Caribbean Princess - good or bad?

[dreamboat43]

I would love to get some feedback on the Caribbean Princess ship from folks who have sailed her recently.  How was the ship and crew?  

[cr8tiv1]

I cruised on the Caribbean Princess summer and fall 2023 for a total of 25 days.  Crew was terrific in the MDR and specialty restaurants.  Do not interact much with bar service.  

 

I never felt crowded on sea days but detest the activities the ED now decides to hold in the Piazza.  The Party Band now plays in the Piazza instead of Explorer's Lounge.  Games in the Piazza,  "Quiet" music in the Piazza that should not be mic'd (chamber music, acoustical guitar, piano).  The Party Band was so loud that it made conversation just inside the MDR difficult.  

 

I thought food was good (subjective).  Did not partake in afternoon tea, PES afternoon lounge, Captain Circle Party, champagne tower.  

 

Production shows are old...they have been around pre-pandemic.  Not into comedians.  Again, this is all subjective.  The shows that I did go to were crowded and you needed to be there at least 25 minutes before.  Enrichment lecturers were okay.  Have seen better/worse.  

 

Do not visit the buffet.  I like Salty Dog Grill/Pizza. International Cafe.  

 

If you have specific concerns, I am sure others will be happy to write comments.

 

And the casino is smoking every day.  That's okay, less for me to lose in there.

[BamaVol]

Loved it.  We spend time walking on the promenade deck, taking exercise classes, spend the evenings in bars listening to music, drinking and talking to strangers. 
 

Nicest crew I have ever encountered.

 

MDR food was to our taste.  Great service.

 

We encountered nothing that didn’t function properly. Every part of the ship was clean and shiny, if occasionally threadbare in places.

 

Whether you will be happy on her depends more on you than the ship. 

[piercetc4]

look forward to sailing on her in august-  

[Musky Ike]

11 minutes ago, piercetc4 said:

look forward to sailing on her in august-  

We will be on the Caribbean Princess again in August as well. Have sailed on her six times before. It is an older ship but that has it's own charm. Some of the best crew we have experienced.

Edited February 15 by Musky Ike

[MissP22]

It's not one of their best ships, that's for sure. 

[cr8tiv1]

22 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

It's not one of their best ships, that's for sure. 

I respectfully disagree.

[20165]

I asked for a comparison between the Caribbean princess and celebrity reflection and got these responses. and yes, i know its going to be biased given i asked it on the celebrity board, but most people sailed on both that responded.  We ended up choosing the enchanted princess...

 

 

[paradiselivin1]

Our last Princess cruise was on the Caribbean last August. Yes, it's an older ship but we had a great trip (although weather in Greenland was not the best ~ not their fault) but we had some of the best crew on board including Jody Miles as CD. We've been on inaugural cruises and have loved the experience of a newer ship but we've enjoyed our cruises on Caribbean even in the days with her engine problems. We go for the itinerary more than the ship but I've never shied away from this one no matter what others think. 

[fpsphil]

Was on her in October.

 

Older ship that is showing its age (elevators looked banged up, wood trim had scratches, etc) but no issues with service, food, or entertainment.

 

Really enjoyed our time and would 100% sail on her again

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I respectfully disagree.

We haven't been on it in 10 years and I can only imagine how bad the condition is today. There are so many better choices then to spend time on the CP.

[HotRoot]

We sailed on the Caribbean Princess in October and had no complaints.  Something like the 40th ship we have been on.  We have sailed on much worse ships.  Our worst - Celebrity Constellation and Azamara Quest.  Would never sail on them again.

[cr8tiv1]

24 minutes ago, HotRoot said:

We sailed on the Caribbean Princess in October and had no complaints.  Something like the 40th ship we have been on.  We have sailed on much worse ships.  Our worst - Celebrity Constellation and Azamara Quest.  Would never sail on them again.

 

Didn't Azamara buy Princess' Pacific Princess and call it Quest?  So sad to hear this news.  Pandemic caused me to miss my booked sailing on the Pacific Princess.

[cruisinsince75]

38 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Didn't Azamara buy Princess' Pacific Princess and call it Quest?  So sad to hear this news.  Pandemic caused me to miss my booked sailing on the Pacific Princess.

Yes they did buy the formerly R-class Pacific Princess, but it is the AZ Onward.  The Quest and Journey were the R-class original ships to sail as Azamara ships under the Celebrity umbrella.  They just recently acquired a fourth Renaissance ship from P&O and it is called the Pursuit.     

[BamaVol]

I am really looking forward to sailing Caribbean Princess again once she sails out of Port Canaveral.  Hopefully early next year as soon as my wife’s softball season ends. We have nothing but good memories. I will admit a bias toward the more “classic” ships in a given line. We sail Enchanted in June and I don’t expect to be swayed.

[gracelilly]

My husband and I just got off the Caribbean Princess this February 4! We had a wonderful cruise and enjoyed the ship! We have been on 28 Princess cruises and some of the new ships. The Caribbean was just fine! Wonderful crew!

We had Reserved Mini Suite and the Reserve  dinning room was stellar service and food!

We enjoyed the entertainment we attended! Comedian and illusionist was great! Piano singer was like watching Billie Joel! 
Don’t let people who haven’t sailed in years influence your choice. Yes the ship is older but still beautiful! Enjoy !

[MissP22]

38 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

We sail Enchanted in June and I don’t expect to be swayed.

