Caribbean Princess

[caber]

How was Caribbean Princess looking when you were last on her? I see she was refurbished in 2019. Is she still a good ship to go on?

[Host CJSKIDS]

We went after the refurb in 2019 and loved the ship.  Happy with the changes and thought she looked beautiful.  I would be very happy to sail on her again.

[Reina del Mar]

Sailed B2B Caribbean trip on her July 2019, after the refurb.

 

Must admit to finding air conditioning a little bit lacking for a mid ship, Balcony cabin, at times….Public rooms were cool and comfortable.

 

Having said that, enjoyed the cruise and would sail on her again.

[TinaLee]

We really didn't care for the changes made to the buffet area and thought the food was only mediocre. We just felt the whole cruise wasn't up to Princess standards. When I tell you many people were eating cereal in boxes for dinner I'm not kidding. When we disembarked we pretty much agreed that we wouldn't be sailing on her again. 😞 

[CineGraphic]

39 minutes ago, TinaLee said:

When I tell you many people were eating cereal in boxes for dinner I'm not kidding.

 

Come one.......It's not like they were eating cereal for dinner due to a lack of other food.

We don't decide on what ship to sail on, based on what other passengers eat.

 

The Caribbean Princess is a fine ship. One of our faves. We spent 2 weeks on her in 2019, and plan to spend another 2 weeks on her in the fall of 2022.

[CruisinFinsUp]

We were on CB July 2018.  They had not done the upper deck kids pool area stuff yet, but they had done the buffet already.   From the photos it looks great.     We really love the multiple  pool layout on the Grand class ships.   
 

Regarding the buffet they changed the furniture to plastic chairs that felt like a cheap cafeteria.  The food on the buffet that week was not to our liking.  
We were used to the extensive dinner buffets on Princess, with international theme nights,  - on CB they were trying new ideas for the marketplace concept, including a full section of just sandwiches and a cereal cart  (CB had a separate cart beside the buffet that held cereal and milk that was stocked 24/7 - great for little kids-  the cereal was not on the buffet itself)  at dinner.  
In our opinion, there were too many cheaper filler options taking up space on the buffet so they didn't have to offer other more elaborate dinner foods.  
 

One evening, the head chef for the ship was at the buffet with a number of his higher staff doing an inspection.  I went and spoke to them at length because we were quite disappointed in both the decor and food, and he explained that they were still trying to figure out the concept and hadn't decided yet what would work best.  CB was the guinea pig for the marketplace concept and the experimentation lasted months and months from what he explained.    

 

What they settled on and what they will offer post covid at the buffet is anyone's guess.   

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by cruisintoddler

[skynight]

Sailed on her for 24 days in the Caribbean in 2018 and then again for the 10 day Quebec to NYC trip in August 2019. Both times we found the ship to be in good shape and well run. Yes, cereal boxes were available all the time in the buffet as were some other youth comfortable selections like PB&J, juice boxes, chocolate milk. I can assure you that anyone that grabbed a box of cereal around dinner time was doing it by their own choice and not because there weren't any other selections. DR's, International Cafe, Salty Dog Grill, Slice Pizza as well as specialty restaurants Sabatini's, Crown Grill, and the newer Planks & Steamers were all up to Princess standards. The youth pool and family lounging area added to deck 17 was really nice. The lounge area was very comfortable with lounges in both sun and shade as well as a bar which served both adult and youth drinks. If you are on board when there are few youth it's a nice place to lounge away from all the pool side crowds. The only issue we found was the theater. Crowded, had to arrive 30 to 45 minutes early. But, this isn't much different than other Princess ships.

[MissP22]

On 6/18/2021 at 9:24 AM, TinaLee said:

We really didn't care for the changes made to the buffet area and thought the food was only mediocre. We just felt the whole cruise wasn't up to Princess standards. When I tell you many people were eating cereal in boxes for dinner I'm not kidding. When we disembarked we pretty much agreed that we wouldn't be sailing on her again. 😞 

That's the same thing we noticed. The food was OK in the DR but the buffet selections & prep left a lot to be desired. It was our last trip for the Carib Princess until they change things back to the old way.

