Live from the 5/14 Caribbean Princess

[AF-1]

On 5/17/2019 at 11:21 PM, Host CJSKIDS said:

I really hope those videos came through. 

I watched them;  very funny;  so this was crew lip sync battle or just having fun?

 

[Host CJSKIDS]

3 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

I watched them;  very funny;  so this was crew lip sync battle or just having fun?

 

 

It was billed as officer lip sync battle however ended up being guest lip sync with one done by crew.  Then of course we had our host.  It was a very fun night and we saw some great lip syncing.   They didn't have a large turnout and it was hard to get people to sign up so I think we only saw 5 acts.

 

I asked why the online stated it would be officer and it wasn't and they said the one downfall of the Ocean Now apps and having the patters on line is that it has to be changed 3 days prior so there wasn't time to make a correction.

[AF-1]

Thanks for the explanation.  I love lip sync battles.  I think air guitar would be fun too

Edited May 19, 2019 by AF-1

[voljeep]

On ‎5‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 5:24 PM, Host CJSKIDS said:

 

They eventually made a new one. Two decks had issues and they figure it was being offline for a month while in wet dock. 

about our cruise .. no issues at all with the OM - other than they had to retake my wife's security photo

 

left the Hilton Marina at about 10 am, quick stop at Publix before heading to the terminal... absolutely no waiting in any lines or rooms getting onboard around 11 ... straight to room - ready ...

 

got a call from 'dining' reminding us about our comp dinner - which we were not supposed to have since it was only

a 4 day cruise - booked Crown for 6:30p - went and were told no comp dinners this cruise - told the head dude about the phone call - he immediately stated our dinner was comped that night anyway - NICE -

 

Plenty of A/C ... just noticed a little normal ship vibrations ...

 

Club Class was very very nice with the no waiting ... Sabatini's for breakfast was very nice also

 

R411 is NOT the cabin for you if it bothers you about deck chairs / other being dragged about during the day on tehe deck above

 

spent way too much time in Crooners and Vines ... as usual ... the service was outstanding in both

 

never saw Princess theatre ... went to a comedian in Club Fusion ... no MUTS

 

did the group discussion - totally about the OM ... nothing else

[Kate P.C]

On 5/18/2019 at 4:46 AM, Host CJSKIDS said:

Am I the only one who can't see the video? It reads it as audio file only 😞 II would really love to see this competition!

Edited May 19, 2019 by Kate P.C
added info

[voljeep]

7 minutes ago, Kate P.C said:

Am I the only one who can't see the video? It reads it as audio file only 😞 II would really love to see this competition!

Error: unsupported video type or invalid file path ... might be my filters

 

a link to the video would be nice

[Host CJSKIDS]

Difference between sanctuary chairs!  I would say the new ones are about 1.5 to 2 inches thick and very firm where they used to the size of a mattress and soft 

Edited May 20, 2019 by Host CJSKIDS

[Host CJSKIDS]

Let me know if this works!

[Host CJSKIDS]

[Kate P.C]

1 minute ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

Let me know if this works!

Unfortunately no. Thank you for trying. 🙂

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

nah ... no worries from me

[Host CJSKIDS]

I’m posting from an iPhone so I don’t know if that makes a difference. 

I can email it if you want to leave your email address which I can then quickly delete from here. 

[Mom33]

2 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

I’m posting from an iPhone so I don’t know if that makes a difference. 

I can email it if you want to leave your email address which I can then quickly delete from here. 

 

It's working fine for me.😂

[TrixiePixie]

Where are you located on the ship. Do you know if the ac is back to working on all the ship also are there hair dryers in the cabins

[Host CJSKIDS]

1 hour ago, TrixiePixie said:

Where are you located on the ship. Do you know if the ac is back to working on all the ship also are there hair dryers in the cabins

 

They had a huge team working on the AC and it did come back on finally for all of those who had the AC turned off.  It had nothing to do with doors being opened, they literally had to turn off the AC to make repairs for the forward cabins from deck 5 to 11.  Everyone I spoke to said they finally got their AC fixed and turned back on.  

 

There is a hair dryer (if that is what you want to call it!)  I have thick hair and it would never do the job for me.

