Caribbean Princess Information

[fourcruises]

Having cancelled my Sept. 4 Ziuderdam cruise due to Frances I have booked on the Oct. 23 Caribbean Princess and have some questions about the ship...have been on the Grand (many times) and Golden but the CP has some new features. First what is Cafe Carib? It looks like it is part of the Horizon Court. What is Club Fusion and has anyone been in the cabins directly over it on the Emerald Deck and is there any noise from it? I have been in the Vista Suite over the lounge on the Grand and there was some noise. How did PC dining work now that they added 500 more passengers but not more dining space? Is there a wait and/or do they take reservations? How was Sterling Steak House. I went on the Dawn and was not impressed by either the setup (a corner of Horizon Court) or the quality of food.

[spongerob]

Cafe Caribe is an alternate dining spot that carries no additional charge. It is used as a third buffet line for breakfast and lunch, then offers different menu items including lots of seafood dishes in the evening. Many of the dishes have a Caribbean theme. It is extremely popular if you do a search on these boards.

 

Club Fusion takes the old Vista Lounge space and converts it into more of a nightclub style arrangement with plenty of tables and chairs in smaller sections. The stage is still there. Video monitors are liberally placed throughout the room so that you can see what is happening on stage. There are a few slot machines in Club Fusion also.

 

They've swapped one of the PC dining rooms with the large (formerly) Traditional dining room located on Deck 6 aft. This seems to have made the PC experience more manageable. I think Traditional has been moved to the dining room on Deck 5. Reservations appear to be somewhat problematic at peak times even for those who have booked a suite, though supposedly you can get priority reservations if you make it clear that you are in a suite. We didn't have to push this issue since we were in Traditional, but it did help get us a reservation in Sterling.

 

Speaking of Sterling, it is located in the same place as Santa Fe is on the Grand. It has been redesigned so that people aren't walking between the tables to get to the Princess Theater. The food is pretty good, and I highly recommend the chocolate pecan pie.

[Aquarian]

Cafe Caribe is to the rear of the Horizon Court (different doorways). It is a buffet with quite a variety of food. We didn't eat there as we ate in the Palm Dining Room every night. I have read that they have a wonderful selection of food every night. They have tables set with linens and crystal but it is not as formal as the formal dining rooms but it is a little more formal than the Horizon Court. Club Fusion is the new Vista Lounge. It's a busy room with lots of TV screens and and club style seating. Also, there are some slot machines there too. Most people seem to really like Club Fusion but we preferred the Vista Lounge. Our stateroom was on Emerald Deck but we were over the photo lab and didn't hear any noise coming from Club Fusion. I read on CC that the Palm Dining Room aft was less crowded for PC dining so that's were we ate each night. We were always seated immediately at a table for two, with the exception of second formal night when we had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated. We did not eat in the Sterling Steak House. The food was delicious and we noted that French night has been replaced with Caribbean night in the formal dining rooms on the Caribbean Princess. I hope you enjoy your Caribbean Princess cruise as much as we did - it's a special ship.

[fourcruises]

Cafe Caribe is an alternate dining spot that carries no additional charge. It is used as a third buffet line for breakfast and lunch, then offers different menu items including lots of seafood dishes in the evening. Many of the dishes have a Caribbean theme. It is extremely popular if you do a search on these boards.

 

Club Fusion takes the old Vista Lounge space and converts it into more of a nightclub style arrangement with plenty of tables and chairs in smaller sections. The stage is still there. Video monitors are liberally placed throughout the room so that you can see what is happening on stage. There are a few slot machines in Club Fusion also.

 

They've swapped one of the PC dining rooms with the large (formerly) Traditional dining room located on Deck 6 aft. This seems to have made the PC experience more manageable. I think Traditional has been moved to the dining room on Deck 5. Reservations appear to be somewhat problematic at peak times even for those who have booked a suite, though supposedly you can get priority reservations if you make it clear that you are in a suite. We didn't have to push this issue since we were in Traditional, but it did help get us a reservation in Sterling.

 

Speaking of Sterling, it is located in the same place as Santa Fe is on the Grand. It has been redesigned so that people aren't walking between the tables to get to the Princess Theater. The food is pretty good, and I highly recommend the chocolate pecan pie.

 

Thanks Rob, I knew you would have all the answers!! Though I didn't need the chocolate pecan pie recommendation, just one more temptation...I do enjoy those chocolate bananas which I am sure account for 3 of the 5 pounds I usually put on.

[Toto2Kansas]

The Caribe Cafe was very nice. Much nicer than the Horizon Court. Smaller, and the buffet line is a bit different, but it seemed to have more of a restaurant atmosphere then the Horizon Court Buffet. We never found it overly crowded and there are many tables with a great ocean view or off in a corner if you would like to have a nice quiet dinner without scenery.

The food offered seemed to be of a much higher quality then the Horizon Court also.

 

I agree with Rob as the Sterling Steakhouse new design is so much nicer without everyone walking by on their way to the theater.

