Princess review Dec 3-10 from a mostly NCL cruiser, with kids...

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

A little bit about me, I am 34. This is my 8th cruise and the 6th we’ve taken the kids on. Mom and dad treated all of us kids and grandkids on this cruise. Thanks again mom, if you read this!!!

I have cruised on NCL 3 times, and once each on Celebrity, Holland America, and a couple no-name/defunct lines. We are not loyal to any particular cruise line. Newer ships and price is what dictates our cruise choice.

As usual, I travelled in an inside room with my husband and two kids 12 and 8. On this cruise we travelled with a “family and friends” group of 26, ages 3 to grandparents.

My whole cruising life, I always heard how great Princess cruise line was. In fact I’d always wanted to go but it was never affordable for us as a family in a quad, so I became very excited when we found a really good deal on this cruise (and of course more excited when mom treated). We booked early in March and most of my group had inside rooms beside each other on Caribe deck…with 2 sets of grandparents in balcony cabins with the big balconies, in front of us.

Because of the Princess hype my expectations were quite high to begin with.

Our pre-cruise Princess customer service was horrible. Once we were booked they pretty much didn’t care about anything. Some of the issues were so silly and avoidable. But this is typical of the industry and I kept an open mind about the cruise since the two usually are not reflective of each other.

The main point of this cruise for us was to be with the family and relax (as opposed to adventure). My husband and I had just 90% finished a huge renovation on our house… and we were beat and just wanted to enjoy a dust free environment.

We were familiar with both St. Thomas and St.Martin and had no excursions pre-planned.

Check in was quite easy. We got to the port at 11:30 and I think we checked in by 12:30….and were on the boat very quickly.

One thing to note, if you don’t, can’t, or unexpectedly have problems using a credit card (our card had a huge hold on it from our hotel the previous week) for setting up your shipboard account, Princess requires tons of money down for your account…$300 for each person, including children, and this must be on top of any expenses you incur each day. This sucked for us since besides gratuities we spent $40 in all. By day 3 they wanted $1500 cash. Thankfully my sister bailed me out with her credit card as security.

NCL has a much fairer system…you set your cash limit which is noted on your account. If you want to go over you just go add more money to your account.

Sonia, our room stewardess was really good. She greeted us with lots of information, so much so we were trying to politely get away, and she was just great the whole trip. No complaints there at all. My sister and hubby had 3 teens in their quad. One set of grandparents had a granddaughter in their double balcony cabin. Both extra teens were “officially” booked in with a quad with a couple in our group but Sonia set up an extra cot in both rooms no problem.

The rooms were nice…but not as big as our Norwegian Sun rooms. The closet arrangement is really nice though. The bunk situation was no good if we wanted to watch tv.

We headed up to the buffet for lunch and this is where things got fun. Chaos and confusion is the theme here. Picture a pinball machine and you’ve got Horizon’s court. I, being 34, having a sense of humor and being able bodied found it amusing but I cannot imagine being elderly or disabled. I don’t know…I can’t even describe the chaos, but none of the set up made sense.

This is also where I noticed that this Princess ship carried the rudest group of passengers I’ve ever encountered on a ship. One lady was so confused she threw her trate (tray/plate) back to the seemingly understaffed workers and stormed off. Picture people in walkers trying to balance their trates and cutlery, realizing they had filled their plates up with desserts before the main course foods because everything was in strange order. Anyways, I managed to fill my plate up with lots of good food. I’m not too picky. It turns out that was a good thing because with the exception of a couple of dishes they served the same exact food EVERY DAY. Sometimes, as a surprise, they served something different in the back buffet. Dessert selection was surprisingly boring and small compared to the other ships we’ve been on. The pizza at the pizzeria was really good.

At 4:30 they had the life boat drill. This is a joke….I don’t know how they expect 800 people in a muster station to calmly gather and exit the ship in a real disaster…

We spent a lot of our time at the pool. My kids refused to go to the KidsZone….so I can’t comment on that. I don’t know why they never want to go to these kids clubs…but when I suggest it they look at me like I’m about to send them to some sort of death camp…..they like to stick to us like glue….and I guess I should appreciate it while it lasts. My son did go one day for an hour because he was dying to be with his friend…but never wanted to go back after that. His friend loved it.