At the very least, the buffet area offer's more selections & room to mover around in. 

[nasa1974]

Sailing on her the end of April.

[RocknRoll22]

5 hours ago, fpsphil said:

Older ship that is showing its age (elevators looked banged up, wood trim had scratches, etc) but no issues with service, food, or entertainment.

We are on her right now on a 7 day cruise. Our first on Princess, been on many of the others.

 

Yep, definitely is a older ship showing it's age (first cruise 2004, so it's hitting 20 years old, and had the last refurbish in 2019). Don't look too close, you'll see all the bumps and bruises...

 

That said, we pick cruises based on the itinerary, and not the ship. The crew has been great, food has been fine, onboard activities are OK., although, the passenger base is definitely "older" than what he experienced on some other ships.  By 9 PM, the ship is almost a ghost town.... LOL... Don't be in a hurry to get anywhere...

[sttopmh]

We were on the CB on a sold-out Panama Canal cruise January 2023. The ship seemed crowded. And the MDR for dinner couldn't get its act together. Having to wait 20 or more minutes with a reserved dining time, we ended up reserving for 7:20 PM. Crooners is small with not much room to watch the performer. And our steward wasn't that great either. But we did like the wrap around promenade deck.

[seeyouinthesun]

I sailed January 2024 and had a fantastic time. Well run activities. The only down side was staffing in the MDR. They were very short staffed but the food was great. 
 

The ship is in good shape and everything works just fine. That’s not to say there is not sign of wear but nothing unacceptable in my opinion. 
 

I have another cruise booked for next January and the January after that. 

[annmarz]

6 hours ago, nasa1974 said:

Sailing on her the end of April.

so are we!

[spethstation]

I sailed on this ship in December. I echo everyone else who has said great things about the staff and cleanliness. I also enjoyed the food - and the bed! I found the entertainment and events a tad boring, and the smoking in the casino was a drag. Personally I would not sail this ship again but I like newer/bigger ships with a few more events targeted to my demographic (millennial). 

[sns1]

This was my review from our December 2023 cruise.

 

The good:

- Our room was ready when we got on the ship.

- The food was excellent.  The beef tenderloin was truly the best we have had on any ship. 

- We had anytime dining and arrived between 5:15 - 5:30 p.m.  The maximum we had to wait was 10 minutes for a table.

- Puerto Rico was one of our ports and we loved it.  We did the Princess walking tour.  Our guide used a microphone and we heard everything she said.  The lunch and drink at the end was very good.  We sat at a table for six and met two other couples.  Nice time.

- We had an outstanding meal at Sabatini's.  The waitstaff was wonderful.....It was definitely a 10.

- We didn't have the best weather for cruising but the captain did his best to go around the bad weather.  We had some rocking but I really didn't think it was bad. 

- Our bed and pillows were so comfortable.

- Disembarkation went pretty quick.  We handle our own bags so it usually goes fast.

- International cafe was very good.  I just wish there was a line for black coffee only.

- Pizza by the pool was excellent.  We also had burgers and chicken sandwiches one day and they were also good.

- We won at the casino.....yeah!  (smoke was bad though)

The negative:

- We were in room E731, mini suite.  Second day of the cruise, our balcony had at least an inch or two of water.  Not sure where the water came from but we told the room steward and he removed the water while we were out of the room. We were told the drain was plugged.  On the last day of the cruise, we had A LOT of rain.  Our balcony flooded and water came into our room. (They obviously didn't unplug the drain)  We were sitting on the couch, watching tv and saw the water pouring in.  There was a big puddle right by the slider and it was running down to the bed.  Our luggage was under the bed and we quickly put the luggage on the bed.  My husband went to get the room steward and he called his supervisor.  Towels were put down to try to stop it for going all over the room.  Maintenance came with a shop vac and fans.  Supervisor advised us to move and called the front desk for availability.  There was one mini suite available.....not comparable to ours but we decided we had to move.  We packed everything up and went to room D732.    Our new room steward tried to stop us from going down the hall and we said "we are the new people for one night".  He knew about us but was not happy.  He never talked to us and actually turned his back when he saw us.  I get it.....he needed to clean that room and we were only there for one night.  The beds in the new room cannot be made into a queen bed.  They were so uncomfortable.  They are right up against the wall and if you roll over your arm hits the wall.  Not good.

- Toilet issue......we had no water going into the toilet to flush it.  One day was really bad.  Our room steward was notified and we did have water flowing again.  There were two other days that there was water but very little.

- The wheelhouse bar opens at 4:00 p.m.  We liked going there with the other couple we were traveling with.  Most afternoon, there was no one to wait on us.  We would go down to Explorers Lounge to get our drinks.  We could have ordered them on the medallion but it was easier to just get them.  No blue cheese stuffed olives in any of the bars.  (I know this has been discussed on cruise critic already)

- Our last dinner was at Steamers.  We normally eat around 5:30 p.m. but the earliest we could get was 7:30 p.m.  We called a few times during the cruise but was always told that was the earliest.  We got there around 7:15 p.m. and was quickly seated.  There were maybe 6 other tables being used.  The place was empty!  Our dinner was ok but nothing special.  We all said "one and done".  

- We will probably not cruise on the Caribbean Princess anytime soon.  We have sailed 11 times out of 32 cruises on the Caribbean.   I have always enjoyed sailing on her but this was not the best cruise and had nothing to do with the weather.  Our next cruise is in March on the Ruby.