Quick thoughts on CB

[MissP22]

10 hours ago, rdsqrl said:

I'm going to agree with the OP.  I always been able to get a seat for the "late" show on previous cruises, but I didn't see a single show on my CB voyage in late July, even arriving 25-30 minutes beforehand.  I found the ship more crowded than I've experienced on the Crown -- or even on the Regal.   She's in good shape and her crew was fantastic -- there wasn't a single staffer who wasn't pleasant and efficient.  But I just didn't like the experience.  I wouldn't say I'd never sail on her again, but it just wasn't great, so it would have to be a special or unique itinerary. 

 

And not a single waiter ever used the medallion on my cruise, either -- they all asked for cabin numbers when I was onboard.   We're apparently going backwards to the old days of cruising, pre-cruise cards & folio numbers.   Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose . . .

Perhaps you July sailing was a little different than ours last Nov but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary in having to arrive early for the shows. Typically you do have to arrive 30 + minutes for a seat on any of the ships as you well know. Maybe the demographics on your cruise tended to push towards a late dinner which translated to everyone trying to see the last show? 

We always get to the show early, not lingering over dinner and that may be the reason we didn't notice anything different. 

[geoherb]

The good thing about Princess is that the ships don't sail booked to the maximum capacity. Just ask people who have tried to add a third or fourth person to a cabin that would accommodate them but have been told no. 

 

When the Caribbean Princess first came out, I thought I'd never want to sail on it. But we got a great deal on a spring break cruise five years ago and decided it was worth a shot. It worked out that our next four Princess cruises were on the CB, and we had a good time on all of them. We did not have any problem tendering on any of them. Sometimes we were able to join end of the line at the tender. Other times, we went to a designated place but never had to wait long. I guess we were lucky to have just a couple of hundred Elite passengers on our cruises instead of four times that many.

[JeffandMelissa]

We are currently on the CB, and love this ship. I am sorry, Hank, you are not happy with her. I’m a fan of yours as many, many of your posts have aided and helped me on prior cruises and excursions.

 

My thoughts about this cruise:

- Crew has been phenomenal. Everyone ready with a smile and a hello.

- Very very lucky with the weather. Had read on our roll call that we would be lucky to make one of the three Greenland ports.

Made all 3 of them with crisp clear weather. All three Canadian ports with crisp clear weather as well.

- with regard to the tendering, As elite, we along with other Elite passengers met in a dining room and issued numbered tender tickets, while others were to secure their numbered tickets in the atrium on 7. It appeared (my observation), they loaded Elites first then any remaining to other passengers. We were on the first tender on the two Greenland ports they tendered. Yes, I love my sleep but this is the first and probably only time I will get to Greenland, so I got up and made sure we were on the first few tenders, with the first as it happened for the two ports. Never had a problem. I cannot speak for anyone that didn’t get off the ship early. 

-  Nuuk is a docking port, not a tender port.

- we had independent shore excursions in Qarqortoq (pronounce that as Kwa-Core-Tok) and Nanortalik. Qaqortoq was via Blue Ice Explorer, and Nanortalik was with “south Greenland boat charter 44” booked through Guide to Greenland. Both were ice fjords boat touring, and I have no words other than do it.

 

Other observations:

- Melt downs by the “Me-me Elite” that I saw were very similar to what was mentioned earlier. 

- I have a couple faces seared into my memory because of their “Me-me ness.”

You offended me when you made a few nasty comments about my husband who is a man of size, under your breath, not realizing he belonged to me and I heard you. I hope to see you two again. 😁

 

I will say Princess could have done better with Nuuk. The town center was 1km from the dock, up a gradual hill. Princess had a land shuttle for the “fabulous” price of $19.95 pp. Princess....you should have provided that for free, and you know it. Look at the demographics of this cruise. You knew most of these people couldn’t make that walk, so you decided to make a buck. Last I heard from guest services ( I asked) was 700+ bought the shuttle tickets. Do the math, they made a killing.

The shuttle should  have been for free! As this was a docking port, it was likely the only way certain passengers were going to touch Greenland as the other two were tenders.

 

Melissa

 

 

 

Edited September 2, 2019 by JeffandMelissa
Spelling on Greenland port

[Daniel A]

On ‎9‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 8:23 AM, kitty2264 said:

We also are fans of CB. Passenger capacity is 3,140.