The pools are very nice. The kids loved that it was freshwater. Chairhoggers abounded. Basically we had to find one chair for the 4 of us and I would watchfully upgrade positions and amounts of chairs throughout the day. One morning the 4 of us shared one chair taking turns swimming and such as two people occupied 4 chairs…two in the sun and two in the shade….ridiculous. Anyways, I really enjoyed just spending time laying out in the sun or the shade.

There are tons of chairs available around the ship though if you don’t require to be near a pool. I don’t think chair saving was as bad as other ships we’d been on. I think this is due to not having piles of towels easily accessible. You have to bring the ones in your room or ask for some from the attendant.

On the first sea day the pool was really wavy. I’m surprised it wasn’t closed. Needless to say everyone in the pool had a blast. I was impressed with Youth Patrol who watched closely to make sure the youngest ones were being supervised. We did watch one elderly woman arguing with the deck attendant that the pool was way to wavy..she kept yelling at him that it was ridiculous. She wanted him to turn it off.

The age group on this ship really surprised me. The crowd was much older and had eh….how can I put this delicately, much more mobility issues than the Holland America cruise and the Alaska cruise I’ve been on combined…..and I didn’t think that was possible. More power to them. I think it’s great! However, walking in the hallways was so sloooow. At one point this one rude man yelled MOVE!!!...like he wanted us to trample the people in front of us. I guess he’d had enough. I just had to keep thinking…okay…I’m on vacation…there’s no rush.

On the other hand I was also surprised at the amount of kids on board. We always travel off season with our kids and usually there’s not too many kids on board but there were lots on this cruise.

Elevators were horrible and took forever and there were so many flights of stairs ...I'm tired thinking about this. A lot of times we had to let an elevator go by because it was so full already.

Dinner Foods on the ship were of good quality but the the variety compared to our other cruises sucked…way too much fish entrees and weird things. I like some fish…but give me a break. And the appetizers were not to appetizing either. Salads were boring…and the dressings apparently were horrible. The ceasar salad was good though. Cold soups are one of my and my sister’s favourite cruise things. They had the same cold soup twice the first two nights…The difference: one had croutons, one didn’t…it was good though…but all it was, was a virgin Pina colada. Good thing I like those. On the last night, we spent 10 minutes convincing our friend (a cruise virgin) to try a cold soup, …finally she ordered the pumpkin soup… Poor girl, got hers first and ate it all silently. We got ours and literally wanted to spit it out. It ended up being the most horrible baby foodish thing we’d ever had on any cruise.

The fettucine alfredo that is available any night was the best I’d ever had. Lobster was really good. The desserts were so so…The Crème Brulee was good and there’s something on the menu described as simple but fantastic (can’t remember the name)and although we made fun it….because really with the exception of butter was is simple yet fantastic?.....it was just that. I have to say I didn’t overeat on this cruise. I can’t believe there’s no chocolate buffet on this cruise. That’s unheard of and I still to this day feel a void in my life.

Most of our group got assigned traditional dining but since not all were able to get on, we gave it up a month before the cruise for anytime dining. We were told that we could make a reservation on those nights we wanted to. Once, on the cruise, we phoned and we were told it was all booked up for the week…and we were willing to be very flexible with our time and willingness to divide amongst several tables. We’d never had this problem on NCL.

On most nights we showed up in a group of 10-16 and the Maitre D looked at us like we were a huge inconvenience….I don’t know why we got attitude…as we would be seated at several tables together in a few minutes…but he would roll his eyes at us.

Given the ongoing heated debate about dress in the diningrooms I was surprised to see how formal and casual people were dressed. I noticed MANY people wearing jeans. No one looked like a bum…but many people were not dressed up….and a lot of people were dressed up…it was really mixed. Everyone seemed happy...no one seemed to care.

Princess just seemed really stingy…for example on NCL you get free hot chocolate all day and free cappuccinos, lattes..etc…with dinner…Princess charged for all these.

Drink harassment on this ship was really bad.