[lindy sails]

6 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

Difference between sanctuary chairs!  I would say the new ones are about 1.5 to 2 inches thick and very firm where they used to the size of a mattress and soft 

 

[Host CJSKIDS]

Cruise was over on Saturday and I am home.  Getting off the ship was super easy, getting home on 95 was horrendous as they had the express lanes closed and it was down to one open lane.  

 

The cruise was too short!  I did enjoy myself and enjoyed many aspects of the Caribbean Princess.  The crew as always were exceptional. Princess just seems to always have the greatest crew and that is the thing that brings up back time and time again. 

 

Loved having a large balcony again or can I say a real balcony. This is one thing they totally have screwed up on the newer ships. There is something about sitting on your balcony watching the ocean go by that is simply amazing. 

Tried a balcony and totally missed being in a  mini-suite.  We missed the sofa and large coffee table to enjoy room service on.  Also hated the shower and not having a shelf to put the shampoo on. 

 

Embarkation lunch in the MDR was fantastic.  My only other meal in the MDR was breakfast on the last day and that took forever but the meal was very good.  Well except the coffee of course!  Happy to say the pizza is back to being great!  Had a great burger up at Salty Dog Grill. Crown grill dinner was great. We were shocked at the small size of Sabitinis and did not get a chance to eat there. It was sold out the last night and I'm not used to seeing anyone even in there!  Also shocked at the buffet size.  While I was not a fan of the food in there, my husband did enjoy the curry seafood chowder one night.  I did love the chocolate covered apples they had.  We really enjoyed the noodle bar during lunch that was back in the Planks and Steamers part.  Personally I think they took too much room away for those alternative pay restaurants.

Had a club sandwich for dinner one night at room service and basically it was bread.  It's usually one of my favorite sandwiches on board and there was almost nothing on it. We also order the noodle soup and it was just awful.  Ordered breakfast delivered twice and on one morning I asked about eggs over easy as well as crispy bacon and they said yes.  We got eggs sunny side up delivered but they were freshly made eggs and the bacon was crispy.  The toasted english muffin was about as far away as could be considered toasted but what can you do.  And the coffee is just undrinkable.  We got used to having decent coffee on the Regal since it isn't made from syrup and I just forgot how bad the coffee was! 

 

My son had surprised me by getting me OBC to have a massage for mother's day.  Unfortunately though I was one of the first people to board and there early, every thing was sold out but 8 am or 7:30 at night so I didn't get to try this.  Luckily I cashed out at the casino and have many places to chose around here in Miami. 

 

Enjoyed having another venue for the shows besides Princess Live on the Regal.  I simply can't stand having any events in there. 

 

Crooners was once again our favorite place.  I met some great people here and enjoyed the crew.  

 

We also enjoyed the new Spirits at Sea bar and the new cocktails here. It was a fun venue to hear about travel and new cocktails and a change of pace.  A bar that I never had spent any time at prior.

Vines was nice and it was surprising that they still had both tapas and sushi if you had some wine there.  I didn't care for the wines available by the glass under the drink package, wish they had left some of the old ones. 

 

The AC in our cabin was just okay. We had none the first day but they came in and did some kind of adjustment so it worked better by later at night.   It never really got cold in the room and we would wake up in the middle of the night with it being warm. I was lucky as a large area didn't have any air conditioning. Some areas of the ship were chilly and some ran warm. Explorer's Lounge the last night was downright cold! 

We also had issues with the water temperature and had no hot water one day and no water at all for a few hours. 

The bed was very comfortable and I loved the pillows.  

Our cabin steward was fantastic and he did a great job of both taking care of the room and doing it without us even knowing he was around. 

 

 

 

The biggest shock for us was the Sanctuary.  I have spent the majority of our cruise in there since it came out.  The new chairs are no where near as comfortable as the older chairs with the big thick comfy cushions.  I appreciate the look of what they are trying for, making it more updated.  I appreciate the clean lines, especially coming from downtown Miami where these clean lines in furniture are the norm.  However, as you can see from the pictures, the new cushions are 1.5 inches and very firm where the old ones are the size of a mattress.  It is a huge difference.  There are also no arm rests.  Taking away the small tables are a mistake.  There is nowhere to place your drink nor lunch if you order it up.