 

10 hours ago, caribill said:

3622 per this web site which includes all the 3rd and 4th berths.

https://www.beyondships.com/Princess-CB-Profile.html

Wikipedia says the passenger capacity is 3600.  Beyondships says 3622 and Princess website says 3140.  I would think Princess has a pretty good idea as to how many passengers they can carry on board the CB.  As I understand it, passenger and crew capacity is not determined by number of sleeping quarters rather, it is the total capacity of souls that will have a seat on a life boat or raft.  If somebody reading this has actual knowledge of how capacity is determined and I am wrong, I would like to know the correct method.

[AF-1]

Different experience for me on CB February cruise.  We had around 3000 onboard; never felt crowded; walked into theater 15min prior to show and found decent seats. Buffet was not crowded when we chose to eat breakfast or lunch. Did not tender on my cruise so do not have any reference to that.  Have a great day.

[#1cruiseaholic]

Inquiring minds want to know. Why Is Caribbean Princess called CB?

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, #1cruiseaholic said:

Inquiring minds want to know. Why Is Caribbean Princess called CB?

Each Princess ship has a 2 letter designation.

If it does not make sense then it is being used for another ship.

That probably won't make sense either as you can see here........

CP=Sea Princess

[#1cruiseaholic]

4 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Each Princess ship has a 2 letter designation.

If it does not make sense then it is being used for another ship.

That probably won't make sense either as you can see here........

CP=Sea Princess

Thanks. We usually sail Royal or Celebrity and was curious why it wasn't CP. Thought it was the darn auto correct.

[caribill]

11 hours ago, Daniel A said:

 

Wikipedia says the passenger capacity is 3600.  Beyondships says 3622 and Princess website says 3140.  I would think Princess has a pretty good idea as to how many passengers they can carry on board the CB.  As I understand it, passenger and crew capacity is not determined by number of sleeping quarters rather, it is the total capacity of souls that will have a seat on a life boat or raft.  If somebody reading this has actual knowledge of how capacity is determined and I am wrong, I would like to know the correct method.

 

The 3140 is lower berth capacity. In other words, two people per cabin. The 3600 number includes all the 3rd and 4th berths in the cabins that have them.

 

All Princess ships have life craft capacity in excess of total capacity of passengers and crew.

[Mackenzie1]

On 9/2/2019 at 3:19 PM, AF-1 said:

Different experience for me on CB February cruise.  We had around 3000 onboard; never felt crowded; walked into theater 15min prior to show and found decent seats. Buffet was not crowded when we chose to eat breakfast or lunch. Did not tender on my cruise so do not have any reference to that.  Have a great day.

 

Princess has made changes since February that may have resulted in crowding in the Princess Theater in the evening. There is now little entertainment in the Atrium area on Deck 5, which may have drawn people from the evening shows. I know I used to skip the evening shows at times because the entertainment in the Atrium was so good. The cutbacks may have been needed, though, because the world’s economies are slowing, which may have resulted in less robust bookings. The immediate decision to prohibit Americans from cruising to Cuba was also a blow to cruise lines, including Carnival, the parent of Princess Cruises, who had spent millions on Cuba itineraries that were immediately terminated with no option allowing currently booked Cuban cruises to be grandfathered in.  

 

Nevertheless, we have truly enjoyed this Greenland cruise, especially the beautiful scenery and icebergs, which were amazing. One suggestion would be for Princess to tell Narotalik that when the ship returns next year, Princess expects to see a dock that can handle at least two tenders at a time. 

 

[Level six]

We agree with Hank.

 

We had to arrive at the theater 1 1/2 hour early to sit together(.2 of us) There were many fights about this, one night security 

was called in. People saving seats as usual and fights because of it.  When we say it was bad.....it was bad. 

 

Lots of mean, angry, entitled people onboard. I have also never seen anything like it. One lady made the ice cream girl make her cone over 7-8 times because it had air bubbles!!!  All the while berating her. It was bad. Her answer was “ I am elite I can do what I want ” eek 

 

Tendering  was said to be a nightmare but we were on the first tender at each stop so no problem for us. Up at 5 am!

 

Even if these mean people tipped the staff $1000 more, no amount of money can make up for this rude behavior that was witnessed over and over and over again. 

 

Signing up for crafts involved an hour waiting in line. Then arguments would break out because some people would want to sign up 10 people( capacity was only 24) one lady behind me grabbed the sheet of paper out of a woman’s hand. I am not making this up. 

 

Trivia??  OMG people act like they will get a kidney as a prize. Treating the staff so rude. 

 

Count us in to never sail CB again. 

[MissP22]

27 minutes ago, Level six said:

We agree with Hank.