Entertainment….the cruise director/entertainment staffed….ugh….the most boring of any of my cruises…just looked like boring aerobics instructors….BUT….I must say that this ship gave out great prizes for the winners of the different things they did do.

Muts was a great idea and I think I would have really enjoyed this more if I had been more organized and kept a strict schedule.

Shows….I don’t know…I’m just bored with cruise shows now…and frankly the rocking of the ship puts me in a constant total womb cocoon state of sleepful bliss all the time and I don’t know how anyone past 40 yrs old stays up late on a ship.

I made it to 3 out 7 shows. 1. The Piano Man show…I fell asleep. What I did manage to stay awake for, the performances were better than NCL performance…which, believe me, is not a hard thing to do. 2. Kamika….at first I turned into a 15 year old girl and the word …icky….went through my head, but then they grew on me. I did fall asleep briefly and woke as they lit up the audience partway through the show. 3. The good bye show….the first comedian was quite funny…Adam Ace…just recycled cruise jokes…and Kamika…grew on me a little more…they are cute.

I went to the cooking show telling all my family that cruise critic said it was funny…It was boring…maybe it’s just me…I was excited to finally make it to a galley tour but really it was just a book tour.

Princess Cays was an okay beach. What’s not to enjoy about a day at the beach, but if we’re comparing, it’s nothing like Holland America’s Half Moon Cay….It was ridiculously crowded.

St. Thomas. We hired an open air cab for 14 of us for the day. I walked outside the compound where “Daisie” charged me $20 per person for the day as opposed to $35/30 inside the compound. We went to Coki beach this time, where the beach is a dump but the water was filled with fish that would literally swarm you. Beautiful! We then spent a couple hours at the end shopping downtown. The downtown area is just so dirty and dumpy now. The harassment of the taxi cabs was ridiculous. They were just plain rude. I just wanted to leave.

St. Martin on the other hand looks great and has made huge improvements in the past 6 years. We hired a bus at the port, for our group of 20 …At first the regulated mafia taxi association wanted $25 bucks but somehow after looking around some more, we got a nice private tour bus for $20 bucks each for the day…wherever we wanted to go. Our driver was “Leon the Lover”…he was a great tour guide. We went to Marigot, shopped a bit and had croissants, and spent the afternoon at Orient Beach.

Overall, the cruise was really nice. What's not to like on a cruise.

If we are going to compare though, I and most in our group would definitely rate NCL as being better than Princess. This really surprised me. Celebrity I think had the best product of all.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Thanks for taking the time to post a review.

 

Could you tell us which Princess ship you were on.

 

Bill

[cruzin23]

thank you for your review

[MrsKnuts2]

Which ship were you on?

[hill6]

I think they were on the Caribbean Princess based on the dates/itinerary.

[mek]

One thing about the Caribbean Princess is it does have a lot of seafood offerings - more than any other Princess ship with the exception of the Crown. That is one of the reasons DH and I love it so much. Hope you enjoyed it enough to try Princess again.

[huskerdan25]

One thing about the Caribbean Princess is it does have a lot of seafood offerings - more than any other Princess ship with the exception of the Crown. That is one of the reasons DH and I love it so much. Hope you enjoyed it enough to try Princess again.

 

I'm very happy that there are going to be a lot more seafood offerings. I have no complaints about the food we had on the Sapphire to the Mexican Riviera, but I do remember not being happy that we didn't have more seafood offerings. Really looking forward to the CB in 5 weeks!

 

As for the review, I think you gave us a fine review, highlighting the positive and negative experiences you had. Balanced and fair. I'm glad that you have found the cruiseline of your liking, NCL. And I'm glad you didn't let some of the negative aspects of the cruise ruin your entire experience. Thanks for your review.

 

Dan

[japester]

Good, thorough review review with lots of details (excluding the actual ship :p). Thank you for posting this.

 

I do get a kick out of watching people try to form lines in Horizon, since that isn't the idea at all. You are supposed to browse each station, so you're not stuck behind some slowpoke who is choosing each specific noodle for their stroganoff when all you want in a brownie. Can't say I ever saw somebody fill up on desserts (which are typically close to the entrance/exit) without realizing it! :)

 

I can’t believe there’s no chocolate buffet on this cruise. That’s unheard of and I still to this day feel a void in my life.

