Caribbean Princess August 6th-15th Review

[Sandytoes]

Just returned from a fantastic 9-day cruise aboard the Caribbean Princess from August 6th –August15th. This was our second cruise aboard the CB.

The first time we sailed on her was back in 2005. We did notice a few changes.

 

Cabin:

We always booked a mid-ship balcony cabin. Perfect location to getting to the elevators. It was a nice cabin, not huge, but sufficient for our needs.

We noticed that the cabinet door to the refrigerator was bolted down. On our first cruise, we were able to keep the cabinet door opened to allow the hot circulating air to escape. Otherwise the refrigerator remained warm. On this cruise, even with the bolted down cabinet door the refrigerator remained cold.

The bathroom is stocked with hotel size shampoo, conditioner and lotion from the Lotus Spa. Shower of course is small. Beds are well used and need to be replaced.

The A|C was comfortable. We had to adjust the thermostat according to the temperature outside. The duvet cover would barely cover our legs. We would always have cold feet. We requested a sheet which helped considerably.

 

Horizon Court:

 

On embarkation day there is a cold Seafood Extravaganza in the evening featuring shrimp, split crab legs, lobster claws and other types of seafood. We found the food not as good as in the past. Claws are very small and wasn't fresh. Some were funky looking too. The crab legs were tiny. Not succulent or juicy. But, still enjoyed it immensely!! :p

There are two entrances into the buffet area; people are a little aggressive, like they haven’t eaten anything in days. :rolleyes:..;)..:D

 

 

 

Breakfast:

There was always a large selection of cereals to choose from. Fruit was always fresh. Just like they picked it right off the tree. Freshly-cooked egg dishes and egg station for eggs cooked to order. Coffee tasted better then from past cruises. Waffles and pancakes are now covered to keep moist. Large variety of breads, rolls, muffins. The only thing we were disappointed with was the juice. On previous cruises they would serve a nice variety, now it was just orange juice. No grapefruit juice. Plus, it wasn’t fresh squeeze. Tasted more like water.

 

Lunch:

We did like the variety, quality and taste of the food served in the Horizon Court and Café Caribe. Each one served a different selection. To see what was being served that day, you needed to go to both. Hot Carving station. sandwiches, American and International dishes, and the cookies… Yum!!! Sushi was offered twice during lunch in the Caribe dining area. We did however notice that they would take leftovers from the night before and create new dishes. Leftover mashed potatoes, Rockfish, soup. I guess they weren’t a big hit the night before. We definitely enjoyed the Pizza and hamburgers near the pool.

 

Anytime Dining:

On the day of embarkment, we were assigned to the Palm Dining room. Being it’s a little difficult getting to the Palm, have to take the Aft, side elevators being not all elevators go to all floors, I wanted to eat in the Coral but was informed that the Coral does not have many tables for two and were already assigned.

While making dinner reservations, the Head Maitre D’ gave us a card stating which dining room we were assigned to, the table, and time. This was new. On all our other cruises our reservations were just confirmed.

On the first night of dining, I was not pleased with the waiter. He made a comment that wasn’t appropriate. The next night I requested to have our table changed. There wasn’t any problem doing so. After that, we stayed at the assigned table for the rest of the week. Every evening The Maitre D’ would say to us, as we entered the dining, “Your table 79 is waiting. Go right in.” Our servers, Jonathan and Randy were awesome, and we enjoyed chatting with them every night.

Overall the food quality was absolutely delicious and attractively presented. The avocado seafood appetizer slightly changed. It’s now served with tiny slivers of avocado with real crab meat, along with the best caviar I have ever tasted while on Princess. Great improvement. Prime Rib was superb. If you haven’t tried their cold soups, I highly recommend you to try. They are so good!!!! For the first time, I tried the Escargots. (Recommended by some fellow CC friends). Glad I did. Very tasty!!!

We managed to have lunch in the Coral room on sail day and did notice that they hardly had any table for twos except for a few. The Maitre D’ wasn’t giving us a song and dance.

 

Service:

Excellent!!!! This is why we love Princess so much. Never been so well treated. Every crew member would greet us with a smile and Hello. All are willing to go the extra mile to please.

Our Cabin Steward Saki was the best we have ever had. Extremely friendly, helpful, and eager to please.

 

Ship Entertainment:

Honestly we weren’t impressed with the entertainment. Only because we have seen the same entertainers on pervious cruises. They even did the same act. No new material. Kimika even wore the same outfits. We spoke to fellow passengers and they noticed the same thing too. Princess needs to rotate their entertainers. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the variety of the 3 main show rooms featuring top-notch entertainment.

