advise for Carribean princess

[thelemalove93]

Hello my husband recently returned from a Carnival cruise, and it wasn't our cup of tea, not adult pools and way too many kids. We talked to some other couples on the boat and were really happy with what they said about Princess, so we are now looking to book our first Princess cruise.

 

A few questions though....

1) Any reccomendations on where to book it through, or if it is just better to book it through princess. We want at least an Ocean view room. On the obstructed view catagories, how obstructed are they, and if we book a guarantee, what is the chance of getting an upgrade?

 

2) How many midnight buffets are there? We were lied to on carnival and really upset when we found out there were only two?

 

3) For the traditional versus the anytime dining are the menues the same?

 

4) Is there an adult pool (Carribean Princess) and if so is it enforced

 

Any other tips, etc would be appreciated....

[CGAGE]

We just booked the CB for Feb of 07! From your post...I think you will love Princess. I'm an experienced cruiser...yet this is only my 2nd Princess cruise. The couple of things that I LOVED about the Grand Princess were the Anytime Dining...and the Adults Only Pool! They did enforce it while we were sailing...I hope that is the case with the CB! I may be able to answer some more of your questions...please email me at cgage61299 at a o l dot com.

Thanks!

[fathercop]

;) Hi, Thelmalove 93!

 

I can try to answer some of the questions for you. I have been on the Caribbean Princess (CB for short) three times. We most recently disembarked two weeks ago.

 

As to question 1, we always use a TA. I cannot tell you if it is better or worse. We have had a great experience with our TA. No problems whatsoever!

 

Question 2: There is a modest continuous midnight buffet line on the Lido deck, in Cafe Caribe. (Salads, fruit, soup, sandwiches, maybe some extras, dessert.) Additionally in the same location they have a bistro service where you can order from an abreviated menu. I did not order from the bistro on this last cruise, but a year ago I recall being able to order steak and other more "filling" meals. This year, though, I noticed that very late at night or early morning;) , (2AM or so) I could not get any soft drinks since the bars were closed. Coffee, tea, milk, juice were available.

 

The food I thought was good.

 

Question 3: The menus are the same. (My wife and I usually do Anytime Dining since we like the flexibility it offers. There are other threads on this topic for you to look at.)

 

Question 4: Yes, there is an adult only pool, two of them. The Terrace Pool and the Lotus Pool are specifically for adults and once I have seen deck staff politely ask teenagers and young children who wondered to these pools to move to another pool. Otherwise, I have only seen adults at these pools.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Rich a.k.a.

[spyro1952]

1. Like anything else, you should "shop". Sometimes you can get the best deals at Princess, other times you can get a better deal from your TA. The bigger the TA agency, the more they can discount your individual booking. We always used a small independent TA but found out we do better booking while on board, then transferring the booking to a TA from a larger agency and get an even better final price. You obviously can't do that with cruise #1.

 

2. Midnight buffets are not what they used to be on Princess but you can go up to the buffet late at night and get sandwiches, dessert, crackers, cheese,etc. The buffet is open 24 hours but at 3 am it's usually coffee and pastry.

 

3. Having done both personal choice and traditional seating, I prefer the latter. The menus are exactly the same. The only difference I've found is that there is no baked Alaska parade (last night on board) in PC dr's because passengers are always coming in and out and not eating dessert at the same time. (I love baked Alaska)

 

4. I love the CB. I highly recommend it. I did a back to back in May and the service was the best I've ever had on a Princess ship (Elite members: Mom has over 50 cruiuses on Princess alone).

 

5. The adults only pool rules on the CB are strictly enforced. They now have Youth Security Officers on all Princess ships that walk the ship 24/7 for just such instances. This has really cut down on the out of control kids, especially on cruises during the summer and holidays were you typically see this behavior.

 

Hope this helps.

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

NEVER BOOK THROUGH the cruise line...you spend WAY too much..

 

go through an agency like cruise.com

 

they get you a good price.

 

Shop around and find the best deal BEFORE you book w/ anyone.

 

Meg

[SingerEsq]

I've sailed on Carnival and for many of the same reasons you mention, never again. I'm sure it meets other people's needs, but it's not for me.

 

Princess does not have the traditional "midnight buffets" of old (where did they go?). Not sure any mass-market line does (if that's what you were referring to). As another poster mentioned, there is a 24 hour buffet that has food to various degrees throughout the night. But it's not like the old days with ice sculptures, dipped strawberries, pomp and circumstance, etc.