 

Other than NCL (who I cruised 5 years ago and had a good time), who still does the midnight chocolate buffet? I think most lines have done away with this, no?

 

Glad you had a good time (and a few laughs) despite the bumps along the way.

 

Jape

[flvol77]

 

 

The rooms were nice…but not as big as our Norwegian Sun rooms. The closet arrangement is really nice though. The bunk situation was no good if we wanted to watch tv.

 

Dinner Foods on the ship were of good quality but the the variety compared to our other cruises sucked…way too much fish entrees and weird things. I like some fish…but give me a break. And the appetizers were not to appetizing either. Salads were boring…and the dressings apparently were horrible. The ceasar salad was good though. Cold soups are one of my and my sister’s favourite cruise things. They had the same cold soup twice the first two nights…The difference: one had croutons, one didn’t…it was good though…but all it was, was a virgin Pina colada. Good thing I like those. On the last night, we spent 10 minutes convincing our friend (a cruise virgin) to try a cold soup, …finally she ordered the pumpkin soup… Poor girl, got hers first and ate it all silently. We got ours and literally wanted to spit it out. It ended up being the most horrible baby foodish thing we’d ever had on any cruise.

The fettucine alfredo that is available any night was the best I’d ever had. Lobster was really good. The desserts were so so…The Crème Brulee was good and there’s something on the menu described as simple but fantastic (can’t remember the name)and although we made fun it….because really with the exception of butter was is simple yet fantastic?.....it was just that. I have to say I didn’t overeat on this cruise. I can’t believe there’s no chocolate buffet on this cruise. That’s unheard of and I still to this day feel a void in my life.

Most of our group got assigned traditional dining but since not all were able to get on, we gave it up a month before the cruise for anytime dining. We were told that we could make a reservation on those nights we wanted to. Once, on the cruise, we phoned and we were told it was all booked up for the week…and we were willing to be very flexible with our time and willingness to divide amongst several tables. We’d never had this problem on NCL.

On most nights we showed up in a group of 10-16 and the Maitre D looked at us like we were a huge inconvenience….I don’t know why we got attitude…as we would be seated at several tables together in a few minutes…but he would roll his eyes at us.

 

Given the ongoing heated debate about dress in the diningrooms I was surprised to see how formal and casual people were dressed. I noticed MANY people wearing jeans. No one looked like a bum…but many people were not dressed up….and a lot of people were dressed up…it was really mixed. Everyone seemed happy...no one seemed to care.

 

Princess just seemed really stingy…for example on NCL you get free hot chocolate all day and free cappuccinos, lattes..etc…with dinner…Princess charged for all these.

If we are going to compare though, I and most in our group would definitely rate NCL as being better than Princess. This really surprised me. Celebrity I think had the best product of all.

 

We just got of NCL jewel and we have the complete opposite feelings towards NCL -

 

I guess that is why there is so many different cruise lines - to each his/her own.

[vmom]

When looking at the ages of the fellow cruises you need to consider what time of year you are traveling.

 

We just got off the RCCL Explorer of the Seas 12/3 to 12/10 cruise and most of the people on the ship were seniors. Alot of walkers and canes, and more wheelchairs than I've seen on previous ships. We loved it because I found seniors to be very friendly and talkative and enjoyed meeting alot more people on the cruise than I have on previous ones. Keep in mind tho, that on many lines when you cruise the first couple weeks of December you will get ALOT more of an older crowd.

 

Food: When was the last time you cruised NCL? I have only cruised Princess and RCCL but I have noticed an overall cheaper quality of food than previously. Less menu choices and cheaper ones. I think you'll find this on many if not all of the major lines. Cruiselines are trying to stay competitive with their pricing so they're cutting $ corners when it comes to food. I think if you cruise NCL next you may possibly notice a difference compared to your other NCL cruises.

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

I am so sorry...I forgot to mention the ship!

 

Yes, it was the Caribbean Princess..