 

The itinerary:

 

San Juan, St. Thomas, Grand Turk, and Bermuda.

Our port times were cut short weeks before our cruise due to a down engine. This was a little disappointing being we needed to change our port plans, but nothing that kept us from having a good time.

I just wish Princess would change the summer cruise ports.

We have done the San Juan, St. Thomas, Grand Turk, and Bermuda Itinerary out of New York twice and would like to see new ports added.

 

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico:

Everybody - including those who remain onboard needed to go through US Immigration and show their passports to enter Puerto Rico. The line wrapped around half the ship 2 or 3 times. We were told to wait in the Explorers Lounge because the line was about to end. We waited and waited. Finally my husband got on the line as I remained in the lounge. The line was still wrapped around the ship. From that point on it took about an addition half an hour to get through immigration.

Because our port times were cut short, we decided just to walk old San Juan and shop. Stores closed early being it was Sunday.

 

St. Thomas:

We have been to Sapphire beach before and loved it so much that we decided to do it again. For those of you who love to snorkel, this is not to be missed. The beach is beautiful. The underwater wildlife varied and abundant. Taxi fare was $11 p\p each way. Chair rentals - $7p\p.

On our way back to the ship we stopped off at the liquor store near the pier. Excellent prices.

 

Grand Turk:

As soon as you enter there are expensive touristy shops. We don’t like the fact that while sitting on a beautiful tropical island beach you’re looking straight into a cruise ship and didn’t want to sit by the pool with over 3,000 passengers.

So, we decided to head to Pillory Beach, being we have already been to Governors Beach and wanted to try a different one. Taxi ride was $7 p\p. Lounge chair rental $10 each. The beach is long and narrow. The water is crystal clear. We were very disappointed with the underwater sea life. Not what we expected, especially since Grand Turk is known for its diving. Overall, not impressed with Grand Turk.

 

Bermuda:

We have done Horseshoe Bay before and wanted to try another beach, but being I broke my toes the day before leaving for the cruise; I needed to find an easy access beach with chair rentals. Horseshoe Bay is a beautiful public beach which offers $10p\p for each chair rentals and umbrellas, concession stand and bathrooms. There is a taxi man with a 16 passenger cab that will take you up the hill for a buck. Money well spent, especially with broken toes.

 

 

DISEMBARKATION:

Even though we arrived two hours late, the new procedure was a smooth process and we were off the ship quickly.

 

During our cruise, we finally managed to see the future cruise consultant to make a future cruise deposit. I would suggest anyone who will be cruising on Princess again to take advantage of the reduced deposit and shipboard credit.

 

All in all we had an amazing time from beginning to end. If I had to rate this cruise it would have to be an 8 because of the service, crew members, food and what the ship has to offer. We wouldn’t hesitate to sail on her again.

I would just like to thank Princess Cruise Lines for such an amazing vacation!

We’re looking forward to our next Caribbean cruise.

 

 

:)

 

 

~~ Chris ~~

[dforeigner]

Chris, thanks for taking time to write and post a review. I eagerly await for 2010.;)

[erin_cruisers]

Thanks for the review Chris.

 

I have a question - so you chose "Anytime Dining", and you still

managed to have the same table and servers?

Is that because you chose to eat at around the same time each night?

Or this was chosen for you? :o

Sorry, I guess I'm confused as to how the anytime dining works.

 

Looking forward to our first cruise on Princess! :)

[luv2swim]

Thanks for the review Chris.

 

I have a question - so you chose "Anytime Dining", and you still

managed to have the same table and servers?

Is that because you chose to eat at around the same time each night?

Or this was chosen for you? :o

Sorry, I guess I'm confused as to how the anytime dining works.

 

Looking forward to our first cruise on Princess! :)

 

Great minds think alike. I have the same question :)

 

And let me add my thanks for the great review.

[Clutterlady]

Thank you for your review.

 

Love the CB, had a wonderful time on our cruise in May:)

 

We were the first cruise from NYC this year, and the crab legs and lobster claws we had were huge! Food seemed exceptionally good this cruise.

[Nanatravel]

Me too...this is a little confusing.

 

"Anytime Dining:

On the day of embarkment, we were assigned to the Palm Dining room. Being it’s a little difficult getting to the Palm, have to take the Aft, side elevators being not all elevators go to all floors, I wanted to eat in the Coral but was informed that the Coral does not have many tables for two and were already assigned.

