Caribbean Princess 12/10 - 12/17/23 Real-Time Cruise Report

[IndyKid]

Hello Everyone, we departed today from Port Everglades bound on the eastern Caribbean itinerary, I'll share a few impressions.

 

I'll start with some background info - I'm 60, wife is 59. This is our first cruise with Princess and only our 3rd ever, first 2 were on Royal Caribbean. We're here on the recommendation of our travel agent, and from what I've seen so far she steered us in the right direction. 

 

The CB is, as most people know on this forum, an older ship, launched in 2004. It looks to have been well-maintained, I've not seen any glaring issues.

 

Embarkation was fast and efficient, we were on board within about 20 minutes of arriving at the pier (we were green lane). Went through security, walked right up to a Princess receptionist who scanned our medallions, checked and scanned our passports and sent us on our way. It was much quicker than our last cruise on Allure OTS. 

 

We went straight to Crooners for our first drink of the cruise, then to our room to check it out. The balcony seems larger than both of the RCL ships. Less impressive was the shower, we would prefer an actual enclosure with a door rather than a curtain but that's a relatively minor issue.

 

Had lunch in the buffet, it was very good, with plenty of options for every pallet. Plenty of seating available, which was a pleasant change from our 2 Royal Caribbean trips.

 

Went up to the Lido deck for the sailing away party, watched Ft. Lauderdale fade from view. 

 

Went back to the room, found our luggage had been delivered. Unpacked, relaxed for a couple hours then went to the Palm MDR for dinner. We had 6 PM reservations, waited just a few minutes and were seated. Food was good, I had French onion soup, garlic prawns and salmon, wife just did the soup and Caesar salad. I will have to say that my appetizer was mis-named; I was expecting PRAWNS, but I got shrimp 🍤 instead. They were pretty much like the shrimp scampi at Red Lobster.

 

Went back to Crooners for more drinks, listened to some live music, then back to the room. 

 

Tomorrow is Princess Cay, we'll let the crowds head ashore while we enjoy the ship mostly to ourselves.

 

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by IndyKid

[highflyingrealtor]

Thanks for day one report IK. We’ll be on the CB for the 7th time in Feb. From the Flybridge to Skywalkers, it’s our favorite ship. Will be following your week. Thanks…👍

Edited December 11, 2023 by highflyingrealtor

[IndyKid]

1 minute ago, highflyingrealtor said:

Thanks for day 1 IK. We’ll be on the CB for the 7th time in Feb. From the Flybridge to Skywalkers, it’s our favorite ship. Will be following your week. Thanks…👍

Will do. 2 things I forgot to mention - the demographics are definitely skewed towards the 50 and older crowds, we saw only a small percentage of younger couples and only a few children, which is a plus for us.

 

One thing we noticed is how much the ship tends to move - the water is fairly calm so not sure why? At over 100,000 gross tons, I figured we wouldn't feel much of anything? 

[highflyingrealtor]

Breakfast at Lido aft, overlooking the aft pool and wake is the best! 😎

Edited December 11, 2023 by highflyingrealtor
Clarification.

[Musky Ike]

Thanks for the live. We board next month.

[CCFC]

We board Sunday coming!

[EllieinNJ]

Looking forward to your report.

[IndyKid]

Got up about 7 this morning, showered and got dressed. Forgot just how small the bathrooms are on a cruise ship! Wife likes to sleep in so I left and went out to grab a coffee at the International Cafe and explored more of the ship. Went up front to look over the exercise room and Sanctuary pool. Sad to say the towel game is in full force, some people have no respect for others.

 

Went to the library to relax and drink my coffee mocha. Then received the news from our captain that the stop at Princess Cay was canceled due to rough seas preventing use of the tenders. We were planning to stay aboard while everyone went ashore. So much for having more of the ship to ourselves....😕

 

Well, my drink is finished. I think I'll go to the guest services desk and surprise the wife with a ultimate balcony dinner later this week, I've heard they are awesome!

[Ellipooh]

I’ll be on board next year about this time, my third voyage and definitely one of my favorite ships. You have a Balcony cabin, what deck? How does it compare?

 

Glad to hear you’ve found the IC, always a good bet for a bite. Sorry you missed having the ship to yourselves , what had led you to decide to stay aboard today?
 

Did you purchase the Plus package? How were the drinks? Crooners is another favorite but it can be difficult to find a seat sometimes. 

Edited December 11, 2023 by Ellipooh

[IndyKid]

7 minutes ago, Ellipooh said:

I’ll be on board next year about this time, my third voyage and definitely one of my favorite ships. You have a Balcony cabin, what deck? How does it compare?

 

Glad to hear you’ve found the IC, always a good bet for a bite. Sorry you missed having the ship to yourselves , what had led you to decide to stay aboard today?
 

Did you purchase the Plus package? How were the drinks? Crooners is another favorite but it can be difficult to find a seat sometimes. 

We're on Caribe Deck 10, port side just forward of the rear set of elevators with a balcony cabin. The room is nice, bed was very comfy, I slept good last night.

 

We did the Premier package, wife likes all the extras, including the drinks. Crooners hasn't been too crowded at all. Drinks are plenty strong in my opinion, I'm thinking of trying Vines later today to see what they offer.

 

We did the beach day stop at Labadee on our last cruise with Royal Carribean, it was OK, just another opportunity for the cruise line to pick your pockets some more. And since the ship is fairly full we thought we'd take advantage of sharing it with fewer people. 