 

I was on the

Norwegian Sun Alaska cruise Sept 2005

Norwegian Spirit Southern Feb 2005.

Norwegian Sun (IMO Best inside cabin for 4 or 5) again in 2003 for a Western.

The Celebrity (IMO Best Overall)Mellenium in 2002 for an Eastern.

Holland America Westerdam (Best Food, headlining entertainment acts, private island, unbelievable staff) in 2001 for an Eastern.

 

 

They all had chocolate buffet. Of course I couldn't stay up for all of them:eek: . The Alaska cruise had an afternoon chocolate buffet.

 

I would sail Princess again...if the price and itineary were right for the four of us. I just found that in comparison, it wasn't any better than NCL and I wouldn't go out of my way to book the line again. My parents who have been on lots of cruises said they wouldn't book Princess again. Two of the 26 did mention to me that they thought it was better. An older lady I met on the ship said she wouldn't go out of her way to book Princess either. The cruise virgins were extremely pleased. A couple things were better. Most of it was the same. Some things were not as good. In the end it's a cruise and what's not to enjoy.

 

I love seniors too...but alot of them were extremly rude on this cruise. You can tell this ship was way too big and disorganized and they were frustrated.

[flvol77]

IMO - The Chocoate buffet is WAY over blown. - It wasn't any better than the dessert that was on the buffet everyday - BTW they don't have souffles either, something that is on the menu almost everyday night with Princess.

 

I like on Princess they have a 24 hour buffet. NCL I was always looking for food...they didn't have enough fruits or healther food on NCL's buffets.

 

I didn't like how when the buffet closed you had to go down to blue lagoon and eat and all they seem to have on their menu was fried food -

 

We don't go on a cruise to gain 15 pounds on greasy - fried food, if you are into that you will love NCL

 

I did love NCL's Asian part of their speciality dining -

[Ula]

the4ofus,

A very fun review to read. You have a great sense of humor.

I know where you are comming from, we enjoy Princess it really fits for us. This year we did try another line. The cruise was very nice, but how things were done and most were minor points drove us nuts.

This is why it is nice there are different lines to meet different needs. You do crack me up on the Chocolate. The ship could be made of the stuff and I would not care. Do not eat the stuff.

That is not a ship problem but an individual problem. You have written one of the best reviews I have read.

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

flvol77 I have to agree that chocolate buffets are overblown and gross. I was just surprised that they didn't have one and usually it's just fun to try to stay up and attend. They are also the turning point in the cruise where you promise yourself to eat healthy from that point on.

 

As far as the souffles, I have to disagree. Besides creme brulee, souffles are my favorite dessert and they definately have them twice on NCL cruises. On Princess, they had them atleast 4 nights....same dessert over and over again with same vanilla sauce which they used on everything...good thing I liked them....but again lack of variety.

 

Again this is for the sake of comparison.

 

As far as greasy foods...I don't agree with your statement about NCL. I don't like greasy foods either....(although one must agree that a small pat of butter is simple yet fantastic and St.Martin croissants are yummy)...buffets were the same to me.

 

Princess had no deck BBQ's.

 

As far as the seafood lovers....you will love the food on this cruise. Princess definately has the edge here.

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

argh..double post

[Clutterlady]

Thank you for a balanced review. Took our first NCL cruise this past May on the NCL Dawn. Needless to say, the food was way below par as far as our opinion goes. Very disappointed except for LeBistro and Cagneys. At least we had 2 good meals. The service was poor, but the entertainment was very good. So just goes to show everyones opinion differs. I hope you continue to enjoy your cruises!:)

[flvol77]

flvol77 I have to agree that chocolate buffets are overblown and gross. I was just surprised that they didn't have one and usually it's just fun to try to stay up and attend. They are also the turning point in the cruise where you promise yourself to eat healthy from that point on.

 

As far as the souffles, I have to disagree. Besides creme brulee, souffles are my favorite dessert and they definately have them twice on NCL cruises. On Princess, they had them atleast 4 nights....same dessert over and over again with same vanilla sauce which they used on everything...good thing I liked them....but again lack of variety.

 

Again this is for the sake of comparison.