Thankfully they changed their minds about converting the other ships. 

[TinaLee]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

That's the same thing we noticed. The food was OK in the DR but the buffet selections & prep left a lot to be desired. It was our last trip for the Carib Princess until they change things back to the old way.

Thankfully they changed their minds about converting the other ships. 

Hadn't realized they'd gone back to the old format - that would be a huge step in the right direction and take away a lot of our hesitancy about sailing on her again. We get tired of the menus in the dining room, since they never seem to change, and find ourselves in the buffet on Royal Class ships more often. Our sailing partners on the last CB cruise preferred to be more casual, so we were counting on the buffet and were shocked and dismayed by the quality and choices. 

 

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, TinaLee said:

Hadn't realized they'd gone back to the old format - that would be a huge step in the right direction and take away a lot of our hesitancy about sailing on her again. We get tired of the menus in the dining room, since they never seem to change, and find ourselves in the buffet on Royal Class ships more often. Our sailing partners on the last CB cruise preferred to be more casual, so we were counting on the buffet and were shocked and dismayed by the quality and choices. 

 

As far as I know they haven't gone back to the old format. Many people like the  new way of serving and the cardboard containers with pre selected servings are still the norm. You couldn't get me back a second time......especially compared to the Royal class ships buffets.  

We tried it a few times & wound up in the DR most nights. 

[ONT-CA]

We sailed the Caribbean in the fall of 2019 (Canada/New England, Return) and having been aboard her several times before were equally pleased and found the only significant change was to the Buffet.  There were times I expected we might hear a school bell ring for classes... But we use the Buffet so seldom, other than for breakfast where we often tray it back to our cabin, that we are not the best to review. But open hostility was observed in the MD about the quality of food. Our expectations now, of most cruise lines, are much lower in comparison to that of our first cruise in 1999 but doesn't that apply to almost everything in today's world.

 I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,   

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by...

Sea-Fever by John Masefield

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

We are sailing again on the Caribbean Princess Dec 12th. Just got off of the Carnival Mardi Gras and did not really care for it. We always enjoyed the Caribbean Princess. Wonder how many know about the choice food selections at the aft section of the buffet past the pizza. My wife really enjoys there pasta selections. At the coffee shop a pastry and a cappuccino se really likes. So we will see what has changed since our last cruise on her. Our last princess cruise was on the SKY. It was fabulous. What I will dislike is the mask wearing. We hate that.

[geoherb]

My last cruise before the pandemic shutdown was on the Caribbean Princess (10-day partial Panama Canal). I had a good time. I'm booked to go on the CB again in three weeks and looking forward to getting back to a regular ship with a functional Promenade Deck to walk on. 

 

I sailed on the Majestic in August. Wearing a mask wasn't bad. People did it while inside except when eating or drinking. When meeting with new friends for drinks before dinner, we would keep our masks off. 

[MissP22]

On 11/14/2021 at 8:57 PM, geoherb said:

My last cruise before the pandemic shutdown was on the Caribbean Princess (10-day partial Panama Canal). I had a good time. I'm booked to go on the CB again in three weeks and looking forward to getting back to a regular ship with a functional Promenade Deck to walk on. 

 

I sailed on the Majestic in August. Wearing a mask wasn't bad. People did it while inside except when eating or drinking. When meeting with new friends for drinks before dinner, we would keep our masks off. 

What about wearing masks in the show lounge?

Once they dim the lights .

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

On the Carnival Mardi Gras you were to wear your masks in the theater and at every show, comedy, bingo etc.  Always while inside. Most did. We hated it.

[geoherb]

9 hours ago, MissP22 said:

What about wearing masks in the show lounge?

Once they dim the lights .

 

I did not notice anyone taking advantage of the lights going down to remove their masks. But I sat on the front row and didn't check. People back then were not wearing masks when eating and drinking--and drinking was allowed in the theater. I read this thread about the new policy that started on the Sky Princess last month that encourages people to "sip and cover" when enjoying beverages in the lounges and theater. That wasn't in effect in August.