 

We've done the Island to Hawaii and the Coral to Alaska. Enjoyed both ships VERY much. Going with some trepidation going on the CB next (3200 people?!!!), but have adjusted my expecations accordingly. Plus, the price was hard to ignore.

 

I have always booked through a TA b/c we have a great one. However, I do watch the online brokerages just to see if we're going ok ... and we always have. Plus, our TA usually sends us something on the ship, which is nice.

 

Give it a try.

[thelemalove93]

Hi- I am trying to find out if it is better to book farther out or closer to the sailing date. For more experience cruisers what do you normally do?

 

Thanks!

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

If it's a newer ship... further out...

 

but if you can get off work w/ little notice... last minute deals are good too.

[thelemalove93]

Another question I have is that on princesses site it says that some of the ocean view rooms have obstructed views- how obstructed are these views?

 

Also, if I do guarantee what is the likelyhood of getting an upgrade? Has anyone else done this on princess and what has the outcome been?

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

Usually means there's a lifeboat outside your window paritally blocking your view. Mom and dad had one of these cabins on their last cruise back in Feb.

 

Upgrades happen, but don't expect them... they are few and hard to come by.

 

Book the category you are happy with, cuz most likely that's the one you will get.

[gopher's girl]

My sister went on Princess first and then Carnival and was disappointed. I hope your trip on Princess is wonderful, no matter which ship you select.

[tango55]

Can someone please tell me why the shortform for the Caribbean Princess is CB? CP I could understand, but not CB.

 

Thanks, Terry

[SingerEsq]

Just as the nomenclature for airports often does not make sense, Princess uses call letters for each ship.

 

The CB is the Carribean Princess. There's a list on these boards somewhere.

 

Edit:

 

Found the list:

 

The official designators are:-

CB - Caribbean Princess

CO - Coral Princess

CP - Sea Princess

DI - Diamond Princess

NP - Golden Princess

AP - Grand Princess

SA - Sapphire Princess

TP - Star Princess

DP - Dawn Princess

IP - Island Princess

SP - Sun Princess

PA - Pacific Princess

GP - Regal Princess

RP - Royal Princess

TA - Tahitian Princess

KP - Crown Princess

[Host Caroline]

We just booked the CB for Feb of 07! From your post...I think you will love Princess. I may be able to answer some more of your questions...please email me ......

Thanks!

 

For the benefit of all it would be great if you could answer these questions on the boards here instead of via private email. Lots of folks cruising the CB for the first time would benefit:D

[traci28]

In reference to why "CB" is used as opposed to "CP"... CP = Coral Princess which was in service before the Caribbean Princess was. :)

[jerseygirl3]

Just keep in mind the time of year you sail will impact the amount of children on your sailing. Caribbean Princess was built with families in mind, and our experience was that there were many more children on our sailing than had been on our previous Princess cruises (Grand X 2, Golden).

 

Yes, there is an adult pool, but when we sailed (third week of September 2005) the staff did not reinforce the "adults only" rule. At one time, there were about 6 very unruly kids in the pool, jumping, blocking the current machine, etc., and the staff did nothing, despite many passengers asking them to intervene.

 

Prior to our Caribbean Princess sailing, my cruiseline of choice was Princess. From now on, I would avoid that particular ship. I can't even imagine what it would be like had it been a time of year when the kids weren't in school. If I sail Princess again, it will be a longer itinerary where the likelihood of kids is less.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love kids. I have four myself. But the situation on our sailing was out of control, and the staff did nothing to rectify it. If people are saying they haven't encountered the same situation, perhaps it was not the norm on our sailing, and maybe I'd give the Caribbean Princess another try.

 

But in the meantime, we have switched to Celebrity and are giving HAL a try this coming January.

[Myrna]

Anyone who has sailed lately on the Caribbean Princess. Is there a lot of seafood than on other ships?

[lctc]

Another question I have is that on princesses site it says that some of the ocean view rooms have obstructed views- how obstructed are these views?

 

Also, if I do guarantee what is the likelyhood of getting an upgrade? Has anyone else done this on princess and what has the outcome been?

 

Sometimes it is totally obstructed. However, you will have some light but no view. If you are lucky to get a cabin between two life boats you will have some what of a view. Guarentee will get a new location but not always from an obstruction to a outside with view.

 

If the view (Europe or S. Pacific) iis important to you get a balcony, If not (Gulf) who cares what you can see. Most of the time you are in the public areas since there is much to do. If you are doing the Canal you should go the the top deck this way you can see all around the ship.