[Alaska05]

We’ll be sailing on CB on January 14.

 

What time did u arrive at the port to get on so fast?

[IndyKid]

7 minutes ago, Alaska05 said:

We’ll be sailing on CB on January 14.

 

What time did u arrive at the port to get on so fast?

Our Princess transfer picked us up at the hotel about 11:30, we arrived at the pier about 11:45. There was a line waiting to go through security but it went pretty fast.

[BamaVol]

1 hour ago, IndyKid said:

We're on Caribe Deck 10, port side just forward of the rear set of elevators with a balcony cabin. The room is nice, bed was very comfy, I slept good last night.

 

We did the Premier package, wife likes all the extras, including the drinks. Crooners hasn't been too crowded at all. Drinks are plenty strong in my opinion, I'm thinking of trying Vines later today to see what they offer.

 

We did the beach day stop at Labadee on our last cruise with Royal Carribean, it was OK, just another opportunity for the cruise line to pick your pockets some more. And since the ship is fairly full we thought we'd take advantage of sharing it with fewer people. 

Crooners does seem to fill up fast once the music starts. We’ve done pretty well arriving after dinner and before anyone sits down at the piano. We always end up sharing a 4 top with any strangers that show up after the last table has been claimed. 

[GonzoWCS]

Hello and thanks for the live!  We board this coming Sunday (17th).  Glad to hear your embarkation was smooth.

 

Would you please do us a favor if time permits and get the numbers of Pax for both your cruise and the Next week's cruise?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Please let us know how the Vines team vibe is!  We love that place!

 

Cheers

[IndyKid]

34 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said:

Hello and thanks for the live!  We board this coming Sunday (17th).  Glad to hear your embarkation was smooth.

 

Would you please do us a favor if time permits and get the numbers of Pax for both your cruise and the Next week's cruise?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Please let us know how the Vines team vibe is!  We love that place!

 

Cheers

I'm not sure where I could get exact numbers for passengers, but I'd say we are near capacity, maybe a few inside cabins unoccupied. Figure about the same next week.

[GonzoWCS]

4 minutes ago, IndyKid said:

I'm not sure where I could get exact numbers for passengers, but I'd say we are near capacity, maybe a few inside cabins unoccupied. Figure about the same next week.

Thanks.  Customer service will give out current numbers and a WAG for the next one for sure if asked.

 

Cheers

[IndyKid]

3 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said:

Thanks.  Customer service will give out current numbers and a WAG for the next one for sure if asked.

 

Cheers

I'll go check it out. I need to order our Ultimate Balcony Cruise anyway.

[GonzoWCS]

2 hours ago, IndyKid said:

I'll go check it out. I need to order our Ultimate Balcony Cruise anyway.

Thanks again for checking.  They sounds like a nice surprise!

 

Cheers

[IndyKid]

56 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said:

Thanks again for checking.  They sounds like a nice surprise!

 

Cheers

The girl at guest services said we have 3000 passengers this week and they expect 3200 next week, so you'll be filled to the gills...😐

[GonzoWCS]

1 hour ago, IndyKid said:

The girl at guest services said we have 3000 passengers this week and they expect 3200 next week, so you'll be filled to the gills...😐

Copy that and thanks.  Go to Vines and have one on me please 😉

 

Cheers

[IndyKid]

31 minutes ago, GonzoWCS said:

Copy that and thanks.  Go to Vines and have one on me please 😉

 

Cheers

Thanks, I stopped by and had a glass of Pinot Grigio this afternoon. It will be the first of many this week!

[IndyKid]

So yesterday was an unscheduled sea day due to unfavorable tendering conditions at Princess Cays. So we spent the rest of the day relaxing, drinking a little, enjoying some of the live music at the Piazza and Crooners. Dinner in the Palm MDR was decent, service was very good. The wife had what they said was pork tenderloin, it was actually ham but she enjoyed it. I tried the jerk chicken, it was good. One difference I noticed with Princess is that they don't offer steak in the MDR unless you want to pay extra; on RCL it was available if none of that day's specials appealed to you. 

 

I mentioned service in the MDR earlier, I should add that so far all my interactions with the crew have been very positive, they are always friendly and eager to please. 

 

For this morning I once again left the wife to let her sleep in while heading down to the IC for coffee. As I type this I'm drinking it by the windows in Good  Spirits watching the water rush by. Seas still appear rather rough, I could really feel it laying in bed last night. 

 

Well, my coffee is finished. Time to grab a mimosa and head to the library for a comfy chair with my book.

[avonlady6390]

There usually is a no cost steak available on the mdr a couple of times during cruise also prime rib one night.😊

[BamaVol]

12 minutes ago, avonlady6390 said:

There usually is a no cost steak available on the mdr a couple of times during cruise also prime rib one night.😊

I would avoid anything Princess identifies as a “strip loin”. Mrs BV ordered one and could barely cut or chew it.  It may have been a one off, but she would never order it again.

[IndyKid]

1 hour ago, avonlady6390 said:

There usually is a no cost steak available on the mdr a couple of times during cruise also prime rib one night.😊

Ok, I'll be looking for it later this week, although we only have 2 more nights in the MDR, as I've booked Sabatini’s and Crown Grill for 1 night each, plus I'm surprising the wife with the Ultimate Balcony Dinner on Friday.