We have been very spoiled with the Sanctuary on the Regal in the service.  From them running to get drinks for you, to spritzing your face with evian, cold towels and fruit and constant refilling of water.  Every time I would try and move my chair they would run over and tell us not to do, let them help.  The sanctuary on there is run so incredibly well. They even remember us every time we go. 

 Perhaps this crew was new but the service did not even compare so that was a bit of shock. I canceled the rest of our time up there and just noticed that I was charged for the last day even though we didn't use it.  I'm sure there is nothing that can be done about that, I should have caught it.

 

The ship is in great shape and certainly doesn't look it's age.  

 

I did enjoy my cruise, I always do. There were positives and there were negatives. There was some annoyances and some absolute fun times.  I can't tell you how much I loved laughing at the lip sync battle show that was held the last night.  I so love to laugh and really enjoyed this. 

 

I'm not sure I would book then Caribbean Princess again.  But I never say never so who knows what the future will bring!

 

Thank you everyone for following along.  It was lots of fun to take pictures and get comments from you all, I really enjoyed it. 

Edited May 20, 2019 by Host CJSKIDS

[lindy sails]

Yikes! I’m a big fan of the Sanctuary & usually book the entire cruise. I was a little concerned when I saw the photos of the Sky ultra modern loungers. They certainly did not look comfortable to me. I’ve booked  the Sky 1/4-1/18. Hopefully there will be some comfortable loungers. I wonder if we could give some feedback to Princess. Not sure who to call? Thanks for taking the time Carolyn to share your Caribbean Princess experience with us.

[TrixiePixie]

Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed reading your posts

[tawlaw1526]

Excellent review, thank you so much for taking the time.   I found this very informative and a lot of fun to follow along.   

[caribill]

15 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

I was told repeatedly by customer relations that there was no main dining room open...

 

I do not think they were saying this to deceive you. I think they actually did not know it was open.

 

I was on one cruise speaking with a Princess experienced Cruise Director who was very surprised when I mentioned to him that I had lunch in a dining room on embarkation day. He really did not know this option has existed on Princess for a number of years.

And yes, he was the person responsible, even if delegating the actual work, for putting together the Patter which actually said the dining room was open on embarkation day.

[nukesubsailor]

20 hours ago, voljeep said:

R411 is NOT the cabin for you if it bothers you about deck chairs / other being dragged about during the day on the deck above.

 

 

Same for R417.  My investigation found that all the chairs next to the side of the ship from the ice cream venue to the hamburger grill were made of cast iron and heavier than any other chairs on either side of the Lido deck.  I assume some designer thought they were appropriate for an ice cream parlor look.  That is true but they should have considered the noise such chairs create on a steel deck.  I had hoped that Princess would replace these chairs during the shipyard period.  Based upon your post, I assume that did not happen.  For our next cruise on this ship, I booked a cabin on the other side of the ship.

[AF-1]

Thank you for the great review;  sorry that the new Sanctuary cushions are harder than normal.  One option would be to ask the Sanctuary staff to provide you with a pillowtopper; much like they have for the beds in cabin.  Just an option;  I am sure they have access to that; and for the price you pay; they should be willing to go the extra mile and provide these;  maybe they have them available and no one has asked.  Great review. 

[Litholam3]

We love the Caribbean Princess...can you tell if any changes in the adult pool area below the Sanctuary?

 

[m2bell]

On 5/17/2019 at 2:21 PM, Mapu said:

Thank you for posting, especially since if you didn’t know about compensation for the discomfort, you would not be aware of the fact that the possibility existed. We were not effected but friends were. They contacted Passenger Services yesterday so were on record with regard to the lack of AC in their cabin. After reading your post I left them a message. They were refunded one day of their cruise fare and gratuities as refundable onboard credit.

 

Glad it helped.  I've also heard from two other cabins that received similar refunds once they asked for them. 

 

I still don't understand why Princess misled us on the problem and didn't offer refunds to every cabin without AC. 

 

I plan to write to corporate and will post their response here.