While making dinner reservations, the Head Maitre D’ gave us a card stating which dining room we were assigned to, the table, and time. This was new. On all our other cruises our reservations were just confirmed.

On the first night of dining, I was not pleased with the waiter. He made a comment that wasn’t appropriate. The next night I requested to have our table changed. There wasn’t any problem doing so. After that, we stayed at the assigned table for the rest of the week. Every evening The Maitre D’ would say to us, as we entered the dining, “Your table 79 is waiting. Go right in.” Our servers, Jonathan and Randy were awesome, and we enjoyed chatting with them every night.

Overall the food quality was absolutely delicious and attractively presented. The avocado seafood appetizer slightly changed. It’s now served with tiny slivers of avocado with real crab meat, along with the best caviar I have ever tasted while on Princess. Great improvement. Prime Rib was superb. If you haven’t tried their cold soups, I highly recommend you to try. They are so good!!!! For the first time, I tried the Escargots. (Recommended by some fellow CC friends). Glad I did. Very tasty!!!

We managed to have lunch in the Coral room on sail day and did notice that they hardly had any table for twos except for a few. The Maitre D’ wasn’t giving us a song and dance. "

 

Did you have Anytime dining or Traditional Dining? I always thought that the Coral dining room was for Traditional. Please enlighten us.

 

Also, the Embarkation night Seafood Bufft; is it all cold no hot food?

Thanks for your review and input.

 

Bon Voyage

Nanatravel

[emodwarf]

Thanks so much for your very detailed and helpful review. Much appreciated! We're sailing on the CB in December on a b2b, and we can't wait!

 

Helpful reviews like yours are making planning and preparing much easier, and we know we'll have an even better vacation because of it. :)

[Sandytoes]

Glenn - luv2swim

 

Anytime Dining

 

You can either just show up at any Anytime Dining Room or make reservations.

 

Without reservations you have a great chance of waiting for a table. Like any land-based restaurant. They even give out beepers.

The Maitre D’ will seat you at any table.

This will happen each night.

Have to tell him whether you want a table for 2 or not.

We choose to make reservations for Anytime Dining

only because it guarantee's us a table as soon as we arrive.

It also allows us to keep a waiter that we like.

This enables server to get to know us too.

When we make reservations we just tell the Maitre D’ the

time we would like to eat.

If we were running late, our table was always available,

even when we saw dozens of pax waiting with beepers.

By making reservations in Anytime it's almost like

Traditional dining except for the fact that we tell them

when we want to eat. 6:15 - 7:45 - 8:20

 

If you have other questions let me know.

 

:)

 

[Sandytoes]

 

Did you have Anytime dining or Traditional Dining? I always thought that the Coral dining room was for Traditional. Please enlighten us.

 

Also, the Embarkation night Seafood Bufft; is it all cold no hot food?

Thanks for your review and input.l

 

Personal Choice dining rooms are in the Coral and Palm.

Traditional is in the Island Dining room.

 

The Seafood Extravaganza is served on embarkment day.

Cold - but still delicious.

[erin_cruisers]

Glenn - luv2swim

 

Anytime Dining

 

You can either just show up at any Anytime Dining Room or make reservations.

 

Without reservations you have a great chance of waiting for a table. Like any land-based restaurant. They even give out beepers.

The Maitre D’ will seat you at any table.

This will happen each night.

Have to tell him whether you want a table for 2 or not.

We choose to make reservations for Anytime Dining

only because it guarantee's us a table as soon as we arrive.

It also allows us to keep a waiter that we like.

This enables server to get to know us too.

When we make reservations we just tell the Maitre D’ the

time we would like to eat.

If we were running late, our table was always available,

even when we saw dozens of pax waiting with beepers.

By making reservations in Anytime it's almost like

Traditional dining except for the fact that we tell them

when we want to eat. 6:15 - 7:45 - 8:20

 

If you have other questions let me know.

Okay, NOW I understand. ;)

Thanks for clearing that up.

That is a very intersting way to have it.

And if I could guess why folks would still prefer to line up to get a table

it might be so they can be seated at a larger table with other folks.

(For the socializing aspect)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks again for the very informative review.

[willysgrandma]

Thanks for the review. How did you like leaving from Brooklyn? What time did you arrive and how long did it take to get on the ship?

[Nanatravel]

Thanks Sandytoes, for your response. We are a party of 4. If we want to request a special time, waiter, etc. We just ask the Maitre' de and he will try to accommodate us each evening. I will go back and read about the waiter you liked and ask for him/her. We have cabins on the aft, so finding our way to the Palm should be convenient.