 

As far as greasy foods...I don't agree with your statement about NCL. I don't like greasy foods either....(although one must agree that a small pat of butter is simple yet fantastic and St.Martin croissants are yummy)...buffets were the same to me.

 

Princess had no deck BBQ's.

 

As far as the seafood lovers....you will love the food on this cruise. Princess definately has the edge here.

 

I didn't like NCL's BBQ - But, I am from the south and I lived in Alabama for a while and had dreamland bbq in my backyard when Mrs Janet owned it.....

 

We love seafood - I live in fl now and I could eat seafood everyday all the time - I could see if you don't like seafood the caribbean princess would be a little bit of a drag -

 

On the greasy food - a lot of people that had traveled with NCL before said they thought they were using too much grease/oil ....I had to ask them to stop using so much oil when they made my omelets.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Thanks for the great review, it is nice reading the comparrisons between the different lines from others.

[Boatdrill]

I'm astounded to hear that you had 4 people in an inside cabin !

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Thank you for a balanced review. Took our first NCL cruise this past May on the NCL Dawn. Needless to say, the food was way below par as far as our opinion goes. Very disappointed except for LeBistro and Cagneys. At least we had 2 good meals. The service was poor, but the entertainment was very good. So just goes to show everyones opinion differs. I hope you continue to enjoy your cruises!:)

 

Aren't the 2 restaurants you mentioned pay restaurants?

 

Only reason I ask is that I have read many NCL reviews that mention the free food is average to below average and the pay restaurants offer the kind of food you used to get for free.

 

Just wondering what your take is on this.

 

Bill

[sjbdtz]

Needless to say, the food was way below par as far as our opinion goes.

 

 

a) How is it needless to say?

 

b) If it's needless to say....why did you? :eek:

[dantesab]

My wife and I were on the same cruise as you and I have to say I agree with you that there were a lot more seniors this cruise then the last one we went on. Someone from the ship said that there were 4-5 senior citizens homes on this cruise. The food was ok this time many times they said that it was a special night in the buffet and it was not. I also agree with your review of St Thomas I hated it very dirty and very rude sales people and taxi drivers. My wife and I walked back from the town to crown bay did not want to deal with any more rude people.This was our second time with Princess and on the CB and I think it is our last at least to the Eastern Carribean.We think that we will try Alaska next.

[Taryn and Sarah]

Aren't the 2 restaurants you mentioned pay restaurants?

 

Only reason I ask is that I have read many NCL reviews that mention the free food is average to below average and the pay restaurants offer the kind of food you used to get for free.

 

Just wondering what your take is on this.

 

Bill

 

We had the same experience with the NCL Spirit in February. The "free" food was sub-par, only the $15 and $20 cover charge places served good beef, etc.

 

I personally loved the seafood on the CB. The first night seafood buffet with lobster claws, crab legs and shrimp was incredible. I've never seen so much seafood on a buffet on any other cruise line (minus the 2001 Westerdam, which our reviewer already mentioned, which was by far the most amazing food!)

[spongerob]

Well, Dec. 3-10 is definitely NOT prime family travel season, so you should expect an older crowd. In most places the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are the low point of the year. I like booking travel during this time because there are some GREAT deals out there, cruising or otherwise. And few kids. :D

 

Thanks for an entertaining review. I could quibble with some points but since it's all a matter of personal taste, who cares? One can see why there are things you like and dislike about Princess, and if one is of similar perspective than the comments might be quite useful.

 

About the muster drill, it does actually work and I think is preferable to having people trying to run to a specific lifeboat in an emergency. The subject (like everything else) has been debated to death here.

 

Thanks again! :)

[rebeccalouise]

I really enjoyed your review! You have a good sense of humor. I think older kids are less inclined to go to the youth programs. I have two boys and my older boy never wanted to go but my younger one loves going (he's 6).

I especially liked your comment about the rocking of the ship making you sleepy. I am over 40 (I'm 41) and I do tend to sleep alot on cruises!

 

Anyway, I agree that of the lines you mentioned, Celebrity is my favorite. I am willing to try others but I tend to compare everything now with Celebrity.