[CruiseFever]

Actually, The Caribe Cafe is two more buffet lines, not one. It offers a great deal of flexibility in feeding us beginning with the Embarkation Lunch you'll find as you board the ship on the first day. Then, with the Horizon Court's two serving areas, a total of four are open and all serve the same selections to the ravenous cruisers as they first board. At night, on that first night, the Cafe Caribe transforms to (as Toto noted) more of a table service restaurant if you want it to be that .

 

You can go through the buffet, sampling the Caribbean themed entree's (I know that sounds vague, but it works, trust me) which on that first night feature a fabulous selection of seafood.

 

You can also walk into the dining area which, since lunch, gained tablecloths and is preset with wine glasses and flatware where you will be treated to a table service type experience, complete with menus.

 

We didn't realize this until the cruise was over. The two times we dined there we simply walked through the buffet, then found a table and sat down, like most other people we viewed on our particular sailing.

 

Documentation available in your cabin or online does not make this apparent. I think that's because they like to retain the flexibility to do different things with this space and don't want to get locked in to one set way of doing things.

 

To me, that's all flavored with Personal Choice Cruising, which allows you do do stuff (like eating, or "Anytime Dining") when you want, where you want and with whom you want.

 

The hours of this venue are varied (see below) serving Pastries and Beverages from 4AM to 10AM, Dinner from 5:30 to 11PM, and "Bistro" service from 11PM to 4AM.

 

Tips:

• If you like the appetizers they're passing out on deck during Island Night head to the Caribe Cafe, they have them all on the buffet.
  
• When open, we'd go through the Horizon Court buffet first then the Caribe Cafe buffet. More selections, usually easier to find a seat during busy times back by the Caribe Cafe.
  
• While the Horizon Court buffet is a scramble type layout where it is appropriate to skip stations you don't want and go directly to the ones you do the Caribe Cafe is more of a straight line cafeteria setup, although it is not straight as in linear.
  

 

 

 

On Club Fusion, as indicated by Aquarian (above) reports posted here from those who had cabins directly above this venue indicate that noise is not a problem.

 

Club Fusion continues the Personal Choice Cruising concept offering a wide variety of entertainment and social activities. Everything from Country Line Dancing Lessons to Horse Racing, Bingo and Comedians can be found in this diverse facility...a fusion of what might have been isolated into different venues on other ships.

 

Your question and concern about the 500 extra passengers on board is a good one and one that's asked a lot. Club Fusion, the Caribe Cafe and the flashy Movies Under The Stars, are some of the reworkings/ innovations designed to feed and entertain the total passenger manifest. I think that's significant because the spirit of Personal Choice Cruising is much more than adding more tables and chairs to take care of having to feed more people.

 

As far as dining is concerned here's the deal:

 

There's still traditional dining on the Caribbean Princess just like any other ship in the fleet or cruise line. There's two scheduled seatings, early and late, similar to other cruise lines.

 

Personal Choice dining, more accurately called Anytime Dining, is another way to feed you. It allows you to eat when you want and with who you want any time during the dining room hours of operation.

 

On the Golden, for example, there were two other dining rooms to serve those who had selected or had been given Personal Choice dining. We chose one, liked it a lot, and asked to be seated at the same table, at the same time, with the same waiter for the rest of the cruise. This was no problem. So for all practical purposes we did have traditional dining. The same menu was being served the only difference was that the people around us were not always the same...although many were.

 

We could have simply walked into one of the PC dining rooms during serving hours when we were hungry and been seated, probably after a wait. We could have phoned in reservations for various places to eat at various times during the week in advance, say on the first day aboard. Not a bad idea if you like early dining but not when the ship is in port and you'll be ashore, for example.

 

It's really all about flexibility and goes beyond just dining to encompass a style of vacationing termed Personal Choice Cruising. The Anytime Dining part, for example, makes it possible to meet new friends on a shore excursion or at pool side and have dinner with them that night.

 

Before, when meeting a new friend one of the questions asked would be "Which (traditional assigned dining) seating are you? From there plans for the evening could be made and a time set up to meet after dinner. Now you can include dinner in your plans for the evening and at a time that is convenient for you.

 

In addition to the traditional and Personal Choice dining rooms are other specialty restaurants like Sabatinis or the Sterling Steak House that offer sit down dining for a small additional fee and are reservation only. These offer even more flexibility but require thinking ahead.

 

Providing yet another choice besides these sitdown table service restaurants is the Horizon Court a 24/7 buffet and the Caribe Cafe discussed above. There's also a Pizza and Grill open a good chunk of the day and 24 hour room service that has extensive offerings.

[gopher's girl]

Chris - as always thorough and helpful - much appreciated!

 

I wish you were going on the Sapphire or Diamond before January - I guess I'll just have to trust what Srphnx says ;)

[CruiseNut7]

WOW Chris - what great information. Thanks so much. :)

I will share this thread with the Caribbean Carousers who will be sailing the CP on 11/27.

Diane :cool:

[taxatty]

Chris--sounds great! You've convinced me to give the Caribbean Princess a shot in March.

 

One question--did the extra deck of passengers make it seem any more crowded than the other Grand class ships you've been on?

Thanks.

Les