 

We had to arrive at the theater 1 1/2 hour early to sit together(.2 of us) There were many fights about this, one night security 

was called in. People saving seats as usual and fights because of it.  When we say it was bad.....it was bad. 

 

Lots of mean, angry, entitled people onboard. I have also never seen anything like it. One lady made the ice cream girl make her cone over 7-8 times because it had air bubbles!!!  All the while berating her. It was bad. Her answer was “ I am elite I can do what I want ” eek 

 

Tendering  was said to be a nightmare but we were on the first tender at each stop so no problem for us. Up at 5 am!

 

Even if these mean people tipped the staff $1000 more, no amount of money can make up for this rude behavior that was witnessed over and over and over again. 

 

Signing up for crafts involved an hour waiting in line. Then arguments would break out because some people would want to sign up 10 people( capacity was only 24) one lady behind me grabbed the sheet of paper out of a woman’s hand. I am not making this up. 

 

Trivia??  OMG people act like they will get a kidney as a prize. Treating the staff so rude. 

 

Count us in to never sail CB again. 

Wow. Having to get at the show lounge 1 1/2 hours early just to get a seat together. It sounds like it was hardly worth the trouble. 

And having to wake up at 5 AM just to get on the first tender. It sounds much to crowded for me. 😏

[tailspintom]

1 hour ago, Level six said:

We agree with Hank.

 

We had to arrive at the theater 1 1/2 hour early to sit together(.2 of us) There were many fights about this, one night security 

was called in. People saving seats as usual and fights because of it.  When we say it was bad.....it was bad. 

 

Lots of mean, angry, entitled people onboard. I have also never seen anything like it. One lady made the ice cream girl make her cone over 7-8 times because it had air bubbles!!!  All the while berating her. It was bad. Her answer was “ I am elite I can do what I want ” eek 

 

Tendering  was said to be a nightmare but we were on the first tender at each stop so no problem for us. Up at 5 am!

 

Even if these mean people tipped the staff $1000 more, no amount of money can make up for this rude behavior that was witnessed over and over and over again. 

 

Signing up for crafts involved an hour waiting in line. Then arguments would break out because some people would want to sign up 10 people( capacity was only 24) one lady behind me grabbed the sheet of paper out of a woman’s hand. I am not making this up. 

 

Trivia??  OMG people act like they will get a kidney as a prize. Treating the staff so rude. 

 

Count us in to never sail CB again. 

Level six, maybe I am missing something here.  It seems to me that the bad behavior of cruisers would be annoying on any ship, not just CB. Outside of the crowding in the theater it appears that rudeness is endemic of the special people who chose that cruise.

[JeffandMelissa]

I agree.  It isn’t the fact that this was on the CB. It was the passengers. That was the point I was trying to make in my earlier post. 

We have sailed on the CB six times in the past 7 years and never ever have sensed the arrogance of this passenger mix until now on this cruise. 

 

We are elite, and I’m embarrassed for us.

To berate the ice cream staff because of air bubbles because you are special. Geez.

 

 

 

[Level six]

You are right about the passengers, but the crowding made it ever so worse. Probably even nice people lost it a few times because you could not escape the rudeness anywhere you went. 

 

But it I agree, it could happen on any ship.  We have been on CB 3 times, none were this bad, but all were extremely crowded. 

[tailspintom]

8 minutes ago, JeffandMelissa said:

I agree.  It isn’t the fact that this was on the CB. It was the passengers. That was the point I was trying to make in my earlier post. 

We have sailed on the CB six times in the past 7 years and never ever have sensed the arrogance of this passenger mix until now on this cruise. 

 

We are elite, and I’m embarrassed for us.

To berate the ice cream staff because of air bubbles because you are special. Geez.

 

 

 

There is absolutely nothing that you and your mate ought to be embarrssed about..... unless you were one of those folk. And, my sense is that you weren't. We adopt the "noli illegitimi carborundum" attitude when we experience bad behavior.

[tailspintom]

7 minutes ago, Level six said:

You are right about the passengers, but the crowding made it ever so worse. Probably even nice people lost it a few times because you could not escape the rudeness anywhere you went. 

 

But it I agree, it could happen on any ship.  We have been on CB 3 times, none were this bad, but all were extremely crowded. 

Got it. Thanks.