 

Bon Voyage

Nanatravel

[Sandytoes]

Thanks for the review. How did you like leaving from Brooklyn? What time did you arrive and how long did it take to get on the ship?

This was our second time going to Red Hook.

What a pleasure not flying to an embarkment port.

Parking was easy. Traffic Cop directing traffic.

Lots of hands (helpers) to guide you or answer any questions.

Because of traffic :rolleyes: we arrived later than accepted.

Took us 1 1\2hrs to get there - arrived at 12:30pm

It's usually a 45 min ride.

[Sandytoes]

Thanks Sandytoes, for your response. We are a party of 4. If we want to request a special time, waiter, etc. We just ask the Maitre' de and he will try to accommodate us each evening. I will go back and read about the waiter you liked and ask for him/her. We have cabins on the aft, so finding our way to the Palm should be convenient.

 

Nanatravel

 

You are in a good location getting to the Palm.

You need to take the end elevators to get to Deck 6 where the Palm is located. Nothing else is located there.

The inside elevators stop at Deck 7.

Enjoy your cruise!!!

[Nanatravel]

Nanatravel

 

You are in a good location getting to the Palm.

You need to take the end elevators to get to Deck 6 where the Palm is located. Nothing else is located there.

The inside elevators stop at Deck 7.

Enjoy your cruise!!!

 

Oh, thanks again for that hint. That's a new one.

 

Also, since you might still be on line;

 

I remember a few months back a thread about Princess expanding their beverage offerings to have lemonade available in addition to water and iced tea. Has that happened yet? I magine that's in the buffet.

 

Nanatravel

[Sandytoes]

Okay, NOW I understand.

Thanks for clearing that up.

That is a very intersting way to have it.

And if I could guess why folks would still prefer to line up to get a table

it might be so they can be seated at a larger table with other folks.

(For the socializing aspect)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks again for the very informative review:D

If your looking for a more social dining experience I would suggest Traditional.

Most of the Anytime diners choose to dine alone.

However, Personal Choice diners do occasionally chat with those around them.

:D

[Sandytoes]

Oh, thanks again for that hint. That's a new one.

Your quite welcome!!!

Also, since you might still be on line;

 

I remember a few months back a thread about Princess expanding their beverage offerings to have lemonade available in addition to water and iced tea. Has that happened yet? I magine that's in the buffet.

 

No lemonade.

Wish they did -

I had to make my own....:rolleyes:......:p

[erin_cruisers]

If your looking for a more social dining experience I would suggest Traditional.

Most of the Anytime diners choose to dine alone.

However, Personal Choice diners do occasionally chat with those around them.

:D

I think thats what we selected (automatically) when booking.

We do like the socializing at a large table.

(we haven't had a bad experience, yet... touch wood) :p

(and if you knew my DW you would know that her opportunity

to engage other folks in conversation knows no boundaries.) :D

[coiran]

One question Sandytoes - How did you manage to get REAL Crabmeat in your appetizer and other(s) on the same cruise were served the phony stuff??

Ron

[Sandytoes]

One question Sandytoes - How did you manage to get REAL Crabmeat in your appetizer and other(s) on the same cruise were served the phony stuff??

Ron

Maybe they knew I could tell the difference....:p

 

Seriously, they did serve real crab meat.

First, you can tell just by looking at it.

It was white and flaky.

The taste was delicate, tender, slightly sweet taste, not rubbery like imitation.

It was mixed with King Crab

 

 

 

[coiran]

Yeh - I know - we have never been on the Caribbean Princess but have had the crabmeat appetizers - They are real crabmeat, Princess does NOT use the phony stuff unless, perhaps, for special diners.

Ron

[beckcab]

I'm looking forward to those crab legs!

[coiran]

I'm looking forward to those crab legs!

 

Order a double - they are better than lobster tail!!

Ron

[willysgrandma]

sandytoes, I am in Long Beach - may I ask where are you from on Long Island? It has always taken me about an hour to get to the Brooklyn pier using the BQE from the Belt- I can judge better what time to leave if I knew where you drove from. Thanks for the info.

[Sandytoes]

sandytoes, I am in Long Beach - may I ask where are you from on Long Island? It has always taken me about an hour to get to the Brooklyn pier using the BQE from the Belt- I can judge better what time to leave if I knew where you drove from. Thanks for the info.

We took the LIE to the BQE from Plainview.

I know the Belt can be congested just like the LIE.

We left at 10:50am thinking we would be there way before noon.