise deposit lady she was very rude the one day we were there we asked her a simple question as she was locking up when she would be back and she jsut snapped at us and said she had a meeting to be at she couldn’t talk. We just asked when you would be back nothing else

 

My other complaint would be the breakfast buffet wasn’t very good that’s all I can say but lunch and dinner was good. Our MDR waiter wasn’t very personable and a tad slow but that seemed to be other people’s complaints as well when we were on the ship.

 

My wife and I both said they need to train the wait staff in MDR how they train wait staff in Crown Grill we went there twice 3 night apart and they remembered us to a tee we didn’t get that in the main

[jovisoul]

We were on the CB the previous week. We booked a future cruise and I 100% agree with your comments on The Future Cruise person. She was cold and arrogant and behaved as if she was doing us a favor

 

When we were on the CB last October, the FCC was Amanda. She was awesome and went out of her way to help you. It's a shame the one on there now is the complete opposite.

[Pia1913]

People who know me know I do not say this sort of thing often...

 

In over 100 cruises with Princess, there are only two people I would say this about, and she is one of them. And she has been a known issue for years. I’m shocked she is still employed by Princess.

 

Could the other one be a CD who is still employed? LOL No names.

[Gatormomma]

Thanks for the wonderful updates. We are schedule to be on the CB in December for 10 day Panama cruise.

g

 

We are on 10 day cruise in Dec also. Been on many Princess ships, but never the Caribbean. Very glad to read this update!

 

Arlene

[Bwana Tom]

"Our room AC was great in C752 but the ships AC was more of an issue for me did you notice it? As you would walk the ship the tempatire would drop and become very warm and then in other areas nice and cool especially in the buffet areas but it was noticeable to us in other areas as well."

 

Hi WillyShaw:

We did notice some difference in temperature as we moved from area to area, but I think it would be difficult to regulate every room the same particularly with people moving in and out frequently, opening and closing the doors. But we never felt uncomfortable expect when out the open areas on hot days and 100% humidity.

Tom

[metairiegal]

The only staff person we had an issue with was with the Future Cruise Consultant. BernadetteVaziri. Ironically, on our last cruise on the Coral Princess we had the sameperson and on both occasions we found her personality to not be conducive ofthis job. She was abrupt, outspoken and we though she didn’t treat thepassengers with the respect they desired. It always looked like she was moreconcerned about organizing her job and office area than dealing with the questionsthe passengers had. When talking to hershe always seemed to have her mind on something else. I would think Princess wouldwant to put someone in this important job that would be considerably morepleasant to work with.

 

 

Ha! I agree with you 100% on this! And, I thought it was just us.

 

We have run across her on a couple of cruises and she has been exactly like your description. She has never been helpful to us. On our last cruise this past July, on the Caribbean Princess, she mainly spent her time with us telling us how she was feeling "off" that day and not feeling well. Hey, get someone else to fill in for you! She basically did nothing to answer our questions and we left kinda shaking our heads.

 

She does come across very nicely at the Captain's Circle Party, though.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Could the other one be a CD who is still employed? LOL No names.

Oh no. None of them warrant this level of animosity.

[trafficgirl124]

We were on the Caribbean Princess the first week of August and the cruisecwas excellent. Good food, great staff and well behaved kids.