[bcnvcanada]

We cruised on the CB a month ago, and we could agree fully with Hank.  This ship was 

the most crowded ship that we have every been on.  We have been on the Royal's mega ships. To see a show, we had to give up 

our late dinner, and go to the showroom as they other show was letting out.  People stood in

against the walls, sit in the aisles even though they were asked to move.  We had a lot of

elites on board, so it seemed that everyone was entitled.  It took over an hour to get off in NYC, and

Boston as we had to wait for Princess tours to get off.  Worst than  that elite privilege was the one who

shouted for all to hear that they were in the top 40 and went on dressing down staff.  We were so embarrassed for the crew and our 

fellow passengers.  With that being said, we will try to avoid this ship at all cost.   

[Mackenzie1]

I’ve been on the Caribbean Princess six times, and this is the first time I have felt bored on sea days because of the lack of activities or other ways to keep entertained. In the past, when a cruise director named Paul with a last name of Chandler with a hyphen to another name was the cruise director, the ship was filled with activities. I don’t know why there was such a lack of activities this time, but the lack of things to do on sea days may have made some people crabby. I’m just glad that Crooners had such fine entertainment in the evenings, or I may not be willing to sail on the Caribbean Princess again. I would be willing to give the Caribbean Princess another try, though, hoping for a different outcome, because Princess still has the best itineraries. 

Edited September 4, 2019 by Mackenzie1

[Hlitner]

Ok here is my follow-up.  We disembarked the ship this morning and witnessed a sad situation at the Red Hook terminal where there were simply not enough CBP staff to handle to crowd (this has nothing to do with Princess).    After talking with many other fellow cruisers (we love to share large tables at Anytime dining) there was universal agreement that none of us had ever experienced the main theater situation we had on this cruise.  Since we did attend some (not all) of the early shows (at 6:30) we were always able to find two seats together if we arrived an hour before showtime.  Apparently the situation was worse for those going to the 8:30 show.  

 

I do want to say that the crew on the CB was excellent (more then we can say for too many rude passengers) at every venue.  Bar tenders were terrific, our cabin steward was perfect, and the different waiters we had in the MDR were superb..   After 16 days we have nothing but praise for every crew member :).  The ship was also in pretty good shape and kudos go to those responsible for the continued maintenance.  

 

The crowding on this ship was strange (other frequent cruisers we met also said the same) and perhaps it had something to do with the passengers who generally stayed inside the ship (even in good weather).  This was the first cruise (out of far more than a hundred) where a passenger berated me for saving DW's seat in the atrium (near the IC) while my wife was in the rest room!  We also had to be very careful not to be run over by a few wild scooter drivers (a problem on too many cruises).

 

Some interesting things happened on this cruise.  The ship started running out of basic items around day 12 of a 16 day cruise.  Tomatoes and bananas disappeared as did potato chips.  By day 13 many wines were out of stock.  On night 15 I tried to order a Pinot Noir and our waiter had to tell us to "hold on" while he went off to find out what was left.  Out of about a dozen wine list items there were only 2 left (neither was one of the better options) at any price.  One of our favorite bar tenders told us she was actually hoarding wines so that she had some for her bar customers.   We also noticed that "custard" donuts disappeared after day 13....perhaps caused by a shortage in cream (to make the custard).  

 

During the cruise we decided to have dinner (one evening) at the Crown Grill.  We have avoided this venue on many Princess cruises because of previous failings.  But on the CB we thought the Crown Grill was quite good in terms of both food and service.  

 

We were very unhappy with the situation in Crooners.  On our cruise we had an excellent piano player/comedian who could only be enjoyed by about 40 souls since none of the speakers were functioning at the far end near the bar.  We did mention this to the pianist (who said he had no clue but would mention it to the  "sound man") but it was never corrected during our 16 day journey.  There were also some issues about the temperature in the Wheelhouse (either freezing or very hot) but this is just one of those things long time cruisers tolerate.  It does seem like every ship has a temperature problem somewhere...and on the CB the Wheelhouse go the prize.

 

As we were disembarking this morning, DW chatted with 2 other couples (who we had never met on the ship) who expressed our sentiment that "they will never cruise on the CB again."  Perhaps we are being a bit harsh and it was just a combination of a few factors (including the passengers) but it is unlikely that I would ever get DW to agree on a return to the CB.  

 

Hank

[Daniel A]

Hank-  I am sorry to hear that your recent cruise on the CB was such an uncomfortable experience.  I hope never to experience some of the things you did.  Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with the rest of us.  Smooth sailing in the future!

[Level six]

I also wanted to add that we did enjoy visiting Greenland and I am glad we went on the cruise. 

 

Kudos to princess, the captain and our glorious weather that we were able to see all the ports in Greenland. We loved every minute on shore. 

 

It was not princesses fault that so many rude passengers were on board, but it is their fault for adding so many more passengers without adding more venue space. That made for a very bad mix. 

 

I also agree that the sea day activities were sparse. 

 

I also agree that the staff was exceptionally good, even with this challenging group of people testing them constantly. I could not imagine them ever wanting to accept another contract on CB. 

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

Hank-  I am sorry to hear that your recent cruise on the CB was such an uncomfortable experience.  I hope never to experience some of the things you did.  Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with the rest of us.  Smooth sailing in the future!

Thanks for your thoughts :).   I would not categorize our overall experience as "uncomfortable" but would agree that there were a few issues that met that criteria.  I want to be clear that we are not down on Princess and accept that, like all lines, it has its pros and cons.   Next month we will be on a different Princess ship for 25 days and during the Caribbean Princess cruise we booked a 28 day Regal cruise.  Because we have cruised on so many different lines (16) folks often ask us about our favorite line and our normal response is that every line (and ship) has its pros and cons.  In more than 40 years of extensive cruising we have never found the perfect cruise, but even the worst of our cruises has been a positive experience :).  Much of our problem with the CB has to do with the design (I would love to have words with the genius that decided to add that Riviera Deck).  We did come off the CB loving the crew and hoping we see many of them on other Princess ships/cruises.

 

Did the "crowding" impact our experience.  Yes, but like many cruisers/travelers we did adjust to the situation.  In our case we found ourselves going to some shows up to an hour early.  On our previous cruises (far more then 100) we have never had to go to a theater more then 15 minutes before a show (we normally go to the shows intended for the late diners).   On the other hand, we skipped main theater shows on 6 nights because we simply did not want to sit in the theater for 40+ min before a show.  Our norm is to attend all shows so this was a major change in our own schedule.   I also found myself heading down to the IC a bit early (usually by 7:30am) so I could snag seats in that part of the ship.   DW and  I  avoided the Lido on most sea days, opting for either the MDR (for lunch) or bundling-up and enjoying pizza or burgers on deck.  The Lido was generally quite crowded which is partially the result of another Princess design fault in not having an all-weather pool area on many of the Grand Class ships (including the CB).  This ship design does not work well for colder weather cruising.  Many passengers head into the Lido for an early breakfast and never leave for the entire day...using the Lido for their card playing, knitting, etc.  This leaves a shortage of seating in the Lido.  Princess does try to compensate by having many tables outside in the pool area, but since this was a colder weather cruise those areas were unusable for much of the cruise.

 

Somebody else mentioned the lack of activities on the many sea days.  DW and I are not normally into "activities" so we did not consider this a problem.  But the lack of activities was noticeable.   We have noticed this trend on some other cruise lines where it seems like mass market cruise lines prefer to stress things that generate revenue (like art auctions and junk clothing sales) rather then simple fun activities.  We also noticed that although our 16 day cruise did have a Guest Lecturer (he mostly spoke about Hollywood) his lectures were always scheduled for early in the morning (usually 9:15am) when many passengers were either in bed or still enjoying their breakfast.   We  heard quite a few complaints about the fact that this cruise did not have a port lecturer to talk about the 3 Greenland ports (and Greenland in general).  One fellow cruiser told us he spoke to the Cruise Director about the lack of a Greenland lecturer and was told that the company had problems finding anyone familiar with Greenland.  We have previously been to Greenland on HAL cruises and they never had a problem finding a decent lecturer.  Most passengers booked this particular cruise because it went to Greenland (this CB cruise broke the record for the largest ship to call at these Greenland ports) and it is a real faux pas (on the part of the home office) that they did not offer some lectures about the ports and history of this huge island.

 

Hank

[Mackenzie1]

I agree that the lack of port lectures about Greenland was a huge disappointment. What a loss of opportunities!  I was also disappointed in the wine selections in the Lobby Bar and Vines. Princess needs to add a decent champagne by the glass to the Lobby and Vines menus other than Prosecco. Champagne and cruises go together, but Prosecco?  That suggestion is probably more for the comment cards, though. 

Edited September 5, 2019 by Mackenzie1

[caribill]

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 The Lido was generally quite crowded which is partially the result of another Princess design fault in not having an all-weather pool area on many of the Grand Class ships (including the CB).  This ship design does not work well for colder weather cruising. 

 

The CB was named the Caribbean Princess because it was designed to sail in the Caribbean area. And for that, an indoor pool would not be needed most of the time. But after several years in the Caribbean area, Princess decided to also send the ship to colder climates.

 

Of course all the ships built after the CB repeated the CB design with no indoor pool. No excuse for that.